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closed, and a constric-
tion in his chest that banished the ache of his ribs because this was much
worse. Bruised ribs, even cracked ones, offered little danger when a man's
heart was threatened.
Kellin stirred in protest, but his bonds held firm. The horse walked on, led
by Corwyth's min-
ions. The Ihlini's fingers closed.
He felt each of them: four fingers and a thumb, distinct and individual. Each
was inside his chest.
They touched him intimately, caressing the very muscle that kept him alive.
It was, he thought, rape, if of a very different nature.
Kellin desired very much to protest, to cry out, to shout, to swear, to scream
imprecations. But his mouth would not function. Hands and feet were numb. He
thought the pressure in his head might cause his eyes and ears to burst.
He could not breathe.
Corwyth's hand squeezed.
Kellin thrashed once, expelling breath and blood in a final futile effort to
escape the hand in his chest.
"Your lips are blue," Corwyth said. "It is not a
flattering color."
Nothing more was left. Piece of meat
A TAPSSTKY w LIONS 233
It was, Kellin felt, a supremely inelegant way to die.
Then the hand stilled his heart, and he was dead.
Kellin roused as Corwyth grabbed a handful of hair and jerked his head up. "Do
you see?" the
Ihlini asked. "Do you understand now?"
He understood only that he had been dead, or very close to it. He sucked in a
choking breath, trying to fill flaccid lungs. The effort was awk-
ward, spasmodic, so that he recognized only the muted breathy roaring of a
frightened man trying desperately to breathe.
/ am frightened And equally desperate; he felt intensely helpless, and angry
because of it. Lo-
chiel's ambassador had humiliated him in the most elemental of ways: by
stripping a Cheysuli of freedom, strength, and. pride.
"Say it again," Corwyth suggested. "Say again
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Lochiel cannot throw down your House."
Kellin said nothing. He could not manage it.
The hand was cruel in his hair. Neck tendons protested. "You have seen
nothing. Nothing, Kel-
lin. I am proud, but practical; I admit my lesser place without hesitation or
compunction. The power I command is paltry compared to his."
Paltry enough to kill him with little more than a gesture.
Corwyth released his hair. Kellin's neck was too weak to support his skull. It
flopped down again, pressing face against winter horsehair. He breathed in its
scent, grateful that he could.
"Think on it," Corwyth said. "Consider your cir-
cumstances, and recall that your life depends en-
tirely upon the sufferance of Lochiel."
Kellin rather thought his life depended entirely on his ability to breathe,
regardless of Lochiel's
234
intentions. As he lay flopped across the saddle, he concentrated merely on in-
and exhalations. Lo-
chiel could wait.
When they cut him from the horse and dragged him down, Kellin wondered
seriously if death might be less painful. He bit into his tongue to keep from
disgracing himself further by verbal protestation, but the sudden sheen of
perspiration gave his weakness away. Corwyth saw it, weighed it, then nodded
to himself.
"Against the tree," the flilini ordered his companions, The two hauled Kellin
bodily to the indicated tree and left him at its foot to contemplate ex-
posed roots as he fought to maintain conscious-
ness. Sweat ran freely, dampening his hair. He lay mostly on one side. His
wrists, though now cut free of the stirrup, were still tied together. He no
longer was packed by horseback like so much fresh-killed meat, but the
circumstances seemed no better.
Kellin blew grit from his lips. The taste in his mouth was foul, but he had
been offered no water.
The sun was full up. They had been riding for hours without a single stop. In
addition to the re-
sidual aches of the Midden battle and the discom-
fort of the ride, Kellin's bladder protested. It was a small but signal
irritant that compounded his misery.
Kellin eased himself into a sitting position against the tree trunk. He sagged
minutely, testing the fit of his ribs inside their loosened wrappings and
bruised Hesh, then let wood provide false strength; his own was negligible.
/ am young, strong, and fit ... this is a minor inconvenience. Meanwhile, he
hurt.
Corwyth strode from his own mount to Kellin, A TAPESTRY OF Liws 23S
who could not suppress a recoil as the Ihlini touched the binding around his
wrists. "There, my lord: freedom." The wrappings fell away. Corwyth smiled.
"Test us as you like."
Kellin wanted to spit into the arrogant face.
Corwyth knew he knew there was no reason to test- No man, Cheysuli or not,
would risk his heart a second time to Ihlini magic.
"Are you hungry? Thirsty?" Corwyth gestured, and one of his companions
answered with a wrapped packet and leather flask delivered to Kel-
lin at once. "Bread, and wine. Eat. Drink." Cor-
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