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."There he is," whispered Giselle, dropping into a crouch and pointing.Jase followed suit, and the two of them stood in the shadows watching as Nazeem stepped out into the road and into the light.As they watched, a pair of soldiers on horseback came riding up to the Chultan."He's going to give us away," said Jase."Not if you do it first," said Giselle, quieting the young man.Nazeem held up his hands, and one of the soldiers lowered himself from his saddle while the other held a crossbow trained on the tattooed man.The soldier on the ground took his helmet off as he approached, exposing a bald head and a scarred face.He spoke to the Chultan for a moment.They appeared to be having an argument.One moment, the soldier was shouting something into Nazeem's face.In the next, he was laughing.For his part, Nazeem seemed to be calmly negotiating, though he never took his hands down, and the other soldier never lowered his crossbow.The bald soldier looked down the road, seeming to squint as his gaze passed over where the two Broken Spear were hiding."Don't move," said Giselle.Then his eyes moved on, and he focused his attention back on Nazeem.He said something, laughed, and drew his sword.Nazeem turned and started to run, but he stumbled to his knees when a crossbow bolt struck him in the leg.The bald man nodded to the other soldier and turned the point of his sword toward the ground and stabbed Nazeem in the back three times."Come on," whispered Giselle, backing slowly into the forest and heading toward where the rest of the Broken Spear were waiting."Ryder's in trouble.We gotta get him out of there."Jase followed."But how are we going to get in?"Giselle turned and glared at the young warrior."We're going to bust down the doors if we have to."* * * * *Ryder hung from the ceiling.There were chains on his arms and legs.The room was full of them.They draped down from above like long drops of metallic rain.They flooded down from the ceiling, a torrential downpour in the middle of Baron Purdun's dungeon.And in the middle of it stood Ryder.He could just touch the ground if he stood on the very tips of his toes.But he'd been here for the better part of a day, and he'd given up trying to stand.The effort it took made his legs shake like they were made of jelly.Instead, he let the links hold his weight, choosing to hang from the ceiling as he thought about Liam's betrayal.The door to the cell creaked open."I won't tell you anything," said Ryder, not looking up."Not even where you've been?"Ryder lifted himself to his tiptoes and raised his eyes."Samira." His chest constricted.He'd been dying to see her.He'd dreamed about her nightly.It had been her who had kept him going when he was imprisoned in Fairhaven.He had desired this moment for so many months—but he had also dreaded it.Samira would know what had happened with Giselle.She would sense it.He knew the moment she laid eyes on him, he would be exposed, and he was terrified."I thought you died," she said, stopping just inside the door.He shook his head.His heart filled with both joy and guilt at seeing his beloved wife."I didn't."A tear slipped down Samira's cheek."I cried for days," she said, wiping the tear off with the sleeve of her dress.Ryder felt as if his belly had once again been sliced open."I tried to come back sooner," he said, adding, "I came as soon as I could.""Where were you? What happened?"Ryder took a deep breath."It's a very long story," he said finally, not knowing where to begin.Samira bit down on her lower lip, nodding.Ryder smiled, looking at his beautiful wife.Of all the times he had imagined this moment, of all the nights he had spent thinking about how it would be, never had he dreamed it could be like this.He opened his arms."Come to me."Samira looked to the ground and shook her head."Ryder, there is something I have to tell you."Ryder dropped his arms."Yes?"Samira stood quietly for a moment, opening her mouth to start several times but never uttering anything.Finally, she took a deep breath and looked up at her husband."I thought you were dead," she said.Ryder smiled."But I'm not.""I know that," said Samira, "now.But until this morning, I thought you were dead." She took a step away from the door."When I found out, something inside of me died right along with you.I can't explain it, but things changed when I knew my world wouldn't have you in it." Samira sobbed.Ryder wished he could reach out and comfort her, wished he could take away her pain.But he was stuck—both by the chains on his arms and the knowledge that he had caused that pain."For the past several months, I've been trying to come to grips with the fact that you were dead," continued Samira between sobs."For the longest time I didn't even want to believe it was true
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