"That was a foul blow, Race, but I--I know why you did it." He stopped
and breathed for a minute. Then he muttered, "You ... saved my life, you
know. Did you know you were doing it, when you did it?"
Still breathing hard, I nodded. Done knowingly, it meant an end of
blood-feud. However we had wronged each other, whatever the pledges. I
spoke the words that confirmed it and ended it, finally and forever:
"There is a life between us. Let it stand for a death."
Miellyn was standing in the doorway, her hands pressed to her mouth, her
eyes wide. She said shakily, "You're walking around with a knife in your
ribs, you fool!"
Rakhal whirled and with a quick jerk he pulled the skean loose. It had
simply been caught in my shirtcloak, in a fold of the rough cloth. He
pulled it away, glanced at the red tip, then relaxed. "Not more than an
inch deep," he said. Then, angrily, defending himself: "You did it
yourself, you ape. I was trying to get rid of the knife when you jumped
me."
But I knew that and he knew I knew it.
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