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Page 377
and she suddenly realized she was not afraid. What Simon was doing was very dangerous, yet she felt no fear. It was odd. She should be afraid. She was excited, yes, but the sensation was intensely pleasurable, nearly sexual in its effect. She had not felt that when she went with David, although she had enjoyed those ventures also. Was that because she cared less for David?
She lost sight of Simon, but the excitement did not diminish. It had little to do with the persons involvedexcept herself, she soon discovered. The excitement was generated by the danger. It was more acute, sensually thrilling, because of her own closeness. When she had quieted horses for David, she had always been well away from the immediate scene of action. The horses were brought forward to carry loot and the men led or rode them to the scene of action only after the attack was already successful. This time Rhiannon could see the surprise itself, and whatever would happen would happen to her also. It was a revelation to her. For the first time in her life she understood why many men loved war more than they loved women. There was a kind of sense in it. Rhiannon could understand how a man might come to crave the pounding excitement that pulsed in herespecially when a man could get rich at the same time. It was no wonder that men could not be weaned from war.

As he slipped forward among the tombstones, Simon warned himself never to set up anything in or near a church. The graveyard was an open invitation to ambush. He could have brought an army across it. It was even better than a forest because the grass was scythed close and raked. There was no chance of stepping on a twig or brittle leaf and having the snap or crackle warn a wary enemy. In any case, these enemies were watching for a surprise attack in force, not for a few men slipping through the dark.
Simon reached the last tall standing stone and

 
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