"Richard." she wept as he pulled on a boot, "please, talk to me. Say something. Ask me to explain. Tell me there can be no explanation. Veil at me. Call me a whore. Tell me you hate me. Hit me. Do something! Don't ignore me!"turned and picked up his black sleeveless undershirt. As he pulled it on over his head. she scooped up his black shirt and held it to her breast, hoping to halt his dressing. "Richard, please! I love you!"gaze again rose to hers. She thought he was going to say something, but instead he turned away and retrieved his belt with the leather packs on it. He snapped on his wristbands.held his shirt to her chest and shook as she watched him hook his belt together. She didn't know what to do. He picked up Drefan's sword and buckled it on.
"Richard, please talk to me. Say something. This is the doing of the spirits. Don't you remember what I told you that grandfather's spirit told me? The winds have decided that you are the path of the price. They did this to us!"shot her a look again. The intensity in his eyes extinguished. He saw that she wasn't going to surrender his shirt, so he threw his golden cloak around his shoulders.he turned toward the door. Kahlan seized his arm with both her hands and turned him back to her.
"Richard, I love you. You've got to believe me. I'll explain this in here to you later, but for now, you have to believe me. I love you. No other. My heart is yours alone. Dear spirits, please believe me."gripped her jaw in his hand and wiped a thumb across her lips. He held his thumb up for her to see in the pandemonium of lightning.".. for the one in white, his true beloved, will betray him in her blood." His words ripped her heart.covered her scream with his shirt as he swept out the door. The one thing she had sworn she would never do, she had done: she had betrayed him. It could have been no worse betrayal. It was a betrayal that had destroyed his heart.hysterically, Kahlan raced after him. out into the wild night. She had to do something to mend that heart. She couldn't let him endure the pain she had caused him. She loved him more than life itself, and she had done the worst thing possible lo him., the wind howled across the mountain. She could see his black shape, his bare arms, in the flashes of lightning as he headed for the road.he reached the edge of the cliff at the end of the road, Kahlan threw herself on him, dragging him to a halt.sky was a savage show of violent discharges. Thunder thumped in her bones. Lightning ripped across the sky followed by deafening booms. Beyond the edge, when the most powerful of those bolts struck, the Temple of the Winds was there- but only during those fierce strikes. Between those strikes, there was nothing but empty space.
"Richard, what are you going to do?" "I'm going to stop the plague."
"When will you be back? I'll wait here. When will you be back?" He stared into her eyes a long moment as the storm raged around them. "There is nothing here for me."clutched at him. "Richard, you have to come back. Come back. I'll be here, waiting. I love you. Dear spirits, I need you. Richard, you have to come back to me!"
"You have a husband. You have given him an oath.. and everything else." "Richard, don't leave me alone," Kahlan wailed, on the edge of hysteria. "If you don't come back, I'll never forgive you." Richard turned to the edge of the cliff. "Richard, you have a wife! You have to come back!" Thunder shuddered the mountain.looked back over his shoulder. "Nadine is dead. I am no longer bound by my oath to her. You have a husband, and an oath. There is nothing here for me."cords of lightning slammed into the road beyond the edge of the cliff, bringing the Temple of the Winds into full view. Golden cloak billowing out behind, Richard leaped into the lightning. "Richard! I'm here! I'm here for you! We can find a way! Please come back to me!the frenetic flash cut off, the temple was gone. Another flash came, and the soaring towers were back for a second, weaker this time, and then gone again.dropped to the ground, clutching Richard's black shirt to herself. She had destroyed him.the side, Kahlan saw a streak of red. It was Cara, racing for the edge of the cliff. She leaped just as another flash erupted, lighting the Temple of the Winds into the world of life. She landed on the road in the sky, and when the flash was gone, so was the Temple of the Winds, Richard, and Cara., Kahlan stared silently at the rampaging storm, seeing from time to time the towering, phantom temple in another world. It never looked solid enough again, or she would have jumped across. She should have. She couldn't understand why she hadn't. Why had she just stood here? Because Richard didn't want her. She had betrayed him.could he do this to her? He said he would always love her. He said they would be together in the next world. He made her promises. He swore his eternal love. So had she, and she had betrayed him.somewhere out in the storm. Kahlan heard the distant sound of laughter. The malevolent chuckle made her skin crawl. Drefan strolled up beside her. He was alone. "Where's Nadine?" Kahlan asked.cleared his throat. "When the lightning came. and she saw it was me, and not Richard, she screamed. She went crazy. She leaped over the edge of the mountain."stared up at him. Richard knew. He told her Nadine was dead. Richard was a wizard. She had seen that, too, in his eyes, at the end, before he jumped across. She saw magic in his eyes. "Where's Richard?" Kahlan stared out at the empty air. at the black wall of night. "Gone." On the road to the Temple of the Winds, in the eerie silence, Richard drew his sword. Its alien feel surprised him for an instant, until he recalled whose sword it was.was no longer the Seeker of Truth. He had had all the truth he could stand. It wasn't night, here, nor day, yet there was light. It wasn't like sunlight-more like an overcast day, with no hint of exactly where the sun was. But he knew that there was no sun here. This was not the world of life.was a part of the underworld-an isolated, remote, obscure niche in the world of the dead. It was as if the wizards had found an out-of-the-way hole in which to hide the Temple of the Winds. It had been similarly hidden when in the world of life.dark walls of the immense Temple of the Winds rose up before him, the twin towers soaring up into trailers of mist. The entire side of Mount Kymermosst was here-the whole part that was missing in the world of life.knew where he was going. He knew more than he had ever known before. Knowledge was flooding into his mind. He was a war wizard. The Temple of the Winds had opened a floodgate into his mind. It was feeding him all he needed to know, and more.felt as if he were sentient for the first time. Recompense, for the price demanded. "Lord Rahl!"breathless Cara ran up beside him. Agiel in hand, she took up a defensive position. Her Agiel would be useless here. For that matter, it would be useless back in the world of life now.turned to the winds and started out again. It wasn't far. Not far at all. He knew the way in. "Cara, go home. You don't belong here." "Lord Rahl, what happened? I-" "Go home."scowled at him as she pushed past to clear his way of any danger. She had no concept of the dangers here.
"I am Mord-Sith. I am here to protect the Lord Rahl." "I am no longer the Lord Rahl," Richard whispered.gazed up at the huge black stone pillars beside the entrance ahead. Beside them on walls of inky stone banded with copper-colored caps. frozen in raven-black granite, stood the skrin, guardians of the boundary between worlds. Frozen only to Cara's eyes, not to his.lifted a hand, bidding him to stay back as she peered down the passageway to the distant entry, checking for danger. There were bones at their feet. "Lord Rahl, what is this place?" "You can't go in here, Cara." "Why not?"turned and looked back toward the way he had come-at everything he was leaving behind. At nothing. "Because this is the Hall of the Betrayed."glanced up at the twin skrin, guardians that had left the bones of two wizards here on this walkway, at their feet.remembered well the message the sliph had passed on from Wizard Ricker: Ward left in. Richard now knew what that meant.lifted his left arm, fist out, toward the skrin perched on the stone wall at the right. Ward left told him which arm to use and which skrin to ward. The wrong arm would have denied him entry into this place in the world of the dead. One of Ricker's traps for the enemy.wristband heated. The leather pad protected his flesh from the power he focused in that band. A green glow enveloped his fist. The skrin to the right, to which he directed his birthright of authority, glowed in sympathy with his fist, immobilized for now, to allow Richard to enter.glanced up at the guardian of raven-black granite to his left. Richard called out its name, a guttural sound to which it answered. Black stone cracked and crumbled as the skrin turned to its master, awaiting instruction. Richard made the sound of its name again. He lifted his hand to Cara. "This one does not belong here. Ward her back to the world of life. Do not harm her. After, return to your post." The skrin sprang from the stone wall, enveloping Cara. "Lord Rahl! When will you be home?" Richard gazed into her blue eyes. "I am home."flared and silent thunder shook the soundless world as the skrin vanished on its journey with Cara, back to the world of life.turned to the winds. The four winds and the seer watched from their place up on the wall. Richard scanned the solid gold runes running up each side of the wall beside the entrance to the hall, reading the messages and warnings placed there by wizards past.a world without wind, Richard's cloak billowed out behind, a telltale in a place with eddies of power and currents of force, as he strode onward, into the Hall of the Betrayed. Kahlan threw up an arm before her face as lightning suddenly cracked before her. The road into the Temple of the Winds lit for an instant. In the distance, Kahlan could see Richard's back as he strode resolutely into a passageway. Cara tumbled lo the ground on the road at the edge of the cliff, at Kahlan's feet. With the boom of thunder, the temple, and Richard, were gone. Cara rolled to her feet. With wild fury, she seized Kahlan by the shoulders. "What have you done!"hurt too much to speak. She stared at the ground, "Mother Confessor, what have you done! I fixed it for you. What did you do to him?"'s head came up. "You what?"
"I swore an oath. We are sisters of the Agiel. I swore an oath to you that if anything ever happened, if anything went wrong. I would see to it that it was you, and not Nadine, who was with Richard." Kahlan's mouth fell open. "Cara, what did you do?"
"What you wanted! I spoke the words of the winds as they came to me. but when I took you and Nadine to the buildings, I switched you both. I took Nadine to Drefan, and I took you to Lord Rahl.
"I wanted you to be with the man you truly loved. I took you to Richard! Didn't you trust in me? Didn't you have faith in me?"fell into Cara's arms. "Oh. Cara, I'm sorry". I should have believed in you. Dear spirits. I should have trusted you."
"Lord Rahl said he was going into the Hall of the Betrayed. I asked when he would be coming home. He said he was home. He isn't coming back! What have you done!"
"The Hall of the Betrayed.." Kahlan crumpled to the ground. "I have fulfilled the prophecy. I have helped Richard get into the Temple of the Winds. I have helped him stop the plague. "In so doing, I have destroyed him. "In so doing, I have destroyed myself." "You have done more than that," Cara whispered. "What do you mean?"lifted her Agiel in her fist. "My Agiel. It has lost its power. The power of a Mord-Sith works only in the presence of the bond to our Lord Rahl. It exists to protect the Lord Rahl. Without a Lord Rahl, there is no bond. I have lost my power." "I am Lord Rahl now," Drefan said as he strode up behind Kahlan. Cara sneered at him. "You are no Lord Rahl. You do not have the gift." Drefan met her glare. "I'm all the Lord Rahl you have. now. Someone has to hold the D'Haran empire together."clutched Richard's black shirt to her stomach. "I am the Mother Confessor. I will hold the alliance together."
"You, my dear, have lost your power, too. You are no longer a Confessor, much less the Mother Confessor." He reached down and gripped Kahlan under her arm. His powerful fingers tightened painfully as he lifted her. "You are my wife, now, and you will do as I tell you to do. You have sworn an oath to obey me."reached out to force him to let go of Kahlan. Drefan backhanded her across the mouth, knocking her to the ground.
"And you, Cara, are a toothless snake now. If you wish to stick around, then you will have to obey me. If not, I have no use for you. For now, only we know that your Agiel doesn't work. Keep it that way. You will protect me as any Lord Rahl."gave him a venomous look as she wiped the blood from her mouth. "You are not the Lord Rahl."
"No?" He lifted the Sword of Truth, Richards sword, and let it drop back into its scabbard. "Well. I am the Seeker, now." "You are not the Seeker, either." Kahlan growled. "Richard is the Seeker."
"Richard? There is no Richard anymore. I am now Lord Rahl, and the Seeker." Drefan pulled Kahlan against him, his Darken Rahl eyes burning into her. "And you are my wife. At least you will be, once we consummate the marriage. But this is neither the time nor place. We have to get back. There is work to be done." "Never. If you ever touch me, I'll cut your throat."
"You have sworn an oath before the spirits. You will do as you have sworn." Drefan smiled. "You're a whore. You'll enjoy it. I want you to enjoy it, to be pleased, I really do."
"How dare you call me that! I am no whore, especially yours!" His smile widened. "Really? Then how did you betray Richard? Why would he walk away without even looking back? My guess would be that you enjoyed it, when you thought it was me. I'd say Richard saw you for the whore you are. When it really is me, you will find pleasure in it, then, too. I'll like that."60gently shoved Warren. "Wake up. Someone is coming." Warren knuckled his eyes. "I'm awake."glanced back at the other windows, to make sure that the dead guards were still propped up to make it appear they were on watch. A light from a lamp on the table was just enough to show those outside the guards at the windows, but it would provide enough light to see her and Warren, too, so they stayed away from the windows. "How do you feel?" she asked. "Better. I think I'm all right, now."had been unconscious earlier. The headaches caused by the gift were coming closer and closer together. Verna didn't know what to do for him. She didn't know how long it would be before his gift killed him. The only thing she could think to do was to stick to her plan. Warren had said that prophecy had told him that his only chance was to be with her.the window, in the darkness, she could see two shadowed figures approaching up the road. In the distance, on the hills, campfires by the thousands made the countryside look like a lake's reflection of the starry sky.shuddered to think of the hundreds of thousands of brutes in those tents. The sooner they left this place, the better. She was thankful they weren't going up into Jagang's stronghold again. They wouldn't be able to pull off that kind of magic twice. The spells Warren had used would not trick the guards again., once was enough. This time, her friends. Janet and Amelia, were coming out to meet her and Warren. If that was, in fact, Janet and Amelia she saw approaching.had to be. This was the fourth night after the full moon. This was where they were to meet. Janet had said that Amelia would be back from the tents by now.feared to think of what kind of shape Amelia would be in. She would probably need to be healed. Verna hoped that it wouldn't take long: it was close to dawn.and Warren had taken turns at short naps. They had a lot of traveling to do, to get back to General Reibisch and his army, and they needed to be rested for the journey. Verna wanted to be as far away from this place as she could get in case an alert rose from the stronghold.hoped that Janet had already told Amelia about the bond to Richard so that she wouldn't have to waste time with that, too. As soon as Amelia was sworn to Richard, the bond would protect her, too, from the dream walker. Then they could escape.dearly wanted to rescue the rest of the Sisters, but she knew that presumption was a road to ruin. On her twenty-year journey away from the cloistered life of the Palace of the Prophets, Verna had learned that out in the world, a Sister had to do her work with care if there was to be any hope of success. Rescuing the rest of the Sisters would be worse than tricky, and it would do them no good if Verna got herself caught while trying to rescue them all at once. Best be aware of your limitations and take it one step at a time. She would get the rest of the Sisters safely away from the dream walker, in due time.now, it was most important to get her two friends out, get information from them that would help her to rescue the rest, and get Warren some help. Without Warren, their cause would be jeopardized; Warren was a prophet, just beginning to come into his talent-if that talent didn't kill him before they could get him the help he needed.step at a time, she reminded herself. Use care, use your head, and you have the best chance of success.knock came at the door. Verna cracked it open and peeked out as Warren called out like a guard for them to announce themselves. "Two of His Excellency's slaves, Sister Janet and Sister Amelia." Verna pulled open the door, reached out, snatching the cloak of one, yanked her in, and then the other. Verna flattened them both against the wall so they couldn't be seen from the windows.
"Thank the Creator," Verna said with a sigh. "I thought you two would never get here."women stood with wide eyes, trembling like frightened rabbits. Sister Amelia's face was bruised, cut, and swollen.moved close to Verna. She took his hand as she looked from one white face to the other. Her heart ached for Amelia's obvious pain. But there was something more in her eyes: terror. "What's wrong?" she whispered. "You lied to us," Janet said in a pained whisper. "What are you talking about?"
"The bond. The bond to protect us from His Excellency. I told Amelia about it. She swore the oath to Richard, as you told it to me."frowned and leaned closer. "What in Creation are you saying? I told you, it will keep Jagang from entering your mind."slowly shook her head. "No, Verna, it won't. Not from my mind, not from Amelia's.. not from Warren's.. not from yours."laid a comforting hand on Janet's arm, trying to calm the frightened woman. "Yes, it will. Janet. You must only believe, and you will be protected."slowly shook her head again. "Before I swore the oath to Richard, Jagang was in my mind. He knew my thoughts. He knew what you told me. He knew it all."covered her mouth in horror. She hadn't considered that possibility. "But you swore the oath. That protects you, now.", Janet slowly shook her head. "It did, for the first day, but four days ago, on the night of the full moon. His Excellency returned to my mind. I didn't know it. I told Amelia about the oath. She swore, us had I. We thought we were safe. We thought that when you came back, we would escape with you." "You will," Verna assured her. "We all will escape right now." "None of us is going to escape, Verna. Jagang has you. He has Warren. He told us that he slipped into the cracks of your minds while you slept, the first night after the full moon." Tears filled Janet's eyes. "I'm sorry. Verna. You should never have come here to rescue me. It is to cost you both your freedom."smiled through her rising panic. "Janet, that just isn't possible. The bond protects us."
"It would." Janet said in a suddenly gruff, suddenly sinister voice, "were Richard Rahl still alive. But Richard Rahl departed the world of the living four nights ago. on the night of the full moon."laughed a hearty belly laugh, even as tears ran down her face. Verna couldn't draw a breath. "Richard. — is.. dead?" Warren slapped his hands to the sides of his head as he let out a cry of anguish. "No! No!"clutched at him as he sank toward the floor. "Warren! What is it?" "His Excellency.. His Excellency has tasks for me." "Tasks? Warren, what's wrong? What's happening?"
"His Excellency has a new prophet!" Warren cried out. "Please, stop the pain! I will serve! I will serve as I am commanded!" Verna crouched over him. "Warren!"felt as if a white-hot steel rod slammed through her skull. Verna cried out as she clamped her hands to her head. Nothing in her entire life of one hundred fifty-six years had prepared her for the fount of pain erupting in her mind. The room went black. She felt the floor smack her face. Her arms and legs twitched with the agony.laughter danced through the hot torture, like flames through a ruin. Verna prayed to the Creator that she would black out. Her prayer went unanswered.her. she heard a voice. Janet's voice.
"I'm so sorry Verna. You should never have come here to try to rescue us. You will serve His Excellency, now, as his slaves." The blond one. Cara. followed him into the reception room. She stayed three paces behind, as he had ordered. She always wore her red leather, now, as he had ordered. He liked the way the red leather made them look like they were sheathed in blood. One of them was always there, with him, a bloodred reminder of the slick, sticky debauchery to come.blue eyes turned away when he glanced back over his shoulder. He knew that she stayed only to be near Kahlan. That was fine by him. That she stayed was all that mattered. She was harmless, now, but it looked better if the Lord Rahl had an escort of guards like her-a proper accoutrement of his rank.he was the Lord Rahl, now, as the whispers from the ethers had promised him. Only he had the intellect to perceive the voices, the wisdom to hear them, the acumen to heed them. It had brought him triumph. Attention to detail had brought him his rewards. His extraordinary insight had brought him to the place of power he had always deserved. His gift was his genius, and it would serve him better than mere magic.was a man above others, and for good reason. He was superior to others- a man of rare understanding, instinct, and rare ethics, unadulterated by the twisted excuses women put to their vulgar pleasures. His own virtue intoxicated him.glanced up when she saw him striding into the room. Her face showed a blankness, an expression she wore almost constantly. She only thought it showed nothing. To him, it revealed a panoply of emotion. Immersed in the details of her bewitching face, he could discern the rich flux of emotions she tried to hide.saw the way she looked at him. He had caught her glances at his body in the past. He knew: she wanted him. She hungered for him. She wanted pleasure from him.she tried to deny it only excited him all the more. That she covered her hunger for him with harsh words only proved it to him. That she pretended revulsion only showed him the extraordinary depths of her need.she finally gave in to her lust, it would be all the more glorious for the wait, for the abstinence, for the yearning, for the delayed fulfillment. Then, at long last, he would give her what she wanted. Then he would hear her screams. The general with Kahlan bowed. "Good morning-Lord Rahl." "What's this?" he asked. He didn't like it when the soldiers brought things to Kahlan without seeing to informing the Lord Rahl first. "It's just the morning reports, Drefan," Kahlan said in that flat tone of hers. "Then why wasn't I informed? Reports should come to the Lord Rahl first." General Kerson stole a glance at Kahlan. He bowed again. "As you wish, Lord Rahl. I just thought-" "I do the thinking. You do the soldiering." The general cleared his throat. "Of course. Lord Rahl." "So, what do the morning reports have to say?"general glanced to Kahlan again. Drefan saw the slight nod. As if the general needed permission from the Lord Rahl's wife to report. Drefan let it pass, as he always did. He enjoyed her games, the way she thought he missed things. It amused him.
"Well, Lord Rahl. the plague is nearly over."
"Describe 'nearly over, if you would, please. As a healer, vagueness hardly does me any good."
' In the last week, the deaths from the plague have dropped to only three confirmed cases lust night. Nearly everyone who was sick when Lord"-he caught himself- "when Richard left has recovered. Whatever Richard did-"
"My brother died, that's what he did. I am the healer. I am the one responsible for the plague ending."lost the calm look. Her expression twisted to tightly controlled rage. He wondered how her face would twist were it pain, were it terror. He would know, in the end.
"Richard went to the Temple of the Winds. He sacrificed himself to save everyone. Richard! Not you, Drefan, Richard!"dismissed her tirade with a casual flip of his hand. "Nonsense. What did Richard know of healing? I am the healer. It is Lord Rahl who has saved his people from the plague." Drefan raised a finger to the general. "And you had better see to it that that everyone knows it." Kahlan gave her slight nod to the general again.
"Yes, Lord Rahl," the general said. "I will personally see to it that everyone knows that it was Lord Rahl himself who stopped the plague." Kahlan's face showed the slightest hint of a smile at the general's ambiguous response. Drefan let it go. He had more important business than her disrespect for her husband.
"And what else have you to report, general?" "Well. Lord Rahl, it seems that some of our units are.. missing." "Missing? How can troops be missing? I want them found. We must have the army together to defend against the Imperial Order. I won't have the D'Haran empire fall to the Imperial Order because my officers fail to maintain discipline!"
"Yes. Lord Rahl. I have already sent scouts to find the troops who have… wandered off from their stations."
"It's the bond, Drefan," Kahlan said. "The D'Harans aren't bonded to you. The army is breaking up, wandering off aimlessly because they have lost the bond, lost their leader. They don't know what to do. They are without a Lord Rahl-"struck her. The sharp sound reverberated through the room. "Stand up!" He waited until she regained her feet. "I'll not have insolence from my wife! Do you understand?"pressed her fingers to her nose, trying to halt the flow of blood. The crimson tide flooded over her fingers and lips and down her chin. The sight of it nearly drove a gasp from him. The sight of the Mother Confessor with blood on her made his hands shake. He longed for the slicing, for the sight of blood everywhere on her. for her screams, for her terror.he could wait until she begged for it. As had Nadine. He had enjoyed Nadine's perverted hunger. He had relished her surprise, her terror, her agony, before he cast her over the side of the mountain, still alive, so she could think about her vile nature all the way down. It had sated him-for now.could wait until the Mother Confessor's true corruption finally surfaced once again, as it had the first night. Richard must have been horrified to discover how much she really wanted his brother, that the woman he had loved was as impure as any whore. Poor, innocent, stupid Richard. He never even looked back over his shoulder as he walked away.could wait. She would need time to recover from the shock of causing Richard's death. Drefan could wait. It wouldn't take her long, as badly as she wanted him.swept Kahlan up in his arms. "Forgive me. my wife. I didn't mean to hurt you. Forgive me, please. I was only worried for our safety from the Order- distraught that these worthless soldiers won't follow orders and in so doing endanger us all."wrenched herself out of his arms. "I understand." She lied so poorly. From the corner of his eye, he could see the coiled form in red leather. If she moved to strike, he would slice her down. If she didn't, he still had use for her.twitched a finger in caution to Cara. Cara reluctantly relaxed. Kahlan thought she was so clever, thought he didn't see the way she gave orders to people. For now, it didn't matter.
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