“So now we have no magic?”
“Well, I don’t know how it all works, but as I understand it, you can’t really get rid of your magic. What the three women did was make you forget everything about yourselves, so you wouldn’t know you had any magic, so the evil magic wouldn’t know, either, that it was there. So that’s why neither of you knows who you are, or how to use magic. That’s why Elda is blind.”squinted. “Why would the sorceresses agree to help us?”
“Mostly because of Elda. They said she was a legend among the sorceresses of Nicobarese. Something about what she did when she was younger and used to live here.”stared at the big man. “It has to be true.” He turned to Elda. “It has to be true. No one could invent such an absurd story. What do you think?”
“I think as you. I think he be telling us the truth.”
“Good,” Ahern said. “Now comes the part you aren’t going to like.”
“What about our magic? When does it come back? When do we remember who we are?”raked his meaty fingers through his shaggy, gray hair. “That’s the part you aren’t going to like. The three women said they doubt you two will ever get it back. You may never remember. You may never get your magic back.”silence echoed in the coach. Ruben finally spoke. “Why would we agree to such a thing?”picked at his fingers. “Because you had no choice. You were both sick. Mighty sick, Elda more than you. She would have been dead by now, and you within another day or two, at most. You had no choice. It was the only way.”folded his hands over the silver head of his cane. “Well, if that is so, then we had to. If we never remember, we will just learn to be Ruben, and Elda, and start our lives over.”shook his head. “There’s a problem about that. You told me that the three women said that if the evil magic finally left you, then you might be able to get your memory, and your magic, back. You told me that it was imperative that you get it back. You said that there was great trouble in the world that you had to help with. You said that it was a matter of grave importance to every person alive. You said you had something you must do.”
“What trouble? What is it I must do?”
“You didn’t tell me. You said I wouldn’t understand.”
“Well, how do we get our memories, our magic, back?” Ahern glanced to each. “It may not come back. The three women didn’t know if it ever would, but if it is to come back, it will only come back with a shock. A great emotional jolt, or shock.”
“An emotional shock? Like what?”
“Like maybe anger. Maybe if you are angry enough.”frowned. “so… what? You are to slap me, to make me angry?”
“No. You said that you didn’t know how, but something like that wouldn’t work. You said it required a great emotional shock, but you didn’t know what it could be, or how to bring it about. You also said that if something did bring on the anger, it would be violent, and terrible, because of the magic. You said you had no choice, though, because you would die if you didn’t do this.”and Elda sat in silence and thought while Ahern watched them. “so, where are you taking us? Why are we in this coach?”
“Aydindril.”
“Aydindril? Never heard of it. Where is it? How far?”
“Aydindril is the home of the Confessors, clear on the other side of the Rang’shada Mountains. It’s a long journey: weeks, maybe a month. It will be close to winter solstice, the longest night of the year, before we get there.”
“Seems a long way to go,” Ruben said. “Why did I want you to take us there?”
“You said you had to go to the Wizard’s Keep. You said that it takes magic to get in, but you don’t have any magic, now, so you told me how to get you in. Seems you were a troublesome child, and had a secret way to sneak in and out of the Keep without triggering the magic.” Ruben drew his finger and thumb down his smooth jaw. “And you say I told you it was urgent?”gave a grim nod.
“Then we’d best be on our way.”as she had been smiling to people all evening, Kahlan smiled to the woman in an elaborate dark blue gown before her. The woman was relating how concerned everyone had been for the Mother Confessor. Her insincerity was as transparent as the hypocrisy from everyone else. Kahlan had spent her whole life listening to duplicitous people try to mask their avaricious nature with words of altruism and amity. It sickened her.wished that just once, one of these people she lived and worked with would have the honesty to admit how strongly they hated her and how it infuriated them that she wouldn’t allow them to rape the Midlands and its people for their own benefit. She admonished herself that they were not all like that.idly wondered, as she half listened, what this dignified wife of an ambassador would think if instead of seeing the Mother Confessor standing before her in a sparkling white dress, wearing a choker of jewels worth half her kingdom, she were to see her on a horse, naked, painted white and drenched in blood, as she hacked with a sword at the faces of men trying to kill her. Kahlan decided the woman would probably faint.the woman finally paused for a breath, Kahlan thanked her for her concern, and moved away. It was getting late and she was tired. She had an early appointment with the council. Seeing herself as she passed a mirror, Kahlan felt as if she had been dreaming for a very long time, and had awakened, the same as she was before, the Mother Confessor, in her white Confessor’s dress, at the Confessors” Palace in Aydindril.she wasn’t the same as the last time she had been here. She felt a hundred years older. She smiled; at least the bath had been wonderful. She couldn’t remember finding a bath so luxurious. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be clean.the doorway, another finely dressed lady approached. A twitch of a frown touched Kahlan’s brow. The woman’s sandy hair seemed too short—out of character with the other women’s hair, which brushed their shoulders. But her dress certainly was in character; it was a costly looking black gown, letting her shoulders, and the sparkling emerald necklace, show.woman blocked the doorway just before Kahlan stepped through. She dropped a hurried curtsy, her blue eyes darting about as she came up.
“Mother Confessor, I must speak to you. It’s urgent.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I don’t remember you.”woman’s blue eyes never looked up; they were constantly checking the other people. “You don’t know me. We have a friend in common…”the woman caught sight of a sour-faced, older woman looking in their direction, she put her back to the woman.
“Mother Confessor, did you come to Aydindril alone, or did you bring someone with you?”
“I have a friend, Chandalen, who came with me, but he is in the woods to the south for the night. Why?”
“That is not the name I was hoping to hear.” She looked up into Kahlan’s eyes. “You must…”words trailed off. Her intense blue eyes slowly opened wider. She stood as if turned to stone.
“What is it?” Kahlan asked.woman seemed to be seeing specters. “You… you…”color had drained from her in a sickening rush. The woman staggered back a step. The sudden whiteness of her shoulders against the black fabric of her gown made her look like a spirit in a dress. Her jaw trembled as she tried without success to bring words forth. Her face was a mask of terror.blue eyes rolled back into her head. Too late, Kahlan reached out for her. The woman crumpled into a heap on the floor.nearby gasped. Kahlan, along with others, bent to the woman. Men and women crowded around, murmuring to each other about too much wine.sour-faced woman elbowed her way through to the front. “Jebra! I thought it was Jebra!”looked up. “You know this woman? And who are you?”woman abruptly realized who she was speaking to. She flashed a sudden smile and curtsied awkwardly. “I am the Lady Ordith Condatith de Dackidvich, Mother Confessor. I’m so pleased to meet you, at last. I’ve been wanting to talk…”cut her off. “Who is this woman? Do you know her?”
“Know her?” Her sour expression returned. “she is my body servant. Her name is Jebra Bevinvier. I’ll have the lazy wench thrashed!”
“Body servant?” a man said. “I don’t think so. I’ve had dinner with Lady Jebra, and I can assure you, she is a lady.”Ordith sniffed. “she’s an imposter.”
“Then you must pay her well,” the man said sarcastically. “she stays in the finest inns, and pays with gold.”Ordith gave the man another haughty sniff and snatched a guard’s arm. “You! Take this wench to my quarters. I’m staying at the Kelton Palace. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”came to her feet and gave the Lady Ordith a withering glare. “You will do no such thing. Unless you are presuming to tell the Mother Confessor what to do in her own palace?”Ordith stammered an apology. Kahlan snapped her ringers to the side while holding Lady Ordith’s gaze. Guards jumped forward.turned. “Take Lady Jebra to a guest room. Have a servant bring her some ginger tea, cold towels for her head, and anything else she wants. I do not want her disturbed by anyone, and that includes the Lady Ordith. I’m retiring for the night, and I do not wish to be disturbed by anyone, either. I have an early session with the council. After I meet with the council, I want Lady Jebra brought to me.”guards saluted and bent to Lady Jebra.Kahlan reached her room, she was brought out of her troubled thoughts by the sight of two Keltish guards, from the Kelton Palace, at the doors to her room. When the guards saw her, one of them coolly tapped on the door with the butt of his spear. Someone was in her rooms. Kahlan glared at the impassive guards as she stalked through the doors.one was in the outer room. She stormed into the bedroom. When she saw him, she froze to a halt. Prince Fyren was standing on her bed, with his back to her.gave her a smirk over his shoulder while he urinated in the center of her bed.he was finished, Prince Fyren turned while he buttoned his trousers.
“What in the name of the spirits do you think you are doing?” she whispered.lifted an eyebrow to her as he strutted past. “Just letting the Mother Confessor know how happy we all are to have her home.” His coat was open. He smoothed the ruffles on the front of his white shirt as he paused at the door. “sleep well, Mother Confessor.”yanked six times on the bell cord. Six breathless maidservants met her as she was charging down the hall.
“You wanted something, Mother Confessor?”gritted her teeth. “Take my mattress and bedcovers outside to the courtyard and burn them.”girl blinked. “Mother Confessor?”
“Drag the mattress from my bed, along with all the bedcovers, out into the courtyard below my balcony, and set them on fire.” Kahlan clenched her fists. “What part don’t you understand!”six flinched back a step. “Yes, Mother Confessor.” They stood trembling, their eyes wide. “Now, Mother Confessor?”
“If I wanted it done tomorrow, I would have called you tomorrow!”reached the stairs over grand entrance just in time to see Prince Fyren joining the man in plain robes waiting there for him. His dark eyes met hers for a long moment.
“Guards!” She screamed down toward the doors. The men in uniform looked up as they came running. “diplomatic privilege is suspended! If I see that Keltish pig or any of his personal guard in this palace before the council session tomorrow morning, I will personally skin you all alive after I kill him!”saluted. Kahlan saw Lady Ordith in the hall leading to the entrance, watching everything that had just happened.
“Lady Ordith.” Lady Ordith was already staring up. “I believe you said you were a guest of the Kelton Palace. Get out of mine.”was stammering her good-byes as Kahlan spun on her heel and headed back to her room. She picked up a handful of guards on the way.her rooms, she waited until they were lined up before her doors. “If anyone comes into my room tonight, it had better be over your corpses. Do you understand?”all saluted to indicate that they did. Inside, Kahlan threw the white mantle around her shoulders and went out onto the balcony, into the bitter cold night. She stood with her back straight, near the railing, as she looked down on the scene in the courtyard below.wanted to run, but she couldn’t. She was the Mother Confessor. She had to do what all the Mother Confessors before her had done—protect the Midlands. She was alone, and had no one to help her in her duty.rolled down her cheeks as she watched flames leap up from her bed; the bed she had promised Richard.58reflections of the Mother Confessor, in her white dress, rotated around the polished black columns as she marched down the gallery, the Mother Confessor’s private entrance to the council chambers. Kahlan was an hour early. She planned to be sitting in the First Chair as she watched all the councilors arrive. She didn’t want them talking among themselves before she was present.froze to a halt as she threw the doors open. The room was packed. Every council chair was occupied. The galleries were all packed with people—not only officials, administrators, staff, and nobility, but ordinary people: farmers, shopkeepers, merchants, cooks, tradesmen, wagon drivers, and laborers. Men and women of every sort. Every eye was on her as she stood before the doors.the huge room, the councilors all sat in their chairs. No one made a sound. Someone was sitting in the First Chair. From this distance, she couldn’t see who it was, but she knew.touched her fingers to the bone necklace at her throat and prayed to the good spirits for protection and strength. Her boots echoed off the marble as she strode through patches of sunlight. There was something on the floor before the dais, but she couldn’t tell what it was.Kahlan reached the curved desk, the man sitting in the First Chair was not the one she expected. Stretched out on a litter before the dais lay the body of Prince Fyren. His skin was pasty. His arms were folded, his hands laid over the blood-soaked ruffles of his shirt. His sword rested across his body. Prince Fyren’s throat had been sliced open nearly to his spinal column.looked up to the solemn, dark eyes watching her. He came forward from the back of the First Chair and folded his hands together on the desk. A quick glance revealed what she hadn’t noticed before: a ring of guards around the room.glared up at the man with the dark hair and beard. “Get out of my chair, or I will kill you myself.”room rang with the sound of swords being drawn. Without taking his dark eyes from her, the man gestured with a flick of his hand. Every sword went hesitantly back into its scabbard.
“You are done killing people, Mother Confessor,” he said in a quiet voice. “Prince Fyren was your last victim.”frowned. “Who are you?”
“Neville Ranson.” Still, his eyes did not leave her as he turned his hand up. A ball of flame ignited above his palm. “Wizard Neville Ranson.”, his eyes did not leave her as he cast the ball of flame skyward. It rose obediently toward the peak of the dome, where it broke, with a pop, into thousands of sparkles. Astonished gasps filled the room.Ranson leaned back and drew open a scroll. “We have a great many charges, Mother Confessor. Where would you like to begin?”turning her head, Kahlan’s eyes took a sweep of what she could see of the room. There was no chance of escape. None. Even if the man before her were not a wizard.
“Since they will all be invented, I guess it doesn’t matter. Why don’t we just dispense with the mockery, and simply proceed to the execution.”room remained dead silent. Wizard Ranson did not smile. His eyebrows lifted.
“Oh, no mockery, Mother Confessor, but serious charges. We are here to get to the truth of them. Unlike the Confessors, I refuse to put an innocent person to death. Before we are finished today, everyone here will know the truth of your treason. I want the people to know the full extent of your vile tyranny.”clasped her hands together as she stood with her back straight. She wore her Confessor’s face. The people all leaned forward a little.
“Since it is a long list,” Ranson said, “we might as well begin with the most serious charge.” He glanced down. “Treason.”
“And since when is defending the people of the Midlands treason?”Ranson slammed his fist to the desk as he shot to his feet. “defending the people of the Midlands! I have never in my life heard such filth from the mouth of a woman!” He smoothed his tan robes at his stomach and then sat back down. “Your “defense” of the people was to plunge them into war. You would condemn thousands to die, to assuage your dread that someone other than yourself would rule. And rule with the unanimous agreement of the council, I might add.”
“It is hardly unanimous if the Mother Confessor dissents.”
“Dissents for her own selfish motives.”
“And who is it that you would have rule the Midlands? Kelton? Yourself?”saviors of all people. The Imperial Order.”prickling sensation rose up her legs. Kahlan felt as if the whole of the dome overhead were collapsing down on her. Her head spun. She thought she might be sick right there, in front of everyone. She forced her stomach to behave.
“The Imperial Order! The Imperial Order slaughtered Ebi-nissia! They crush all opposition to steal rule for themselves!”
“Lies. The Imperial Order is dedicated to benevolent rule. They simply wish to put your murderous intents to an end.”
“Benevolent! They raped and butchered the people of Ebinissia!”chuckled. “Come, come, Mother Confessor. The Imperial Order has murdered no one.” He turned to a man Kahlan didn’t recognize. “Councilor Thurstan, has your crown city been harmed by anyone?”jowly man looked surprised. “I have just arrived two days ago from the beautiful city of Ebinissia, and they know nothing of their slaughter.”crowd chuckled with him. Ranson smiled petulantly at her.
“Did you not expect, Mother Confessor, that we would have witnesses to expose your preposterous stories? This is simply a fiction meant to inflame people’s fears, and stir them to war.”snapped his fingers. A woman in drab, worn clothes came in and stood to the side. Ranson gently told her not to be frightened, and to tell her story. The woman told of how her children had to go to bed hungry, because she had no money. She said she had been forced into prostitution to feed her children. Kahlan knew it was a lie. There was no scarcity of charitable people and groups who would help anyone truly needing it.the next hour, one witness after another was paraded in, and each told a story of hunger and want, and how the palace would not give them money to feed and clothe themselves, not caring if their children starved. The people in the balconies listened with rapt attention to the sad stories, some weeping with the witnesses.recognized a few of the people testifying. She remembered Mistress Sanderholt offering them work in the past. She had told Kahlan that when they had come in, they scoffed at the things they were asked to do. Mistress Sander-holt ended up having to do many of the tasks herself.Ranson rose to his feet, after the last witness had told his tearful story, and turned to each side, addressing the people gathered. The Mother Confessor has a vast treasury, and she intended to use it to finance a war against the people of the Midlands who would wish to be free of her rule. She first takes the food from your mouths, and the mouths of your children, and then, to keep you from thinking about the gnawing hunger in your gut, invents an enemy, and starts a war with your hard-earned money, which she has stolen for her already wealthy friends.
“While you people go hungry, she eats well! While you need clothes, she would buy weapons! While your sons would bleed to death in battle, she lounges in the lap of luxury! When your family members are unjustly accused of crimes, she uses her magic to make them confess to crimes they did not commit to silence their protests against her tyranny!”were weeping. A few cried out with anguish at the last part. Still more angrily demanded justice. Kahlan began to doubt that she would be beheaded. This mob would probably tear her apart before she ever made it to the block.held his arms open to the people gathered. As a representative of the Imperial Order, I direct that the people get what they really need. The treasury of Aydindril will be put to its best use. It will be turned back to the oppressed. I direct that every family shall be entitled to one gold piece a month, to clothe and feed your children. There will be no starvation allowed under the rule of the Imperial Order.”erupted in the great hall. The wild applauding and huzzahs went on unabated for a good five minutes. Ranson sat and steepled his fingers while he listened to the celebration. He never took his eyes from Kahlan, nor she from his.knew that life’s hardships were not that simple to eradicate. She knew that seeming kindness could in truth be cruel. She calculated that the payments would take, at most, six months to empty the treasury. She wondered what would happen the following month, when the money was gone, and people would have by then stopped working, or planting, to provide for themselves. Then there certainly would be hunger and starvation—in the guise of generosity.last the noise died out. Ranson leaned forward.is no way of telling how many people have gone hungry, or starved to death, or died in war, by your command, Mother Confessor. It is obvious you are guilty of treason against the people of the Midlands. I see no reason to draw the evidence out, as we could, for weeks.” The other councilors all voiced yeas of agreement. Ranson slapped his hand to the desk. “Guilty of the first charge then: treason.”people cheered, again. Kahlan stood with her back stiff, wearing her Confessor’s face. Ranson read off charges she could scarcely believe could be read with a straight face. Witnesses came forward and testified to atrocities that Kahlan thought anyone with common sense would laugh at. No one laughed.she had never met before confided their intimate knowledge of what Confessors did in secret. A lump rose in Kahlan’s throat as she heard what people thought of her. People repeated irrational fears and rumors of every sort of outrage committed by Confessors, and the Mother Confessor in particular.her whole life she had sacrificed everything, as had the other Confessors, to protect these people, and the whole time they believed these monstrosities instead. Kahlan thought, when she heard a witness testify that in order to retain their magical power, Confessors had to dine regularly on human flesh, that there would be laughter at the charge. Instead, wide-eyed people leaned forward and gasped. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting into tears, not because she was being charged with such things, but because people truly believed them of her.finally stopped listening. As Ranson listed charges, brough forth witnesses, and the council found her guilty of charge after charge, she thought about Richard. She tried to remember all the moments she had spent with him, all the times he had smiled, all the times he had touched her. She tried to remember every kiss.
“You think it amusing!” Ranson railed.looked up. She realized she was smiling. “What?”woman was standing to the side, weeping into a kerchief. Kahlan blinked at her, and then looked up to Ranson.
“I’m sorry, I guess I missed her performance.”crowd grumbled in anger. Ranson leaned back in his chair with a disgusted shake of his head.
“Guilty, of practicing your Confessor’s magic on children.”
“What? Are you insane? Children?”held a hand out toward the woman, who broke into wild wailing. “she has just testified that her child is missing, and has told how other women nave had their children disappear, too, and how it is common knowledge that the children are taken so that Confessors may practice their magic on them. As a wizard, I can verify the truth of this.” The crowd howled with rage.blinked up at him. “I have a headache. Why don’t you just chop it off for me.”
“Uncomfortable, Mother Confessor? Uncomfortable that the people would be given the chance to face their oppressor, and hear the extent of her heinous crimes?”held her Confessor’s face to keep from tears. “I am sorry only that I have given my whole life to the people of the Midlands. Had I known they would be so ungrateful, and believe instead such filth after what I have sacrificed for them, I would have been more selfish and left them to true tyranny.”scowled down at her. “You have worked your whole life for the Keeper.” The crowd gasped again. That is who you serve. That is what you work for. You offer the souls of your people to your master, the Keeper, in the underworld.”in the balconies wailed with terror. Cries of anger and calls for vengeance echoed in the dome. Shaking their fists, the crowd on the main floor tried to push forward, but the guards spread their arms and held them back. Ranson lifted his hands, calling for calm and quiet.moved her gaze over the people to each side.
“I give you to the Imperial Order,” she called out in a loud voice. “I work no longer to save you. You will be punished for your unthinking willingness to believe these lies. Punished by what your own selfish desires will bring upon you. You will come to regret the torment you have willingly cast yourselves into. I am joyful that I will be dead, so I will not be tempted to help you. I regret only that I have ever shed a tear for your suffering. To the Keeper with all of you!”glared up at a smirking Wizard Ranson. “Get on with it! Chop off my head! I’m sickened with this travesty of truth! You and your Imperial Order win. Kill me, so I may be rid of this life, and go to the spirit world, where I will not have to suffer to help anyone. I confess to everything. Execute me. I am guilty of it all.” She looked down at the body at her feet. “Except killing this Keltish pig. I wish, now, that I had killed him, but unfortunately, I can’t claim credit.”lifted an eyebrow. “A liar to the end, Mother Confessor; you cannot even admit the truth of this murder.”Ordith came in, her nose in the air, and testified that she had heard Kahlan threaten Prince Fyren only the night before. The council all spoke up, that they, too, had heard her threaten to cut his throat.
“This is your proof?” Kahlan asked.gestured to the side. “Bring in the witness. You see, Mother Confessor, we know the truth. One of your former friends wanted to help hide the truth of your ways, and we had to use extreme measures to make her cooperate, but in the end, she did.”shaking Mistress Sanderholt was led into the chamber. Guards stood to each side of her stooped, thin frame. Her face was drawn, her red eyes heavy with dark bags underneath. Her familiar vitality was gone. Swaying slightly, she looked as if she could hardly stand without aid.Sanderholt held her mangled hands out, in fear they would touch anything. All her fingernails had been pulled off with tongs. Bile rose in Kahlan’s throat.stern-faced Neville Ranson looked down at the woman. “Tell us what you know of this murder.”Sanderfiolt gazed unblinking up at him. She bit her lower lip. Her eyes filled with tears. It was obvious she didn’t want to speak.slammed his fist on the desk. “speak! Or we will find you guilty of aiding the murderer!”
“Mistress Sanderholt,” Kahlan said softly. The woman’s eyes came to her. “Mistress Sanderholt, I know the truth, and you know the truth; that is all that matters. These people are going to do as they plan, with or without your help. I do not want you to suffer on my account. Please tell them what they wish to hear.”rolled down her face. “But…”straightened her back. “Mistress Sanderholt, as Mother Confessor, I command you to testify against me.”Sanderholt gave her a twitch of a smile. She turned her face up to the council. “I saw the Mother Confessor sneak up behind Prince Fyren. She cut his throat before he knew she was there. She offered him no chance to defend himself.”smiled down and nodded. Thank you, Mistress Sanderholt. And you were her friend, but you came forward and agreed to testify, because you wanted the council, and the people, to know the truth?”tears streamed down. “Yes. Though I loved her, I had to tell the people the truth of her murderous ways.”she was escorted out, and the council had unanimously found Kahlan culpable, Ranson stood, lifting his hand for silence before addressing the people.Mother Confessor has been found guilty of all charges!” Everyone hooted and hollered their satisfaction. They shouted for an immediate execution. The Mother Confessor will be executed, but not this day.” He held his hand up angrily against the protests. They quieted. “she has committed crimes against all the people. They must be given a chance to hear of justice being done. They must be given a chance to come to the beheading. It will be held in a few days, when everyone harmed by this criminal has had a chance to come to see her executed.”Ranson stepped down and came around the dais. He stood in front of her, looking into her eyes. He spoke quietly, to her, and not to the crowd.
“You would think to use your power on me, Mother Confessor?”had been exactly what she had been thinking, to use her power knowing she would die in the process. But she said nothing.’s smile was cold and cruel. “You shall not have the chance. I am going to strip you of three things. First, your power and its symbol. Second, your dignity. Third, your life.”threw herself at him. He stood, his hands clasped, and watched as she was able to move only inches before she was mired in a thickness of air that held her tight. She fought unsuccessfully against the staggering power that held her.wizard lifted his hands. Kahlan saw a flash. She cried out as she felt a cold shock flood through her body. It felt as if she had plunged naked into an icy river. She shivered violently. The sting of cold brought tears to her eyes. The cold pain felt as if it could grow no worse, could hurt no more, but then it did.felt as if her insides ripped, as if her heart were being torn from her chest. She screamed in pain. Stunned by the shock of it, she realized she was on her knees. Ranson was holding his hands out, over her head.the pain lifted, she felt tingling panic.power was gone.she had always felt it before, without even being aware of it most of the time, she now felt a forlorn emptiness.had so often wished to be rid of it, but never realized what it would feel like to be without her magic. She cried out again. Tears streamed down her cheeks at the forsaken, vacant desolation. She felt naked before the mob of people.forced herself to stop the tears. She would not let these people see the Mother Confessor cry. No—she would not let these people see Kahlan Amnell cry.drew Prince Fyren’s sword from its scabbard. He stepped behind her. He took up her hair in his fist and pulled it out tight as she knelt on the cold floor.the sword, he sliced her hair off, close, right at the nape of her neck. The shearing felt almost as shocking to her as having her power taken. The hair Richard loved so. She bit back tears.Ranson held up the severed handful of her hair to wild cheering. Kahlan knelt, numbly staring at nothing, as soldiers tied her wrists behind her back. Ranson grasped her arm, under her shoulder, and hauled her to her feet.
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