Richard stopped in front of the two. 'I have questions, and I want answers.'
'We are glad to see you are still well, Richard,' Sister Verna said. 'Still alive.'
'Why did Sister Grace kill herself? Why did you allow it?'
Sister Elizabeth stepped in front of Sister Verna. She held the open collar in her hands. 'We told you before, discussion is over. It is by the rules now.'
'I have rules too.' With his fists on his hips, he looked to each woman in turn. 'My first rule is that neither of you is going to kill herself today.'
They ignored him. 'You will listen. I, Sister of the Light, Elizabeth Myric, give the second reason for the Rada'Han, give the second chance to be helped. The first of the three reasons for the Rada'Han is to control the headaches and open your mind so you may be taught to use the gift. You have refused the first chance to be helped. I bring the second reason and offer.'
She watched his eyes as if to be sure she had his full attention. The second reason for the Rada'Han is so that we can control you.'
Richard glared at her. 'Control me? What does that mean, to control me?'
'It means what it says.'
'I'm not putting a collar around my neck so you can "control" me.' He leaned a little closer. 'Or for any other reason.'
Sister Elizabeth held the collar up. As you were told before, it is more difficult for you to accept the second offer. Please believe us, you are in great danger. Your time is running out. Please Richard, accept the second offer now, on the second of the three reason and offers. It will only be much more difficult to accept on the third of the three reasons.'
There was something in his eyes Kahlan had seen only once before - the last time the collar was held out to him. Something alien, something frightening. It sent a chill through her. Goose bumps rose on her arms. The anger left his voice.
'I told you before,' he whispered. 'I will not wear a collar. For anyone. For any reason. If you want to teach me to use the gift, to control it, we can talk about it. There are things going on you know nothing about: important things, dangerous things. I have responsibilities as the Seeker. I am not a child like you are used to dealing with. I am an adult. We can talk about it.'
Sister Elizabeth stared at him with fierce intensity. Richard retreated a half step. His eyes closed, and he shook slightly. At last, he straightened. His eyes came open as he took a deep breath. He returned the Sister's stare. Something had happened, and Kahlan had no idea what it was.
The strength in Sister Elizabeth's eyes waned. Her hands lowered the collar. Her voice came in a fearful whisper. 'Will you accept the offer and the Rada'Han?'
Richard stood staring at her. The power was back in his voice. 'I refuse.'
Sister Elizabeth went pale as she stared back for a moment before turning to the woman behind her. 'Forgive me, Sister, I have failed.' She put the Rada'Han in Sister Verna's outstretched hand. Her voice came in a whisper. 'It is upon you now.'
Sister Verna kissed her on each cheek. The Light forgives you, Sister.'
Sister Elizabeth turned back to Richard, her face gone slack. 'May the Light cradle you always with gentle hands. May you someday find the way.'
Richard stood with his fists on his hips as he watched her eyes. She lifted her chin. As Sister Grace had done, she brought her arm up and with a flick of her wrist brought the silver-handled knife to her hand. Richard continued to watch her as she flipped it around toward herself. Kahlan watched, holding her breath, spellbound, as the woman prepared to kill herself. The silence seemed thick. For a heartbeat, everyone was stone still.
The instant the knife began to move, Richard did too. His speed was shocking. Before Sister Elizabeth realized what had happened, Richard had her by her wrist. His other hand came up and began prying the odd knife from her fingers as she struggled to keep ahold of it. She was no match for his strength.
'I told you my rule. You are not allowed to kill yourself today.'
Her face twisted with futile effort. 'Please! Let go -'
Her body flinched. Her head jerked back. There was a flash of light that seemed to come from within her, from within her eyes. Sister Elizabeth crumpled forward to the ground, Sister Verna pulling her own knife from the woman's back as she fell.
Sister Verna's gaze rose from the dead woman to Richard. 'You must bury her body yourself. If you let another do it for you, you will have nightmares for the rest of your life, nightmares caused by magic. There is no cure for them.'
'You killed her! You murdered her! What's the matter with you! How could you kill her!'
She tucked her knife up her sleeve as she glared at him. She reached out, snatched the silver knife from his hand, and slipped it in her cloak.
'You killed her,' Sister Verna whispered.
'Your hands have the blood on them!'
'So does the executioner's axe, but it doesn't wield itself.'
Richard lunged for her throat. She didn't move; she simply continued to stare at him. His hands stopped before reaching her. Richard shook, straining against an invisible barrier as she watched him.
In that instant, Kahlan knew what the Sisters were.
Richard relaxed the pressure of pushing against the barrier. He pulled his hands back a little. He visibly relaxed.
Gently, his face gone calm, he reached one hand toward Sister Verna. His fingers clutched around her throat. Her eyes went wide with shock.
'Richard,' she whispered angrily, 'take your hand from me.'
'As you have said, this is no game. Why did you kill her?'
His weight came off his feet. Richard floated a few inches into the air. He tightened his grip on her throat. When he didn't release her, fire ignited all around them, roaring to life, a whorl of flame closing around him.
'I said, take your hand from me.'
In a moment more, the fire would consume Richard. Before she realized what she was doing, Kahlan had her fist out toward the Sister. Blue light crackled all around her wrist and hand. Little threads of blue lightning escaped from the sides as she struggled to restrain herself from releasing the bolt of power. Wisps of blue fire sizzled forth, throughout the spirit house, up the walls, across the ceiling and floor, everywhere except where the other two stood. She shook with the strain of holding back the power.
'Stop it!' The threads of blue lightning sucked the fire into them. 'There will be no more killing today.' The blue light extinguished.
Silence again filled the room as Sister Verna stared at Kahlan. A hard edge of anger stole into her eyes. Richard settled to the ground and took his hand from the woman's throat.
'I wouldn't have harmed him. I only meant to frighten him into releasing me.' She turned her glare to Richard. 'Who taught you to break a web?'
'No one taught me. I taught myself. Why did you kill Sister Elizabeth!'
'You taught yourself,' she mocked. 'I told you. This is no game. It must go by the rules.' Her voice lost its edge. 'I have known her for many years. If you had ever turned that sword of yours white, you would understand what it took for me to do as I did.'
Richard didn't tell her he had turned the sword white. 'You would expect me to put myself in your hands, after what you have done?'
'Your time is running out, Richard. After what I have seen today, I would be surprised if the headaches don't soon kill you. I don't know why it is that the pain hasn't already put you down. Whatever is protecting you won't last much longer. I know you don't like to see anyone die. Neither do we, but please believe that what is done is done for you, to save you.'
She turned to Kahlan. 'Be very careful with that power of yours, Mother Confessor. I doubt you have the slightest idea how dangerous it is.' Sister Verna pulled her hood up as her brown eyes turned to Richard. 'You have been offered the first and second of three chances, and refused. I will return.' She leaned a little closer. 'You only have one chance left. If you refuse it, you will die. Think on it carefully, Richard.'
After the door closed behind Sister Verna, Richard squatted next to the dead Sister. 'She was doing something to me. Magic. I could feel it.'
'What did it feel like?'
Richard shook his head a little. 'The first time they were here, I thought I felt something pulling me to accept their offer, but I was so afraid of the collar, I paid it no attention. This time, it was much stronger. It was magic. The magic was trying to force me to say yes, to accept the offer from the Sisters. I just thought about the collar until the force left and I was able to say no.'
He looked up at her. 'You have any idea what's going on? What she was doing, and what Sister Verna did, with the fire, and the rest of it?'
Kahlan's hand still tingled from the blue lightening. 'Yes. The Sisters are sorceresses.'
Richard rose smoothly to his feet. 'Sorceresses.' He watched her eyes for a long moment. 'Why would they kill themselves when I said no?'
'I think it is to pass their power on to the next Sister, to make her stronger for when they try again.'
He looked down at the body. 'Why would I be so important, that they would kill themselves to get me?'
'Maybe it is as they say. To help you.'
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. 'They don't want one man, a stranger, to die, yet two of them have already died trying to get me to accept their help so a life wouldn't be lost? How does that add up?'
'I don't know, Richard, but I'm so scared it hurts. I'm afraid they could be telling the truth: that you don't have much time, and the headaches are killing you. I'm afraid you won't be able to control them much longer.' Her voice broke with emotion. 'I don't want to lose you.'
Richard slipped his arms around her. 'It will be all right. I will bury her. The gathering will be in a few hours. Tomorrow we will be in Aydindril and then I will be safe. Zedd will know what to do.'
She could only nod against his shoulder.
CHAPTER 16
Kahlan sat naked in the circle with eight naked men. Richard was to her left, painted, as were she and the elders, with the black and white mud except in a small circle in the center of his chest. In the dim light coming from the small fire behind her, she could see the wild jumble of lines and swirls sweeping diagonally across his face. They all wore the same mask, so that the ancestors' spirits might see them. She wondered if she looked as savage to him as he looked to her. The unfamiliar, acrid smell from the fire made her nose itch. None of the elders scratched their noses; they only stared at nothing and chanted sacred words to the spirits.
The door slammed shut by itself, making her jump.
The Bird Man's distant eyes came up. 'From now, until we are finished, near dawn, no one may go out, no one may come in. The door is barred by the spirits.'
Kahlan didn't like the idea that, as Richard had said, this could be a trap. She squeezed his hand more tightly. He returned the squeeze. At least, she thought, she was with him. She hoped she could protect him. She hoped she could call the lightning if she had to.
The Bird Man fished out a frog and then passed the woven basket to the next elder. Kahlan stared at the skulls arranged in a circle in the center as each elder took a frog and began rubbing its back against the bare circle of skin on his chest. As they did so, each rolled his head back and chanted different words. Without looking over, Savidlin passed her the basket.
Closing her eyes, she reached inside and finally caught a squirming, kicking spirit frog. Its smooth, slimy skin was revolting. Swallowing hard, and taking a mental grip on her Confessor's power to try to keep from releasing it unintentionally, she pressed the frog's back to the skin between her breasts as she passed the basket to Richard.
Tingling tightness spread across her skin. She freed the frog and took up Richard's hand once more as the walls began to waver, as if seen through heat and smoke. Her mind tried in vain to hold on to the images of the spirit house around her. They drifted away as she felt herself spinning around the skulls.
Soft sensations caressed her skin. Light danced from the skulls in the center and filled her eyes. Sounds of the boldas and drums and chanting filled her ears. The pungent smell from the fire filled her lungs. As once before, the light from the center brightened, taking them into it, into the silken void, spinning them around.
And then there were shapes around them. Kahlan remembered them, too, from before: the ancestors' spirits. She felt a gossamer touch on her shoulder: a hand; a spirit hand.
The Bird Man's mouth moved, but it wasn't his voice. It was the joined voices of the ancestors' spirits, flat, hollow, dead.
'Who calls this gathering?'
Kahlan leaned toward Richard, and whispered, 'They want to know who calls this gathering.'
He nodded. 'I do. I call this gathering.'
The touch left her shoulder and the spirits all floated from behind them into the center of the circle.
'Speak your name.' The echo of their voices sent ripples of pain along the skin of her arms. 'Your full and true name. If you are certain that you wish this gathering, despite the danger, speak the request after your name. You get but this one warning.'
Richard stared at her translation. 'Richard, please...'
'I have to.' He looked back to the spirits in the center and took a deep breath. 'I am Richard...' He swallowed and closed his eyes for a moment. 'I am Richard Rahl, and I request this gathering.'
'So be it,' came the empty whispers.
The door to the spirit house crashed open.
Kahlan jumped with a little shriek. She felt Richard's hand flinch, too. The doorway stood open, a black maw in the soft light around them. The elders all looked up, their eyes no longer glazed with the distant vision. They seemed confused, dazed.
The spirit voices came again, this time not through the elders, but from the center, from the spirits themselves. The sound of it was even more painful than before.
'All but the one who calls the ancestors' spirits may leave. Leave while you still can. Heed our warning. Those who remain behind with him risk forfeiting their souls.' They turned as one to Richard. Their voices were a hiss. ' You may not leave.'
The elders' frightened eyes flicked around to each other as she translated for Richard. Kahlan knew: this had never happened before.
'Everyone out,' Richard whispered. 'Have everyone get out. I don't want them hurt.'
Kahlan looked to the Bird Man's worried eyes. 'Please. All of you, leave now. While you can. We don't want harm to come to any of you.'
The elders all looked to the Bird Man. He stared at her a moment, glanced at Richard, and then back to her.
'I can offer you no guidance, child. This has never happened before. I don't know what it means.'
Kahlan nodded. 'I understand. Go now, before it is too late.'
Savidlin touched her shoulder, and then the elders vanished as they walked through the black void of the doorway. She sat in the quiet with Richard; with the spirits.
'Kahlan, I want you out of here, too. Go. Now.' His voice was calm, almost cold. Fear danced in his eyes. And magic.
She watched his face as he stared at the spirits.
'No,' she whispered. She turned once more to the center. 'I will not leave you. Not for any reason. Though no words have been spoken over us, we are joined in our hearts, by my magic. We are one. What happens to one, happens to both. I am staying.'
Richard didn't look over. He continued to stare at the spirits as they floated in the center of the room, above the skulls. She thought he would yell at her to leave. He didn't. His voice came soft and gentle.
Thank you. I love you, Kahlan Amnell. Together, then.'
The door banged closed.
Kahlan jumped, and a little sound escaped from her throat before she could catch it. Her heart pounded in her ears. She tried to slow her breathing, but couldn't. She swallowed instead.
The image of the spirits dimmed. 'What you have called forth, Richard Rahl, we cannot stay to witness. We are sorry.'
Their forms seemed to evaporate as she watched. As they vanished, the light went with them, until the two of them were left in total blackness. She could hear the slow crackle of the fire off beyond that blackness, Richard's quick breathing, her own breathing, and nothing else. Richard's hand found hers. In the darkness, they sat together, alone, naked.
As Kahlan began to think, to hope, that nothing was going to happen, she became aware of a slight brightening in front of her. There was light beginning to glow.
Green light.
A shade of green light she had seen from only one place.
The underworld.
Her breaths came in ragged pulls. The green light brightened, and with it, distant wails.
From the air all about came an earsplitting crack, like a clap of thunder, sudden, hard, painful. The ground shook with the impact of it.
From the center of the green light, a white brilliance oozed through, to coalesce into a form and stand before them. Her breath caught in her throat. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood out stiffly.
The white form took a step closer. She only dimly realized Richard's grip on her hand was hurting her. Kahlan knew the white robes, the long blond hair, the painfully handsome face that stood before them, smiling that small, gruesome smile.
'Dear spirits protect us,' she whispered.
It was Darken Rahl.
As one, she and Richard came slowly to their feet. The glowing blue eyes watched them rise. Relaxed, unhurried, Darken Rahl brought a hand up and licked his fingertips.
Thank you, Richard, for calling me back.' His cruel smile widened. 'How thoughtful of you.'
'I... didn't call you back,' Richard whispered.
Darken Rahl laughed a quiet laugh. 'Once again, you make a mistake. Call me back you did. You called a gathering. A gathering of ancestors' spirits. I am your ancestor. Only you could have brought me back, through the veil. Only you.'
'I denounce you.'
'Denounce me all you will.' He held his arms out, out in the white light around him. 'I am still here.'
'But I killed you.'
The glowing, shimmering, white robed form laughed again. 'Killed me? So you did. And, you used magic to send me to a different place. A place where I am known. A place where I have... friends. And now you have called me back. Again with magic. Not simply called me back, Richard, but torn the veil further to do so.' He slowly shook his head. 'Is there no end to your stupidity?'
Darken Rahl seemed to float, and at the same time walk, toward Richard. Richard let go of Kahlan's hand as he backed away. She couldn't make her legs move to go with him.
Richard's eyes were wide. 'I killed you. I defeated you. I won. You lost.'
The blond head nodded slowly. 'You won a small battle, in a timeless war, by using the gift, and the Wizard's First Rule. But in your ignorance, you violated the Wizard's Second Rule, and in so doing, you have lost it all.' His slow, wicked smile came back. 'Such a shame. Didn't anyone ever tell you? Magic is dangerous. I could have taught you. Could have shared it all with you.' He shrugged. 'But it doesn't matter. You have helped me win even without being taught. I couldn't be more proud of you.'
'What is the Wizard's Second Rule? What did I do!'
Rahl's eyebrows lifted as he took another step closer.
'Why, Richard, don't you know? You should,' he whispered. 'You have broken it a second time, today. And in violating it a second time, you have torn the veil once more, a second time, and brought me here, so that I might tear it the rest of the way and free the Keeper.' His mocking smile returned. 'All by yourself He gave a taunting laugh. 'My son. You should never have meddled in things you don't understand.'
'What do you want!'
Rahl drifted closer. 'You, my son. You.' His hand began to rise toward Richard. 'You sent me to another world, and now, in turn, I am going to send you there. You are for the Keeper. He wants you. You are his.'
Without even realizing it, Kahlan's fist was up, the Con Dar igniting in the depths of her being. Rage exploded through her, and blue lightning erupted from her fist. The dark void around them was ripped away in a fury of light and sound that shook the ground under her feet. The spirit house was back, lit by the blue bolt as it arced toward Darken Rahl.
Effortlessly, his hand came up, deflecting the strike. The bolt of lightning split. One shaft blasted through the roof, into the black sky, sending a shower of tile fragments raining down. The other fork struck the ground, throwing dirt hurtling everywhere.
Darken Rahl's eyes met hers. His gaze seared her very soul. He smiled the most wicked smile she had ever seen. It seemed to make every fiber of her being ache. She tried to call forth the power again, but nothing happened. He had done something. Kahlan tried, but she couldn't move a muscle. Richard seemed as paralyzed as she.
Her world was collapsing in a frightening rush. Richard, she wailed in her mind. My Richard. Oh, dear spirits, don't let this happen.
His eyes burning with rage, Richard managed to take a step forward, but Darken Rahl put his hand to the left side of his chest, above his heart, stopping him stone still.
'I mark you, Richard. For the Keeper. With the Keeper's mark. You are his.'
Richard threw his head back. His scream seemed to rend the very fabric of the air, and tear her heart and soul with its despair. Kahlan felt as if she died a thousand deaths in that instant.
As Darken Rahl held his hand to Richard's chest, wisps of smoke curled away. Kahlan's nostrils filled with the stench of burning flesh.
Darken Rahl pulled his hand back. 'The price of ignorance, Richard. You are marked. You are the Keeper's, now. Now, and forever. The journey begins.'
Richard collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been out. Kahlan didn't know if he was unconscious, or dead. Something held her up, but it wasn't her legs. It was the strings held by Darken Rahl.
He glided closer to her. He loomed over her, crushing her in blinding brilliance. Kahlan wanted to shrink away, to close her eyes, but she could not.
Finally, she regained her voice. 'Kill me too,' she whispered. 'Send me where you have sent him. Please.'
His glowing hand reached toward her. The agony in her heart tore her mind senseless. His fingers fanned open. His touch on her flesh sent fire and ice through her in a wave of shock.
The hand pulled back.
'No.' Darken Rahl's pitiless smile spread anew. 'No. That would be too easy. Better to let him see what happens to you. Better to let him watch, helpless.' The smile showed teeth for the first time. 'Better to let him suffer it.' His eyes had an intensity that seemed to impale her. It was the same frightening glare Richard had inherited.
'You live, for now. Soon enough, you will twist in a different pain, living, and dead,' he whispered in a measured, merciless tone. 'He will watch. Forever. I will watch. Forever. The Keeper will watch. Forever.'
'Please,' she cried, 'send me with him.'
A finger reached out and touched a tear. The pain of the touch made her flinch. 'Since you love him so much, I will give you a gift.' He turned and drew his arm smoothly through the air in Richard's direction. His frightening blue eyes returned to her. 'I will let him live a short time longer. Long enough for you to watch as the Keeper's mark bleeds the life from him. Bleeds his soul from him. Time is nothing. The Keeper will have him. I give you this spark of time in forever to watch the one you love die.'
He leaned toward her. She struggled to back away, but couldn't. His lips left a kiss on her cheek. The pain of it sent a silent shriek through her and filled her mind with a vision of being raped. Luminous fingers lifted her hair from her neck. His mouth was by her ear.
'Enjoy my gift,' he whispered intimately. 'In time, I will have you, too. Forever. Between life and death. Forever. I would like to tell you how much you will suffer, but I am afraid you would not be able to comprehend it. Soon enough, I will show you.' He gave a whispering laugh in her ear. After I have torn the veil the rest of the way, and freed the Keeper.'
As she stood helpless, he left another kiss on her neck. The horror of the visions it seared through her mind left her feeling defiled beyond anything she had thought possible. 'Just a tiny taste. Good-bye, for now, Mother Confessor.'
As he turned from her, she was able to move again. She snatched desperately for the power. It wouldn't come. She cried and shook as she watched him glide through the doorway of the spirit house and disappear.
And then she collapsed to the ground with a wail of agony. Convulsing in ragged sobs, she clawed across the dirt to Richard.
He lay on his side, away from her. She pulled him over on his back. His arm flopped to his side, limp. His head rolled toward her. He looked ashen, dead. On his chest was a burned handprint - the Keeper's mark. The blackened skin was cracked and bleeding. His life, his soul, was bleeding away.
She fell on him, clutched at him, as she wept and shook uncontrollably.
Kahlan gripped her fingers into a fist in his hair and pressed her face against his cold cheek. 'Please, Richard,' she cried in choking sobs, 'please don't leave me. I would do anything for you. I would die in your place. Don't die. Don't leave me. Please, Richard. Don't die.'
She crouched against him, her world ending. Dying. She could think of nothing to do, other than cry that she loved him. He was dying, and she could do nothing to stop it. She could feel his breathing slow.
She willed herself to die with him, but death wouldn't come. She lost all sense of time. She didn't know if she had been there a few minutes, or a few hours. She didn't know what was real anymore. It all felt like a nightmare. With trembling fingers, she stroked his face. His skin was dead cold.
'You would be Kahlan.'
She spun around, sitting up, at the sound of the woman's voice coming from behind her. The door to the spirit house was closed again. In the darkness, a white, spiritlike glow towered over her. It appeared to be a spirit, a woman, her hands clasped in front of her. She watched with a pleasant smile. Her hair, as best as Kahlan could make of it, was plaited in a single braid.
'Who are you?'
The figure sank down to sit in front of her. The spirit had no clothes Kahlan could make out, but didn't appear to be naked either. The woman looked at Richard. A glaze of both longing and anguish came over her fair features. The spirit turned to Kahlan.
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