"Soon," Kahlan interjected as she moved to Richard's side. "That's right," Richard said. "Soon. We don't know the exact date, yet. We.. have a few things to work out.
''Look, Drefan, I could use your help. We have a number of wounded men, and some of them are in grave condition. They were wounded by the same man who hurt Cara. I'd really appreciate it if you'd see what you could do to help them."retrieved his knives, slipping them away without having to look at what he was doing. "That's what I'm here for: to help." He headed for the door.caught his arm. "You'd better let me go first. Until I change the orders, you will die if you step out of a room before me. We don't want that."Richard took Kahlan's arm and turned toward the door, she met Cara's eyes for an instant. Her hearing wasn't affected, Drefan had said. She could hear every thing, even though she couldn't react. She had to have heard Kahlan warn him not to put his hand on her there again. She had to have known what Drefan had been doing, but she had been unable to do anything to stop him. Kahlan's face heated at the memory. She turned and hugged Richard's waist as they went through the door.looked up and down the quiet hall, and when he saw no one, he backed her to the paneled wall outside her rooms and pressed a kiss to her lips. She was glad that Drefan had eased the pain in her arm earlier in the day; it hardly hurt to circle both arms around Richard's neck.moaned against his mouth. She was tired from the long day, and her arm did still hurt just a bit, but it wasn't weariness or discomfort that drove out the moan-it was longing.drew her into his arms and turned so that he was leaning his back against the wall instead. His powerful arms crushed her to him, almost lifting her toes from the floor as his kiss became more insistent. She returned it in kind. She pulled his lower lip through her teeth and then backed away for a breath.
"I can't believe Nancy or one of her women isn't here, waiting for us," Richard said.had left their guards farther up the hall, around the corner. They were at last alone-a rare luxury. Even though she had grown up with people always around, she now found their constant presence wearing. There was great value in simply being alone.gave his lips a quick lick and a kiss. "I don't think Nancy will be bothering us."
"Really?" Richard asked with a sly grin. "Why, Mother Confessor, who will protect your virtue?"lips brushed his. "Dear spirits, no one, I pray."surprised her with an abrupt change of topic. "What do you think of Drefan?" That was a question she was not prepared to answer. "What do you think of him?"
"I'd like to have a brother I could trust and believe in. He's a healer. The surgeon was impressed with the way he helped some of those men. He said that at least one of them will live only because of what Drefan did for him. Nadine was more than a little curious about some of the compounds he carries in the leather pouches at his belt. I'd like to think that I have a brother who helps people. Nothing seems so noble as that." "Do you think he has magic?"
"I didn't see any trace of it in his eyes. I'm sure I would have been able to tell. I can't explain how I can sense magic, now, how I can see it sometimes sparkle in the air about a person, or show in their eyes, but I didn't see any of that with Drefan. I think that he is simply a talented healer.
"I'm grateful that he saved Cara. At least he said he saved her. What if she had recovered on her own after Marlin was dead and her link with him was broken?" Kahlan hadn't thought of that. "So, you don't trust him?" "I don't know. I still don't believe in coincidence." He sighed in frustration. "Kahlan, I need you to be honest, and not let me be blinded because he's my brother and I want to trust him. I haven't proven a very good judge of brothers. If you have any reason to doubt him, I want to hear about it." "All right. That seems fair."tipped his head toward her. "For example, you can tell me why you lied to him."frowned. "What do you mean. "
"About your headache being gone. I could see that he didn't make it any better. Why did you tell him that it was gone?" Kahlan cupped a hand to the side of his face.
"I'd like you to have a brother you could be proud of, Richard, but I want it to be real. I guess what you said about coincidence has made me wary, that's all." "Anything other than simply what I said, about coincidence?" "No. I hope he can bring a little brotherly love to your heart. I pray that it is nothing more than simple coincidence." "Me, too." She gave his arm an affectionate squeeze. "I know he has the women on the staff all aflutter. I suspect he will soon be breaking hearts, what with all the swooning looks I've seen.
"I promise to let you know if he gives me reason to suspect something amiss." "Thanks."didn't smile at what she said about the women all liking Drefan. Richard had never displayed any jealousy, he didn't have reason to, even if she hadn't been a Confessor, but still, there was a painful history with Michael that she realized could make reason less than relevant. She wished she hadn't mentioned it.ran his fingers back into her hair, holding the sides of her head as he kissed her. She pulled back.
"Why did you take Nadine with you this afternoon?" "Who?"leaned toward her again. She pulled back. "Nadine. Remember her? The woman in the tight dress?" "Oh, that Nadine."poked his ribs. "So, you noticed her dress."brow drew together. "Did you think there was something different about it, today?"
"Oh yes, there was something different about it. So, why did you take her with you?"
"Because she's a healer. She's not an evil person-she has good qualities. I thought that as long as she was going to be here, she might as well make herself useful. I thought that that might make her feel better about herself. I had her check that the men were making the quench Oak tea properly, that it was strong enough. She seemed happy to help."remembered Nadine's smile when Richard had asked her to go with him. She had been happy, all right, but not simply to help. The smile was for Richard, as was the dress.
"So," Richard said, "you think Drefan is handsome, as all the other women do?"thought his trousers were too tight. She pulled Richard into a kiss, hoping he wouldn't notice her face flushing and misunderstand the reason for it. "Who?" she breathed dreamily.
"Drefan. Remember him? The man in the tight pants?"
"Sorry, I don't remember him," she said as she kissed his neck, and she nearly didn't. She ached for Richard and nothing else.was no room in her mind for Drefan. Almost the only thing in her thoughts was the time she had been with Richard in that strange place between worlds where they had been together, truly together, as never before or since. She wanted him that way again. She wanted him that way now.the way his hands were slipping down her back, and the urgency of his lips on her neck, she knew he wanted her the same way, and just as badly.she also knew that Richard didn't want to even appear to be like his father. He didn't want anyone to think she was no more than Darken Rahl's women had been: an amusement for the Master of D'Hara. That was why he always let the women on the staff so easily keep him a bay; despite his frustrated objections, he never overruled them when they shooed him away.three Mord-Sith, too, always seemed to be protecting Kahlan from being seen as less than the true betrothed to the Master of D'Hara. Whenever she and Richard thought to go to his room at night, even just to talk, either Cara, or Berdine, or Raina was always there, asking some pointed question that seemed to keep them apart. When Richard scowled, they reminded him that he had instructed them to protect the Mother Confessor: he never countermanded the orders., the three Mord-Sith were scrupulously following his orders, and when he had told Cara and Raina to guard him from around the corner and down the hall, they had remained there without objection.their wedding so soon. Kahlan and Richard had decided to wait, even though they had already been together once. That time seemed somehow unreal- in a place between worlds, in a place with no heat, no cold, no source of light, no ground, and yet they could see. and they had lain in dark space firm enough to support them.than anything, she remembered the feel of him. They had been the source of all heat. all light, all feeling, in that 'strange place between worlds where the good spirits had taken them.was feeling that heat. now, as she ran her hands over the muscles of his chest and stomach. She could hardly get her breath with the feel of his lips on her. She wanted his mouth everywhere on her. She wanted hers everywhere on him. She wanted him on the other side of her door.
"Richard," she whispered in his ear, "please, stay with me tonight." His hands were making her lose all sense of restraint. "Kahlan, I thought.."
"Please. Richard. I want you in my bed. I want you in me." He moaned helplessly at her words, and at her hands. "I hope I'm not interrupting," came a voice.jerked up straight. Kahlan spun around. With the thick carpets, they hadn't heard Nadine's silent approach. "Nadine," Kahlan said, catching her breath. "What..?" Kahlan self-consciously clasped her hands behind her back, wondering if Nadine had seen where they had just been. She had to have seen where Richard's had been. Kahlan felt her face going red.'s cool gaze moved from Richard to Kahlan. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I just came to change your poultice. And to apologize." "Apologize?" Kahlan asked, still gulping air.
"Yes. I said some things to you earlier, and I guess I was a bit.. out of sorts at the time. I thought I may have said some things I shouldn't have. I thought I should apologize."
"That's all right." Kahlan said. "I understand how you felt at the time." Nadine lifted her bag and her eyebrow:;. "The poultice?" "My arm is fine for tonight. You could change the poultice for me tomorrow, though." Kahlan sought to fill the dragging silence. "Drefan did some of his healing on it earlier.. so it's fine for tonight." "Sure." She lowered her bag. "You two off to bed. then?" "Nadine," Richard said in a restrained tone, "thanks for checking on Kahlan. Good night."regarded him with a cold glower. "Don't even plan to get married first? Just going to throw her down on the bed and lay claim to her, like some girl you come across in the woods? Seems a bit crude for the high and mighty Lord Rahl. And here you were pretending you were better than us common folk."glanced down at Richard and then turned her glare on Kahlan. "Like I said before, he wants what he's shown. Shota told me about you. I guess you know about what pushes men off the fence, too. It seems you would do anything to have him, after all. Like I said before, you're no better than me." Bag in hand, she turned and marched off down the hall. Kahlan and Richard stood in the uncomfortable silence, watching the empty hall. "Out of the mouths of whores," Kahlan said.wiped his hands back across his face. "Maybe she has a point." "Maybe she does," Kahlan admitted reluctantly. "Well, good night. Sleep well."
"You, too. I'll be thinking about you in that little guest room you use." He bent and kissed her cheek. "Not going to bed right off." "Where are you going?"
"Oh, I thought I'd go dunk myself in a horse trough."caught him by the wide, leather-padded band around his wrist. "Richard, I don't know if I can stand this much longer. Are we ever going to get married before something else happens?"
"We'll go wake the sliph just as soon as we make sure everything here is in order. I promise. Dear spirits, I promise." "What things?"
"Just as soon as we know that the men are getting better, and I'm satisfied about a few other things. I want to make sure that Jagang can't make good on his threats. A couple of days and the men should be better. A couple days. I promise."held one of his fingers in each of' her hands as she stared longingly into his gray eyes. "I love you," she whispered. "In a few days, or after an eternity. I'm yours. Words spoken over us or not, I'm forever yours."
"We are already one, in our hearts. The good spirits know the truth of that. They want us to be together, they've already proven it, and will watch over us. Don't worry, we'll have the words said over us."started away, but turned back win a haunted look in his eyes. "I only wish Zedd could be there when we're married. Dear spirits, I wish he could. And that he was here to help me, now."he looked back from the comer at the end of the hall, Kahlan threw him a kiss. She shuffled into her empty, lonely rooms and threw herself on her big bed. She thought about what Nadine said: "Shota told me about you." Kahlan wept in frustration.
"So, you're not going to be sleeping… up here, tonight," Cara said when he walked past.
"And what would make you think I was?" Richard asked. Cara shrugged. "You made us wait around the corner." "Maybe I just wanted to kiss Kahlan good night without you two passing judgment on my skill."and Raina both smiled, the first he had seen from them all day. "I have already seen you kiss the Mother Confessor," Cara said. "You appear quite talented at it. It always leaves her breathless and wanting more." Even though he didn't feel like smiling, he did anyway because he was glad to see them smiling. "That doesn't mean I'm talented, it just means she loves me."
"I've been kissed," Cara said, "and I've seen you kiss. I believe I can say with some authority that you are talented at the task. We watched you from around the corner tonight."tried to look indignant as he felt his face going red. "I gave you orders to stay down here."
"It is our responsibility to watch over you. To do that, we can't let you out of our sight. We can't follow such orders."shook his head. He couldn't be; angry over the violation of orders. How could he, when they were risking his anger to protect him? They hadn't endangered Kahlan in doing so. "What do you two think of Drefan?"
"He is your brother. Lord Rahl," Raina said. "The resemblance is obvious." "I know the resemblance is obvious. I mean, what do you think of him." "We don't know him. Lord Rahl," Raina said.
"I don't know him, either. Look, I'm not going to be angry if you tell me you don't like him. In fact. I'd really like to know if you don't. What about you, Cara? What do you think of him?"shrugged. "I've never kissed either of you, but from what I have seen, I would rather kiss you."put his hands on his hips. "What does that mean?" "I was hurt, yesterday, and he helped me. But I don't like the fact that master Drefan came now, when Marlin and Nadine came."sighed. "My thoughts, too. I ask people not to judge me because of who my father was, and I find myself doing that with him. I'd really like to trust him. Please, both of you, if you have any reason for concern, don't be afraid to come and tell me."
"Well," Cara said, "I don't like his hands." "What do you mean?"
"He has hands like Darken Rahl. I have already seen them caressing fawning women. Darken Rahl did that, too."threw his hands up. "When did he have time to do that? He was with me most of the day!"
"He found the time, when you were talking to soldiers and when you were out checking on the men with Nadine. It didn't take him long. The women found him. I have never seen so many women batting their lashes at a man. You have to admit, he is fine to look upon."didn't see what was so especially fine about his looks. "Have any of these women not been willing?"answer was a long moment in coming. "No, Lord Rahl." "Well, I guess I've seen other men who acted like that. Some of them have been my friends. They liked women, and women liked them. As long as the women are willing, I can't see that it's any of my business. I'm more concerned about other things." "Like what?" "I wish I knew."
"If you learn that he is here innocently, and only means to help, as he says, then you can be proud of him. Lord Rahl. Your brother is an important man." "He is? How important is he?" "Your brother is the leader of his sect of healers."
"He is? He never told me that."
''No doubt he did not wish to vaunt himself. Humility before the Lord Rahl is the way of D'Harans, and one of the tenets of that ancient sect of healers." "I suppose. So he leads these healers?" "Yes." Cara said. "He is the High Priest of the Raug'Moss." "The what?" Richard whispered. "What did you call them?" "The Raug'Moss, Lord Rahl." "Do you know the meaning of the words?"shrugged. "Just that it means 'healers, that's all. Does it have some meaning to you. Lord Rahl?" "Where's Berdine?" "In her bed, I would suppose."started down the hall, calling orders back to them as he went. "Cara, post a guard for the night around Kahlan's room. Raina, go wake Berdine and ask her to meet me in my office." "Now, Lord Rahl?" Raina asked. 'This late?" "Yes, please."took the steps two at a time on the way to his office where waited the journal, Kolo's journal, written in High D'Haran. In High D'Haran, Raug'Moss meant "Divine Wind."Shota's warning to Nadine for Richard, "the wind hunts him," and the words from the prophecy down in the pit, "he must seek the remedy in the wind," spun through his mind.19time," Ann warned, "you had better let me do the talking. Understand?"eyebrows drew so tight together Zedd thought they might touch. She leaned close enough that he could smell the lingering aroma of sausage on her breath. With a fingernail she tapped his collar-another warning, albeit a wordless one.blinked innocently. "If it would please you. by all means, but my tales always have your best interest, and our purpose, at heart." "Oh, of course, and your clever wit is always a delight, too." Zedd felt that her affected smile was overdoing it; the sardonic praise would have been quite enough. There were accepted customs to such things. The woman really did need to learn where the line was.'s gaze again focused beyond her, to the problem at hand. He passed a critical eye over the inn's dimly lit door. It was across the street and at the end of a narrow, board walk. Above the alleyway that ran between two warehouses hung a small sign: "Jester's Inn."didn't know the name of the large town they had come to in the dark, but he did know that he would have preferred to pass it by. He had seen several inns in the town; this wasn't the one he would have chosen, had he a choice.'s Inn looked as if it had either been an afterthought meant to use available space in the back, or else its proprietors wanted to shelter it from the scrutiny of honest people and the critical eye of authority. From the customers Zedd had already seen, he was leaning in the direction of the second guess. Most of the men looked to be mercenaries or highwaymen. "I don't like it," he muttered to himself.
"You don't like anything." Ann snapped. "You're the most disagreeable man I've ever met."'s eyebrows went up in true surprise. "Why would you say that? I've been told that I'm a most pleasant traveling companion. Do we have any of that sausage left?"rolled her eyes. "No. What is it you don't like this time?" Zedd watched a man look both ways before going to the door at the back of the dark alleyway. "Why would Nathan go in there?"looked over her shoulder, across the deserted street of rutted, frozen slush. She fingered a stray wisp of graying hair into the loose knot tied at the back of her head.
"To get a hot meal and some sleep." She scowled back at Zedd. "That is, if he's even in there."
"I've shown you how to sense the thread of magic I used to hook the tracer cloud to him. You've felt it, felt him."
"True enough," Ann admitted. 'Yet now that we finally catch him, and know that he's in there, you suddenly don't like it." 'That's right," he said distantly. I don't like it."scowl on Ann's face lost its heat and turned serious. "What is it that bothers you?"
"Look at the sign. After the name. A pair of woman's legs pointed up in the shape of a V. She turned back and peered at him is if he were daft. "Zedd, the man has been locked up in the Palace of the Prophets for almost a thousand years."
"You just said it: he's been locked up." Zedd tapped the collar, called a Rada'Han, around his own neck, the collar she had put on him to capture him and make him do her bidding. "Nathan is not inclined to be locked up in a collar again. It probably took him hundreds of years of planning, and the right turn of events, to get out of his collar and to escape. I dread to consider how that man may have influenced or even directly altered events through prophecy to bring to pass the turn of fate that allowed him the opportunity to get off his collar.
"Now you expect me to believe he would go in there just to be with a woman? When he has to know you're chasing after him?"stared in stunned disbelief, "Zedd, are you saying that you think Nathan may have influenced events-prophecies-just to get his collar off?"looked across the road and shook his head. "I'm just saying I don't like it."
"He probably wanted what's in there enough that it distracted him from worrying about me. He simply wanted some female companionship, and ignored the dangers of being caught."
"You have known Nathan for over nine centuries. I've only known him a short time." He leaned down closer to her and lifted an eyebrow. "But even I know better than that. Nathan is anything but stupid. He is a wizard of remarkable talent. You make a serious mistake if you underestimate him."watched his eyes a moment. "You're right; it may be a trap. Nathan wouldn't kill me to escape, but beyond that.. You may be right." Zedd harrumphed.
"Zedd," Ann said, after a long, uncomfortable silence, "this business with Nathan is important. He must be caught. He's helped me in the past when we have discovered danger in the prophecies, but he is still a prophet. Prophets are dangerous. Not because they deliberately wish to cause trouble, but because of the nature of prophecy."
"You don't need to convince me of that. I know well the dangers of prophecy." "We have always kept prophets confined at the Palace of the Prophets because of the potential for catastrophe should they roam free. A prophet who wanted mischief could have it. Even a prophet who doesn't wish mischief is dangerous, not only to others but to himself; people usually extract vengeance on the bringer of truth, as if knowing the truth is its cause. Prophecy is not meant to be heard by untrained minds, those having no understanding of magic, much less prophecy. "One time, as we sometimes did at his request, we let a woman visit Nathan." Zedd frowned at her. "You took prostitutes to him?"shrugged self-consciously. "We knew the loneliness of his confinement. It wasn't the most desirable solution, but yes, we brought him companionship from lime to time. We weren't heartless."
"How magnanimous of you."glanced away from his eyes. "We did what we had to, by locking him in the palace, but we felt sorrow for him. It wasn't his choice to be born with the gift of prophecy.
"We always warned him not to tell the women any prophecy, but one time he did. The woman ran screaming from the palace. We never knew how she escaped before we could stop her.
"She spread word of the prophecy before we could find her. It started a civil war. Thousands died. Women and children died.
"Nathan sometimes seems crazy, out of his senses. Sometimes he seems to me to be the most dangerously unbalanced person I've ever known. Nathan views the world not only by what he sees around him, but through the filter of prophecy that visits his mind.
"When I confronted him, he professed not to remember the prophecy, or having told the young woman anything. I only found out much later, when I was able to link several prophecies, that one of the children who died was a boy named in prophecy as one who would go on to rule through torture and murder. Untold tens of thousands would have died had that boy lived and grown into a man, but Nathan had choked off that dangerous fork in prophecy. I have no idea how much that man knows but won't disclose.
"A prophet has the potential to just as easily cause great harm. A prophet who wished power would have a fair chance of ruling the world." Zedd was still watching the door. "So you lock them away." "Yes."picked at a thread on his maroon robes. He looked down at her squat form in the dim light. "Ann, I am First Wizard. If I didn't understand, I wouldn't be helping you." "Thank you," she whispered.considered their options. There weren't many. "What you are saying, if I understand you, is that you don't know if Nathan is sane, but even if he is, he has the potential to be dangerous."
"I guess so. But Nathan has often helped me to spare people suffering. Hundreds of years ago, he warned me about Darken Rahl, and told me of a prophecy that a war wizard would be born-that Richard would be born. We worked together to see to it that Richard would be safe from interference as he grew, so that you would have the time to help raise your grandson into the kind of man who would use his ability to help people."
"For that, you have my gratitude," Zedd offered. "But you put this collar around my neck, and I don't like that one bit."
"I understand. It's not something I liked doing, nor am I proud of what I did. Sometimes, desperate need calls for desperate acts. The good spirits will have the final say on my actions.
"The sooner we get Nathan, the sooner I will take the Rada'Han from your neck. I don't enjoy holding you prisoner by that collar and making you help me, but in view of the dire consequences should I fail to get Nathan. I do as I feel I must."aimed a thumb over his shoulder. "I also don't like that." Ann didn't look; she knew what he was pointing at. "What does a red moon have to do with Nathan? It's most peculiar, but what does one have to do with the other?"
"I'm not saying it has anything to do with Nathan. I just don't like it." With the thick clouds of the last few days, they had been slowed at night, both by the darkness and also by the difficulty of seeing the tracer cloud he had hooked to Nathan. Fortunately, they had been close enough to sense the link of magic without having to see the tracer cloud; the tracer cloud was only used to get its tracker close enough to sense the link.knew they were very near to Nathan-within a few hundred feet. This close to the object of the trace, the link's magic distorted Zedd's senses, his ability to judge with the aid of his magic, his capacity to access his familiar ability with his gift. This close, his magic was like a bloodhound on scent, so concentrated on the object of its search that it disregarded anything else but the trail. It was an uncomfortable form of blindness, and another reason for his unease.could break the link, but that was risky before they actually had Nathan; once broken, it couldn't be reestablished without physical contact.snow flurries of the last few days had slowed them and made the going cold and miserable. Earlier in the day the clouds had at last cleared away, even if they had left behind the bitter wind to vex them. They had been looking forward to the moonrise, and the light it would provide as they closed in on Nathan.had both watched in stunned silence when the moon had risen: It had risen red.first, they thought that it might be a lingering haze that was causing it, but with the moon well overhead, Zedd knew it was not being caused by some innocent atmospheric event. Worse, with the recent cloud cover, he didn't know how long it had been since the moon had turned rid.
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