Hateful Things

23

Berdine immediately started down the corridor. The ranks of heavily armed men in the corridor all moved to the sides of the broad passageway for her and her charges. Nyda went in front with Berdine. Kahlan, holding Richard’s hand, was next, with Vika right behind her. Shale, Rikka, Vale, and Cassia took up the rear guard.

The entire way past all the soldiers to either side of the corridor, all standing with their backs to the wall to make room, Kahlan met the eyes of each man in turn. There was not one who averted their gaze. That much of it was a relief. She hoped they could escape the People’s Palace without the Golden Goddess seeing them leaving through someone’s eyes. As she had learned as a little girl being taught combat strategy by her father, King Wyborn, confusing the enemy was always a valuable tactic.

Berdine led them at a near run down side halls and narrow stairwells and through a labyrinth of dark and deserted passageways as they wound their way ever lower and across the restricted section of the palace. Everyone followed in silence. They all knew the dangers they were leaving behind and the ones they might encounter along the way. They watched for any threats as they moved as silently as possible.

Kahlan was excited to finally have a plan that she knew could work. The Sisters of the Light could be overbearing and full of themselves at times, but they were loyal to Richard and to life. They had fought valiantly in the war. She was confident they would face this new threat with determination and grit.

Kahlan wished so much, as she had so many times, that Richard’s grandfather were still with them. Zedd had been an important part of her life ever since she met him. He had watched over her in ways that no other could. The wily old wizard had wormed his way into her heart from the first. But in a way, with Richard, she still had part of Zedd with her.

With a great sense of relief, they finally reached the sliph’s room without being seen or being attacked. Kahlan had feared that the goddess would somehow try to stop them. But with only the Mord-Sith and Shale with them, there had been no eyes able to watch where they went, rendering the goddess blind. While the protection of the First File would be valuable, the risk of having the goddess see or hear what they were doing through one of them was now too great.

Without delay, Richard crossed the ancient room to the waist-high, round wall of the massive well. He leaned over the stone cap and put the silver wristbands together at his wrists. They began to glow brighter until Kahlan could see the shadows of his bones right through his flesh.

“Sliph!” he called down into the darkness. “I need you!” His voice echoed up from the well and around the domed room.

Shale looked especially tense, not knowing what to expect. Kahlan twisted her fingers together, worried that maybe the sliph might not come, or maybe she wasn’t even there anymore. Shale, now knowing what Richard was doing, gave Kahlan a puzzled frown. Kahlan thought it would be best for her to wait and see it for herself.

As they waited in silence, pebbles and dirt on the stone floor started dancing as a vibration rose up from deep below. With building intensity, the whole room reverberated with a droning rumble. Dust fell from joints in the stone walls and domed ceiling.

With a roar of tremendous speed the silver sliph shot up from the depths of her well, stopping abruptly at the top rather than surging out. The silvery, liquid surface calmed, and then a lump of it rose up into the air. A beautiful silver face formed. A silver arm reached out and cupped Richard’s face.

“Master, it is good to see you again,” she said in her beguiling voice. “Come, we will travel. You will be pleased.”

Richard held an arm back to the rest of them waiting by the wall. “We all need to travel. We need to go right away.”

For the first time, it seemed, the sliph looked around and saw that there were eight women with him, or possibly she’d seen them before and simply didn’t care about anyone but Richard. Now that she thought about it, Kahlan realized that was probably it. She fumed silently at the way the sliph smiled at Richard.

“All of you wish to travel?”

“Yes,” Richard hurriedly said for everyone, as he motioned with an arm to urge them all closer. “We all need to travel. I would be very pleased if you would take us all. We’re in a hurry.”

Shale, looking quite alarmed, took a step back.

“Where do you wish to travel?” the sliph asked in that silky, silvery voice that for some reason grated on Kahlan’s nerves.

“The Keep,” Richard said. “I would be very pleased if you would take us all to the Wizard’s Keep.”

“I know the place,” she cooed to him. “I can take you there. But you know you can’t take that sword.” She slipped her arm around behind him in a familiar way to touch the scabbard.

Richard pressed his lips tight for a moment. “I know. I’ll have to leave it here until we can return.”

He pulled the baldric off over his head. “Now that the blade has touched death,” he told Kahlan, “I think I could take it, but with so much at stake, I fear to risk it.” He leaned the scabbard up against the stone wall.

Kahlan didn’t like the idea of him leaving the sword, but she remembered how in the past taking it with him nearly cost him his life. He was right, there was too much at stake.

“Come closer,” the sliph said to everyone, her voice more businesslike, not nearly as soft and smooth as when she spoke to Richard.

All the Mord-Sith approached to stand before the stone wall of the well. The sliph’s silver arm reached out, her fingers gently passing from one to another, brushing each forehead briefly.

“You all have what is required to travel.”

Richard hooked Shale’s arm under his and pulled her closer. Her eyes were wide with shock at seeing the sliph and hearing it speak. Such a creature, created by ancient wizards, was obviously something she had never encountered before, and she was more than a little wary of it. It had to be incomprehensible to her.

“Is this safe?” she whispered to Richard.

“It is for me,” the sliph said with a smooth, silvery smile before sliding her silver fingers across Shale’s smooth brow. Shale winced but stood her ground. The sliph pulled her hand back. “She cannot travel. She doesn’t have the required magic.”

“What is she talking about?” said Shale with sudden displeasure. “I’m a sorceress. I have the gift. Obviously, I have magic.”

Richard shook his head. “You misunderstand. You need both Additive and Subtractive Magic to travel in the sliph.”

Shale took a step back. “Subtractive Magic? Are you crazy?”

Richard waved a hand to dismiss her concern as he climbed up to stand on the stone wall. “I can give you enough of it to make it possible for you to travel. Don’t worry. I’ve done it before.”

As Richard was reassuring Shale, the sliph reached out to run a hand across Kahlan’s brow.

“She may not travel,” the silver face announced with a hint of distaste.

Richard had just helped Vika up beside him. He turned to frown at the sliph, then held an arm out toward Kahlan. “What are you talking about? Kahlan has traveled before many times. Of course she can travel.”

“Not now.”

Richard growled his impatience. “Why not?”

“Because she is pregnant. She and the two babies growing in her would die in me if she were to try to travel.”

Richard turned with a look that locked Kahlan’s breath in her lungs. Richard stood frozen with a look of shock on his face as he stared down at her. She suddenly felt hot all over. Her fingers and toes tingled. She thought she might pass out.

Kahlan forced herself to speak. “It’s all right, Richard. You and Vika go. I will stay here. Shale and my sisters of the Agiel will protect me. I will have your sword. You must travel to the Keep to get help. You must. It’s our only chance.”

Richard hadn’t moved a muscle as he stared at her. The room rang with a terrible silence. No one said a word.

The Mord-Sith were all staring at her, but Kahlan could only look into Richard’s gray eyes.

She swallowed again, desperately trying to hold back tears as she took a step back away from the sliph’s well. “I love you. Now go.”