Into Darkness

11

When Kahlan, sitting in front of the fire to stay warm, heard one of the Mord-Sith let out a birdcall, she stood. Shale rose to her feet beside her.

“Do you think it’s Richard?” the sorceress asked.

“Yes, it’s him. Nyda would have made a different call if it wasn’t, if it was a stranger or some kind of trouble. He’s finally back.”

Cassia glanced back over her shoulder to the woods in the direction of the birdcall, then put another stick of wood on the fire before standing. A spit over the fire had rabbits roasting. The cooking meat smelled good, but Kahlan, wringing her hands expectantly, was too worried about what word Richard would bring to them to be hungry.

When she spotted him coming out of the trees with Nyda, she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. Her loneliness and worry of the day melted away at the sight of him. Something about being pregnant made her want to be close to him all the more.

She kissed his neck. “I’m so glad you’re back. I was so worried.”

Even though she was relieved that he was safe, the grim look on his face had her stomach once again feeling like it was tightening in knots. She gestured back to the fire.

“Cassia and Vale set snares and caught some rabbits. There were also some fish on the lines you set out before. You’re just in time so that we can have a good meal together. We all need it. Come and have something to eat. You must be starving.”

She could tell that he was deeply troubled, so she didn’t want to press as to why just then. She knew that he would soon enough tell them all what he had learned. By that troubled look, though, she knew it would not be good news.

He put his arm around her waist as they walked together to the fire and then sat cross-legged on the bare ground. The fire had been going since the day before, so it had warmed the rock they were all sitting on, making it a cozy refuge from the cold.

Cassia tore off a big piece of meat from one of the already-cooked rabbits sitting beside the fire to keep it warm. She grinned as he took the meat from her.

“We used snares—like you showed us,” she told him.

Richard returned a smile. “I’m proud of you. You did good.”

“So are you going to tell us where you went and why?” Shale asked, obviously not willing to wait for him to decide to tell them in his own way and time.

“I had to confirm that the boundary was also on the other side of the town blocking that pass. It was. It runs off in both directions.”

That bit of news was disheartening, but not exactly unexpected.

“It wasn’t worth all of us going just to find that out. Going alone I made good time and was able to confirm it quickly,” he explained. “That means that we now know that the boundary makes a big loop all the way around us, and likely around the People’s Palace as well. It’s a noose drawing tighter around us.”

Berdine leaned forward. “Drawing us into what?”

Richard took a bite of rabbit as he looked into her eyes and then gestured back over his shoulder with the piece of meat he was holding.

“Drawing us into that fortress built across the pass. I suspect that if we stayed out here, the boundary would close in around us until we had no choice but to go in there or die.

“Someone in there didn’t want us getting away—getting to the Wizard’s Keep, getting to where they couldn’t get their hands on us.”

Kahlan didn’t say anything. None of it surprised her. It angered her, but it didn’t surprise her.

“But why?” Berdine pressed as she tore off another piece of meat and handed it to him.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kahlan said in a quiet voice as her gaze sank to the crackling flames. “To get the children of D’Hara that I’m carrying.”

When she glanced up, Richard was looking into her eyes. From the look in his gray eyes it was obvious he agreed with her.

“If that boundary is covering all that territory,” Shale said, “then what happens when people come upon it. There are people traveling between places. There are merchants and traders that travel between cities. Some people have business that requires them to travel. People are going to encounter it. What happens when they come to the boundary?”

“If they are unlucky or foolish enough to walk into it, they die,” Richard said with finality. “As you get close the boundary starts giving off that green glow as a warning, but not everyone knows what it means. If they are too curious and keep going in to try to find out what it could mean, then once they take one step too many it will be too late for them to turn back.”

“Doesn’t whoever is doing this care about the lives taken by the boundary they created?” Cassia asked.

“No,” Richard said. “They want what they want and that’s all there is to it. They obviously don’t care if it costs the lives of innocent people.”

Shale threw up her hands. “Who? Who is doing all of this? It has to be more than one person. No one person would be powerful enough to use your gift to put up that boundary of death. You said before that gifted people could join their gifts to do things that none of them alone could do. It has to be a number of people doing it. But who?”

“Someone seriously committed” was all Richard would say.

Kahlan knew that he knew who waited for them in the fortress town.

Shale lifted her hands and let them drop into her lap in frustration. “It’s not just the boundary. It’s also that strange wood we were lost in for so long. I suspect they not only created that but also started the Mother Confessor miscarrying to keep us from getting far. I just don’t know who could be doing all of this.”

Richard gave her a look. “You will find out soon enough.” He turned to the Mord-Sith gathered around. “Pack up everything. We’re leaving.”

“Now?” Kahlan asked. “It will be dark pretty soon.”

“I’m done wasting time and I’m done letting other people control us. The skies are clear. The moon will be up soon. The moonlight reflecting off the snow will easily provide enough light to see our way. We’re going in there now when they won’t be expecting us and putting a stop to this.”