Into Darkness

21

Out of the corner of her eye, Kahlan saw Berdine’s jaw drop. “Mama?”

Rikka lifted an arm to point. “No, that’s my mother.”

Vale went to her knees as her eyes welled up with tears. “Mother? Is that really you?”

“This is impossible,” Shale whispered even as Kahlan knew that she, too, would be seeing her own mother.

When Nyda reached out in longing and started to rush ahead, Richard swept an arm around her waist and yanked her from her feet. He set her down behind him. Kahlan caught Rikka’s arm to stop her from going any farther.

“Everyone stay where you are,” Richard said in a commanding voice before any of the others could rush to the woman they all wrongly believed was their mother.

Most of the Mord-Sith looked in stunned confusion between the women and Richard. The woman sitting on the magnificent throne smiled benevolently. Kahlan knew that Richard, too, was seeing his mother. The only difference was, like Kahlan, Richard knew who this really was.

“Shota, stop it,” Richard called out in a voice that cut through the hiss of the burning lamp oil and echoed around the chamber.

Kahlan had been pretty sure for quite some time who it was that had been drawing them into this trap. Richard had known as well, but like her, he had not wanted to put words to that belief lest that somehow make it true. They had both hoped they were wrong, and that it would turn out to be something else.

Kahlan’s mother smiled, then, in a loving way, but Kahlan had already steeled herself against Shota’s cynical deception. This was a witch woman playing her games; it was not any of their mothers. She didn’t allow herself to let her emotions be twisted by what she knew to be an illusion.

Shale looked at Kahlan in wordless confusion.

“That spell you felt at the opening to this place?” Kahlan whispered to her.

“Yes? What of it?” Shale asked.

“It was to keep you from smelling witches.”

Realization swept away the confusion in her features.

“Shota,” Richard said again, “stop this cruel hoax.”

Once Shota saw that Richard and Kahlan weren’t about to play along, and that they weren’t going to let any of the others be sucked into the deception, she stood and descended the three platforms the throne sat atop.

Her variegated gray dress gently billowed as if lifted by a gentle breeze. When she caught one of the points of the skirt, it was as if the breeze died out and it settled down. As the dress went still, her fabricated looks also died out, melding back into the face of the witch woman Kahlan knew all too well. She was glad, at least, that Shota was no longer taunting her with the image of her mother.

Kahlan glanced at the women lined up to either side of the throne. Their piercing glares were chilling. Even though they all looked very different, they all radiated the same aura of mystery and danger.

A self-satisfied smile spread across Shota’s full, red lips. Her almond eyes sparkled with her smile. Kahlan had always thought of the stunning woman as a rose encrusted with ice crystals.

Shota glided across the room toward them, her eyes fixed on Richard the whole time. Kahlan found it irritating the way Shota had always acted a little too charming toward Richard. Richard, of course, didn’t respond to her charms, but it nonetheless irritated her.

“Cruel hoax?” Shota asked in her silky-smooth voice.

Kahlan had never thought it fair that a woman as beautiful as Shota should also have a voice that could charm a good spirit out of the underworld.

“My intent was merely to bring a cherished memory to life so that each of you could once more look upon your beloved mothers.” Shota arched an eyebrow. “How is that cruel? It was a gift created through great effort on my part.”

“Your intent was to bring each of us pain and to crush our hearts,” Richard said. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

She smiled reproachfully. “Richard, a Seeker needs his anger. If you will recall, I’ve warned you before not to let it cloud your judgment. And yet, it is a mistake you have made too often in the past.”

Richard didn’t go for the bait and instead glanced around. “What is this gloomy pit? Why aren’t you in Agaden Reach?”

Shota swept an arm around in a grand gesture as if to show him the massive room, all the while smiling at him. “This is my winter palace. Isn’t it splendid? Do you like it?”

Richard never took his eyes off her, the same way he wouldn’t take his eyes off any lethal threat. “Not really. I think I prefer the swamp you live in. It’s more honest.”

“Ah, well, the Reach is nice, I must admit,” Shota cooed. “But I come here to Bindamoon, on rare occasions, when I have important business to conduct.”

“We met the man you sent to welcome us,” Richard told her.

Shota’s brow twitched. “Man?”

“The bearded fellow with the gift. A gift he intended to use against us.”

Realization came over her features. “Ah.” Her expression soured. “Iron Jack.”

“That’s the one,” Richard said.

She flipped a hand dismissively. “A sycophant, a stooge. He fancies himself useful to me, thinking it will earn him favors. He is always trying to impress me. He doesn’t realize that he merely impresses me as a worthless freak. He is a bothersome little man.”

“He won’t be bothering you anymore,” Richard told her. “He’s dead.”

Shota shrugged as she smiled. “Good.”

Kahlan was a bit surprised by the reaction. She had thought that Shota had sent him. Richard didn’t mention that Iron Jack had been killed by the Glee.

Kahlan gestured, indicating the palace above them. “And so you have that place above, now, so that you can call yourself a queen? What are you queen of, exactly?”

Shota turned a cold look on Kahlan. “That is what the people in this place prefer to call me. Queen.”

Kahlan frowned. “Why?”

Shota regarded Kahlan with the kind of penetrating gaze that only added to her menace. Shota had never liked Kahlan, and she took every opportunity to make that clear.

Shota glanced down at Kahlan’s swollen pregnancy. It was not a look of approval. The witch woman’s perfect shape made Kahlan feel fat and ugly in comparison. Against her will, she could feel her face start to go red.

“They choose to call me the queen because they fear to say my name aloud.” The smile again spread on her lips, but failed to reach her eyes. She arched one eyebrow. “With good reason.”

Frowning, Shale leaned closer to Richard. “Mind telling me what’s going on?”

He held out an arm in introduction. “Shale, this is Shota, a witch woman Kahlan and I know all too well. Deluded by prophecy, she swore that if we ever dared to have children, she would kill them. That is the witch’s oath that all along has been at the center of everything. That is the true witch’s oath that has shadowed us, nearly gotten us killed, and in the end brought us here. The witch’s oath had never been created by Michec. It had been Shota’s all along.”

Shota smiled at Richard and bowed her head in recognition of him grasping Michec’s role. “He was a useful idiot.”

Shale looked baffled. “But why?”

“Because,” Richard said, “she fears our children. Isn’t that right, Shota?”

Shota’s eyes turned hot and dangerous. “I guess I can’t fool you, Seeker.”

Kahlan had noticed from the beginning that all the women to the sides of the throne were glaring right at her. She did her best not to look at them, but it was next to impossible not to. Each one was different, and each one, in her own way, looked intimidating.

Shota, annoyed that Shale had spoken before being spoken to, slowly stepped closer to her, her boot strikes echoing around the massive stone chamber. She came to a halt before Shale. She lifted her chin a little to look down her nose as she studied the sorceress’s face for a moment.

“Well, well, what have we here?” she asked as she leaned forward then to peer intently into Shale’s eyes. “A half-breed. How utterly revolting.” She straightened back up. “Had you any shame, my dear, you would have long ago killed yourself.” Shota’s disapproval turned again to a mocking smile. “Not to worry.” She cocked her head. “I will help with that when I’m finished with you.”

“I can only assume that you are responsible for the boundary that appeared to force us to come here,” Richard said to draw Shota’s attention away from the sorceress. “That means that you are responsible for the loss of any innocent lives of the people who have been killed when they walked into it without realizing what it was. I want that terrible boundary brought down right now.” Richard leaned toward Shota, fixing her in his raptor glare. “Right now.”

Shota shrugged. “As you wish.” She twirled a hand around overhead. “Done,” she said in a voice that might have been used to announce dinner was ready.

Richard looked a little surprised to have her so easily agree, and a little dubious that she had actually undone something of such massive power. More than that, though, he was not at all happy about the boundary being put up in the first place. “How many innocent people do you suppose you murdered with that thing?”

Shota regained her imperious attitude. “I regret the loss of any innocent lives, but it was unavoidable in order to prevent what would be a much greater loss of lives. So, in that sense, you two are actually the cause of such deaths.”

Richard continued to glare at her. “How do you figure that?”

Shota walked slowly to her ornate throne to stand for a moment as she gathered her thoughts.

She lifted a finger without looking back. “You saved me from the Keeper once.”

“And this is how you show your gratitude?” Richard asked in a rising, angry voice.

After a moment, the witch woman turned and strolled back to stand before Richard and Kahlan. “I told you both that because of what you had done, I would be forever grateful. I meant it.”

She touched her fingertips to the side of Richard’s face. “I actually rather like you. You are a noble individual. You and the Mother Confessor both. You both have fought for the survival of your people, and in so doing fought for my survival as well. You have done good and brought peace to the world. For all that and more, I respect you both and wish you no harm.”