Into Darkness

5

Richard’s fear for Kahlan had him feeling like he was watching himself from somewhere high above the campsite as he rushed around the fire to the lean-to. If he had made the wrong decision, he could very well be about to poison the only woman he had ever loved, the only woman he ever could love.

He found Kahlan laid out just under the shelter of the lean-to on a bed of grass. She was covered with blankets. He marveled at how exquisite she looked in her deep sleep. It was the perfect innocence and beauty of a child. He hoped the sleep was a peaceful one. He knew, though, that if Shale really had succeeded in putting Kahlan in that nowhere place between the world of the living and the world of the dead, it was anything but peaceful there.

The Keeper of the underworld would be whispering promises to her, urging her to take that last step and enter his eternal realm of rest. Richard knew all too well that it was a seductive call and difficult to resist. But he knew, too, that she would be trying with all her will to resist so that her babies would have the chance to live. If she was able to resist that longing to be free of pain and suffering, it would be for them.

Cassia was there as well, on the opposite side of Kahlan from the fire, sitting on the ground beside her, holding her hand in both of hers. As Richard knelt down beside her, Cassia offered a hopeful smile as she moved back out of the way.

“How is she?” he asked back over his shoulder.

Cassia’s voice was heavy with anguish. “She hasn’t moved since Shale put her in a deep sleep. I was relieved, though, when she did because the Mother Confessor was struggling terribly in pain. I ached myself at seeing her in such agony. At least she is breathing more easily, now.”

Richard nodded and turned back to Kahlan. He pushed her chin down until her mouth fell open. With his thumbnail, he clipped off the bottom of the taproot. One drop of the milky white sap dripped on her cheek before he could get the tip of the root over her mouth. As he held the plant over her with one hand, letting the milky fluid slowly drip into her mouth, he swept the drop up with a finger and wiped it onto the inside of her lower lip.

Even though she was still not conscious, Kahlan’s tongue worked at the contact with the milky fluid. When the dripping slowed to a stop, Richard pushed up on her jaw to close her mouth. He knew she needed to get it into her stomach, so he was relieved to see her swallow.

After she had swallowed a few times, he opened her mouth again, then snapped off the taproot halfway up. When he did, more fluid again began running out, dripping into her mouth. Once the flow finally stopped, he closed her mouth again until she swallowed, then opened it and snapped the root off where it turned to the green stem. An even more plentiful, thicker flow started to drain from the rest of the plant. He understood, then, why Shale had told him that it had to be a living plant. A dead and dried-up plant would have no milky sap.

When the flow stopped, he worked his fingers to gradually wad up the plant in his fist. He squeezed to force out as much fluid as possible. When he was sure the dripping was finished, he handed the crumpled plant to Cassia.

“Take this to Shale. There may still be some milk in the plant that she can add to the medicine she’s making.”

Cassia nodded and then raced off to take the crumpled plant to the sorceress. Sitting on the cold ground beside Kahlan, Richard watched as Shale tore the plant into small pieces and added it to the steaming pot she already had cooking on the fire. She reached into a pocket of her trousers and pulled out a pouch. From the pouch she added a few pinches of some kind of powdered preparation to the pot.

As she stirred the boiling potion, Richard lay down close beside Kahlan to help keep her warm. He gently ran a hand over her round belly, hoping she would know that he was there with her. As much as he wanted to stay awake, he was exhausted and soon nodded off into a troubled sleep.

He hadn’t been asleep long when he heard Shale speaking to some of the Mord-Sith. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. The brief nap had done nothing to banish his exhaustion. To his side, Vika sat on the ground, watching over him and Kahlan. He knew that she had to be just as tired as he was.

“Why don’t you lie down and get some sleep?”

“I will,” she answered. “But not until after the Mother Confessor gets the medicine Shale is preparing.”

He looked over at Shale, squatted down beside the fire, leaning over the pot she had set on the ground, continually stirring the preparation. She lifted the stick out, letting the concoction drip off to test its consistency. She dipped her little finger into it to test if it had cooled enough. Apparently, it had. She gave an order to one of the Mord-Sith. Vale quickly stood and rushed to one of the saddlebags. She dug around until she came up with a piece of cloth.

Shale urged both Nyda and Vale to hold all four corners of the cloth. When they had, she slowly poured the pot of liquid in the cloth to filter the preparation and let it drip into a tin cup she had placed on the ground. Once the liquid had mostly dripped through, she took the cloth and twisted it around and around. She grimaced with the effort of squeezing out all the remaining liquid.

When she was finished, she threw the cloth and its contents onto the fire. Blue and green flames and glowing sparks shot up from the cloth as it burned, lighting the trees all around in flickering, colored light.

After dispensing with the filter cloth, she picked up the cup and hurried to Kahlan. She knelt down on the other side and set down the cup before putting a hand to Kahlan’s forehead, checking on her fever.

“That’s good. Her fever is down,” Shale told Richard. She gestured. “Sit her up for me.”

He carefully and gently scooped an arm under Kahlan’s shoulders and lifted her. Kahlan’s head slumped to the side. Shale straightened her head and then put her fingers on Kahlan’s temples with her thumbs over her eyes. She softly spoke some kind of chant. Richard couldn’t hear the words well enough to understand them. He doubted that even if he could hear them well enough he would have known what the words were. He assumed it was some sorceress’s—or even witch’s—spell. Sorceresses, and likely witch women, often relied on spells.

Whatever it was, it caused Kahlan to gasp in a deep breath along with Shale. Richard noticed that Shale synchronized her breathing with Kahlan’s for a moment. Finally, the sorceress took her hands away and Kahlan opened her eyes.

Richard jumped a little in surprise. “Kahlan!” He was excited to see her awake. “How are you feeling?”

The sorceress swished a hand. “She can’t hear you. She is still in that deep place. I don’t want her to choke or drown when I give her the preparation.”

Indeed, Kahlan seemed completely unresponsive. Though her eyes were open, it didn’t seem like she saw anything. Still, Richard felt hope at seeing her beautiful green eyes. There was life in them, and that was cause for hope.

As he held Kahlan up, Shale brought the tin cup with the milky potion to her lips. As she tipped it in, Kahlan began to drink it. It took a while for her to slowly drink it all. When she had, Shale took the cup away and motioned for Richard to lay her back down. As he did, Kahlan’s eyes closed once more.

Shale stood and let out a weary sigh. “Now we must let the mother’s breath do its work—both what you gave her and what I prepared. When it has done all it can, and if it is enough, she will wake on her own from the deep sleep and be fully back in the world of life. Until then, let her rest. Tonight determines if she will survive this ordeal or not. Until then, we all need to sleep to be able to face what tomorrow holds.”

Richard couldn’t take issue with that. He nodded as Shale went to her nearby bedroll. She looked exhausted. Richard was as well, but he was worried that the medicine might not work. He was terrified that he might lose Kahlan this night. But at least she seemed to be resting peacefully. What terrified him more was that she might instead rest peacefully for eternity with the good spirits.

He leaned close. “Life is a struggle,” he whispered to her. “Fight for me, for us, for our children.”

When he was finished and sat back up, Cassia touched his shoulder. “Berdine and I will watch over her tonight. You and Vika need to get some sleep.”

Richard didn’t want to sleep. More than his better judgment, it was his exhaustion that made him lie down beside Kahlan. He kissed her cheek and then gripped her hand in his.