Severed Souls

CHAPTER 68

Kahlan stared back into Red’s fierce blue eyes. “All right, I’m listening. What is it you see in the flow of time that is so certain?”

“Nicci is going to kill Richard.”

“Kill him?” Kahlan blinked in disbelief. “Why would she kill Richard? Dear spirits, the woman loves him!”

“That is why she will kill him … because she loves him.”

Kahlan shook her head, as if trying to shake it clear of lunacy.

“You really ought to meet Shota,” Kahlan said. “You’d like her. You both see events in the flow of time and think you understand their true meaning when you don’t. You’re both crazy.”

“I’m not crazy. I would wager that this Shota has given you information that has been vital, as this is. I’m telling you what will happen in the flow of time if that flow is allowed to run its course. I’m trying to make you see what is at stake.”

“I haven’t got time for this nonsense.”

As Kahlan started to leave, Red grabbed her arm and turned her back. “Nicci knows that Richard’s heart belongs to you. She loves him, but she cannot have him. The flow of time says that because of that, she will kill him.”

Kahlan pressed her hands to the sides of her head, exasperated with the pointless, circular conversation, wishing she could shut it out. “You said yourself that this flow of time you look into only holds potential, not certainty.”

Red shook her head emphatically. “No, that is not what I said. I said that because he is the pebble in the pond, Richard’s free will muddies my ability to see how the events he is central to will unfold. It is only undefined potential in his case. But I see other things with absolute clarity.”

Kahlan glared, no longer even able to remain polite.

“So you say.”

Red gestured angrily toward Hunter. “I sent him because I saw that you would all come this way and would have been killed back there in the chasms had I not acted. It was important that none of you die back there. I could see in that same flow that you would befriend Hunter, as you call him, and follow him when you most needed his help—but only if I sent him to save you.

“It wasn’t potential; it was a certainty. I saw the different tributaries, branches, and backwaters in the flow of time and I worked to keep you on the course that would save your lives. Here you stand as a result. I would say that shows I understand the meaning of what I see in the flow of time quite well, wouldn’t you?

“While it doesn’t work that way with Richard, it does with the people around him. It worked that way with you. It wasn’t chance or potential, it was only the deliberate choices I made to effect the outcome that kept you all alive.

“Perhaps, as you say, this witch woman, Shota, only thinks she understands the true meaning of the things she sees in the flow of time, but don’t judge me by her inadequacies. I know what I’m talking about, and I know what I’m doing.”

Red leaned closer and pointed a finger at Kahlan’s face. “I’m telling you, Mother Confessor, and you had better listen to me—Nicci is going to kill Richard unless you kill her first.

“Richard is the only chance we all have. He is the only one with the potential to save the world of life. Even the first Confessor, Magda Searus, saw that three thousand years ago and did what she could to help him. Now, you are the last Confessor. It has come full circle. It is up to you to make sure he has that chance to fulfill his potential.

“You must kill Nicci before she can kill Richard.”

Kahlan folded her arms and stared back at the witch woman’s piercing blue eyes with a look of her own. “If you think she needs killing, then why don’t you just kill her yourself?”

Red straightened. “Wise is the witch woman who knows when not to interfere with events in the flow of time.”

“That’s an easy excuse. You are already interfering with events in the flow of time. You brought me here and now you are asking me to do your killing for you. It’s the same thing.”

“No, it’s not. This is different. This is a matter between you and Richard and Nicci, between the three of you and fate. You three are caught up in that tangled flow of time. I can’t interfere. That fate is yours and in your hands alone.

“The hard reality is that I know for certain that if she is still alive when the time comes, Nicci is going to kill Richard Rahl. I also know for certain that she will do so because she loves him.

“That is why you must kill her first.”

In frustration, Kahlan ran her fingers back through her hair, gripping it in her fists. “Red, I’m telling you, I know the woman. I know that she is in love with Richard. But I also know that Nicci wouldn’t do that to him. She wouldn’t do that to me.”

“To you?” The witch woman gave Kahlan a somber look as she slowly shook her head. “I am sorry, Mother Confessor, but I can see in the flow of time that she will. If she is not killed first, she will kill him.”

Kahlan couldn’t make any sense of it. She could tell that Red was absolutely convinced of it, but Kahlan couldn’t make it make any sense in her own mind. She got the feeling that there was something the witch woman was holding back.

“When?” she finally asked. “When do you see Nicci doing such a thing?”

For a long moment the woman regarded Kahlan with the kind of chilling look that could only be summoned by a witch woman.

“That is a question you really should not ask, Mother Confessor. Please take my word for it, and do not ask that question. You will not like the answer.”

Kahlan’s blood ran cold at the look in Red’s eyes. “I’m in the middle of this. I don’t like any of this, but you told me that the context is vital. I need the complete context.

“So I’m asking. When will Nicci kill Richard?”

Red was silent for a long time as she stared into Kahlan’s eyes. She finally spoke in a soft, but unwavering voice.

“I can’t say when, for certain. I can only tell you that it will be after you have already been murdered.”

Kahlan blinked, then frowned, not certain that she had heard correctly. “What?”

“When Nicci kills Richard, it will be sometime after you have been murdered.”

“After I’ve been murdered? As in dead?”

“Yes. You have very little time left before that happens. That is why you must kill the sorceress as soon as possible. You cannot afford to delay. It must be done today, or tomorrow when you arrive at the citadel, or the following day at the very latest. I don’t see you having any more time than that before you are murdered.”

“And who is it that is going to murder me?”

“Please believe me, if I knew, I would tell you. I have sought that answer, but the flow of time hides it from me. There must be some reason.

“It is the same with the old wizard. I tried to find out who murdered him so that I could tell you, because his murder and yours are connected, but I wasn’t able to pull an answer from that river of time.”

“His murder is connected to … to what will happen to me? How? How are the two connected?”

Red folded her arms in frustration as she looked away. “I wish I knew, but I don’t. I can only see that there is a connection of some kind. It could be that the same person who murdered Zedd will murder you, or it could be some form of interconnected cause and effect. I only know that the two are connected.”

Red’s gaze returned to meet Kahlan’s. “What I do know is that you must kill Nicci, now, before you are murdered, or it will be too late and the rest will come to pass. Nicci will kill Richard Rahl, and with him the only hope for the world of life.”

Kahlan could feel a tear running down her cheek as she stared at the witch woman. The thought of Richard being killed was too much for her. The thought of her being murdered was crushing, terrifying. It was all too overwhelming to take in.

“There must be a chance that you could be wrong.”

“I am sorry, Mother Confessor,” she said softly as she reached up, gently cupped her hand under Kahlan’s chin, and brushed the tear away with a thumb. “The truth is, either way, whether you kill Nicci or not, every possible branch in the flow of time shows that you are soon going to be murdered.

“I have seen you pass through on occasion as I have looked into the river of time. I saw your integrity, your virtue, your commitment to truth. I saw in the choices you made that you were brave, courageous, compassionate, and cared about others. I have admired you.

“It is a tradition of my kind to paint our lips black in mourning when we see the death of someone we care about. My lips are painted black today for you, Mother Confessor.

“I understand what this means for you, but you need to put your precious life into the context of what is going to happen to everyone else. This is bigger than you alone. You will never have another life, but neither will any of the other innocent people everywhere whose lives will be snuffed out. You need to put all that into perspective.

“Without Richard, they all die. Without you saving his life by killing Nicci, they all die. You have killed before to save the lives of those you care about. This is one of those times. The fate of everyone is in your hands, Mother Confessor.

“There is still a chance for Richard to live, but there is no chance to change what is going to happen to you.

“Only you can save the life of the man you love. If you care about him, about how precious his life is to you, if you care about the lives of everyone else, then you must kill Nicci.”

Kahlan felt as if the world was collapsing in on her. All her hopes and dreams were ashes.

All she had wanted was to ask if they could go on through the mountain pass.

She remembered what Zedd had told her once, that a witch woman never told you what you wanted to know without also telling you something that you did not want to know.