Severed Souls

CHAPTER 69

Richard was at a loss. He had been following a good dozen paces behind Kahlan for over an hour after they had cleared the pass, and there was no improvement in her mood.

After they had been summoned by the blindfolded woman who said that the oracle had granted them safe passage, she led them through the pass without ever seeing the oracle. Richard had stopped the blindfolded woman back in the pass and asked to see the oracle. The oracle, the blindfolded woman had told them, had seen one of their party and she would see no more. She also said that the oracle had warned that if they wished to pass, they had to go right then or not at all.

Kahlan had not said a word the entire time about her meeting with the oracle. In fact, she hadn’t spoken to Richard about anything, not one word, since meeting up with them as they came through the pass. She had, however, taken up a lead position ahead of Richard, Nicci, Irena, and Samantha in their march and it was clear that she wished to be alone. Richard wasn’t used to that attitude from her, and it alarmed him in the extreme, but it seemed clear enough, so he hadn’t violated that wish.

What made it worse, though, was that she wouldn’t even look at him.

The entire time tears had slowly run down her face, despite how deeply her brow furrowed as she tried not to let them escape.

Richard didn’t know if he had done something wrong, although he couldn’t imagine what, but even if he had, he would never have thought that Kahlan would not want to speak to him. Even on those occasions when he had done something to upset her, she had at least been willing to talk to him about it, to tell him what was upsetting her. Whatever was troubling her this time, he would have thought that she would want to talk to him about it.

He was beside himself with worry for her. Although he couldn’t entirely shake the worry that he had done something wrong, he assumed that it had to be that the oracle had given Kahlan a prophecy that upset her. For some reason, that prophecy had gotten to her.

Kahlan knew better than to believe prophecy.

But that didn’t mean that this oracle couldn’t have said something that had been a dagger through her heart, and for some reason Kahlan was taking it seriously.

“What do you think?” he whispered to Nicci. “Should we try to talk to her?”

Nicci glanced over at him. “I think I know enough not to poke a hornet’s nest. My advice is to leave her be for now. Whatever it is, she will get over it or tell you when she is good and ready to tell you. Until then, leave her be.”

Samantha stuck her head between Richard and Nicci. “What do you think could be wrong?” she whispered.

“We don’t know,” Nicci told the young woman. “But a wise sorceress, or wizard, knows when to stay away from a person who wants room to think things through.” Nicci glanced down at Samantha. “It’s a lesson you need to learn.”

“Sorry,” Samantha whispered as she pulled her head back.

“She probably just doesn’t feel well,” Richard told Samantha, wanting to soften the sting of Nicci’s words. “The poison we both carry in us is as exhausting as it is frightening. It gets me down at times, too.”

Samantha nodded. “I know, Lord Rahl. I’ve felt it in you both. I know how frightening it is.”

He remembered how terrified Samantha had been when she had first encountered that touch of death in them. “I guess you do.”

She thought a moment. “If there is anything my mother or I can do to help, just ask. All right?”

Richard smiled briefly over his shoulder. “Thanks, Samantha.”

She nodded as she dropped back to walk with her mother.

“You’re too nice to her,” Nicci whispered.

“Nasty habit of mine,” he said, “trying to be nice to nice people. I’ll have to try to be more like you and hurt their feelings instead. That always seems to work.”

Nicci smiled a little. “Point taken.”

“Maybe you should talk to her,” he said.

“Who?”

“Kahlan.”

“I told you, I know better than to poke at a hornet’s nest.” Nicci shook her head. “You didn’t see the look she gave me.”

“What kind of look?”

“Well, if looks could kill…”

“What did you do to her to make her give you a look like that?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Nicci said, opening her hands in a gesture of bewildered innocence. “What did you do? She isn’t talking to you either.”

Richard sighed. “I wish I knew.”

Nicci rested a hand on his shoulder briefly as they walked close together. “She’ll be all right, Richard. I’m sure she just needs to work out some things the oracle told her and she doesn’t want us bothering her while she thinks it all through.”

“That makes sense,” Richard said. “I only wished I believed it.”

Nicci sighed, then. “Me too.”

Richard glanced off through gaps in the trees toward the mountains in the distance. They were growing a deeper shade of steel blue. After the sun dropped behind the towering mountains to the west, darkness descended quickly. The thick clouds would only hasten the approaching darkness.

Richard dropped back, waiting for Commander Fister to pick up his pace and catch up with him.

“Is the Mother Confessor all right?” the commander asked. The commander, like all of the men, could tell that something was wrong and was concerned about what it could be. Kahlan was in many ways their strength. Her spirit always seemed to buoy their spirits. Now, all of them wore somber expressions.

Richard forced a smile for the man. “Kahlan? Oh, she’s fine. It’s just that this sickness is really exhausting, both physically and mentally.”

“Oh,” he said, brightened by the solution to the puzzle.

The sickness was bad enough, but the worry of something more being the issue after speaking with the oracle had the commander concerned.

It had Richard even more concerned.

Richard gestured to the silhouette of the mountains to the west. “With the sun behind the mountains, it’s going to be dark soon. We’re going to need to set up camp.”

Commander Fister nodded. “Like the scouts told us, up ahead we’ll run into a road leading to Saavedra, but that won’t be until sometime tomorrow morning. We can’t make it that far tonight.”

“The good news, though,” Richard said, “is that the road will make for easier traveling and we should be able to reach Saavedra tomorrow. But for today, we’re going to need a place to set up camp before we get caught trying to do it in darkness.”

“Already ahead of you, Lord Rahl. I’ve had a report of a suitable spot not far up ahead.”

“Good,” Richard said. “Give the word for some men to go on then, and clear the area.”

The commander clapped a fist to his heart and trotted off to see to it.

As he watched Kahlan’s familiar, beautiful shape and fall of long hair as she walked all alone, Richard’s heart ached for her. He wished he knew what was wrong. He wanted more than anything to set it right for her and see her special smile, the one she gave only to him.

He hated to see her cry more than just about anything in the world.

After Zedd’s murder, Richard had seen her cry enough to last him a lifetime.

The thought of what had happened to Zedd again brought a fresh flash of anger mixed with the ache of grief. Richard forced the anger aside. At the moment it was more important for him to be there for Kahlan.