Temple of the Winds

Chapter 6

Richard gripped Cara’s jaw and lifted her face. He turned her head so he could better see the oozing cut on her cheek.

“What’s this?”

She glanced to Kahlan when he released his hold on her. “A man refused my advances.”

“Is that so. Maybe he was put off by your choice of red leather.”

Richard looked to Kahlan. “What’s going on? We’ve got a palace full of guards so jumpy that they even challenged me when I came in. We’ve got squads of archers guarding stairwells, and I’ve not seen so much bared steel since the Blood of the Fold attacked the city.”

His eyes had that raptor gaze again. “Who’s down in the pit?”

“I told you,” Cara whispered to Kahlan. “He always finds out.”

Kahlan had told Cara not to mention Marlin because she feared he might somehow hurt Richard. But once Marlin had revealed that there was a second assassin, everything changed; she had to tell Richard that there was a Sister of the Dark wandering around loose.

“An assassin showed up to kill you.” Kahlan gestured with a tilt of her head toward Cara. “Little Miss Magic, here, goaded him into using his gift on her so that she could capture him. We put him down in the pit for safekeeping.”

Richard glanced at Cara before addressing Kahlan. “Little Miss Magic, eh? Why did you let her do that?”

“He said he wanted to kill you. Cara decided to question him in her own fashion.”

“Do you think that was necessary?” he asked Cara. “We have a whole army. One man couldn’t get to me.”

“He also said he intended to kill the Mother Confessor.”

Richard’s expression darkened. “Then I hope you didn’t show him your gentle side.”

Cara smiled. “No, Lord Rahl.”

“Richard,” Kahlan said, “it’s worse than that. He was a wizard from the Palace of the Prophets. He said that he came with a Sister of the Dark. We haven’t found her yet.”

“A Sister of the Dark. Great. How did you manage to discover that this man was an assassin?”

“He announced himself, believe it or not. He claims that Jagang sent him to kill you, and me, and that his orders were to announce himself once inside the Confessors’ Palace.”

“Then Jagang’s plan wasn’t really for this man to kill us; Jagang isn’t that stupid. What was this Sister of the Dark to do, here in Aydindril? Did he say that she was here to kill us, too, or that she was here for some other purpose?”

“Marlin didn’t seem to know,” Kahlan said. “After what Cara did to him, I believe him.”

“Which Sister is it? What’s her name?”

“Marlin didn’t know her name.”

Richard nodded. “That’s possible. How long was he in the city before he announced himself?”

“I’m not sure, exactly. I assumed a few days.”

“Then why didn’t he come directly to the palace once he arrived?”

“I don’t know,” Kahlan said. “I didn’t . . . ask him that.”

“How long was he with the Sister? What did they do while they were here?”

“I don’t know.” Kahlan hesitated. “I guess I didn’t think to ask him.”

“Well, if he was with her, she must have had something to say to him. She would have been the one in charge. What did she say to him?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did this Marlin see anyone else while he was in the city? Did he meet with anyone else? Where did he stay?”

It was the Seeker questioning her, not Richard. Even though he wasn’t raising his voice, or using a threatening tone, Kahlan’s ears burned. “I didn’t . . . think to ask.”

“What did they do while they were together? Did she have anything with her? Did she buy anything, or pick up anything, or talk to anyone else who could end up being another part of a team? Was there anyone else they were ordered to kill?”

“I . . . didn’t . . .”

Richard combed his fingers through his hair. “One obviously doesn’t send an assassin and have him announce himself to the guards at the intended victim’s door. That will only get your assassin killed, instead. Maybe Jagang had this man do something before he came to the palace, and then once the task was done, he wanted Marlin to come here so we would kill him and eliminate any chance we would find out what’s going on before this Sister carried out the true plot. Jagang certainly wouldn’t care if we killed one of his pawns—he has plenty more, and he doesn’t value human life.”

Kahlan twisted her fingers together behind her back. She was feeling decidedly foolish. Richard’s furrowed brow over his piercing, gray eyes wasn’t helping.

“Richard, we knew that there was a woman up here who was asking to see you, just as Marlin did. We didn’t know who Nadine was. Marlin didn’t know the Sister’s name, but he gave us a description: young, pretty, and with long brown hair. We were worried that Nadine might be the Sister, right here among us, and so we left Marlin down there and came up here at once to see about Nadine. That was our priority: stopping a Sister of the Dark if she was in the palace. We’ll ask Marlin all those questions later. He’s not going anywhere.”

Richard’s raptor gaze softened as he took a contemplative breath. He finally nodded. “You did the right thing. You’re right about the questions being less important. I’m sorry; I should have realized you would do what was best.” He lifted a cautionary finger. “Leave this Mariln fellow to me.”

Richard turned the raptor gaze on Cara. “I don’t want you and Kahlan down there with him. Understand? Something could happen.”

Cara would offer her life without question to protect his, but by her glare she was apparently beginning to resent having her ability questioned. “And how dangerous was a big strong man at the end of Denna’s leash as she walked him with impunity among the public at the People’s Palace in D’Hara? Did she have to do more than tuck the end of her pet’s thin chain under her belt to demonstrate her complete control? Did he ever once so much as dare to let tension come to that leash?”

The man at the end of that leash had been Richard.

Cara’s blue eyes flashed with indignation, like sudden lightning from a clear blue sky. Kahlan almost would have expected Richard to draw his sword in rage. Instead, he watched her, as if listening dispassionately to her opinion, and waiting to see if she had anything to add. Kahlan wondered if Mord-Sith feared being struck dead, or welcomed it.

“Lord Rahl, I have his power. Nothing can happen.”

“I’m sure you do. I don’t doubt your abilities, Cara, but I don’t want Kahlan put at risk, no matter how inconceivable the risk, when it isn’t necessary. You and I will go question Marlin when I get back . . . I trust you with my life, but I just don’t want to trust Kahlan’s to an ugly twist of fate.

“Jagang overlooked the ability of the Mord-Sith, probably because he doesn’t know enough about the New World to know what a Mord-Sith is. He’s made a mistake. I simply want to make sure we don’t make a mistake, too. All right? When I get back we’ll question Marlin and find out what’s really going on.”

As quickly as it had come, the storm in Cara’s eyes passed. Richard’s calm demeanor had quelled it, and in seconds it seemed as if nothing had happened. Kahlan almost wasn’t sure Cara had actually said the savage things she had heard. Almost.

Kahlan wished she could have thought through the matter of Marlin when she had had the chance. Richard made it all seem so simple to her. She guessed that she was so worried for him that she just wasn’t thinking clearly. That was a mistake. She knew she shouldn’t allow her concern to cloud her thinking, lest she cause the harm she feared.

Richard held the back of Kahlan’s neck as he kissed her brow. “I’m relieved that you weren’t hurt. You frighten me the way you get it in your head to put your life before mine. Don’t do it again?”

Kahlan smiled. She didn’t promise, but instead changed the subject. “I’m worried about you leaving the safety of the palace. I don’t like you being out there when a Sister of the Dark is about.”

“I’ll be all right.”

“But the Jarian ambassador is here, along with representatives from Grennidon. They have huge standing armies. There are a few others here, too, from smaller lands—Mardovia, Pendisan Reach, and Togressa. They’re all expecting to meet with you tonight.”

Richard hooked a thumb behind the wide leather belt. “Look, they can surrender to you. They’re either with us, or against us. They don’t need to see me, they just have to agree to the terms of surrender.

Kahlan touched her fingers to his arm. “But you are Lord Rahl, the Master of D’Hara. You made the demands. They expect to see you.”

“Then they’ll have to wait until tomorrow night. Our men come first. General Kerson is right: if the men can’t fight, we’re in trouble. The D’Haran army is the main reason the lands are ready to surrender. We can’t show any weakness in our ability to lead.”

“But I don’t want us to be separated,” she whispered.

Richard smiled. “I know. I feel the same, but this is important.”

“Promise me you’ll be careful.”

His smile widened. “I promise. And you know that a wizard always keeps his promise.”

“All right, then, but hurry back.”

“I will. You just stay away from that Marlin fellow.”

He turned to the others. “Cara, you and Raina stay here, along with Egan. Ulic, I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’ll make it up to you by letting you come with me so you can watch me with those big blue eyes and make me feel guilty.” He turned to the last of them. “Berdine, since I know that you three will make my life miserable if I don’t take at least one of you, you can come with me.”

Berdine turned a grin on Nadine. “I’m Lord Rahl’s favorite.”

Nadine, rather than looking impressed, appeared dumbfounded, as she had throughout most of the preceding conversation. Nadine finally turned a haughty look on Richard. She folded her arms across her breasts.

“And are you going to boss me around, too? Are you going to tell me what to do, like you seem to enjoy doing to everyone else?”

Richard, rather than getting angry, as Kahlan thought he might at the insult, looked more disinterested than ever.

“There are a lot of people fighting for our freedom, fighting to stop the Imperial Order from enslaving the Midlands, D’Hara, and eventually Westland. I lead those willing to fight for their own freedom and on behalf of innocent people who would otherwise be enslaved. I lead because circumstances have placed me in command. I don’t do it for power or because I enjoy it. I do it because I must.

“To my enemies, or potential enemies, I deliver demands. To those loyal to me, I issue orders.

“You are neither, Nadine. Do as you wish.”

Nadine’s freckles disappeared as her cheeks mantled.

Richard lifted his sword a few inches and let it drop back, unconsciously checking that the blade was clear in its scabbard. “Berdine, Ulic, get your things and meet me out at the stables.”

Richard scooped up Kahlan’s hand and pulled her toward the door. “I need to talk to the Mother Confessor. Alone.”

Richard took Kahlan down the passageway crowded with muscular D’Haran guards wearing dark leather and chain mail and bristling weapons to an empty side hall. He pulled her around the corner, into the shadow beneath a silver lamp, and backed her up against a wall paneled in age-mellowed cherry.

With a finger, he gently squashed the end of her nose. “I couldn’t leave without kissing you good-bye.”

Kahlan grinned. “Didn’t want to kiss me in front of an old girlfriend?”

“You’re the only one I love. The only one I’ve ever loved.” Richard’s features distorted in chagrin. “You can understand how it would be if one of your old boyfriends showed up.”

“No, I can’t.”

His face went blank for just an instant and then went crimson. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

Confessors had no boyfriends as they grew up.

The deliberate touch of a Confessor destroyed a person’s mind, and in its place left only mindless devotion to the Confessor who had touched him with her power. A Confessor always had to restrain her grip on her power, lest it be accidentally released. It generally wasn’t difficult; her power grew as she did and, being born with the power, the ability to restrain it came as naturally as breathing.

But in the throes of passion, an experience she hadn’t grown up with, it was impossible for a Confessor to maintain that restraint. A lover’s mind would unintentionally be destroyed in the distracted, unrestrained apex of a Confessor’s passion.

Confessors, even if they wished it, had no friends save other Confessors. People feared them, feared their power. Men, especially, feared Confessors. No man wanted to get within striking distance of a Confessor. Confessors didn’t have lovers.

A Confessor chose her mate for qualities desirable in her daughter, for the father he could be. A Confessor never chose for love, because the act of loving would destroy the person she loved. No one willingly wed a Confessor; a Confessor chose her mate, and took him with her magic before they were wedded. Men feared a Confessor who had yet to choose a mate. She was a destroyer among them, a predator, and men her potential prey.

Only Richard had defeated that magic. His unequivocal love for her had transcended her power. Kahlan was the only Confessor she had ever heard of who had the love of a man, and could reciprocate that love. In her whole life, she had never imagined she would fulfill that most exalted of human desires: love.

She had heard it said that there was only one true love in a person’s life. With Richard, that was more than a saying: it was the dead cold truth.

More than any of it, though, she simply loved him, helplessly and completely. That he loved her, and they could be together, sometimes left her numb with disbelief.

She dragged her finger down his leather baldric. “So, you never think about her? You never wonder . . . ?”

“No. Look, I’ve known Nadine since I was little. Her father, Cecil Brighton, sells herbs and remedies. I’d bring him rare plants now and again. He’d let me know if there was something he wanted but couldn’t find. When I went out to guide people, I’d keep an eye out for what he needed.

“Nadine always wanted to be like her father, to learn what herbs helped people and to work in his shop. She’d go with me sometimes, to learn how to find certain plants.”

“She only went with you to look for plants?”

“Well, no. There was a little more to it than that. I—well—sometimes I’d go visit her and her parents. I’d go for walks with her, even if her father hadn’t asked me to find some herb. I danced with her at the midsummer festival, last summer, before you came to Hartland. I liked her. But I never led her to think I wanted to marry her.”

Kahlan smiled and decided to end his twisting in the wind. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She wondered briefly at something he had said to Nadine, at what more there had been, but then her mind was spinning from the feel of his powerful arms around her, and his soft lips against hers. His tongue glided across the inside of her front teeth, and she sucked it in. A big hand slid down her back and pulled her hard against him.

Then she pushed him away. “Richard,” she said breathlessly, “what about Shota? What if she causes trouble?”

Richard blinked, trying to banish the lust from his eyes. “To the underworld with Shota.”

“But in the past, as much trouble as Shota caused, she always seemed to have a nugget of truth in the trouble she wrapped around it. In her own way, she was trying to do what needed doing.”

“She’s not going to keep us from getting married.”

“I know, but—”

“When I get back, we’ll get married, and that will be that.” His smile made a sunrise seem boring. “I want you in that big bed of yours that you keep promising me.”

“But how can we get married, now, unless we do it here? It’s a long way to the Mud People. We promised the Bird Man, and Weselan and Savidlin, and all the rest, that we would be wedded as Mud People. Chandalen protected me on my journey here, and I owe him my life. Weselan made me my beautiful blue wedding dress, with her own hands, out of cloth that probably took her years to earn. They took us in. They made us Mud People. The Mud People have sacrificed for us. Many have given their lives for our cause.

“I know it’s not the kind of wedding most women dream of—a whole village of half-naked people covered in mud dancing around bonfires, calling the spirits to come join two of their people, having a feast that goes on for days with those strange drums and ritual dancers acting out stories and all the rest . . . but it’s the most heartfelt ceremony we could ever have.

“Right now we can’t leave Aydindril to go on a long journey to the Mud People just because we want to. Just for us. Everyone else is depending on us. There is a war going on.”

Richard pressed a gentle kiss against her forehead. “I know. I want the Mud People to marry us, too. And they will. Trust me. I’m the Seeker. I’m giving it a lot of thought. I have a few ideas.” He sighed. “But right now I have to go. Take care of things, Mother Confessor. I’ll be back tomorrow. Promise.” She hugged him so tight it made her aims hurt.

He finally separated from her and looked down into her eyes. “I’ve got to go, before it gets any later, or I’ll have men getting hurt in the dark up in those passes.” He paused. “If . . . if Nadine needs anything, would you see that she gets it? A horse, or food, or supplies, or whatever. She’s not a bad person. I don’t wish her ill. She doesn’t deserve what Shota did to her.”

Kahlan nodded and then laid her head against his chest. She could hear his heart beating. “Thank you for getting this outfit to be married in. You look more handsome than ever.”

She closed her eyes against the pain of the words she had heard back in the red room. “Richard, why didn’t you get angry when Cara said those cruel things?”

“Because I understand what was done to them. I’ve been in that world of madness. Hate would have destroyed me; forgiveness in my heart was the only thing that saved me. I don’t want hate to destroy them. I didn’t want to let mere words ruin what I’m trying to give them. I want them to learn to trust. Sometimes you can only gain trust by giving it.”

“Maybe you’re having an effect. Despite what Cara said back there, earlier today she said some things that make me think they understand.” Kahlan smiled and tried to lighten the subject of the Mord-Sith. “I heard you were outside today with Berdine and Raina, taming chipmunks.”

“Taming chipmunks is easy. I was doing something considerably more difficult; I was trying to tame Mord-Sith.” His one was grave, leading to the impression that his thoughts were far away. “You should have seen Berdine and Raina. They were giggling, just like little girls. I almost wept at the sight.”

Kahlan smiled to herself in wonder. “And here I thought you were just out there wasting time. How many more Mord-Sith are back at the People’s Palace in D’Hara?”

“Dozens.”

“Dozens.” It was a daunting thought. “At least chipmunks are plentiful.”

He stroked a hand down her hair as he held her head to his chest. “I love you, Kahlan Amnell. Thanks for being patient.”

“I love you, too, Richard Rahl.” She clutched his tunic and pressed herself against him. “Richard, Shota still scares me. Promise me that you really will marry me.”

He let out a little, breathy laugh and then kissed the top of her head. “I love you more than I could ever tell you. There is no one else, not Nadine, not anyone; I swear an oath on my gift. You are the only one I will ever love. I promise.”

She could hear her heart drumming in her ears. That was not the promise she had asked for. He pushed away. “I have to go.”

“But . . .”

He looked back around the corner. “What? I have to go.”

She shooed him with a hand. “Go. Hurry back to me.”

He blew her a kiss and then he was gone. She leaned a shoulder against the corner as she watched his billowing gold cape recede down the hall, and listened to the jangle of chain mail and weapons and thud of boots as a raft of guards trailed in his wake.