Witch's Oath

7

The five Mord-Sith shared a look but didn’t say anything. They all knew that these kinds of injuries were well beyond healing. Richard hoped to prove that belief wrong.

Kahlan was kneeling beside Vika, with Shale on the other side. Each was holding a hand of the gravely wounded Mord-Sith.

“We need to get on with the healing,” Richard told them. He looked around to make sure all of them were paying attention. “We have to hurry. Here is what we are going to do.”

Shale looked up at him. “We?”

Richard nodded as he gestured for all of the Mord-Sith to gather round closer to Vika so he would only have to explain it once.

“Michec is down here somewhere,” he said, looking to each of their faces in turn. “He could show up at any moment, so we can only do this if we’re quick.”

Shale clearly looked confused. “Healing grievous wounds, if it was still within the realm of possibility and if it could be done at all, would take a day at least, likely many days for all I know.”

“You’re right,” Richard said. “We don’t have that kind of time. Neither does Vika. So trying the conventional way of healing that you know so well is simply not an option. Not only that, but like you, I seriously doubt that it would even work. Whatever we do must be done quickly.”

Kahlan looked puzzled as to what he could be talking about. Shale was looking at him as if he had lost his mind.

“Quickly,” the sorceress repeated. “You intend to heal her quickly. Of course.” She looked up at the ceiling as if speaking to an audience in a gallery. “That makes sense.”

Ignoring Shale’s remark, Richard wiped a hand across his mouth as he turned around, staring off in the other direction for a moment, trying to think how he could explain it to them without causing them to panic. He turned back.

“I think I have a way that we can heal her if we all do it together. All nine of us together.”

“Lord Rahl,” Berdine said as she gestured at her sisters of the Agiel to each side of her, “we don’t know anything about healing. I think most of us have been healed at one time or another, but we can’t heal anyone. We can’t use magic—other than that which the Lord Rahl gives us through our bond in order to use the power of our Agiel and all that involves.”

Richard knew quite well how much Mord-Sith hated anything to do with magic. “Yes you can,” he insisted. “But in a unique way. I’m afraid that it will be dangerous, though. Dangerous to all of us. Still, I think it has a chance to be successful.”

“You ‘think’?” Shale held up a hand to stop him right there. “First of all, I can’t imagine what you are talking about, but more importantly, you and the Mother Confessor have a responsibility to the two children of D’Hara she is carrying. Our job is to protect her from danger, not put her in it.”

“This is to protect her,” Richard insisted. “You need to listen to me. You all need to listen to me. You need to see the bigger picture, not just this one moment, this one risk. It’s important that Vika live because she is vital to our survival. There are nine of us. If we lose Vika, then there are only eight.”

Kahlan squinted. “Does this have something to do with the Law of Nines?”

Richard gave her a firm nod. “Yes.”

“The law of what?” Shale asked. “I think you said something about that before.”

“I did.” Richard pointed a finger up at the palace above them. “In one of the highly restricted libraries up in the People’s Palace, there is a book that deals with the power of numbers as it relates to the use of the gift. It says that there are various cardinal numbers, some of them very powerful in how they affect magic.

“Nine in many ways is the most important number. In the right circumstances it can alter and increase the power of magic. In some cases it can even invoke some powers of magic. In rare cases there are even powers of magic that can be brought about in no other way.

“The number three is associated as an element of the number nine, and so also important. It’s part of how we use magic. For example, the devotion is repeated three times. There’s a reason for that. Those three repetitions reinforce the magic in the bond itself because they invoke the Law of Nines.”

Berdine looked puzzled. “But three isn’t nine.”

“But there are three devotions spoken, three times a day. Three threes are nine. See what I mean? Three is a constituent component of nine. It adds power to an already powerful number.”

“So you think that because there are nine of us, our power is greater than any one of us alone?” Kahlan asked.

“Among other things,” Richard said, relieved that she, at least, grasped what he was talking about.

“What other things?” she asked.

Richard gestured overhead. “We are in the People’s Palace, drawn in the shape of a spell-form to give the Lord Rahl more power. On top of that, we are also inside a complication, designed to make the Lord Rahl’s power, aided by that spell-form, more effective. The Law of Nines makes a third element. All three of these things—the Law of Nines, the palace spell, and the complication—give me the best chance to save Vika.

“I have to take this opportunity while I have all those elements on my side.”

Kahlan leveled a look at him. “We also have things that work against us. Besides Vika’s wounds being grave, Michec is down here somewhere. He could show up and attack us at any moment. And then there are the Glee.”

Richard nodded. “I didn’t say it would be easy, or that there aren’t risks.” He leaned closer to her. “But if we lose Vika, we lose a powerful element of protection for you and the babies in getting us to the protection of the Wizard’s Keep. To preserve that power of nine, we need Vika with us. We can’t begin to imagine right now how and when we might desperately need that added bit of help afforded by the Law of Nines. As small as that bit of magic may be, it could be enough to make the difference when it matters most.

“Because of the Law of Nines, the nine of us together have a kind of cumulative ability that none of us alone would have. Neither Shale nor I by ourselves have the ability to do a healing of injuries as life-threatening as the ones Vika has.”

Shale was giving him a look, part skepticism and part analytical interest. “So, because of this Law of Nines, you think all of us together can somehow heal her?”

“In a way, yes.”

“In a way.” Shale folded her arms. “How?”

“We need to all join hands. Shale, you will be holding Vika’s right hand as you were a moment ago. Then all the Mord-Sith will line up around Vika, all holding hands. Kahlan will be at the end of them, then me. I will be holding Vika’s left hand with my right, in that way linking us all together. When we are joined in that ring, I believe the Law of Nines will give me what I need to help me heal her.”

Shale still had her arms folded as she glowered at him from under her brow. “And how long do you think this will take?” By her tone, she was clearly growing even more suspicious of exactly what it was he intended to do.

“From our side it will be almost instantaneous. That’s the advantage of what I plan to do.”

Kahlan leaned in, her suspicion now exceeding Shale’s. “From our side? What exactly are you saying?”

Richard didn’t want to fool any of them, but at the same time he had to tell them at least part of what he intended. “Once we are linked, I will use all our combined gifts to stay connected to Vika in the underworld.”

Jaws dropped.

Kahlan reached out and gripped his arm. “What?”

“It’s the only way.”

Shale’s arms had come unfolded as she leaned in along with Kahlan. “The only way to do what? Die with her?”

“Well, I should hope not,” Richard said, offering a smile to her surprise. That clearly wasn’t what any of them expected to hear. “You have to trust me on this. It’s the only way to have the time we need to do this.”

Only Kahlan understood. “Of course … but Richard—”

“Of course what?” Shale interrupted.

Kahlan cast a worried look at the sorceress. “The underworld is eternal. There is no such thing as time in an eternal world, because with no beginning and no end there is no way to measure it or determine how much time has passed. What might be an instant here could be days, or even centuries in the underworld.”

Richard could see that Shale was about to unleash a hundred questions and a thousand objections. He didn’t want to hear any of it.

“I intend to save Vika, the same as I would save any of you. I view this as necessary to help us get Kahlan and these children of D’Hara to the safety of the Keep. It needs to be done. We are wasting time.”

In the underworld he would have an eternity of time, among other things.

“I want everyone to kneel down around Vika in a circle,” he told them. “Shale, you take her right hand. The rest of you join hands like I explained. Kahlan, you take my hand.”

“Lord Rahl,” Vika said in a weak voice as they all knelt around her, “I don’t want to endanger any of you. Please don’t—”

“It endangers us more if we lose you. As the Lord Rahl I judge that this is what we must do. Now, put your trust in me.” Richard gestured to the others. “Everyone, join hands.”