The Third Kingdom (57 page)

The moment of seeing him, of realizing that it was really him, seemed frozen in time to her.

None of it made any sense. The whole world didn’t seem to make sense. Being attacked by savage cannibals didn’t make any sense. But then in that fraction of a second, that spark of time, they shared a look and she knew that nothing else mattered.

Richard was there.

The rest of the horde descended in on him before the severed head had hit the ground.

And then the killing began in earnest.

Kahlan knew enough to stay out of the way of his blade when he had it out. She turned and cut down one of the pale savages to the side—a woman. As the half-naked people with the black-painted eyes rushed in at her, she drove her sword through some of them, and as she drew it back, slashed others.

As Kahlan struck, thrusting her blade through a man, Cara threw an arm around Kahlan’s waist and pulled her back out of the way of the rushing men. The Mord-Sith, with a knife in each hand, turned back to the savages and used both her blades whenever one of the ashen figures got close enough. Against their skin smeared with chalky coloring, blood looked all the more shocking.

It had seemed forever since she ran into Richard, but Kahlan knew that it actually had only been mere seconds. Suddenly, within those seconds, men of the First File flooded in all around Kahlan, shielding her, protecting her from the onslaught of the attackers smeared with white. Cara pressed in close beside her as well, protecting her from any of the strange brutes.

And then, in the next second, the ground shook with the thunderous roar of wizard’s fire. She saw a fierce inferno splash down across the hillside, the liquid fire spilling out over dozens of the chalky figures, turning them to black ash amid the blinding white-orange blaze.

At the same time, a dozen men of the First File, led by Nicci, charged into the stone building, going after the cannibals still
inside. The abbey was three stories tall, and from what Kahlan had seen when she was in there, the place was filled with attackers. She could hear the sounds of the battle that raged beyond the stone walls.

Those idyllic-looking walls, set in among oak trees and covered with vines, looked ancient. Had Kahlan not known what the place was, or what went on there at the hands of Ludwig Dreier and his Mord-Sith, she might have thought it a picturesque place.

As it was, it was anything but. It was a slaughterhouse.

Thumps of impacts came from inside the abbey as the half-naked, painted men were hunted down, while outside, out in the open, the attackers coming for Richard and other men met lethal steel, and Zedd cast a deadly inferno of wizard’s fire across the hillside, incinerating the strange figures as they continued to charge in, oblivious of the danger.

And then, almost as soon as it began, the attack seemed to be over. There were no more of the ashen figures standing. Their bodies lay everywhere, bloody, with terrible, gaping wounds, and missing limbs or heads.

Richard, panting from the fierce effort, sword dripping in blood and gripped tightly in his right fist, swept his free arm around Kahlan, pulling her in close to him, laying his head over the top of hers in silent, wordless gratitude at having her with him and safe.

She couldn’t remember ever feeling such a sense of relief. Only now that it was over, only after she was done fighting for her life, done running for her life, did she feel her hands begin to shake.

It was over. Relief washed through her. She was safe. Richard was safe.

Zedd rushed in as she started sinking toward the ground. Richard helped ease her down. Although she tried giving
him a smile, Zedd wasn’t interested in returning it. He instead pressed his fingers to her forehead. She knew what he was checking. She could feel the tingle of gift flowing into her.

A black-haired girl ran up and leaned in beside Zedd, looking down at her. “Mother Confessor! You’re safe! We were so afraid. We raced here as fast as we could when Henrik told us who took you. We were so afraid that we wouldn’t get here in time.”

Kahlan, her mind humming with the tingling sensation of the magic Zedd used to infuse her with strength, found herself feeling better. She sat up and puzzled at the slender young woman. “Do I know you?”

She beamed with pride. Her mass of black hair jiggled up and down as she nodded.

“I’m Samantha. I’m the one who healed you, before, back at our village.”

Kahlan, feeling stronger, with Richard’s hand helping, was finally able to stand. She remembered the village where she woke, but wasn’t in the mood to ask a lot of questions. She instead basked in the relief of having Richard’s arm around her.

“Thank you, Samantha,” Kahlan said.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t take the Hedge Maid’s poison out of you. I can’t cure death.”

Kahlan supposed not.

She saw Nicci rush out of the door to the abbey. When she saw where they were, Nicci raced up the side of the hill. With a sigh of relief the sorceress at last took up one of Kahlan’s hands, clutching it in both of hers for a moment.

“Dear spirits,” she said with genuine relief, “I didn’t think we would make it here in time.”

Kahlan glanced up at Richard. “You did. But the next time, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t cut it so close.”

Richard smiled. Even with the sword still in his hand, he smiled.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said.

She had forgotten how his smile touched her soul, and his voice lifted her heart.

Kahlan gestured around at all the ashen figures of the dead sprawled across the hillside. “What is all this?”

“A long story,” Richard said.

“Right now we need to get you both back to the People’s Palace,” Zedd told her.

Kahlan knew by the looks on all the faces around her that something was going on. “Is there a problem?”

“I’m afraid there is,” Richard said. “We both have been touched with death from the Hedge Maid. We are infected with the poison of that touch.”

Kahlan blinked. She remembered some of being Jit’s prisoner, of being tangled helplessly in the web of thorn vines, of having those awful creatures dancing around and bleeding her. But she didn’t remember all that had happened. She had lost consciousness and as she faded away, so too did her memory of those terrible events.

Apparently, she didn’t recall some of the worst of it. “We were touched with death?”

“I’m afraid so,” Nicci said. “Richard too. At least before it happened, he was able to block it enough that at least it didn’t kill you right then and there.”

“You mean, you think it still might?” Kahlan asked.

“We can cure you both of it,” Zedd assured her when he saw the look on her face. “But not here.”

“You need to know the truth of how serious it still is,” Nicci said with brutal honesty. “You both carry death within you. You need to know that if we don’t get death’s touch out of you, you both will die. We can do that, but only in a containment field.”

“The Garden of Life,” Kahlan suggested.

Zedd and Nicci both smiled as they nodded.

Kahlan was relieved that at least they had a solution. She could see why they were eager to get back to the palace. Now, she was eager as well.

“Lord Rahl,” one of the men of the First File called out as he ran up to them. “There are stables here.” He pointed off to a building beyond the shade of some oaks. “It looks like a few of the horses are gone, but there are still others, and there is a carriage as well.”

Zedd heaved a sigh of relief. “Good. That will help get us back quicker—and save their strength. We need to leave at once.”

“Did you find the abbot?” Richard asked Nicci.

She shook her head. “It looks like he’s gone. I would guess that he’s been gone for a while, now.”

“He’s probably the one who took the horses,” the soldier said.

Richard’s jaw clenched. “We need to go after him.”

“No, we don’t need to go after him,” Nicci said in the kind of voice that prevented even Richard from thinking about arguing. She swept a finger around at everyone there. “And neither do any of these men. I want them all with us. I want as much protection as possible.”

“I agree,” Cara said. “They all stay with us.”

Kahlan sensed something else was wrong. Despite their having just won a battle, there was a shadow of something
over the assembled group. Kahlan didn’t know what it could be. She thought Cara’s voice, especially, sounded a bit somber.

Nicci nodded her agreement. “You know what happened the last time we were attacked. We had more men, then, and we were still overrun and taken captive. We can’t let that happen again. Being in the hands of those half people once was one too many times.”

“Half people?” Kahlan said.

Everyone ignored the question.

“It’s more important to get you both back to the palace right away,” Zedd said, more diplomatically. “Kahlan’s life is more important than going after Abbot Dreier.”

Kahlan could still read the concern in Zedd’s voice. At the mention of the importance of Kahlan’s well-being, she could see the tension go out of Richard’s muscles as he let his anger over Ludwig Dreier go. Up until that point, he had been in a fighting mood.

“You’re right,” he said, his voice considerably quieter. “We’ll have to deal with Abbot Dreier, Hannis Arc, and the spirit king later, after Kahlan and I are healed.”

“Spirit king?” Kahlan asked.

“Long story for later,” he said, not looking at her.

In his voice, she could sense the same deadly weight of the poison that she felt in herself. She knew that Zedd and Nicci weren’t being extra cautious. She knew that the situation was serious, and they needed to get back to the palace right away.

“You can get this out of us, right?” she asked as she looked back and forth between Zedd and Nicci. “The truth.”

“The truth?” Nicci asked. “I think so.”

“But you aren’t sure,” Kahlan said as she tipped her head toward the sorceress.

Nicci smiled, brightening her beautiful face just a bit, although not as much as Kahlan would have liked. “I believe we can, Kahlan. That’s the truth. But we need to get you to the
Garden of Life if we are to have a chance. Such magic as this requires can only be done in a containment field.”

Kahlan didn’t like the sound of that, but she was glad that she and Richard were in the hands of the best. There was no one other than Zedd and Nicci she would rather have healing them.

Richard sighed. “I suppose the omen machine will be pleased to have me back and I’m sure it will have a lot to say about all this,” he said half to himself as he finally sheathed his sword. “It did, after all, give me the key to saving Kahlan from the Hedge Maid, so it seems like it knows something about what’s going on. I need to find out what it knows.” He let out another sigh. “At least, before I have to end prophecy.”

Zedd leaned in, his bushy white eyebrows drawing together. “End prophecy? What are you talking about, my boy?”

Richard waved dismissively. As he did, Kahlan saw a ring on his right hand that she had never seen before. “Long story for later,” he told his grandfather.

The mysterious ring had a Grace on it.

“Richard,” she said, reaching out and running a finger over the ancient symbol on the ring, “where did this come from?”

Richard gave her the oddest look. “From a distant ancestor of yours.”

“What are you talking about?”

He waved off the question. “Part of the long story for later.”

“If I survive this touch of death and live long enough. If I can even be cured of it.”

Nicci laid a hand on Kahlan’s arm and smiled warmly. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. It’s serious, and I don’t want to fool you and say it’s not, but I’m confident that I can take care of it. You will both be fine.”

Kahlan nodded, feeling a bit better, but still sensing the odd mood.

“All right,” Richard said. “We need to see to that cure.” He
turned to the soldiers. “Get the horses ready and let’s head back to the palace.”

“Won’t be too soon for me,” one of them said. “I’ve had enough of the Dark Lands to last me a lifetime.”

“I’d have to agree with that,” Richard said as they started for the stables.

“We’ll be home before you know it,” Zedd said with a reassuring smile back over his shoulder as he stepped out to lead the way for Richard and Kahlan. Kahlan thought the smile looked forced.

“Richard,” Kahlan whispered as she leaned close to him, “What’s wrong with Cara? She looks … I don’t know. She doesn’t look right. Something is wrong. What is it?” She glanced around at the soldiers of the First File. “And where’s Ben. Shouldn’t he be here?”

Richard’s face paled. “We lost Ben.”

Kahlan felt like the ground fell out from under her. She suddenly understood the uneasy, unspoken feeling she was picking up from everyone.

“What?”

Gaze downcast, Richard swallowed. “I tried … we all tried. We couldn’t …”

A lump rising in her throat, Kahlan turned and ran to Cara, taking hold of her arms to stop the woman. “Cara …”

Looking into those blue eyes, Kahlan couldn’t speak past that lump in her throat.

Cara nodded knowingly, her lip trembling just a little. She put her hand on the back of Kahlan’s head and pulled it against her shoulder.

“He gave his life to protect us,” Cara said. “It was what he would have wanted. I’m proud of him.”

“Me too,” Kahlan said through her tears. “Dear spirits, please protect him, now.”

Richard, off by himself, leaned back against the coarse face of a small outcropping of granite ledge, watching the small campfire in the distance. He could make out the shapes of the sleeping men. The light from the fire reflected up on a short, protective wall of rock nearby and up against the bottoms of the broad limbs of pines towering all around them. The smell of the fire’s smoke and the popping of the wood as it burned were comfortingly familiar—even if these woods, and this dark land, weren’t.

The moon was hidden behind a thick overcast, but at least it had stopped raining. The cloud cover, though, made it the darkest of nights. Such nights were always disquieting. They always made him feel like he was being watched from the darkness.