Chase fell silent as they ascended a hillside of steps, passing into the shade between fluted columns, and through an opening surrounded by carved stone vines and leaves. They entered the halls. Chase’s head swiveled about, astonished by the size, the beauty, the sheer overwhelming volume of polished stone about them. Kahlan walked down the center of the vast hall, seeing none of it, the folds of her dress flowing fluidly behind her, the soft sound of her boots on the stone whispering into the cavernous distance.
People dressed in white robes strolled the halls. A few sat on marble benches, and others knelt at squares with a stone and bell, meditating. All wore the same perpetual smile of the divinely deluded, the peaceful countenance of those self-assured in their fantasy of certainty and understanding. Truth was only a shifting fog to them, to be burned off by the light of their convoluted reasoning. Followers, disciples, of Darken Rahl, one and all. Most paid the three no attention, giving them no more than a vacant nod.
Zedd caught a glimpse of two Mord-Sith, proud in their red leather, sauntering up a side hall toward them. When they saw Kahlan, saw the twin red lightning bolts of the Con Dar painted across her face, the two blanched, reversed course, and quickly vanished.
The route they followed took them to an intersection of enormous halls, built in the pattern of a wheel. Stained-glass windows that formed the hub high overhead let in sunlight that streamed in colored shafts through the cavernous central area.
Kahlan stopped and turned her green eyes to the wizard. “Which way?”
Zedd pointed down a hall to the right. Kahlan started off without hesitation.
“How do you know where we’re going?” Chase asked.
“Two ways. First, the People’s Palace is built on a pattern I recognize, the pattern of a magic spell. The entire palace is one giant spell drawn on the face of the ground. It’s a power spell, meant to protect Darken Rahl, keep him safe here, amplify his power. It’s a spell drawn to protect him from other wizards. I have very little power here. I am next to helpless. The core of it is a place called the Garden of Life. Darken Rahl will be there.”
Chase gave a troubled look. “What’s the second.”
Zedd hesitated. “The boxes. Their covers are removed. I can sense them. They, too, are in the Garden of Life.” Something was wrong. He knew what it was to sense one of the boxes, and two should be twice as strong. But the feeling wasn’t; it was three times as strong.
The wizard directed the Mother Confessor down the proper halls as they came to them, and up the proper stairways as they appeared. Each hall, each different level, had stone of unique color or type. In some places the columns stood several levels high. Balconies between them looked down on the hall. Stairways were all marble, each of a different color. They passed huge statues, standing like stone sentinels at the walls to each side. The three walked for several hours, working their way higher into the center of the People’s Palace. It was impossible to go in a straight course; there was none.
At last they came to closed doors, carved in a country scene, clad in gold. Kahlan stopped and looked to the wizard.
“This is the place, dear one. The Garden of Life. The boxes are in here. Darken Rahl will be, too.”
She gave him a deep stare. “Thank you, Zedd, and you, too, Chase.”
Kahlan turned to the door, but Zedd put his hand gently on her shoulder and turned her back around. “Darken Rahl has only two boxes. He will be dead soon. Without your help.”
Her eyes were cold fire in the heart of the sharp, red lightning bolts drawn on her resolute face. “Then I have no time to waste.”
She pushed the doors open, and strode into the Garden of Life.
49
The fragrance of flowers engulfed them as they stepped into the Garden of Life. Zedd knew immediately that something was wrong. There was no doubt; all three boxes were in the room. He had been wrong. Rahl did have all three. He sensed something else, too, something out of place, but with his power diminished, he couldn’t put his trust in the feeling. With Chase at his heels, Zedd stayed close behind Kahlan as she walked along the path, among the trees, past the vine-covered walls and colorful flowers. They came to grass. Kahlan stopped.
Across the lawn was a circle of white sand. Sorcerer’s sand. In his whole life, Zedd had never seen so much of it in one place, never seen more than a pouchful. This much was worth ten kingdoms. Tiny flecks of prismatic light reflected up at him. With rising trepidation, Zedd wondered what Rahl needed with that much sorcerer’s sand, what he did with it. He found it hard to take his eyes from the lure of it.
Beyond the sorcerer’s sand sat a sacrificial altar. There, on the stone altar, were the three boxes of Orden. Zedd’s heart felt as if it skipped a beat, to see, for sure, that all three were there together. Each had its cover removed. Each was black as midnight.
In front of the boxes, with his back to them, stood Darken Rahl. Zedd raged at seeing the one who had harmed Richard. The sunlight coming straight down from the glass roof lit the white robes and long blond hair, making them glow. Rahl stood gazing at the boxes, his prizes.
Zedd felt his face heat. How had Rahl found the last box? How had he gotten it? He dismissed the questions; they were irrelevant. The question was what to do now. With all three, Rahl could open one. Zedd watched Kahlan as she stared across at Darken Rahl. If she could in fact touch Rahl with her power, they would be saved, but he doubted that she had the necessary power. In this palace, especially in this room, Zedd could feel that his own power was virtually useless. The whole place was one giant spell against any wizard but a Rahl. If Darken Rahl was to be stopped, only Kahlan could do it. He felt the Blood Rage emanating from her, the seething fury.
Kahlan started across the grass. Zedd and Chase followed, but when they had almost reached the sand opposite Rahl, she turned and placed a hand on the wizard’s chest.
“Both of you will wait here.”
Zedd felt the wrath in her eyes, and understood it because he shared it. He, too, felt the pain of losing Richard.
When Zedd’s head came up, he was staring into the blue eyes of Darken Rahl. They held each other’s gaze a moment. Rahl’s eyes shifted to Kahlan as she walked around the circle of sand, her countenance dead calm.
Chase leaned closer and whispered, “What are we going to do if this doesn’t work?”
“We are going to die.”
Zedd’s hopes lifted when he saw the look of alarm on Darken Rahl’s face. Alarm, and fear, at seeing Kahlan painted with the twin lightning bolts of the Con Dar. Zedd smiled. Darken Rahl hadn’t counted on that, and appeared to be frightened by it.
The alarm turned to action. As Kahlan approached, Darken Rahl suddenly drew the Sword of Truth. It hissed coming out, and it came out white. He held it out, stopping Kahlan at its point.
They were too close to be stopped now. Zedd had to help her, help her use the only thing that could save them. The wizard used every bit of strength he had, which wasn’t as much as he wished, and threw a bolt of lightning across the white sorcerer’s sand. He drained all his power into it. The blue lightning hit the sword, knocking it from Rahl’s hands. It flew through the air, landing a good distance away. Darken Rahl screamed something to Zedd, then turned to Kahlan, speaking to her, but neither could understand him.
Darken Rahl backed away as Kahlan advanced. He bumped into the altar, able to back away no f
arther. He ran his fingers through his hair as Kahlan stopped in front of him.
Zedd’s smile faded. Something was wrong. The way Rahl ran his fingers through his hair sparked his memory.
The Mother Confessor reached out and seized Darken Rahl by the throat. “This is for Richard.”
Zedd’s eyes went wide. Ice flashed through him. He understood what was wrong. He gasped in recognition.
That wasn’t Darken Rahl.
Zedd screamed. “Kahlan, no! Stop! That’s…”
There was an impact to the air, thunder with no sound. The leaves on the trees about shuddered. The grass shook in a wave, radiating outward.
“…Richard!” Too late, the wizard realized the truth. Pain gripped him.
“Mistress,” he whispered, falling to his knees before her.
Zedd stood frozen. Despair crushed the elation of Richard being alive. A vinecovered door in a wall to the side opened. The real Darken Rahl emerged, followed by Michael and two big guards. Kahlan blinked in confusion.
The enemy web wavered, and in a shimmer of light the one who had been Darken Rahl was returned to who he really was. Richard.
Kahlan’s eyes went wide in horror as she backed away. The power of the Con Dar faltered, and extinguished. She screamed in anguish at what she had done.
The two guards stepped behind her. Chase reached up for his sword. He was frozen in place before his hand reached it. Zedd brought his hands up, but there was no power left. Nothing happened. He ran for them, but before he could take two steps, he hit an invisible wall. He was encased in it, held like a prisoner in a stone cell. He railed in rage at his own stupidity.
At seeing what she had done, Kahlan yanked a knife from the belt of a guard. With a cry of anguish, she held it up in both hands to plunge it into herself.
Michael grabbed her from behind, twisted the knife from her hands, and held it to her throat. Richard launched himself in a fury at his brother but crashed into an invisible wall and was knocked back. Kahlan had expended all her energy in the Con Dar, and was too weak to fight back; she collapsed in tears. One of the guards tied a gag to her mouth, preventing her from even mumbling Richard’s name.