Temple of the Winds (Sword of Truth 4)

“A tree. Lord Rahl, I can identify ten different kinds of steel just from the feel of it between my fingers, but I couldn’t tell one tree from another if I had extra eyes.”

“Surely you must have men who know trees.”

“Richard,” Nadine said, “quench oak is what we call it in Hartland. I’ve collected roots and plants on my way here that I know the names of, but are called different by the people I’ve met. If these men drink tea from the wrong tree, the best you can hope for is that it won’t harm them, but it won’t solve the problem. The garlic and blueberries will help their gut, but they need the liquid for what was drained out of the rest of them; the tea helps stop them from losing all that water and builds their health back up.”

“Yes, I know.” He rubbed his eyes. “General, get a detachment together, about five hundred, wagons, and extra packhorses in case we can’t get the wagons close. I know where the trees are, I’ll lead you up there.” Richard laughed quietly to himself. “Once a guide, always a guide.”

“The men will appreciate it that Lord Rahl is concerned about their well-being,” the general said. “I, for sure, appreciate it, Lord Rahl.”

“Thanks, general. Get everything needed together, and I’ll meet you out at the stables shortly. I’d like to get up there, at least, before dark. Those passes are no place to be stumbling around in the dark, especially with wagons. The moon is near full, but even that won’t help enough.”

“We’ll be ready before you can walk out there, Lord Rahl.”

After a quick fist to his heart in salute, the general was gone. Richard flashed Nadine another of his empty smiles. “Thanks for the help.”

And then he turned his full attention to the Mord-Sith clad in red leather.

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 Marlin fellow to me.”

Richard turned the raptor gaze on Cara. “I don’t want you a

nd 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.