Temple of the Winds (Sword of Truth 4)

Berdine clutched his arm. “She asked me to dress her in the red leather of a Mord-Sith”—Berdine stifled a wail—“for the final battle.”

Richard sank to his knees beside the bed. Raina’s half open eyes rolled toward him. Sweat ran from her face. Her lower lip quivered.

Raina gripped Richard’s arm. “Lord Rahl… please, take me out to see Reggie?”

“Reggie?”

“The chipmunks… please take me out to feed Reggie. He’s the one missing the end of his little tail.”

His heart breaking, he smiled for her. “It would be my honor.”

He scooped her up in his arms. She had lost a lot of weight. She hardly weighed anything.

Raina wrapped a weak arm around his neck as she cuddled her head to his shoulder while he carried her through the halls.

Berdine walked beside them, holding Raina’s other hand. Kahlan walked at his other side. Ulic and Egan marched behind.

Soldiers along the way silently stepped clear, eyes to the ground, giving a salute of fist to heart as Richard and the procession passed.

The salute was for Raina.

Outside, Richard sat on the stone court, in the light of the dawning sun, holding Raina in his lap. Berdine sat on her heels by her head. Kahlan sat on his other side. Ulic and Egan, hands clasped behind their backs, stood not far to the rear. Richard saw a tear or two wend its way down each of their stony faces.

“Over there,” Richard said to Kahlan, pointing with his chin. “Give me that box.”

Kahlan turned and saw what he meant. He kept seeds in a box under a stone bench. She wiggled off the lid and held out the box.

Richard scooped out a handful of seeds and tossed some on the ground before them. He trickled the rest into Raina’s bony hand.

It wasn’t long before two chipmunks, tails twitching, scampered across the lawn. Richard had fed them enough so they knew that the appearance of people might mean food. They stuffed seeds in their cheeks, as best they could, between sudden, chattering bouts of trying to chase each other away.

Raina watched, her eyes only half opened.

Her Agiel dangled from the chain on the wrist of the hand that Berdine held.

The two chipmunks, their cheeks full, scurried for their burrows to store their booty.

Raina opened her arm out and rested her hand on the paving stone. She uncurled her fingers. Each shallow breath rattled.

Berdine tenderly stroked Raina’s forehead.

Another chipmunk appeared from under a bush. He came partway toward them, froze stiff while he checked for threat, and then dashed the rest of the way. He was missing the end of his tail.

“Reggie,” Raina breathed.

Raina smiled as Reggie climbed into her open hand. He sat there, pressing his little feet against her fingers as he popped seeds into his mouth with his tongue. He paused, sitting up in her hand, to rearrange the seeds stuffed in his cheeks. Satisfied, he dropped back down, putting his little feet to Raina’s fingers again.

Raina let out a soft giggle.

Berdine kissed her forehead. “I love you, Raina,” she whispered.

“I love you, Berdine.”

Richard felt Raina’s muscles go slack as she died in his arms while Reggie sat eating seeds from her hand.

55

Kahlan stood behind Richard as he sat in his chair in his office, her arms circled around his neck, her cheek laid against the top of his head as she wept.

Richard rolled Raina’s Agiel in his fingers. Berdine said that Raina had wanted him to have it.

Berdine had asked for permission to go up to the Keep to tell Cara. She also asked if she could take her turn at watch over the sliph, as Cara had been up there for the last three days.

Richard told her that she could do whatever she wished, for as long as she wished, and that if she wanted him to take her watch, or to come sit with her, he would. She had said that she wanted to be alone for a while.

“Why hasn’t the temple sent its message?”

Kahlan smoothed his hair. “I don’t know.”

“What are we going to do?” he asked. It wasn’t a question for which he expected an answer. “I just don’t know what to do.”

Kahlan rubbed her palms up and down the sides of his shoulders. “Do you think you might find an answer in the trial record?”

“For all I know it could be the very last line I translate that gives me any information I can use.” He slowly shook his head. “Long before I can translate every line, we’ll all be dead.”

Richard hooked Raina’s Agiel on the chain along with the amulet at his chest. The red color of the Agiel matched the ruby.

Silence hung in the air for a time before he said, “Jagang is going to win.”

Kahlan turned his head toward her.

“Don’t say that. Please don’t say that.”

He forced a smile. “You’re right. We’ll beat him.”

A knock came to the door. Ulic stuck his head in when Richard called to ask who it was.

“Lord Rahl, General Kerson wanted to know if he could talk to you for a minute.”

Kahlan patted Richard’s shoulder. “I’m going to go tell Drefan and Nadine about Raina.”

Richard walked to the door with her. General Kerson was waiting outside with his usual fistful of reports.

“I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes,” Richard said.

As Kahlan left Richard to hear the general’s reports, Egan fell in with her. It felt odd to be guarded by Egan alone, without a Mord-Sith. One of them had always seemed to be around.

“Mother Confessor,” Egan said, “some people just arrived at the palace and wanted to see you and Lord Rahl. I told them that everyone was busy. I didn’t want to burden Lord Rahl.”

“Petitioners’ Hall must be packed with people who want to see us, what with all the trouble.”

“They aren’t in Petitioners’ Hall. The guards stopped them as they went into one of the reception rooms. They aren’t exactly arrogant, like some of the representatives I’ve seen, but they are insistent, in an odd sort of way.”

Kahlan frowned up at the huge, blond D’Haran. “Did they say who they were? Did you find out that much, at least?”

“They said they were Andolians.”

Kahlan jerked to a halt, seizing Egan’s massive arm. “Andolians! And the guards let them in? They let Andolians in the palace?”

Egan’s brow drew down. “I didn’t hear how they got in. Only that they were here. Is this a problem, Mother Confessor?”

The man’s hand was already on his sword. “No, it’s not that. It’s just that… dear spirits, how do you explain the Andolians?” She searched for the right words. “They aren’t exac

tly—human.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are creatures of magic that live in the Midlands. There are people with magic who live in the Midlands. It is sometimes difficult to know where to place the line separating them. Some of these people with magic are part creature—like the Andolians.”

“Magic?” Egan asked with obvious distaste. “Are they dangerous?”

Kahlan heaved a sigh as she changed her mind about where she was going and instead started out for the reception hall. “Not exactly. At least, not usually. Not if you know how to treat them.

“No one knows a great deal about the Andolians. We leave them alone. Most people of the Midlands have a strong dislike for them. The Andolians steal things. Not for the wealth of the object, but simply because the Andolians are fascinated by things. Shiny things, mostly. A piece of glass, a gold piece, or a button—it’s all the same to them.

“People don’t like them because the Andolians look much like you and I, and so people think they should behave like people, but they aren’t people, exactly.

“They usually show up in places out of simple curiosity. We don’t allow them in the palace because they cause such a disruption. It’s best to simply keep them out. With the magic they have, if you try to discipline them, they can turn nasty. Very nasty.”

“Perhaps I should have the soldiers get rid of them.”

“No. That could get ugly. Dealing with them requires a very special kind of protocol. Fortunately, I know the protocol. I’ll get rid of them.”

“How?”

“The Andolians like to carry messages. They like that more than anything—more than shiny objects, even. They love to carry messages for people. I guess it makes them feel more connected to their human side to be involved in human affairs.

“Some people in the Midlands use them for that purpose. Andolians will carry a message more faithfully than any courier. They will do it for a shiny button. They would even do it for no compensation. They live to convey messages.

“All I have to do is give them a message to carry, and they will be off to deliver it. That’s the easiest way to get rid of an Andolian.”