Temple of the Winds (Sword of Truth 4)

“Cara, do you know the message, too? Just as he does?”

Cara looked as surprised as Richard. “I… it came to me, as it came to him. I knew only that he carried a message. He didn’t know it until he spoke it. I knew it when he did.”

“Who is the message for?”

Kahlan knew.

“For Wizard Richard Rahl, and for Mother Confessor Kahlan Amnell.” Once again, both had spoken the words.

“What is the message?” Richard asked.

Kahlan knew. She went to Richard’s side, taking his hand in hers, holding it for dear life.

The room was empty of everyone except Richard, Kahlan, Cara, Legate Rishi, and the six sisters, cowering under a table. The lamps around the room dimmed, as if their wicks had been turned down. It cast them all in an eerie, wavering light.

The legate, his face gone blank, looked to have gone into a trance. He rose from the chair, blood still dripping from his chin. His arm lifted, pointing at Richard. Only he spoke, this time.

“The winds summon you, Wizard Richard Rahl. Magic has been stolen from the Winds, and used in this world to cause harm. You must wed in order to enter the Temple of the Winds.

“Your wife is to be one named Nadine Brighton.”

Unable to speak, Richard brought Kahlan’s hand to his heart, holding it there in both of his hands.

Cara’s arm lifted, pointing at Kahlan. Only she spoke, this time, in a frigid, heartless voice.

“The winds summon you, Mother Confessor Kahlan Amnell. Magic has been stolen from the winds, and used in this world to cause harm. You must wed in order to help Wizard Richard Rahl enter the Temple of the Winds.

“You husband is to be one named Drefan Rahl.”

Richard dropped to his knees. Kahlan sank down beside him.

She thought she should feel something. She felt only numbness. It seemed a dream.

She had thought it would never come. Now that it was happening, it seemed too fast, as if she were tumbling over a cliff, grasping for a handhold, but finding nothing to stop her fall as she plunged into icy blackness.

It was over. Everything was over. Her life, her dreams, her future, her joy, was over. It only remained to act it out until the end.

Richard’s ashen face looked up from Cara’s feet.

“Cara, please, I’m begging you, don’t do this to us.” His voice broke. “Dear spirits, please don’t do this to us, Cara.”

Cara’s cold blue eyes stared back.

“I do not do this to you. I only bear the message from the winds. You must both agree to this, if you wish to enter the Temple of the Winds.”

“Why must Kahlan marry?”

“The winds require a virgin bride.”

Richard’s eyes darted to Kahlan. He looked back to Cara.

“She isn’t a virgin.”

“Yes, she is,” Cara said.

“No! She’s not!”

Kahlan put her forehead against the side of Richard’s face as she gripped his muscular neck, hugging herself to him.

“Yes, Richard. I am,” she whispered. “In this world, I am. Shota told me that that was all that mattered to the spirits. In this world, in our world, the world of life, I am a virgin. We were together in another world. It doesn’t apply here.”

“That’s crazy,” he whispered in a hoarse voice. “That’s just crazy.”

“It fulfills the requirements of the winds,” Cara said.

“This is the only chance you will be offered,” the legate said. “If you do not take it, then the obligation of the winds to remedy the damage will be ended.”

“Please, Cara,” Richard whispered. “Please… don’t do this. There has to be another way.”

“This is the only way.” Cara, in her red leather, towered above them. “It is up to you whether you will repair the damage. You must agree. If you fail to answer the call, it will not come again, and the magic released will run free.”

“The winds wish to know your answer,” the legate said. “You must both agree to this of your free will. It must be a true marriage in all aspects. It must be for life. You must both be of honest intent in your marriages, and faithful to the ones you wed.”

“He speaks the truth of the winds. What is your answer?” Cara asked in a voice like ice.

Kahlan looked through the watery blur into Richard’s eyes. She could see him dying behind those eyes.

“It is our duty. Only we can save those people, but I will say no if you wish it, Richard.”

“How many more Rainas must die in my arms? I couldn’t ask you to have me at the cost of another life.”

Kahlan swallowed the wail. “Is there anything… do you know of anything we could do to stop the plague?”

Richard shook his head. “I’m sorry. I have failed you. I haven’t found a way around this.”

“You haven’t failed me, Richard. I couldn’t bear to think we were the cause of more death, like Raina’s, today.” She threw her arms around his neck. “I love you so much, Richard.”

Richard’s big hand held her head to him. “We are agreed, then. We must do this.”

Richard brought her to her feet with him. There was so much she wanted to say to him. No words came. When she looked into Richard’s eyes, she knew words weren’t needed.

They turned to Cara and the legate.

“I agree. I will marry Nadine.”

“I agree. I will marry Drefan.”

Kahlan fell into Richard’s arms as she lost control of her tears. She sobbed in agony. Richard embraced her, nearly squeezing the life out of her.

Cara and the legate were suddenly there, pulling them apart.

“You are each promised to another,” Cara said. “You may not do this now. You must each be loyal to your mates.”

Kahlan looked past the legate into Richard’s eyes, each of them knowing that

they had embraced for the last time.

In that moment, her world ended.

56

Kahlan and Richard sat apart, with the legate and Cara between them. Kahlan heard the doors open. It was Nadine and Drefan. After Ulic had let them in, he closed the doors.

Richard raked his hair back as he rose. Kahlan didn’t want to test her legs, yet. It had all slipped through her fingers. Everything was lost to duty.

Nadine eyed everyone in the room: the legate, his six wives, Cara, Kahlan, and finally Richard as he walked haltingly to her.

Richard stared at the floor. “You both know that the plague was started with magic. I told you both how it was stolen from the Temple of the Winds. The temple has sent its requirements if I am to be allowed to enter and stop the plague.

“The temple requires that both Kahlan and I wed. The temple has named who it is it requires we wed. I’m sorry that both of you have been… tangled in this. I don’t know the reason. The temple will not explain why it must be so, only that this is our only chance to halt the plague. I can’t force either of you to be part of this; I can only ask.”

Richard cleared his throat, trying to steady his voice. He lifted Nadine’s hand. He couldn’t look her in the eye.

“Nadine, will you marry me?”

Nadine’s gaze immediately went to Kahlan. Kahlan wore her Confessor’s face, as her mother taught her. Duty, as her mother had taught her.

Nadine glanced to the others, and then back to the top of Richard’s head.

“Do you love me, Richard?”

Richard finally looked up into her eyes. “No. I’m sorry, Nadine, but, no. I don’t love you.”

She was unruffled by the answer. Kahlan was sure that she had expected it.

“I’ll marry you, Richard. I’ll make you happy. You’ll see. You’ll come to love me, in time.”

“No, Nadine,” Richard whispered, “I won’t. We will be husband and wife, if you agree to this, and I will be faithful to you, but my heart will always belong to Kahlan. I’m sorry to say such a harsh thing to you when I’m asking you to marry me, but I won’t deceive you.”

Nadine thought a moment. “Well, many marriages are arranged, and they turn out well in the end.” She smiled at him. To Kahlan, it looked a sympathetic smile. “The spirits have arranged this one. That means something. I will marry you, Richard.”