Faith of the Fallen (Sword of Truth 6)

Richard looked up, and Kahlan saw the lethal rage of magic dancing in his eyes. He had invoked the sword’s terrible wrath, called it forth, and then put it away. She’d never seen him do such a thing before.

He lifted the sword in its scabbard to her. The tendons in the back of his fist stood out in the strain. The white of his knuckles showed through the blood.

“Take it,” he said in a hoarse voice that betrayed the struggle within.

Spellbound, Kahlan lifted the scabbard in her palms. For that instant, until he pulled away his bloody hand, she felt a jolting shock as if she were suddenly welded to the weapon by hot fury unlike anything she had ever experienced. She half expected to see a burst of sparks. She could feel such rage emanating from the cold steel that it nearly dropped her to her knees. She might have dropped the weapon itself in that first instant, had she been able to let go of it. She could not.

Once Richard removed his hand, the sheathed sword lost the passionate rage and felt no different from any other weapon.

Richard lifted a finger in caution. The dangerous magic still glazed his eyes. The muscles of his jaw tightened until she could see it standing out all the way up through his temples.

“Don’t draw this sword,” he warned in that awful hoarse whisper, “unless it’s a matter of your life. You know the ghastly things this weapon can do to a person. Not only the one under the power of the blade, but the one under the power of the hilt.”

Kahlan, arrested by the intensity of his gaze, could only nod. She clearly recalled the first time Richard had used the sword to kill a man. The first time he came to learn the horror of killing had been to protect her.

Using the weapon that first time, unleashing the magic the first time, had nearly killed Richard as well. It had been a struggle for him to learn how to control such a storm of magic as the Sword of Truth freed.

Without the rage of the sword’s magic, Richard’s eyes were capable of conveying menace. Kahlan could recall several times when his raptor’s glare, by itself, had brought a roomful of people to silence. There were few things worse than the need to escape the look in those eyes. Now, those eyes hungered to deliver death.

“Be angry if you must use this,” he growled. “Be very angry. That will be your only salvation.”

Kahlan swallowed. “I understand.” She nodded. “I remember.”

Righteous rage was the only defense against the crippling pain the sword exacted as payment for its service.

“Life or death. No other reason. I don’t know what will happen, and I’d just as soon you not find out. But I’d prefer that, to you being without this terrible defense if you need it. I’ve given it a taste of blood, it will come out voracious. When it comes out, it will be in a blood rage.”

“I understand.”

His eyes cooled at last. “I’m sorry to give you the terrible responsibility of this weapon, especially in this way, but it’s the only protection I can offer.”

With a hand on his arm to gently reassure him, Kahlan said, “I won’t have to use it.”

“Dear spirits, I hope not.” He glanced over his shoulder, taking a last look at their room, and then at Cara. “I have to get going.”

She ignored his words. “Give me your arm, first.”

He saw she had bandages left over from when Kahlan was still recovering. Without objection, he held out his blood-soaked arm. Cara used a wet cloth to quickly swab his arm before she wound it in clean bandages.

Richard thanked her as she was finishing. Cara split the end, put the tails around his wrists, and tied a quick knot. “We will come part of the way with you.”

“No. You will stay here.” Richard pulled down his sleeve. “I don’t want to risk it.”

“But—”

“Cara, I want you to protect Kahlan. I’m leaving her in your hands. I know you won’t let me down.”

Cara’s big beautiful blue eyes, glistening with tears, reflected the kind of pain Kahlan was sure Cara never allowed anyone to see.

“I swear to protect her as I would protect you, Lord Rahl, if you swear to get away and return.”

Richard flashed her a brief smile, trying to ease her misery. “I’m Lord Rahl—I don’t need to remind you that I’ve wiggled out of tighter spots than this.” He kissed her cheek. “Cara, I swear I’ll never give up trying to get away—you have my word.”

Kahlan realized he hadn’t really sworn to Cara’s words. He wouldn’t, she knew, want to make a promise he might not be able to keep.

Bending to the bed, he pulled his pack close. “I have to go.” He held the strap in a stranglehold. “I can’t be late.”

Kahlan’s fingers tightened on his arm, Cara laid a hand on his shoulder. Richard turned back and gripped Kahlan’s shoulders.

“Listen to me, now. I wish you would stay here, in this house in these mountains where it’s safe for you, but I don’t think anything short of my dying request could convince you to do that. At least stay for four or five days, in case I’m able to figure out what’s going on and can escape Nicci. She may be a Sister of the Dark, but I’m no longer exactly a stranger to magic. I’ve escaped powerful people before. I’ve sent Darken Rahl back to the underworld. I’ve gone to the Temple of the Winds in another world in order to stop the plague. I’ve escaped worse than this. Who knows—this might be simpler than it seems. If I do escape her, I’ll come back here, so wait for a while, at least.

“If I can’t get away from Nicci for now, try to find Zedd. He might have some idea of what to do. Ann was with him the last time we saw him. She’s the Prelate of the Sisters of the Light and knew Nicci for a very long time. Perhaps she knows something that, along with what Zedd might be able to come up with, could help.”

“Richard, don’t worry about me. Just take care of yourself. I’ll be waiting for you when you get away, so just be at ease about that much of it and put all your effort into escaping from her. We’ll wait here for a while—I promise.”

“I will watch over her, Lord Rahl. Don’t worry about the Mother Confessor.”

Richard nodded. He turned back to Kahlan. His fingers on her arms tightened. His brow drew down.

“I know you and I know the way you feel, but you have to listen to me. The time has not yet come. It may never come. You may think I’m wrong in this, but if you close your eyes to the reality of what is, in favor of what you would wish just because you’re the Mother Confessor and feel responsible for the people of the Midlands, then there is no reason for us to bother hoping we’ll be together again because we won’t. We will be dead, and the cause of freedom will be dead.”

His face loomed closer. “Above all else, our forces must not attack the heart of the Order’s army. It’s too soon. If they—if you—carry an assault directly into the heart of the Order thinking you can win, it will be the end of our forces, and the end of our chances. All hope for the cause of freedom, and all hope to defeat the Order, will be lost for generations to come.

“It’s the same way we must use our heads with Nicci, and not fight her in a direct attack, or we will both die. You promised you would not kill yourself to free me. Don’t throw that promise away by going against what I’m telling you now.”

It all seemed so unimportant at the moment. The only thing that mattered was that she was losing him. She would have cast the rest of the world to the wolves if she could just keep him.

“All right, Richard.”

“Promise me.” His fingers were hurting her arms. He shook her. “I mean it. You could throw it all away if you don’t heed my warning. You could destroy the hope of people for the next fifty generations. You could be the one who destroys freedom and brings a dark age upon the world. Promise me you won’t.”

A thousand thoughts swirled in chaotic turmoil through her mind. Kahlan stared up into his eyes. She heard herself say, “I promise, Richard. Until you say so, we’ll make no direct attack.”

He looked like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

A smile spread on his face as he pulled her into an embrace. His fingers combed into her hair and cradled her head as she rose to his kiss. Her hands slipped up the backs of his shoulders as she held him. It only lasted a moment, but in that moment of stolen bliss, they shared a world of emotions.

All too soon the kiss, the embrace, was over. His warm presence swirled away from her, allowing the awful weight of doom to settle firmly down atop her. Richard briefly hugged Cara before he hefted his pack onto a shoulder. He turned back at the bedroom doorway.

“I love you, Kahlan. Never anyone before you, nor ever after. Only you.” His eyes said it even better.

“You’re everything to me, Richard. You know that.”

“I love you, too, Cara.” He winked at her. “Take good care of the both of you until I’m back.”

“I will, Lord Rahl. You have my word as Mord-Sith.”

He gave her a crooked smile. “I have your word as Cara.”

And then he was gone.

“I love you, too, Lord Rahl,” Cara whispered to the empty doorway.