Friedrich could only nod as he sagged under the pain of the memories.
“I’m sorry, Friedrich,” Lord Rahl said in a quiet voice.
“So am I,” the Mother Confessor whispered in sad, sincere sympathy. She turned to her husband, clasping his upper arm. “Richard, I know we don’t have time for Nathan’s prophecies, but we can hardly ignore what heart hounds mean.”
Distress sounded heavily in Lord Rahl’s sigh. “I know.”
“What are we going to do?”
Friedrich saw him shake his head in the dim light. “We’ll have to hope they can handle it, for now. This is more urgent. We’ll need to find Nicci, and fast. Let’s just hope she has some ideas.”
The Mother Confessor seemed to accept what he’d said as sensible. Even Cara was nodding silent agreement.
“I’ll tell you what, Friedrich,” the Mother Confessor said in a voice steady with mettle. “We were about to set up camp for the night. With the heart hounds loose, you had better stay with us until we meet up with some of our friends in a day or two and have better protection. At camp you can tell us what this is all about.”
“I’ll listen to what Nathan wants,” Lord Rahl said, “but that’s all I can promise. Nathan is a wizard; he’s going to have to solve his own problems; we have enough of our own. Let’s make camp, first, somewhere safe. I’ll at least take a look at this book—if it’s still readable. You can tell me why Nathan thinks it’s so important. Just spare me the prophecies.”
“No prophecies, Lord Rahl. In fact, the lack of prophecy is the real problem.”
Lord Rahl gestured around at the carcasses. “This is the immediate problem. We’d better find a spot down there in the swamp, surrounded by water, if we want to live to see morning. There will be more where these came from.”
Friedrich peered nervously around in the darkness. “Where do they come from?”
“The underworld,” Lord Rahl said.
Friedrich’s jaw dropped. “The underworld? But how is such a thing possible?”
“Only one way,” Lord Rahl said in a low voice filled with terrible knowledge. “Heart hounds are, in a way, the guardians of the underworld—the Keeper’s hounds. They can only be here because the veil between life and death has been breached.”
Chapter 55
The four of them started down the path, heading toward the dark expanse of low-lying forest, as Friedrich contemplated the staggering significance of the veil between the world of life and the world of the dead being breached. The latter part of Althea’s life revolved around the Grace she used in her tellings, so he certainly knew about the veil between worlds. Over the years, Althea had often spoken to him about it. In particular, preceding her death, she had told him much of what she had come to believe about the interaction of those worlds.
“Lord Rahl,” Friedrich said, “I think what you said about the veil between the world of the living and the dead being torn might be tied in with why Nathan thought it was so vital that I reach you with this book. He doesn’t want you to help him—that’s not why he sent me with this book—he meant this to help you.”
Lord Rahl snorted a laugh. “Right. That’s the way he always puts it—that he only wants to help you.”
“But I think this is about your sister.”
Everyone froze in their tracks.
Lord Rahl and the Mother Confessor spun around, hovering close to him. Even in the darkness, Friedrich could see how wide their eyes were open.
“I have a sister?” Lord Rahl whispered.
“Yes, Lord Rahl,” Friedrich said, taken by surprise that he didn’t know. “Well, a half sister, actually. She, too, is the offspring of Darken Rahl.”
Lord Rahl seized him by the upper arms. “I have a sister? Do you know anything about her?”
“Yes, Lord Rahl. A little, anyway. I’ve met her.”
“Met her! Friedrich, that’s wonderful! What’s she like? How old is she?”
“Not many years younger than you, Lord Rahl. Early twenties, I’d say.”
“Is she smart?” he asked with a grin.
“Too smart for her own good, I’m afraid.”
Lord Rahl laughed in delight. “I can’t believe it! Kahlan, isn’t that wonderful? I have a sister.”
“It doesn’t sound wonderful to me,” Cara growled before the Mother Confessor could answer. “It doesn’t sound wonderful at all!”
“Cara, how can you say that?” the Mother Confessor asked.
Cara leaned toward them. “Need I remind you both of the trouble we had when Lord Rahl’s half brother, Drefan, showed up?”
“No…” Lord Rahl said, clearly troubled by the mention.
Everyone fell silent. “What happened?” Friedrich finally dared to ask.
He gasped when Cara snatched him by the collar and jerked him close to her hot glare. “That bastard son of Darken Rahl nearly killed the Mother Confessor! And Lord Rahl! He nearly killed me! He did kill a lot of other people. He nearly got everyone killed. I hope the Keeper of the dead put Drefan Rahl in a cold dark hole for all of eternity. If you only knew what he did to the Mother Confessor—”
“That’s enough, Cara,” the Mother Confessor said in quiet command as she put a hand on the woman’s arm, gently urging her to release Friedrich’s collar.
Cara complied, but, in the heat of anger, only with great reluctance. Friedrich could clearly see why this woman was a guard to the Lord Rahl and the Mother Confessor. Even though he could not see her eyes, he could feel them, like a hawk’s, locked on him even in the dark. This was a woman whose penetrating judgment could weigh a man’s soul, and decide his fate. This was a woman not only with the authority, but with the ability, to act on what she decided was necessary.
Friedrich knew, because he had seen women like this often in the People’s Palace. When her hand came out from under her cloak to snatch him by the collar, he’d seen her Agiel dangling on a chain from her wrist. This was a Mord-Sith.
“I’m sorry about your half brother,” Friedrich said. “But I don’t think Jennsen means you harm.”
“Jennsen,” he whispered, testing his first encounter with the name of someone he never knew existed.
“As a matter of fact, Jennsen is terrified of you, Lord Rahl.”
“Terrified of me? Why would she be afraid of me?”
“She thinks you’re after her.”
Lord Rahl stared incredulously. “After her? How can I be after her? I’ve been struck down here in the Old World.”
“She thinks you want to kill her, that you send men to hunt her down.”
He was stunned to silence for a moment, as if each new thing he was hearing was even more incredible than the last. “But…I don’t even know her. Why would I want to kill her?”
“Because she is ungifted.”
Lord Rahl stepped back, trying to understand what Friedrich was telling him. “What difference does that make? Lots of people are ungifted.”
Friedrich pointed to the book in Lord Rahl’s hand. “I think Nathan sent that book to explain it.”
“Prophecy won’t help explain anything.”
“No, Lord Rahl. I don’t think this has to do with prophecy so much as with free will. You see, I know some about prophecy from my wife. Nathan explained how prophecy needs free will, and that’s why you react so strongly against prophecy, because you are a man who brings free will to balance the magic of prophecy. He said that prophecy had not proclaimed it to be me who was to bring this book to you, but that I had to bring it of my own free will.”
Lord Rahl stared at the book in the darkness. His tone softened. “Nathan can be trouble at times, but I know he’s a friend who has helped me before. His help can sometimes cause me considerable trouble, but even if I don’t always agree with the things he chooses to do, I know he chooses to do them for good reason.”
“I loved a sorceress for most of my life, Lord Rahl. I know how complex such things as this can be. I would not have come all this way i
f I didn’t believe Nathan in this.”