Severed Souls (Sword of Truth 14)

She thought a moment. “If there is anything my mother or I can do to help, just ask. All right?”

Richard smiled briefly over his shoulder. “Thanks, Samantha.”

She nodded as she dropped back to walk with her mother.

“You’re too nice to her,” Nicci whispered.

“Nasty habit of mine,” he said, “trying to be nice to nice people. I’ll have to try to be more like you and hurt their feelings instead. That always seems to work.”

Nicci smiled a little. “Point taken.”

“Maybe you should talk to her,” he said.

“Who?”

“Kahlan.”

“I told you, I know better than to poke at a hornet’s nest.” Nicci shook her head. “You didn’t see the look she gave me.”

“What kind of look?”

“Well, if looks could kill…”

“What did you do to her to make her give you a look like that?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Nicci said, opening her hands in a gesture of bewildered innocence. “What did you do? She isn’t talking to you either.”

Richard sighed. “I wish I knew.”

Nicci rested a hand on his shoulder briefly as they walked close together. “She’ll be all right, Richard. I’m sure she just needs to work out some things the oracle told her and she doesn’t want us bothering her while she thinks it all through.”

“That makes sense,” Richard said. “I only wished I believed it.”

Nicci sighed, then. “Me too.”

Richard glanced off through gaps in the trees toward the mountains in the distance. They were growing a deeper shade of steel blue. After the sun dropped behind the towering mountains to the west, darkness descended quickly. The thick clouds would only hasten the approaching darkness.

Richard dropped back, waiting for Commander Fister to pick up his pace and catch up with him.

“Is the Mother Confessor all right?” the commander asked. The commander, like all of the men, could tell that something was wrong and was concerned about what it could be. Kahlan was in many ways their strength. Her spirit always seemed to buoy their spirits. Now, all of them wore somber expressions.

Richard forced a smile for the man. “Kahlan? Oh, she’s fine. It’s just that this sickness is really exhausting, both physically and mentally.”

“Oh,” he said, brightened by the solution to the puzzle.

The sickness was bad enough, but the worry of something more being the issue after speaking with the oracle had the commander concerned.

It had Richard even more concerned.

Richard gestured to the silhouette of the mountains to the west. “With the sun behind the mountains, it’s going to be dark soon. We’re going to need to set up camp.”

Commander Fister nodded. “Like the scouts told us, up ahead we’ll run into a road leading to Saavedra, but that won’t be until sometime tomorrow morning. We can’t make it that far tonight.”

“The good news, though,” Richard said, “is that the road will make for easier traveling and we should be able to reach Saavedra tomorrow. But for today, we’re going to need a place to set up camp before we get caught trying to do it in darkness.”

“Already ahead of you, Lord Rahl. I’ve had a report of a suitable spot not far up ahead.”

“Good,” Richard said. “Give the word for some men to go on then, and clear the area.”

The commander clapped a fist to his heart and trotted off to see to it.

As he watched Kahlan’s familiar, beautiful shape and fall of long hair as she walked all alone, Richard’s heart ached for her. He wished he knew what was wrong. He wanted more than anything to set it right for her and see her special smile, the one she gave only to him.

He hated to see her cry more than just about anything in the world.

After Zedd’s murder, Richard had seen her cry enough to last him a lifetime.

The thought of what had happened to Zedd again brought a fresh flash of anger mixed with the ache of grief. Richard forced the anger aside. At the moment it was more important for him to be there for Kahlan.

CHAPTER

70

Commander Fister spotted Richard and hurried over to speak with him. “All clear, Lord Rahl. The men who scouted the area report that there isn’t anyone anywhere. Not even any evidence of anyone having been in the area.”

“Likely because this place comes directly down from the pass,” Nicci said, “and you know what kind of trouble the chasms were, to say nothing of getting permission from the oracle. Not really any reason for anyone to want to head up in that direction, either.”

“That makes sense,” Richard said. “This is a pretty deserted back door into Saavedra. If it wasn’t, the people of straw would be used to seeing travelers, and they aren’t.”

The commander nodded his agreement. “And I don’t see any half people being able to follow us the way we came.”

Richard watched men spread out on the leafy forest floor among the thin growth of young hardwoods, laying out bedrolls, and gear, collecting firewood for the dozen small fires. The wood smoke drifting slowly through the camp offered a comfortingly familiar aroma to the quiet woods.

They could all see everyone in the light of those low campfires, and they could see a goodly distance off through the lightly wooded area. The ground wasn’t entirely level, with slight rises here and there, but it made for a good campsite. Most of the ground to the right began to rise as it went off to meet hills and mountains in the distance. The men would be able to get a good rest this night, for a change.

Richard had no idea what kind of defenses or orders Hannis Arc might have given at the citadel before he left, but they needed to be ready for anything. He didn’t think, though, that the home guard at the citadel would present a credible threat to these battle-hardened men of the First File. They

needed to get in to the containment field, and none of them were in the mood to put up with any foolishness. Anyone who had any notion of resistance would be wise to change their minds before they lost their heads.

Richard wondered why he was feeling so edgy. The citadel was part of Fajin Province, and Fajin Province was part of the D’Haran Empire. Everyone at the citadel was under his command.

Some of the men were already roasting rabbit, deer meat, and fish trapped in a nearby brook. They were all hungry and needed a good meal to keep up their strength. The next day was going to be critically important.

He supposed that the same went for him, but he wasn’t hungry. The roasting meats all smelled delicious, but Richard was too concerned about Kahlan to have much of an appetite. Besides that, the poison inside him was making his head pound, which made his stomach queasy. He had to struggle simply to remain conscious. Eating wasn’t high on his priorities.

Unexpectedly, Kahlan walked up on them. She pointed to an outcropping of rocks Richard could just see in the distance.

“Some of the men found a secure, private place where you and I can sleep. I laid out our bedrolls.”

“Sounds good to me,” Richard said, trying not to act surprised that this was the first time she had spoken to him since going off to see the oracle. “Would you like something to eat, first?”

“No,” she said before turning and making her way toward the spot she had pointed out.

Richard and Nicci shared a look.

“I think you had best go keep her warm and make sure she is comfortable,” Nicci said. “Just be nice and don’t try to be like me and hurt her feelings. I hear that doesn’t seem to work.”

Richard smiled at the sorceress. “You aren’t going to let me forget that, are you?”

“No,” she said, returning the smile. “Go tell her you love her, Richard.”

Richard nodded. “Thanks, Nicci. I will.”

He drew a deep breath, both eager to be with Kahlan and reluctant to find out what was troubling her. Mostly he wanted her to be back to being herself.