Severed Souls (Sword of Truth 14)

When he quickly flipped back to the beginning, as he suspected, he spotted Irena’s report to Dreier that she had killed her sister Martha and Martha’s husband when they had gone to see if the reports about Jit were true. She had then dumped their bodies in the swamp. She and Dreier discussed how they couldn’t risk any of the gifted in Stroyza learning that the barrier was failing. Dreier said he would send soldiers to collect her other sister, Millicent, and her husband, Gyles, and take them to the abbey to make sure they couldn’t interfere, either.

Richard could hardly believe she had killed her own sisters and their husbands, and was shocked to see Irena’s report that her husband had started asking too many questions, so when an opportunity presented itself, she had killed him. The casual manner in which she reported killing her husband was shocking.

Dreier told her that if her daughter ever became suspicious, Irena would need to eliminate her as well. Richard was horrified to see Irena’s reply that once Richard and the others were taken prisoner at the citadel, he was welcome to take care of Samantha if he wished so that she would cease to be a potential problem.

And then he saw it.

The passage read, “The old wizard was getting suspicious. Tonight I cast a concealing spell to make it appear I was in my bedroll so that I could go off to report to you. He somehow followed me and caught me writing in my journey book. Fortunately, he thought me merely a sorceress and was unaware of the occult side of my abilities. When he used his gift to try to restrain me and take my journey book, I was happy to finally have the opportunity and I beheaded the troublesome old man. He will no longer be a problem.”

Richard’s vision went red.

He turned and with a scream of rage rammed into the woman, catching her completely by surprise. Richard had both hands around her throat before she knew what hit her.

He slammed her up against the wall hard enough for her head and shoulders to break the plaster. Her hands snatched desperately at his wrists. He smashed her head into the wall again before she had a chance to summon her occult abilities. The sound of the powerful blow echoed through the hall. Blood splattered across the whitewashed plaster wall. Stunned, her eyes rolling, she fought to remain conscious. Her face glowed beet-red as she struggled in vain to get air.

Irena’s feet kicked above the floor as Richard pinned her up against the wall, crushing her windpipe.

He was in a blind rage, screaming the whole time. Nothing else mattered to him but choking to death this traitorous woman who had killed Zedd.

As he strangled her, her face went from red to dark red to blue. Her wide eyes bulged. Her limbs hung lifeless, swinging from side to side as he repeatedly bashed her head against the wall.

“Richard, what is it?” Kahlan cried out. “What’s going on?”

He realized that Kahlan had been asking the question over and over. She had been screaming it at him.

He was panting so rapidly he could hardly speak. “She killed Zedd!”

Kahlan’s eyes widened. “What?”

Richard’s lethal focus remained riveted on the woman he was strangling, on her blue skin, her dead eyes staring at him as his big hands shook with the effort of crushing her throat.

“She’s been a traitor among us the whole time—working to sabotage us—to make sure we were captured—to see us all murdered by Dreier.” Richard gritted his teeth in rage. Tears ran down his face. “She killed Zedd!”

With a growl of fury, he slammed her lifeless body up against the wall yet again. He kept choking her, even though he knew she was dead. He wanted to kill her a thousand times over.

His grandfather, the man who had raised him, the best, the smartest, the kindest, the wisest man Richard had ever known, had been murdered in cold blood by this evil, conniving traitor.

Kahlan gently pulled on his arm. “Richard … it’s over.”

He finally dropped her in a lifeless heap, her limbs flopping out to the sides as he stood over her panting.

It was then that he realized Samantha had just come around the corner.

She stood frozen in shock. Her dark eyes were as wide as they would go. Her face stood out white against her black hair.

CHAPTER

83

Frozen in horror, Samantha stared down at her dead mother for a moment. And then she ran toward Richard, screaming, her fists flying.

“What have you done! You monster! What have you done!”

“Samantha,” Kahlan said, trying to pull the young woman back away from Richard, or at least to catch her furiously flying fists, “you don’t understand.”

“I understand perfectly well!” she screamed. “He killed my mother! He killed her! I saw it!”

“Samantha!” Richard yelled back. “You don’t understand—”

“I do too understand! I understand that you’ve taken everything from me! I hate you! You killed her! She was all I had left in the world and you killed her! You took her from me! You took everything from me!”

Down the hall, Richard could hear the sound of boots as men raced at a dead run toward the shrill screams.

Nicci ran in around the corner. “What’s going on?”

“Samantha!” Kahlan yelled as she again tried to pull the young woman away. “Listen to us!”

Nicci skidded to a stop

when she saw the crumpled body of Irena on the floor. “What happened?”

“Richard killed her!” Samantha screamed.

Cassia reached for the young woman to help Kahlan try to contain her. Samantha jerked away from them, moving back out of reach, her hands fisted at her sides, her teeth clenched, tears streaming down her face.

“Samantha,” Richard said, “you don’t understand. You need to listen to me. I’m so sorry, but your mother was working with Dreier against us the whole time. She murdered Zedd. She helped Dreier capture us so the two of them could—”

“Liar! You’re a liar! You didn’t like her so you killed her! Now you’re just making excuses! She loved us all! You’re a liar!”

“Samantha,” Richard said, trying to find a way to get the young woman to calm down and listen, “your mother killed your aunts to help Dreier—”

“That’s a lie! That’s not true! You’re lying! You’re lying!”

“Samantha, listen to us,” Kahlan put in. “She murdered your father as well. We can show you—”

“Liars! You all only pretended to like us! You’re liars! I hate you all!”

Kahlan took a step toward her. “Samantha, please, you have to listen to us.”

“You took what I loved most. I hate you!” she screamed at Richard. “You took what I loved most in life!”

Men running up the halls from every direction raced toward the sounds of trouble.

Samantha thrust her arms to either side, driving them back with powerful fists of air that tumbled the men back.

“You took what I loved most,” she said with venom to Richard. “Now I’m taking what you love most!”

She reached out and snatched the knife from Kahlan’s belt.

Richard shot toward the girl.

Before he could reach her, Samantha spun, whipping around in an arc, and slammed the knife in her fist hilt-deep into the center of Kahlan’s chest.

The impact made a sickening sound.

In shock, Richard saw Kahlan’s eyes go wide as she tried to pull a breath. Her eyes rolled up in her head as she collapsed.