Blood of the Fold

Adie let out a mocking laugh. "In over his head? He has stolen Aydindril and access to the Keep right from under the nose of the Order. They have sent mriswith against him, and he puts them on pikes outside the palace. He probably has the lands on the verge of surrender into a union that can fight the Order, the very thing we were trying to think how to accomplish. He be using the very thing that be our problem — trade, and uses even that as a weapon to force their hand. He not be waiting to try to reason with them. He has simply put a knife to their throats. If they start falling to him, he could very well soon have the whole of the Midlands in his fist. The important lands, anyway."

"And with them all joined with D'Hara, as one force, one command," Zedd said, "it could be a force that could stand against the Order." He turned to Kahlan. "Is there any more?"

She nodded. "A bit. "Though I fear greatly for my heart, I fear, too, the results should I fail to act, for the shadow of tyranny that will forever darken the world. If we don't do this, then Ebinissia's fate will have been only the beginning.

" 'I will put my faith in your love, though I can't help fearing this test of it.

" "Though I am surrounded by bodyguards, and one has already laid down her life for me, their presence is not what I need to feel secure. You all must return to Aydindril at once. Do not delay. Gratch will keep you safe from the mriswith until you are with me. Signed, yours in this world, and those beyond, Richard Rahl, Master of D'Hara. »

Zedd whistled through his teeth again. "Master of D'Hara. What has that boy done?"

Kahlan lowered the letter in her trembling hands. "He has destroyed me, that is what he has done."

Adie lifted a thin finger in her direction. "Now, you listen to me, Mother Confessor. Richard knows very well what he be doing to you, and has laid his heart open to you for it. He told you that he writes that letter under the image of Magda Searus because he be pained by what he must do, and understands what it means to you. He would rather lose your heart than let you be killed by what will come if he bows to the past instead of minds the future. He has done what we could not do. We would be begging for unity, he has demanded it, and put teeth to the demand. If you wish to truly be the Mother Confessor, and put the safety of your people above all else, then you will help Richard."

Zedd lifted an eyebrow, but remained silent.

At the name, Gratch spoke up. "Grrratch luuug Raaaach aaarg."

Kahlan wiped a tear from her cheek and sniffled. "I love Richard, too."

"Kahlan," Zedd said, reassuringly, "just as the spell will be removed from you in time, I'm sure that you will once again be the Mother Confessor."

"You don't understand," she said, holding back the tears. "For thousands of years a Mother Confessor has always protected the Midlands through the alliance I will be the Mother Confessor who failed the Midlands."

Zedd shook his head. "No. You will be the Mother Confessor who had the strength to save the people of the Midlands."

She put a hand lo her heart. "I'm not so sure."

Zedd stepped closer. "Kahlan, Richard is the Seeker of Truth. He carries the Sword of Truth. I am the one who named him. As First Wizard, I recognized him as the one with the instincts of the Seeker.

“He is acting on those instincts. Richard is a rare person. He reacts as the Seeker, and with the use of the gift. He is doing what he thinks he must. We must put our faith in him, even if we don't fully understand why he is doing what he is doing. Bags, he may not even fully understand why he's doing what he is doing."

"Read the letter again to yourself," Adie said. "Listen to his words with your heart and you will feel his heart in them. And remember, too, that there may be things he didn't dare to put on the paper in case it be captured,"

Kahlan wiped the back of her hand across her nose. "I know it sounds selfish, but that's not it. I am the Mother Confessor; a trust has been passed down to me from all those who have gone before me. When I was chosen, that trust was put into my hands. It became my responsibility. When I ascended to Mother Confessor, I swore oaths."

With a bony finger, Zedd lifted her chin. "An oath to protect your people. There is no sacrifice too great for that."

"Maybe so. I will think on it." Besides her tears, Kahlan fought to keep down the hackles of anger. "I love Richard, but I would never do something like this to him. I just don't think he understands what he is doing to me — to the Mother Confessors before me who have given their lives."

"I think he does," Adie said in a soft rasp.

Zedd's face suddenly went nearly as white as his hair. "Bags," he whispered. "You don't think Richard would be foolish enough to go into the Keep, do you."

Kahlan's head came up. "There are spells to protect the Keep. Richard doesn't know how to use his magic. He won't know how to get past them."