Blood of the Fold

General Baldwin was grinning joyously, but Richard was on the verge of panic. "It is my hope, General, that this will seal our unity."

Waving a hand, the general laughed with glee. "For all time, Lord Rahl. Now, if you will excuse me, I must return at once to let our people know of this great day."

"Of course," Richard managed to get out.

General Baldwin clasped hands with Cara and Raina before rushing from the room. Richard stood stunned.

Cara frowned. "Lord Rahl, is something wrong? Your face is as pale as ashes."

Richard finally took his gaze from the door the general had gone through, and looked to her. "He knew that Kahlan is the Mother Confessor."

Cara's brow twitched as if she were mystified. "Everyone knows that your bride-to-be, Kahlan Amnell, is the Mother Confessor."

"What?" he whispered. "You know, too?"

She and Raina nodded, Raina speaking. "Naturally. Lord Rahl, you do not look well. Are you ill? Perhaps you should sit down."

Richard looked from Raina's questioning face back to Cara. "She had a spell on her to protect her. No one knew she was the Mother Confessor. No one. A great wizard used magic to hide her identity. You never knew before."

Cara frowned, truly puzzled, now. "We didn't? That's most odd, Lord Rahl. It seems to me that I've always known she was the Mother Confessor." Raina nodded her agreement.

"Impossible," Richard said. He turned to the door. "Ulic! Egan!"

They burst through the door almost instantly, poised and ready for combat. "What is it, Lord Rahl?"

"Who am I to marry?"

Both men straightened is surprise. "The Queen of Galea, Lord Rahl," Ulic said.

"Who is she!"

The two men shared a confused glimpse at one another. "Well," Egan said "she is the queen of Galea — Kahlan Amnell, the Mother Confessor."

"The Mother Confessor is supposed to be dead! Don't any of you remember the speech I gave to all the representatives, down in the council chambers? Don't you remember how I talked about how they should honor the memory of the dead Mother Confessor by joining with D'Hara?"

Ulic scratched his head. Egan stared at the floor while he sucked the tip of a finger in concentration, Raina looked to the others, hoping they would have an answer. Cara's face finally brightened.

"I think I remember. Lord Rahl," she said. "But I think you were speaking of past Mother Confessors in general, not your bride-to-be."

Richard looked from one face to another as each nodded. Something was wrong.

"Look, I know you don't understand, but this involves magic."

"You're right, then, Lord Rahl," Raina said, turning more serious. "If there's a magic spell involved, then the spell would deceive us. You have magic, so you would be able to discern the difficulty. We must trust in what you tell us about magic."

Richard rubbed his hands together as he looked off, his eyes unable to find a place to settle. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. But what? Maybe Zedd lifted the spell. Maybe he had a reason. It could be that there was nothing wrong. Zedd was with her. Zedd would protect her. Richard spun around.

"The letter. I sent them a letter. Maybe Zedd removed the spell because he knows that I've taken Aydindril from the Imperial Order, so he didn't think there was any need to keep her spelled."

"That sounds reasonable," Cara offered.

Richard felt a wave of worry rise into his throat. What if Kahlan was furious that he had ended the alliance of the Midlands and had demanded the surrender of the lands to D'Hara, and so she had insisted that Zedd take off the spell to let people know the Midlands still had a Mother Confessor? If so, that would mean she wasn't in trouble, but that she was angry with him. Anger he could accept. Trouble, he could not. If she was in trouble, he had to help her.

"Ulic, please go find General Reibisch and bring him to me at once." Ulic tapped a fist to his chest and rushed from the room. "Egan, you go visit some of the officers and men. Don't act as if it's anything out of the ordinary. Just engage them in conversation about me, maybe my marriage or something like that. See if others also know that Kahlan is the Mother Confessor."

Richard paced and thought as he waited for General Reibisch to arrive. What should he do? Kahlan and Zedd should be here at any time, but what if something Was wrong? Even if Kahlan was angry about what he had done, that wouldn't stop her from coming to Aydindril, it would only make her want to talk him out of it, or lecture him on the history of the Midlands and what he was destroying.

Maybe she would want to tell him that their marriage was off, and she never wanted see him again. No. He could not believe that. Kahlan loved him, and even if she was angry, he refused to believe that she would willingly put anything before her love for him. He had to believe in her love, just as she had to believe in his.