Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy Part 3

"They were convinced that foreknowledge of a certain emotional nature would taint the magic they were using, taint Orden." Nicci looked from Zedd's troubled hazel eyes to Cara. "What it means is that if Kahlan were to learn the truth of her emotions-her dominant emotions-before the correct box of Orden is opened, then Orden will not be able to restore those emotions. The field where Orden must ignite would be contaminated by that foreknowledge. Kahlan would be lost in the tangle of the spell."

Cara put her hanSs on her hips. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, let's say, for example, that Richard found Kahlan and he told her about the two of them, about their emotional connection, their love for one another. In that case Orden would be prevented from working."

The wizard's face had gone unreadable. "Why?" he asked in a tone that sent a shiver up her spine.

"It's kind of like the way my spells didn't work against Six because the strength of my power first needed to establish anchors, foundations, in order to do its work."

"You mean that if Richard ever gets the chance to actually open one of the boxes of Orden," Zedd asked, "he must do so with the subject completely unaware of her ties to him?"

Nicci nodded. "Her deepest emotional ties, anyway. We have to be sure Richard understands that if we find Kahlan before he gets the chance to open the correct box of Orden, he can't interject any causeless emotion or it will corrupt the field."

"Causeless emotion?" Cara's nose wrinkled. "Are you trying to say that Lord Rahl can't tell Kahlan that she loves him?"

"Exactly," Nicci said.

"But why?"

"Because right now, she doesn't," Nicci said. "Those things that caused her to fall in love with him are no longer in her. The foundation of her love-the memory of the things that happened, the things she did with him, the reasons that she fell in love with him-are no longer there in her. Chainfire destroyed those memories. Right now, it's as if she never met him before. She does not love him. She has no reason to love him. She is a blank slate."

Zedd poked a long thin finger through his thatch of wavy hair and scratched his scalp.

"Nicci, I think the fever may have done more damage than I thought. What you're saying makes no sense. Kahlan's problem is that Chainfire made her forget her past. Orden was created to counter Chainfire. There is nothing as powerful as Orden. It's the power of life it­self. Revealing to Kahlan something as simple as her love for Richard is not going to cause the restoration to become scrambled."

"Oh, but it would." Nicci paced a few steps and returned to stand before him. "Zedd, with all your power as First Wizard, why couldn't you stop a mere witch?"

"Because she turns your power back around on you."

"That's the key," Nicci said. "That's the part I needed to add in, why I was finally able to put together everything I've been reading in those books. I was finally able to understand what the wizards who created Or­den meant about the sterile field. The force of emotions will turn back the power applied to the person.

"It's something like the way that trying to convince those who believe in the teachings of the Order that they are wrong in their feelings only strengthens those feelings, makes them even more resistant to casting off those false beliefs. If you tell them that the Order is evil they will hate you all the more, not the Order. Their belief in the Imperial Order is steeled, rather than broken."

"So what?" Cara said. "It wouldn't be contradictory for Kahlan, like in your example. If Lord Rahl were to tell Kahlan that she loves him, that would be what the magic of Orden would do anyway, so it's not really a problem."

"Oh, but it is a problem," Nicci said, waggling a finger. "A very big problem. The whole thing would be backwards. The effect would be there without the cause. Emotions are the end result, the sum, of things learned. Putting emotions in first would be like trying to construct a two-story building by starting at the roof and working your way down to the founda­tion. Or, like me trying to push a powerful spell at a witch woman."

"The emotions that Orden would otherwise put back where they belong would be turned away by the emotions that were placed there by fore­knowledge. Foreknowledge would interfere with the protocols."

"That's what I mean," Cara insisted. "Kahlan would already have been told that she loves Lord Rahl, so it couldn't possibly matter."

"But it does. You see, that foreknowledge would be empty. The emotions revealed ahead of time have no meaning, no substance. They aren't real. If she were to be told of her love for Richard, then Orden wouldn't be able to restore her true emotions of love."

Cara looked like she was ready to pull her hair out in exasperation. "But Lord Rahl would already have told her, so it's the same difference. She would know. She would already know that she loves him."