Faith of the Fallen

It was not long after dawn when Kahlan made it to Zedd's tent. Cara had gone to get horses and supplies. When Kahlan called, Zedd asked her to enter. He rose from the bench beside Adie, the old sorceress.

"Kahlan. What is it?"

"I've come to bid you good-bye."

Zedd's eyes showed no surprise. "Why don't you stay and get some rest?

Leave tomorrow."

"There are no tomorrows left. Winter is upon us again. If I am going to do as I must, I don't have a day to waste."

Zedd gently gripped her shoulders. "Kahlan, Warren wanted to see you.

He felt he had to tell you that Richard was right. It meant a great deal to him that you know that. Richard told us that you must not attack the heart of the Order before the people prove themselves to him, or all will be lost.

Such a thing is even less likely to happen today than the day he said it."

"And maybe Warren meant that Richard was right-that we are going to lose the New World to the Order, so what is there to stay for? Maybe it was Warren's way of trying to tell me to go to Richard before I'm dead, or he's dead, and then it's too late to even try."

"And Nicci?"

"I'll find out when I get there."

"But, you can't hope to-" - "Zedd, what else is there for me? To watch the Midlands fall? To aspire at most to live out my life running, to live as a recluse, hiding every day from the clutches of the Order?

"Even if Warren hadn't said it, I've come to realize-no matter how much.

I wish it was otherwise-that Richard is right. The Order will only be pinned down for the winter while we help the people escape Aydindril. In the spring, the enemy will flood into my city. Then they will turn to D'Hara.

There will be nowhere to run. Though they escape for the moment, the Order will subjugate those people.

"There is no future for me. Richard was right. The least I can do is spend the last of my life living for myself, and for Richard. There is nothing else left for me, Zedd."

Tears brimmed in his eyes. "I will miss you so. You've brought back good memories of my own daughter and given me so many good times."

Kahlan threw her arms around him. "Oh, Zedd, I love you."

She couldn't hold back her own tears, then. She was all he had left, and he was losing her, too.

No-that wasn't true. Kahlan pulled back.

"Zedd, the time has come for you to leave, too. You must go to the Keep and protect it."

He nodded with great reluctance, great sadness. "I know."

Kahlan knelt before the sorceress and took up her hand. "Adie, will you go with him and keep him company?"

A beautiful smile came to the woman's weathered face. "Well, I. ."

She looked up. "Zedd?"

Zedd scowled. "Bags, now you've ruined the surprise of the invite."

Kahlan smacked his leg. "Stop cursing in front of ladies-and stop being so sour. I'd like to know you're not going to be lonely up there."

A smile stole across his face. "Of course Adie is going to the Keep with me."

Adie scowled in turn. "How do you know that, old man? You never asked my approval. Why, I have a mind-"

"Please stop it," Kahlan said. "Both of you. This is too important to be fussing over."

"I can fuss if I want to," Zedd protested.

"That be right." Adie shook a thin finger. "We are old enough to fuss if we wish."

Kahlan smiled through her tears. "Of course you can. It's just that, after Warren. . it reminds me of how much I hate to see people waste their lives on things that don't matter."

Zedd truly did scowl, now. "You've a thing or two to learn, dear one, if you don't know how important fussing is."

"That be right," Adie said. "Fussing keeps you sharp. When you get old, you need to stay sharp."

"Adie is entirely right," Zedd said. "Why, I think-"

Kahlan silenced him with a hug that Adie joined.

"Are you sure about this, dear one?" Zedd asked after they parted.

"I am. I'm going to take my sword into the belly of the Order."

Zedd nodded as he hooked his bony fingers around the back of her neck.

He pulled her head close and kissed her brow.

"If you're to go, then ride hard and strike harder."

"My thought, exactly," Cara said as she stepped into the tent.

Kahlan thought Cara's blue eyes looked a little more liquid than usual.

"Are you all right, Cara?"

Cara frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Kahlan said.

"General Meiffert got us the six fastest horses he could find." Cara smiled her pleasure at the prospect. "We'll have fresh mounts with us and be able to cover a lot of ground fast. I have all our supplies loaded up.

"If we leave now, we should be able to escape winter's grip. We have the map, so we can stay away from the routes the Order's troops use, and the heaviest popula tion centers. There are good roads, and open country down there. Riding hard, I think that we can make it in a few weeks. A month at most."

Zedd's face contorted with concern. "But the Order controls much of the southern Midlands. It's dangerous country, now."