Soul of the Fire

Cara scowled. "Lord Rahl, stop looking at me like I am a great spirit come to our world. I am Mord-Sith. Any Mord-Sith could have done this. We all know how."

She snatched his shirt collar and pulled him closer. "You know of it, too. Denna taught you, I know she did. You could have done this as easily as I."

"I don't know, Cara, I've only taken the breath of life. I've never given it."

She released his collar. "It is the same thing, just in the other direction."

Du Chaillu sprawled herself across Richard's lap. He smoothed her hair with gentle empathy. She clutched at his belt, his shirt, his waist, holding on for dear life, as he tried to keep her calm.

"My husband," she managed between gasping and coughing, "you saved me… from the kiss of death."

Kahlan was holding one of Du Chaillu's hands. Richard took the other and placed it on a leg sheathed in leather.

"Cara is the one who saved you, Du Chaillu. Cara gave you back the breath of life."

Du Chaillu's fingers kneaded at Cara's leather-clad leg, groping their way up until she found Cara's hand.

"And the Caharin's baby…. You saved us both…. Thank you, Cara." She gasped another rattling breath. "Richard's child will live because of you. Thank you."

Richard didn't think it the proper time to point out paternity.

"It was nothing. Lord Rahl would have done it, but I was closer and beat him to it."

Cara briefly squeezed the hand before standing to make way for some of the grateful blade masters to get close to their spirit woman.

"Thank you, Cara," Du Chaillu repeated.

Cara's mouth twisted with the distaste of people appreciating her for having done something compassionate. "We are all glad your spirit had not yet left you, so you could stay, Du Chaillu. Lord Rahl's baby, too."

CHAPTER 34

Not far off, Du Chaillu was being tended to by the blade masters and most of the hunters. The Baka Tau Mana spirit woman had returned from the spirit world, or near to it, and Richard could see she had left behind her warmth. The blankets were insufficient, so Richard had told the men they could make a fire to help warm her if they all stayed together to reduce the chances of any surprises.

Two of the Mud People cleared grass and dug a shallow pit while the other hunters made tightly wound grass billets. Twisting wrung out most of the moisture. They coated four of the grass bundles in a resinous pitch they carried with them and then stacked them in a pyramid. With those burning, they windrowed the rest of the grass billets around the little fire to dry them out. In short order they had dry grass for firewood and a good fire going.

Du Chaillu looked like death warmed up a bit. She was still very sick. At least she was alive. Her breathing was better, if interrupted by coughing. The blade masters were seeing to it that she drank hot tea while the hunters-turnedmother-hens cooked her up some tava porridge. It appeared she would recover and remain in the world of life for the time being.

Richard found it miraculous to think a person could come alive again after dying. Had someone told him such a thing, instead of him seeing it himself, he doubted he would have believed them. In more ways than one, his beliefs had been skewed and his thinking altered.

Richard no longer had any doubt as to what they must do.

Cara, arms folded, watched the men as they took care of Du Chaillu. Kahlan, too, was watching with fascination equal to any of the rest of them-except Cara; she didn't think it was at all out of the ordinary for a dead person to breathe again. What was ordinary for a Mord-Sith seemed very different from what others thought ordinary.

Richard gently took a hold of Kahlan's arm and pulled her closer. "Before, you said no one had gotten past the Dominie Dirtch in centuries. Did someone once get past them?"

Kahlan turned her attention to him. "It's unclear and a matter of dispute, outside of Anderith, anyway."

Ever since it had first been mentioned by Du Chaillu, Richard had gotten the feeling Anderith wasn't Kahlan's favorite place.

"How so?"

"It's a story requiring some explanation."

Richard pulled three pieces of tava bread from his pack and handed one each to Cara and Kahlan. He settled his gaze on Kahlan's face.

"I'm listening."

Kahlan twisted a small chunk off her tava bread, apparently pondering how to begin.

"The land now known as Anderith was once invaded by people known as the Hakens. The people of Anderith teach that the Hakens used the Dominie Dirtch against the people who were then living there, those people now called the Anders.

"When I was young and studied at the Keep, the wizards taught me differently. Either way, it was many centuries ago; history has a way of getting muddled by those controlling the teaching of it. For example, I would venture the Imperial Order will teach a very different account of Renwold than we would teach."

"I'd like to hear about Anderith history," he said as she ate the chunk of tava bread she had torn off. "About the history as the wizards taught you."