Soul of the Fire

"Cara, please, listen to me a minute. We've been through a lot together, the three of us. The three of us have been to the brink of death together. We each have the others to thank in more ways than one for our lives today. You are more to us than a guard and you know it.

"Kahlan is your sister of the Agiel. You are my friend. I know I mean more to you than simply being your Lord Rahl, or with the bond gone you wouldn't have to stay with me. We are all bonded in friendship."

"That is why I cannot leave you. I will not leave you, Lord Rahl. I will guard you whether or not you allow it."

"How does it feel to be without your Agiel?"

She didn't answer. It looked as if she didn't trust herself to try to speak.

"Cara, would it surprise you to learn I feel the same way about the Sword of Truth? I have been without it longer than you have been without your Agiel. It's an awful gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach. A constant empty ache, like I need nothing so much as to feel that terrible thing in my hand. The same with you?"

She nodded.

"Cara, I hate that sword, the same as you surely, somewhere inside, must hate your Agiel. One time, you surrendered it to me. Remember? You and Berdine and Raina? I asked you to forgive me that I had to ask you to keep your weapon for now to help us in our struggle."

"I remember."

"I would like nothing more than not to need the sword. I would like the world to be at peace, and I could put that weapon in the Keep and leave it there.

"But I need it, Cara. Just as you need your Agiel, just as you feel an emptiness without it, feel vulnerable and defenseless and afraid, and ashamed to admit it, I feel the same. Just as you need your Agiel because you want nothing more than to protect us, I need my sword to protect Kahlan. If anything happened to her because I didn't have my sword…

"Cara, I care about you, that's why it's important for you to understand. You are no longer just Mord-Sith, just our protector. You are more than that now. It's important for you to think, and not simply to react. You must be more than Mord-Sith if you are to be of true help as our protector.

"I'm depending on you to continue to be an important person in this struggle, a person who can make a difference. Now you must go to Aydindril in my place."

"I won't follow those orders."

"I'm not ordering you, Cara. I'm asking you."

"That is not fair."

"This isn't a game, Cara. I'm asking for your help. You are the only one I can turn to."

She scowled off toward the thunderstorm on the distant horizon as she pulled her long blond braid over her shoulder. She gripped it in her fist the way she gripped her Agiel in the heat of anger. The breeze fluttered the wisps of blond hair along the side of her face.

"If you wish it, Lord Rahl, I will go.”

Richard put a comforting hand on the back of her shoulder. This time she didn't tense, but welcomed the hand.

"What do you wish me to do there?"

"I want you to get there and back as soon as possible. I need my sword."

"I understand."

When Kahlan glanced their way, Cara signaled for her and Kahlan returned at a trot.

Cara stiffened her back as she addressed Kahlan. "Lord Rahl has ordered me to return to Aydindril."

"Ordered?" Kahlan asked.

Cara simply smirked. She lifted the Agiel at Kahlan's chest. "For a woods guide, he gets himself in a lot of trouble. As a sister of the Agiel, I would ask you to watch over him in my place, but I know I do not need to say the words."

"I won't let him out of my sight."

"You need to catch up with General Reibisch's army, first," Richard said. "You can get horses from him and make better time to Aydindril.

"But I also very much need him to know what we're doing. Tell him the whole story. Tell Verna and the Sisters, too. They will need to know, and they may have knowledge that would be of use."

Richard stared off toward the southwest horizon. "I also need an escort, if we are to march into Anderith and demand their surrender."

"Don't worry, Lord Rahl, I intend on ordering Reibisch to send men to guard you. They will not be as good as having a Mord-Sith near, but they will still protect you."

"I need enough for an impressive escort. When we march into Anderith, I think it would be best if we looked serious, rather than just Kahlan and me and a few guards going alone. Especially since Kahlan's power could fail at any time. I want to look to the people there like we mean business."

"Now you are beginning to make sense," Cara said.

"A thousand men should do for an impressive escort," Kahlan said. "Swordsmen, lancers, and archers-their bestand extra horses, of course. And we'll need messengers. We have important news of the chimes and Jagang that must be sent out. We need to coordinate our forces and keep everyone informed. We have armies in various lands we may need to bring south at once."

Cara nodded. "I will personally select the soldiers to be sent for your escort. Reibisch will have elite troops."