Soul of the Fire

He thought about Franca, wondering if she might have recovered her power. He hadn't seen much of her lately, and when he had, she seemed distracted. She had been spending a lot of time in the library. It would be valuable at a time like this to have Franca's assistance. Her true assistance.

"The Mother Confessor and the Lord Rahl are riding hard, and my men only just made it ahead of them," Dalton said, before Bertrand could lay into his wife, or she could throw something at him. "They should be here within the hour- two at most. We should be prepared."

Bertrand glared a moment before pulling his chair close and sitting. He folded his hands on the table. "Yes, you're right, Dalton. Quite right. First thing is to get Stein and his men out of sight. It wouldn't do to have-"

"I've already taken the liberty of seeing to it, Minister. I've sent some of them on an inspection of grain storage facilities, and others wanted to look over the strategic routes into Anderith."

Bertrand looked up. "Good."

"We've worked too many years to lose it all, now, when we're this close," Hildemara said. "However, if we just keep our heads, I don't see any reason we can't proceed with everything as planned."

Her husband nodded, having cooled considerably, as he did when he put his mind to difficult matters. He had the odd ability to be in a fit of rage one moment, and smiling the next.

"Possibly." He turned to Dalton. "How close is the Order?"

"Still quite a distance, Minister. Stein's 'special Ander guard troops' who arrived the day before yesterday told me four weeks at least. Probably a bit more."

Bertrand shrugged and arched an eyebrow, a sly smile coming to his lips. "Then we will simply have to stall the Mother Confessor and the Lord Rahl."

Hildemara put her fists on his desk and leaned toward her husband.

'The two of them, the Lord Rahl and the Mother Confessor, will be expecting our answer. They've long since explained to our representatives in Aydindril the choice we have, and sent them back with the offer of joining the D'Haran Empire, or facing the probability of conquest and the resulting loss of standing in our own land."

Dalton agreed with her. "Ours would be a land they would turn their forces to if we don't agree to the terms of surrender. Were we some small, unimportant land, they would no doubt ignore us as we stall, but we will be an immediate prime target should we refuse to join them."

"And they have forces somewhere down in the South, from what I've heard," Hildemara put in. "The Lord Rahl is not a man to be denied, or played for a fool. Some of the other lands-Jara, Galea, Herjborgue, Grennidon, and Kelton, among others-have already fallen or joined willingly. Lord Rahl has considerable forces of his own from D'Hara, but with those lands his army is formidable."

"But they aren't all down here," Bertrand said, for some reason suddenly quite calm. "The Order will be able to crush them. The Dominie Dirtch can hold off any force from the D'Haran Empire."

Dalton thought the confidence unfounded. "From what my sources tell me, this Lord Rahl is a wizard of formidable talent. He is also the Seeker of Truth. I fear such a man may have ways of defeating the Dominie Dirtch."

Hildemara scowled. "Besides, the Mother Confessor, the Lord Rahl, and perhaps a thousand troops are already inside the line of Dominie Dirtch. They will demand our surrender. We 'would be stripped of power if that happens. The Order won't be here for weeks-by then too late."

She shook her finger at her husband. "We've worked too many years to lose it all now."

Bertrand tapped his thumbs as he smiled. "Then we will just, as I said before, have to stall them, won't we, my dear?"

The D'Haran troops were a dark ribbon on the road behind them as Richard and Kahlan led them toward the Minister of Culture's estate. A dark ribbon bristling steel. The sun was not an hour from setting behind scattered clouds, but at least they had arrived.

Richard pulled his damp D'Haran shirt away from his chest as he watched a curious raven circling overhead. With raucous calls, it let its lordly presence be known, as was the way with ravens.

It had been a warm and humid day. He and Kahlan both wore extra clothes the soldiers brought so their own would be clean and fit for the meeting they both knew would soon come.

Richard glanced back over his shoulder and received a murderous look from Du Chaillu. He had made her ride a horse so they could make the distance and not take another day. Their journey had taken far too long as it was.

The Baka Tau Mana did not like riding horses. As often as not, Du Chaillu would simply have ignored him when he told her to ride. This time, she knew if she ignored his request she would be left behind.