Temple of the Winds

"Sister Amelia had a little task to perform, but I'm afraid she's no longer a Sister of the Dark. She betrayed her oath to the Keeper of the underworld, so that I could destroy Richard Rahl."

Kahlan's foot touched Cara. "Why didn't you tell us all this before, when we first captured Marlin? Why wait until now?"

"Ah, well, I had to wait until Amelia returned with what I sent her for. I'm not one to take chances, you see. Not anymore." "And what did she steal from Aydindril for you?" Jagang chuckled derisively. "Oh, not from Aydindril, darlin." Kahlan squatted down beside Cara. 'Why would she no longer be sworn to the Keeper? Not that I'm unhappy about it. but why would she betray her oath?"

"Because I placed her in a double bind. I gave her the choice of being sent to her master, where she would suffer for eternity at his merciless hands for her past failure with your love, or to betray him, and escape his grasp for now, only to intensify his anger for later.

"And, darlin, you should be unhappy about it, very unhappy, as it will be the downfall of Richard Rahl."

Kahlan forced herself to speak. "An empty threat."

"I don't make empty threats." His smile widened. "Why do you think I went to all this trouble? To be there at its doing, and to let you know that it is I, Jagang, who has brought it upon you. I'd hate to have you think it was simply chance."

Kahlan shot to her feet and took an angry stride toward him. "Tell me, you bastard! What have you done!"

Marlin's hand jerked up, raising one finger. Nadine made a strangling sound. l "Careful, Mother Confessor, or you'll be denying yourself hearing the rest of it."

Kahlan stepped back. Nadine gasped for air. "That's better, darlin.

"You see, Richard Rahl thought that by destroying the Palace of the Prophets, he kept me from gaining the knowledge it contained." Marlin's puppet finger waggled. "Not so. Prophecies were not unique to the Palace of the Prophets. There have been prophets about, elsewhere, and there are prophecies elsewhere. Here, for example, there are prophecies in the Wizard's Keep. In the Old World, there are prophecies, too. I found a number of them when I excavated an ancient city that once thrived at the time of the great war "Among them, I found one that will be Richard Rahl's undoing. It is an extraordinarily rare type of prophecy, called a bound fork. It enforces a double bind on its victim.

"I have invoked the prophecy."

Kahlan didn't have the slightest idea what he was talking about. She quickly squatted and lifted Cara's head. Cara scowled up at her.

"You idiot," Cara whispered under her breath, "I'm fine. Leave me. Get answers. Then signal, and I will use my link to kill him."

Kahlan dropped Cara's head and stood. She started inching back toward the ladder.

''You're talking babble, Jagang. ' She moved more quickly, hoping Jagang would think she had found Cara dead. She was halfway to the ladder, although she had no intention of trying to escape. She intended to unleash her power on him. Nadine, or no Nadine. "I don't know anything about prophecy. You're making no sense." "Well, darlin, it's like this, either Richard Rahl lets the firestorm of what I have wrought rage out of control, fulfilling one fork of the prophecy, in which case it kills him, too, or he tries to stop what I have done, fulfilling the other fork of the prophecy. On that fork, he is destroyed. See? He can't win, no matter which he chooses. Only one of two events can now evolve, only one of the two forks. He has the power to choose which one, but either will be his doom." "You are a fool. Richard will choose neither." Jagang roared with laughter. "Oh, but he will. I've already invoked the prophecy, through Marlin. Once invoked, there is no turning back from a bound fork prophecy. But enjoy your delusions, if it will please you. It will make the fall all that much more painful."

Kahlan paused in her tracks. "I don't believe you." "You will. Oh, yes, you will." — "Empty threats! What proof have you?" "Proof will come on the red moon." "There is no such thing. You are full of empty threats." Kahlan lifted a finger toward him as her fear dissolved in the heat of rage. "But I want you to know of my threat, Jagang, and it is not empty. I have seen the bodies of the women and children you ordered slaughtered in Ebinissia, and I swore undying vengeance on your Imperial Order. Even prophecy will not stop us from defeating you."

If nothing else, she needed to at least provoke him into revealing the prophecy. If they knew it, perhaps they could thwart it. "That is my prophecy to you, Jagang. Unlike your pretend prophecy, it has words to it."