Temple of the Winds

Richard pulled her head to his shoulder and held her tight for a moment, something he had been aching to do. Her arms slipped around him in grateful surrender. "That's all I ask, Cara."

As she headed for the door, Richard called her name. She turned back. "You still must be punished." Her eyes turned down. "Yes, Lord Rahl. ' "Tomorrow afternoon. You will have to learn to feed chipmunks." Her gaze came back up. "Lord Rahl?" "Do you wish to feed chipmunks?" "No, Lord Rahl."

"Then that's your punishment. Bring Berdine and Raina. They, too, are due some punishment."

Richard closed the door after her, leaned against it, and shut his eyes. The inferno of the sword's rage had consumed his anger. He was left empty and weak. He shook so badly he could hardly stand.

He was almost sick at the vivid memory of looking into her eyes as he brought the sword down with all his strength, expecting that he was going to kill her. He had been prepared for the spray of blood and bone. Cara's blood and bone. A person he cared about.

He had done what he had to, to save her life, but at what cost? The prophecy reeled through his head, and the nausea took him to his knees in a flash of cold sweat and dread.

CHAPTER 15

The soldiers he had stationed in the halls around the Mother Confessor's rooms stepped aside, each clapping a fist to the chain mail over his heart as Richard went by. He absently returned the salute as he swept past them, his gold cape billowing out behind. The soldiers crossed their pikes before the three Mord-Sith and two big bodyguards trailing him at a distance. When he had previously stationed the soldiers, he had given them a very short list of who was to be allowed through their positions. His five guards weren't on the list.

He glanced back to see Agiel come up into fists. He met Cara's eyes. The three Mord-Sith reluctantly released their weapons.

His five guards backed away from the challenge and set up their own guard post beyond the soldiers. With a hand signal from Cara, Raina and Ulic swiftly disappeared back down the hall. No doubt she had sent them to find another way around to guard the opposite end of the hall.

When he rounded the next to last corner before Kahlan's room, he saw Nadine sitting on a gilt-legged chair to the side of the hall. She was swinging her legs like a bored child waiting to go outside and play. When she saw him coming, she bounded up out of the chair.

She looked scrubbed and fresh. Her thick hair glistened. His brow twitched; her dress looked tighter than it had the day before. It seemed to fit closer to her ribs and hips, showing her alluring shape more than he remembered. He knew it was the same dress; he thought he must be imagining things. Seeing her figure displayed to such advantage reminded him that there had been a time. .

She schooled her enthusiasm, twisting a strand of hair with a finger as she affected a smile. Her delight at seeing him faltered as he approached. She took a step back toward the wall as he stopped before her.

Nadine's gaze left his eyes. "Richard Good morning. I thought I heard someone say you were back already. I was"-she gestured toward Kahlan's room for an excuse to look away- 'I came. . to see how Kahlan was doing this morning. I, well, I need to put on a new poultice. I was just waiting until I was sure she was up, and-"

"Kahlan told me how you helped her. Thanks, Nadine. I appreciate it more than you could know."

She shrugged one shoulder. "We're hartlanders, you and I." In the thick silence she twisted a thread between her fingers. "Tommy and skinny Rita Wellington got married."

Richard watched the top of her bowed head as she played with the thread. "I guess that was to be expected. That was what their parents wanted."

Nadine didn't look up from her thread. "He beats the stuffing out of her. I had to give her poultices and herbs one time when he made her bleed. . you know, down there. People say it's none of their business and pretend not to know it's happening."

Richard wasn't sure what she was getting at; he certainly wasn't going back to Hartland to rattle a conscience into Tom Lancaster's head. "Well, if he keeps at it, her brothers might end up giving him a lesson in cracked skulls."

Nadine didn't look up. "That could have been me." She cleared her throat. "I could have been married to Tommy, crying to anyone who'd listen about how. . well, it could have been me. It could have been me pregnant, wondering if he'd beat me till I lost this one, too.

"I reckon I owe you, Richard. And you being a boy from Hartland and all. . I just wanted to help if you were in trouble." She shrugged her one shoulder again. "Kahlan's real nice. Most women would have. . I guess she's about the prettiest woman I ever saw. Nothing like me."

"I never figured you owed me anything, Nadine; I'd have done the same no matter who Tom had caught alone that day but you have my sincere gratitude for helping Kahlan."