Temple of the Winds (124 page)
Berdine nodded. “He is in love.”
The other women glanced at one another as Rikka put her fists on her hips. “In love. A Lord Rahl, in love. Somehow, I can’t picture it.” She huffed. “He’s up to something. Well, never mind; we will figure it out. What of the others?”
“
Hally was killed awhile back. In battle, protecting Lord Rahl.”
“
A noble death. What of Raina?”
Berdine swallowed, and forced her voice to stay level. “Raina died a short time ago. Killed by the enemy.”
Rikka searched Berdine’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Berdine.”
Berdine nodded. “Lord Rahl wept for her, as he did for Hally.”
Silence echoed around the entryway as all the other Mord-Sith stared at Berdine in disbelief.
“
This man is going to be trouble,” Rikka muttered.
Berdine smiled. “I think he would say a similar thing of you.”
Kahlan growled at the insistent knock. It appeared that ignoring it would not make it go away. She kissed Richard and wrapped a blanket around herself.
“
Don’t move, Lord Rahl. I’ll get rid of them.”
Barefoot, she crossed the dim, windowless room. She squinted at the sudden light when she opened the door.
“
Zedd, what is it?”
He was eating a piece of tava bread. He had a platter of it in his other hand. He offered her the tray.
“
I thought you might be hungry.”
“
Yes, thank you. Very thoughtful.”
He took a bite of tava bread as his gaze roamed over her hair. He pointed at it with the rolled-up tava bread.
“
You will never get those tangles out, dear one.”
“
Thank you for your fashion advice.”
She started to close the door. He put his hand against it.
“
The elders are becoming concerned. They would like to know when they can have their spirit house back.”
“
Tell them that when I’m done with it, I’ll let them know.”
Cara, scowling her best Mord-Sith scowl, stepped up behind him. “I will see that he does not bother you again, Mother Confessor.”
“
Thank you, Cara.”
Kahlan shut the door in his smiling face.
She hurried across the floor, back to Richard. She set the platter aside, laid down, and enfolded Richard in her blanket.
“
A pesky in-law,” she explained.
“
I heard. Tava bread and tangled hair.”
“
Now, where were we?”
He kissed her, and she remembered; he was showing her some magic.
Terry Goodkind is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of
The Sword of Truth
series,
Richard and Kahlan
stories, author of
The Law of Nines
, foundational novel
The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus
, as-well-as collaborator for
Legend of the Seeker
, the Sam Raimi produced, Disney ABC television series based on The Sword of Truth books.
Goodkind was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also attended art school, one of his many interests on the way to becoming a writer. Besides a career in wildlife art, he has been a cabinet maker and violin maker, and he has done restoration work on rare and exotic artifacts from around the world — each with its own story to tell, he says.
While continuing to maintain the northeastern home he built with his own hands, in recent years he and his wife, Jeri, have created a second home in the desert Southwest, where he now spends the majority of his time.