For the next hour, the men asked questions, mostly of Drefan. The two generals offered suggestions to Richard regarding command and logistics. Options were briefly discussed, plans were made, and officers were assigned duties. The army was to begin moving that very night. There were a great many Blood of the Fold who had surrendered, and although they had since sworn loyalty to Richard, it was still thought wise to divide them, too, sending some with each unit, rather than letting them remain together. Richard concurred with the suggestion.
When at last they had all departed to begin the work, Richard dropped heavily into his chair. He had come a long way from being a woods guide.
Kahlan was proud of him.
She opened her mouth to say so, but Nadine spoke the words in her stead.
Richard mumbled a flat “Thanks.”
Nadine tentatively touched her fingertips to the back of his shoulder. “Richard, you were always … I don’t know … Richard, to me. A boy from home. A woods guide.
“
Today, and especially tonight, with all those important men, I think I saw you differently for the first time. You really are this Lord Rahl.”
Richard put his elbows on the table before him and his face in his hands. “I think I’d rather be at the bottom of the cliff, buried with the Temple of the Winds.”
“
Don’t be silly,” she whispered.
Bristling, Kahlan moved to his side. Nadine glided away.
“
Richard,” Kahlan said, “you have to get some sleep. Now. You promised. We need you strong. If you don’t get some sleep—”
“
I know.” He pushed away from the table and stood. He turned to Drefan and Nadine. “Do either of you have anything to make a person go to sleep? I’ve tried … . Lately, I just lie there. My mind won’t be quiet.”
“
A Feng San disharmony,” Drefan announced at once. “You bring it on yourself with the way you push past the limits of your body. There are bounds to what we can do, and if—”
“
Drefan,” Richard said, cutting him off with a gentle voice, “I know what you mean, but I do what I must. You just have to understand that. Jagang is trying to kill us all. It will do me no good to be as high-spirited as a squirrel in spring if it means we all end up dead.”
Drefan grunted. “I understand, but that doesn’t get you strong.”
“
So, I’ll try to be good later. What about going to sleep tonight?”
“
Meditation,” Drefan said. “That will calm your energy flows, and begin bringing them into harmony.”
Richard rubbed his brow. “Drefan, hundreds of thousands of people are in danger of dying because Jagang wants to put the whole of the world under his boot. He’s shown us that he has no bounds to his determination.
“
He’s starting the killing with children.” Richard’s knuckles turned white as his hands fisted. “Just to send me a message! Children!
“
He has no conscience. He’s showing me what he’s willing to do to win. To make me surrender! He thinks it will break me!”
In contrast to his knuckles, Richard’s face had gone scarlet. “He’s wrong! I’d never give our people over to that kind of tyrant. Never! I’ll do whatever I must to stop this plague! I swear it!”
The room rang with the sudden silence. Kahlan had never seen Richard angry in quite this way. When he had the deadly fury of the Sword of Truth’s magic in his eyes, the object of his rage was usually at hand; the rage was invoked by and directed at a palpable threat.
This was frustrated anger at an invisible enemy. There was no threat he could get his hands on, now. He had no direct way to fight it. Kahlan could see in his eyes that this anger wasn’t the magic of the sword. This was purely Richard’s rage.
His face finally cooled. He took a calming breath as he wiped a hand across his face. He regained control of his voice.
“
If I try to meditate, I will only see those sick and dead children again in my mind. Please, I can’t bear to see that in my sleep. I need to go to sleep and not have dreams.”
“
Go to sleep and not have dreams? You are bothered by dreams?”
“
Nightmares. I have them all day, too, when I’m awake, but they’re real. The dream walker can’t enter my dreams, but he has found a way to give me nightmares, nonetheless. Please, dear spirits, at least when I’m asleep, grant me some peace.”
“
A sure sign of a Feng San meridian disharmony,” Drefan confirmed to himself. “I can see that you are going to be a difficult patient, but not without cause.”
He slipped the bone pin from the loop of leather and opened the flap on one of the pouches at his belt. He pulled out a few leather purses. He put one back. “No, that will kill pain, but not be much aid to sleep.” He sniffed another. “No, that will make you vomit.” He searched his other things and finally closed the flaps on the pouches. “I’m afraid I didn’t bring anything so simple with me. I only brought rare items.”
Richard sighed. “Thanks for trying, anyway.”
Drefan turned to Nadine. She was bottled zeal, pressing her lips together with restrained delight as the others talked.
“
The things you gave Yonick’s mother wouldn’t be strong enough for Richard,” Drefan said to her. “Do you have any hops?”
“
Sure,” she said calmly, but obviously pleased that someone had at last asked her. “In tincture, of course.”
“
Perfect,” Drefan said. He slapped Richard on the back. “You can meditate another time. Tonight, you will be asleep in no time. Nadine will fix you a preparation. I’ll go start checking with the staff and giving them my recommendations.”
“
Don’t forget to meditate,” Richard muttered as Drefan departed.
Berdine remained behind, studying the journal, as Nadine, Cara, Raina, Ulic, Egan, and Kahlan all followed Richard to his room, not far away. Ulic and Egan took up posts outside in the hall. The rest of them went into the room with Richard.
Inside, Richard tossed his gold cloak over a chair. He pulled the baldric over his head and laid the Sword of Truth atop it. He wearily drew his gold-trimmed tunic over his head, and removed his shirt, leaving him with a black, armless undershirt.
Nadine watched from the corner of her eye while she softly counted each drop aloud as it dripped into a glass of water.
Richard flopped down on the edge of the bed. “Cara, would you pull my boots off for me, please?”
Cara rolled her eyes. “Do I look like a valet?”
She squatted to the task when Richard smiled.
He leaned back on his elbows. “Tell Berdine that I want her to look for any reference to this Mountain of the Four Winds place. See what else she can find out about it.”
Cara looked up from his feet. “What a brilliant idea,” she said with mock enthusiasm. “I bet she would never have thought of that on her own, all-wise and knowing master.”
“
All right, all right. I guess I’m not needed. How’s my magic potion coming over there?”
“
Just finished,” Nadine said in a cheery voice.
Cara grunted as she yanked off his other boot. “Undo your pants, and I’ll pull them off, too.”
Richard scowled down at her. “I’ll manage, thank you.”
Cara smirked to herself as he rolled off the bed and went to Nadine. She handed him the glass of water with the tincture of hops. She had put something else in the glass of water, too.
“
Don’t drink it all. I put in fifty drops. That’s way more than you should need, but I wanted to leave you with extra. Drink about a third, and then if you wake in the night, you can always drink another swallow or two. I put in some valerian and skullcap, too, to help insure you go into a deep and dreamless sleep.”
Richard downed half of it. His face contorted. “As bad as this tastes, it will put me to sleep or else kill me.”
Nadine smiled at him. “You’ll sleep like a baby.”
“
Babies don’t sleep all that well, from what I’ve heard.”
Nadine laughed in a soft lilt. “You’ll sleep, Richard. I promise. If you wake too early, just take a little more.”
“
Thanks.” He sat down on the edge of the bed, looking from one woman to the next. “I’ll manage with my pants. I swear.”
Cara rolled her eyes and headed for the door, urging Nadine along before her. Kahlan kissed his cheek.
“
Get in bed. I’ll come back in and tuck you in and kiss you good night as soon as I see to the guards.”
Raina followed Kahlan out and closed the door. Nadine was waiting, rocking back and forth on her heels.
“
How’s the arm? Do you need a poultice?”
“
My arm is much better,” Kahlan said. “I think it’s fine, now. But thank you for asking.”
Kahlan clasped her hands and stood watching Nadine. Cara watched Nadine. Raina watched Nadine.
Nadine’s gaze moved from one woman to the next. She glanced to Ulic and Egan, who were watching her, too. “All right, then. Good night.”
“
Good night,” Kahlan, Cara, and Raina said as one.
They watched as Nadine strolled off.
“
I still say you should have let me kill her,” Cara said under her breath.
“
I may yet let you,” Kahlan said. She knocked on the door. “Richard? You in bed?”
“
Yes.”
Cara started to follow as Kahlan opened the door.
Kahlan turned. “I’ll only be a minute. I don’t think he can spoil my honor in a minute.”
Cara frowned. “With Lord Rahl, anything is possible.”
Raina laughed and slapped Cara’s arm, making her leave Kahlan be.
“
I wouldn’t worry. With what we’ve seen today, neither of us would be in the mood,” Kahlan said. She shut the door.
A single candle was lit. Richard was covered to his stomach. Kahlan sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand. She held it to her heart.
“
Are you terribly disappointed?” he asked.
“
Richard, we will be married. I’ve waited my whole life for you. We’re together; that’s all that really matters.”
Richard smiled. His tired eyes sparkled. “Well, not all.”
Kahlan couldn’t help smiling herself. She kissed his knuckles.
“
Just as long as you know that I understand,” she said. “I didn’t want you to go to sleep thinking I was heartbroken that we can’t be married just now. We’ll be married when we can.”
He put his other hand to the back of her neck and pulled her into a gentle kiss. She laid a hand on his bare chest, feeling his warm flesh, his breathing, his heartbeat. If she hadn’t been so devastated by the suffering children she had seen that day, the feel of him would have ignited longing in her own breast.
“
I love you,” she whispered.
“
I love you, now, and always,” he whispered back.
She blew out the candle. “Sleep well, my love.”
Cara eyed Kahlan suspiciously as she closed the door. “That was two minutes.”
Kahlan ignored Cara’s little jab. “Raina, would you guard Richard’s room until you go to bed, and then have a guard posted?”
“
Yes, Mother Confessor.”
“
Ulic, Egan, with that sleep potion, Richard may not be able to awake if he were in danger. I’d like one of you to be here when Raina goes to bed.”
Ulic folded his massive arms. “Mother Confessor, neither of us has any intention of leaving this spot as long as Lord Rahl is asleep.”
Egan pointed at the floor against the opposite wall. “One of us can take a nap if need be. We’ll both be here. Don’t be concerned for Lord Rahl’s safety while he is sleeping.”
“
Thank you, all of you. One other thing: Nadine isn’t to be allowed into his room—for any reason. None whatsoever.”
They all nodded in satisfaction. Kahlan turned to the blond-headed Mord-Sith.
“
Cara, go get Berdine. I’m going to get a cloak. Both of you should bring your cloaks, too. It’s a foul night.”
“
And where are we going?”
“
I’ll meet you both out in the stables.”
“
The stables? Why do you want to go out there? It’s time for dinner.”
Cara would never really balk at a duty over a matter so petty as dinner. She was suspicious.
“
Grab something from the kitchens that we can take with us, then.”
Cara clasped her hands behind her back. “Where are we going?”
“
For a ride.”
“
A ride. Mother Confessor, where are we going?”
“
The Wizard’s Keep.”
Both Cara and Raina lifted an eyebrow.
Cara’s surprise turned to a frown of disapproval. “Does Lord Rahl know that you want to go up to the Keep?”
“
Of course not. If I had told him why I’m going, he would have insisted on going, too. He needs sleep, so I didn’t tell him.”
“
And why are we going?”
“
Because the Temple of the Winds is gone. The wizards who did it were put on trial. There are records in the Keep of all the trials held there. I want to find that record. Tomorrow, Richard can read it over, after he’s gotten some sleep. It could help him.”
“
Makes sense, going to the Wizard’s Keep after dark. I will go get Berdine and some food and meet you in the stables. We’ll make a picnic of it,” Cara said with blithe sarcasm.