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"Kahlan?" he moaned. "Kahlan, what happened? It hurts. It hurts so..."
"Lie still, my love. Everything is all right. You are safe, with me. I'll get help."
He nodded and she ran to the door, throwing it open. The elders were sitting in a small circle in the dark, just outside the door. They looked up expectantly.
"Help me!" she screamed. "Carry him to Nissel! There's no time to get her!"
17
When he stirred, Kahlan lifted her head.
His gray eyes blinked and searched around the small room until they found her face. "Where are we?"
She gave his shoulder a little squeeze. "At Nissel's. She tended your burn."
His right hand came up and touched the bandage covered poultice. He winced. "How long... What time is it?"
Kahlan looked up from where she was crouched on the floor next to him, rubbed her eyes and squinted out the partly opened door at the gray light. "It has been light for an hour or two. Nissel is in the back room, sleeping. She was up most of the night, tending your wound. The elders are all outside, watching over you. They haven't left since we brought you here."
"When? When did you bring me here?"
"In the middle of the night."
Richard looked around again. "What happened? Darken Rahl was there." His big hand grasped her arm. "He touched me. He... marked me. Where did he go? What happened after he touched me?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. He just left."
His hand squeezed her arm painfully. His eyes were wild. "What do you mean he left! Did he go back into the green light? Back into the underworld?"
She pulled at his fingers. "Richard! You're hurting me."
He let go. "I'm sorry." He cradled her head to his good shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." He let out a noisy breath. "I can't believe how stupid I am."
She kissed his neck. "It didn't hurt that much."
"That's not what I mean. I mean I can't believe how stupid I was to call him back from the underworld. I can't believe I did something that stupid. I was warned. I should have thought. I should have figured it out. I let myself focus on one thing so strongly that I didn't look around and see what was coming from a different direction. I must be mad to have done that."
"Don't say that," she whispered. "You're not mad." She pushed herself up and looked down at him. "Don't you ever say that about yourself."
He blinked, then pushed himself up to sit facing her. He winced when he touched the bandage again. He reached out to run his hand down her cheek, through her hair. He smiled the smile that made her heart melt.
He sought her eyes. "You are the most beautiful woman in the world. Did I ever tell you that?"
"All the time."
"Well, you are. I love your green eyes, your hair. You have the most beautiful hair I ever saw. Kahlan, I love you more that anything in the world."
She forced herself to hold back tears. "I love you more than anything else, too. Please, Richard, promise me you won't ever doubt my love. Promise me that no matter what happens, you won't ever doubt how much I love you."
He cupped her cheek. "I promise. I promise I will never doubt your love. No matter what. All right? What's the matter?"
She leaned against him, laid her head on his shoulder, and wrapped her arms carefully around him so as not to hurt him. "Darken Rahl frightened me, that's all. I was so afraid when he burned you with his hand. I thought you were dead."
He stroked her shoulder. "So what happened? I remember him telling me how he got here, because I called him, and he was my ancestor, and then he said something about marking me for the Keeper. Then I don't remember anything else. What happened?"
Kahlan's mind raced. "Well... he said he was going to mark you, kill you, that the mark would send you to the Keeper. He said he was here to tear the veil the rest of the way. He put his hand against you. Burned you. But before he could do it enough, before he could kill you, I called the lightning, the Con Dar."
He missed a breath. "I don't suppose that we could be lucky enough that it killed him, or destroyed him, or whatever it is that can be done to a spirit."
She shook her head. "No. It didn't destroy him. He was able to block it, partly anyway. But I think it frightened him. He left. Not back into the green light, but out the door. Before he could finish what he was going to do to you. He just left, that's all."
He grinned and hugged her tighter. "My heroine. You saved me." He was quiet a moment. "Here to tear the veil," he whispered to himself. His brow was set in a thoughtful frown. "And then what happened?"
Kahlan steeled herself for the lie of omission. But she couldn't bear the scrutiny of his eyes. She nestled her face against his shoulder, frantically trying to think of a way to get him off the subject. "And then the elders and I carried you here, so Nissel could tend to your burn. She said that it is bad, but that the poultice will make it well. You have to leave it on for a few days, until it begins to heal over enough."
She angrily shook a finger at him. "I know you. You will want to take it off sooner. You always think you know best. Well, you don't. You will just leave it on like I tell you, Richard Cypher."
His smile faded a little. "Richard Rahl."
She stared at him. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Richard Rahl." She forced a smile. "My Richard. Maybe you could change it when we are married. You could be Richard Amnell. Mates to Confessors sometimes take their wife's family name."
He grinned. "I like it. Richard Amnell. Husband to the Mother Confessor. Devoted husband. Loving husband." The haunted look returned to his eyes. "Sometimes I fear I don't know who, or what, I am. Sometimes I think..."
"You are part of me, and I am part of you. That is all that is important."
He nodded absently, his eyes glistening with tears. "I wanted to help, with a gathering. I wanted to find a way to stop all this. Instead, as Darken Rahl said, I've only made it worse. He was right; I am stupid. It's going to be my fault..."
"Richard, stop it. You've been hurt. You're just exhausted. When you've rested, you'll figure it out. You'll know what to do."
He gave himself a mental shake. He threw the blanket off and looked down. "Who washed the mud off me and dressed me?"
"The elders washed off the mud. Nissel and I were going to dress you," she said, as his face turned red, "but you were too big and heavy for us. The elders did that too. They had quite a time of it. It took all of them."
He nodded absently; he had stopped listening. He reached up to the spot on his chest where the whistle, Scarlet's tooth, and the Agiel usually hung, but didn't find them. "We have to get out of here. We have to get to Zedd. Right now, before anything else happens. I need Zedd's help. Where is Scarlet's tooth? I have to call her. Where's my sword?"
"All of our things are in the spirit house."
He scrubbed his hands over his face, thinking, then combed his fingers through his hair. "All right." His solid gaze came to her eyes. "I'll go get the tooth and call Scarlet, and get our things together, get them ready to leave." He gently squeezed her upper arm. "You go to Weselan, and put on your wedding dress. While we wait for Scarlet to come, we can be married. We'll leave when Scarlet gets here." He kissed her cheek. "We will be married, and we'll be in Aydindril with Zedd before dark. Everything will be all right, you'll see. Everything will be all right. I'll find out what I did wrong, and fix it. I promise."
She put her arms around his neck. "We will fix it," she corrected. "Together. Always together."
He laughed quietly in her ear. "Together. I need you. You light my way."
She slipped away from him, and looked at him a sternly. "Well I have instructions for you, and you are going to do as you are told. You are going to wait here until Nissel says you can get up. She said that when you wake, she has to change the poultice and bandage and give you medicine. You are going to stay here until she is finished. Understand? I don't want you getting sick and dying on me now, not after I have gone to all the trouble of saving y
ou; and a great deal of trouble it was.
"I'll go to Weselan so she can finish fitting my dress. When Nissel is finished with you, then," she shook a finger at him, "and only then, may you leave to go call Scarlet. When you are finished here with Nissel, and when you have called Scarlet and gotten our things together, come get me, and I will marry you." She kissed the end of his nose. "If you also promise to love me always."
"Always," he said with a grin.
She rested her wrists on his shoulders, to each side of his strong neck, and clasped her fingers together behind his head. "I will wake Nissel, and ask her to hurry with you. But please, Richard, don't waste any time after that. Call Scarlet quickly, quick as you can. I want to get away from here. I want to get away before Sister Verna even comes close. I don't want to take any chances, even if she isn't supposed to be back for a few days. I want us away from here. Away from the Sisters of the Light. I want to get you to Zedd so he can help you with the headaches before they can get any worse."
He gave her a boyish, lopsided smile. "What about your big bed in Aydindril? Don't you want to get to that in a hurry, too?"
With a finger, she gently squashed his nose flat. "I've never had anyone else in my big bed before. I hope I don't disappoint you."
He gripped her waist in his strong hands and pulled her to him hard enough to make her grunt. He pushed her hair back off her neck and gave it a tender kiss—right where Darken Rahl's lips had been. "Disappoint me? That, my love, is the only thing in the world it would be impossible for you to do." He gave her neck one more tickling kiss. "Now, go get Nissel. We are wasting time."
