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“We are near the tipping point,” Nicci said before Kahlan lost control of their purpose. “Once such forces as Sulachan controls are loosed, there will be no one and nothing able to put them back where they belong. Once everything has spun out of control, it is only a matter of time before it is all over. Life–existence–would be extinguished.
“Emperor Sulachan and Hannis Arc arrogantly think they will be able to control the forces of chaos, use them to rule what they will bring about. They are deluded.
“Your abilities are powered by what the Grace represents. Sulachan wants to bend those forces until they break. That threatens the entire world of life–it means your very existence is at stake as well.”
“I know what is at stake,” Red said in warning. “In this case, acting upon that danger is dangerous in and of itself.”
“What do you mean?” Kahlan asked.
The witch woman leaned forward. “You are seeking to meddle in the world of the dead, in the forces of the underworld.”
“What is it you think we are here for?” Kahlan growled.
Red blinked. “To help Richard’s soul escape the trap he is in and go to the good spirits. If he does that, he has a chance to marshal those forces to cut off Sulachan’s power. His power is both Subtractive and occult–both are underworld forces. If Richard can do something about that from the other side, we might be able to stop the darkness that will soon smother the world of life. In that way you will also help the man you love so much to find eternal peace.”
“He can work to do that from this side,” Kahlan insisted. “We need his soul brought back to the world of life.”
Red was momentarily struck speechless with anger. “He’s dead!”
“Prophecy says that he is the only one with a chance to stop the grim fate Sulachan and Hannis Arc are trying to bring about.”
“Yes, prophecy says he is the one. The flow of time tells me he is the only one with a chance. But from the other side. That is how the flow of time tells me he has a chance to stop Sulachan. With him dead, now, that is the only way.”
Kahlan wiped a trembling hand back across her eyes. Before she could say anything, Nicci spoke first.
“Red, I lived at the Palace of the Prophets. I lived there a very long time. While I was there, I studied prophecy, as all the Sisters did. Richard is named in many ways in many of those prophecies. I saw him mentioned throughout thousands of years of writing, although at the time I did not fully comprehend it all or connect it to him.
“Our prelate knew who he was, though, and she protected Richard since before he was born. She knew he was the pebble in the pond, the one who would be born to do what must be done. Many prophecies named him as the only one who would be able to stop one with Emperor Sulachan’s power by ending prophecy itself. They don’t say how, only that he is the one who can.
“Richard is the only chance we all have. He is the only one with the potential to save the world of life. To save life, he must be here, in the world of life.
“Even the first Confessor, Magda Searus, saw that three thousand years ago and did what she could to help him.” Nicci gestured to the ring with the Grace on it that Kahlan was wearing. “The first Confessor sent this ring across time by leaving it for Richard to discover along with the message that he is the one meant to fight for what the symbol on this ring represents, to fight the battle begun by Sulachan in her time. That ring, that duty, has now come full circle, from the first Confessor, to the last, just as Sulachan first threatened the people in the time of Magda Searus, and he has now returned to threaten life in our time.
“The Mother Confessor, the descendant of the very first Confessor, has now come here to you, come with the weight of the responsibility she carries across the ages, to ask you for your help in finding a way to do what must be done.
“If you do not help her, then Richard’s soul will be lost for all time. Our only chance will be lost. We all will die. You will die–not only die, but fall into the hands of the Keeper of the underworld.
“To do those things, Richard needs to be here in this world. Every prophecy says as much.”
Blood went to Red’s face as she leaned toward the sorceress. “Do you now begin to comprehend what I saw in the flow of time? Do you now begin to see why she should have done what I told her to do? Had she done as I told her she must, Richard would be alive.”
“No he wouldn’t!” Nicci said as she shot to her feet. “Don’t you see? Your view is limited because you can’t see what Richard will do. His involvement obscures your view of the flow of time with events involving him. Had the Mother Confessor done as you said, what would actually be the result?”
Red swept an arm out in an angry gesture. “Richard would be alive to do as you say he must to stop Sulachan.”
“No, he wouldn’t. That’s the point. Because you see the flow of time it sometimes blinds you. You can’t see Richard’s actions because he is a pebble in the pond. You can’t see what more there is in that flow.”
Red cooled a little and folded her arms. “I’m listening.”
Nicci gestured down at Kahlan. “What would have happened had she killed me? She would still have been murdered, just as you saw, right?”
“Well, yes.”
“But I would not have been there to heal her damaged body.”
“Right,” Red said, “so you also would not have been there to end Richard’s life. He would be alive.”
Nicci was shaking her head emphatically. “No. Only for the moment.”
The witch woman frowned down at Kahlan a moment before turning her gaze back up to Nicci. “What are you talking about?”
“Richard would have done it himself. Had I not been there to do it, he would have ended his own life in order to go after Kahlan. When he asked me to stop his heart, he told me that he didn’t want to live in a world without her. He said that if I wouldn’t do it he would use the sword to do it himself.
“Had I not been there to heal her body right after she was stabbed to death, and then stop Richard’s heart, Kahlan would be dead, her body damaged beyond the ability to be a vessel for her spirit, with no hope of being healed, but Richard would have done the same thing. He would still have ended his own life to go to the world of the dead to either try to find a way to bring her back, or to protect her from the dark ones so she could have eternal peace and he could be with her there.”
Red paced off a ways, considering. Kahlan couldn’t see her face. After a time she turned back.
“Dear spirits,” she whispered. “You may be right. He is as headstrong as they come when he has the bit between his teeth.
“With such a free will, and being gifted, it can’t be foreseen how the ripples he creates will interact with other people and other events. Doing as I said very well might have resulted in events turning out exactly as you say, with him dead in the end, and the Mother Confessor as well.”
“I know they would,” Nicci said. “Not because I can see the flow of events in time, but because I know the man’s heart. He has often said that he would go to the underworld to get Kahlan. He meant those words. He was dead serious. He would have ended his own life to go after what matters to him more than life itself.
“Had it happened your way, the three of us w
ould all be dead. Instead, with the way it happened, it leaves Kahlan and me still alive. That means we can work to change things. Had it not happened this way, there would be no hope, but now, with us alive and able to work on the problem, there is at least a chance.
“Sulachan and Hannis Arc must be stopped before they can ever bring the insanity of their scheme to pass. You may know about the flow of time, Red, but I know more about prophecy than you will ever know, and I can tell you with absolute certainty, that our only chance–your only chance–is Richard.”
“Yes.” Red swallowed. “And now he is dead.”
CHAPTER
10
“Yes, he is dead, but so was I,” Kahlan said. “I came back and so must he. There has to be a way. It’s the only chance we have.”
Red slowly shook her head. “I saw you coming, but because your purpose involves Richard, and I can’t see events surrounding him very well, I thought you must be coming to seek my help to get his spirit free of the dark ones who have him. That’s what I thought you would want. My intention was to help you free his spirit so he could work to help us from the other side of the veil and then go on to find peace with the good spirits.”
“That’s not good enough,” Kahlan said. “You need to help us bring his spirit back to this world, help us bring him back to life so he can stop Sulachan.”
Red looked exasperated. “But it’s not like it was with you. You were dead very briefly. He is well beyond that point. Sometimes, if it is done quickly enough a person can be pulled back through the veil. But in this case too much time has passed. Richard is beyond that point.”
“You know that I had the Hedge Maid’s poisonous touch of death in me,” Kahlan said. “That touch was tainted with death and brought to this world. But the balance was that in the world of the dead that touch also carried the spark of life. Like me, Richard had the same taint of death in life. That means that his spirit would still have to carry that spark of life. At least for a time.”
Red shook her head without looking up. “As remarkable as it was, I understand how it was possible for such a thing to work for you. The difference is he has been dead too long. Your body was healed and you came back to it almost immediately. His soul may indeed still carry that spark, but the connection between worlds weakens in a very short time as his body breaks down and decomposes. Even with that spark, there is nothing viable for his spirit to return to.”
