Once Zedd had disappeared beyond a screen of young spruce and Richard couldn’t see him anymore, he rolled over onto his back and gazed down at Kahlan. In her sleep, she rearranged herself and snuggled up under his arm. It made him smile to watch her sleep. It was a picture of perfect innocence. Richard gently ran a hand down the side of her face, thinking about how much he loved her, how he would do anything for her. It made him angry to think of anyone harming her.
Once he started to worry about her safety, he couldn’t go back to sleep. Something was wrong and he could not for the life of him put his finger on it.
As long as he was awake and couldn’t sleep, he pushed himself back to sit up a little so he could scan the woods, looking for anything out of place. Not a leaf stirred in the dead air. He didn’t hear any night birds, or even any bugs. It was perfectly quiet in the woods all around them. He watched everyone sleeping, his gaze going from one soldier to another, checking. No one stirred as they slept. He was at least glad that the rest of them were able to get some sleep. Zedd was the only one out of his bedroll besides men on watch somewhere out among the trees.
At one point, as he dozed off into a light sleep, Richard heard an odd, muted thump, but the woods otherwise remained still. Waking instantly, he cocked his head, listening, waiting for it to happen again so he could better tell what it was, but the woods remained silent. He thought that it might have been a big pinecone dropping to the soft mat of the forest floor. Those sometimes made a thump that jarred him awake on really quiet nights.
Richard slid back down to lie beside Kahlan for a time. He knew he should get some sleep, but he seemed too on edge to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, they kept coming open. He took every opportunity, when they did, to watch out over the camp, visually checking on Nicci, Irena, Samantha, and the men. None of them had stirred, and no one in camp besides him appeared to have been awakened by the soft thump.
In the moonlight, Richard spotted a dark form in the distance moving through the encampment. He soon realized that it was Commander Fister making his way among the sleeping men. By the way the man was walking, Richard recognized that he had an urgent purpose.
Richard sat up, frowning, as the commander came close and dropped to a knee beside him. Even in the moonlight, Richard could see that the man’s face was white.
Richard checked and noticed that Zedd was not back, yet.
He looked back at Commander Fister. “What is it?”
Kahlan woke up and sat up in a rush beside Richard. “What’s wrong?” she asked in a whisper.
The commander couldn’t seem to find his voice.
“What’s wrong?” Richard asked again, more forcefully.
“It’s … it’s Zedd.”
Richard frowned as he looked over at his grandfather’s empty bedroll. “What about Zedd?” He looked around, checking the camp. “Where is he?”
Commander Fister swallowed. He stood and gestured weakly off in the direction Richard had last seen his grandfather.
Richard shot to his feet. In a heartbeat, Kahlan was up beside him.
Richard could see that the man still couldn’t find words. “Show me.”
Men were already starting to stir, to sit up, as the commander nodded. He turned to the camp and shouted.
“Everyone up! Weapons!”
Men rushed to scramble out of bedrolls as they snatched up swords, axes, and bows.
Commander Fister stared urgently across the camp as men with their weapons to hand went into defensive positions. The commander, Kahlan, and Richard stepped between Nicci, Irena, and Samantha as they rolled over, rubbing sleep from their eyes while rushing to get to their feet.
Samantha looked up at the men all around standing with weapons drawn. “What is it?” she asked.
No one answered as they all hurried to follow the commander.
Predawn mist drifted close to the ground. Richard and Kahlan followed the hulking form of the commander as he rushed across the small camp and then through the screen of young spruce. He continued on a short distance through the woods beyond to a small, moonlit spot that was open, with trees standing like sentinels all around.
Lit by a small patch of moonlight, under a fine shroud of mist, Zedd lay on his back in the bed of moss.
Richard blinked. Kahlan, right beside him, gasped.
His grandfather’s head rested a half dozen feet away among the ferns.
The whole scene looked so peaceful, so restful, so calm.
Richard blinked again, at first not really understanding what he was seeing—or not wanting to.
The reality of what he was seeing filled his mind in a hot rush.
CHAPTER
56
The next instant, Richard pulled his sword free from its scabbard, its fury already fully alive the instant his hand had reached the hilt.