Severed Souls(156)

“Cara was our protector, but she came to be more than simply a protector to the Lord Rahl. She had become a close friend to the Mother Confessor and me.”

Cassia looked over at Kahlan. “Is that true?”

“Yes,” Kahlan said without hesitation. “Cara was as hard as nails, but she also had a good heart. We loved her.”

The three seemed mystified by that, as if they didn’t know what to think.

“Then where is she now?” the one named Vale asked from behind. “If she is your protector, and your friend, then why isn’t she here protecting you? Did she die in her service to you?”

“No,” Richard said with a deep sigh. “It’s a long story.”

“Make it short,” Cassia said. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

Richard looked at the intent expressions of the two behind before looking back at Cassia. He wondered what she meant about not having a lot of time, but went ahead and answered anyway.

“Kahlan and I were captured by Jit, a Hedge Maid. Jit infected us with a kind of deadly poison. Cara and others came to help us. In the meantime, the barrier to the third kingdom failed. Hannis Arc called the long-dead Emperor Sulachan back from the world of the dead in part by using my blood. The half people—people without souls—captured Cara, her husband, and all of our other friends. Kahlan and I were unconscious, so Cara hid us before the attack. Because of that, the half people didn’t take us with the others. We later went in there and got them out. As we were escaping, Cara’s husband was killed.”

“I see,” Cassia said. “So what happened to Cara? Why isn’t she still with you?”

As the painful memory came flooding back, Richard had to pause. It was a long moment before he answered.

“Cara asked to be released from her service to me.”

The room was silent but for the hissing torches as the Mord-Sith tried to take in an act that he knew must be incomprehensible to them.

“What is it you really want to know?” Richard finally asked.

“You are called Lord Rahl. Darken Rahl was the Lord Rahl. Darken Rahl was our master.” Cassia lifted her chin while looking him in the eye. “Did you kill him?”

That was the question he had been afraid they were going to ask. Nonetheless he answered it with straightforward, plain honesty.

“Yes.”





CHAPTER

78

Cassia, Laurin, and Vale stared at him for a long, silent, uncomfortable moment.

Richard decided that maybe he should elaborate on his reasons, so that they would not mistakenly think it was by chance, or accident. He wanted them to know the truth.

“Darken Rahl was an evil man who caused untold suffering and death. I sent him to the underworld so that he couldn’t harm anyone else and I would do it all over again.”

“So then, how is it that you became the Lord Rahl?”

“He raped my mother. That makes me his offspring. I inherited the gift from him.

“At the time I wasn’t interested in being the Lord Rahl, or even willing to accept the fact that I had the gift, but I came to see that I could use my ability, and the bond between the Lord Rahl and the people of D’Hara, to fight for something worthwhile—freedom. Freedom to live our lives without the boot of tyranny on all of our necks. Freedom to live in a just world. Many wanted a chance for that and helped in the struggle. Cara was but one of them.

“She and the other Mord-Sith who have joined in that struggle are not weak for wanting freedom. They are stronger for it. I have held Mord-Sith in my arms as they died for our shared cause. I have worn the Agiel of Mord-Sith who have given their lives fighting for our beliefs.

“Those people, like those Mord-Sith, who want the same things in life that I want, are the reason I fight. I fight on behalf of all of them. There have been times when I have been weary and wanted to give up that struggle and leave the fighting to others.”

He glanced briefly at Kahlan. “But the Mother Confessor, who is the one who came to ask for my help in the first place, is my strength, and it is for her, and all those like her, that I fight. I will fight for what is right to the very end. I will fight with my dying breath if need be.

“That, Cassia, Laurin, Vale, is why I killed Darken Rahl. He needed killing and I was the only one who could do it. That is why I am and must be the Lord Rahl.”

Kahlan gave Richard her special smile. He was heartened to see it, even if it ended up being for the last time.

Cassia abruptly turned to Nicci. “I have heard that you were once a Sister of the Dark, but no longer. Why not?”

Nicci was straightforward and simple in her answer. “Richard showed me a better way. He is a good man. Kahlan is a good woman. I wanted to live life the way they showed me I could, if I chose to.”