“Wrong kind?”
Her tone was distant. “I hate cheese.” She was staring past him to a spot across the room.
Richard frowned. “Then why did you ask for it?” There was a hint of irritation in his voice.
“Keep looking at me,” she said, her eyes returning to his. “There are two men behind you, across the room. They have been watching us. I wanted to know if it was me or you they were watching. When I sent you for the food they watched you go and come back. They paid no attention to me. It is you they are watching.”
Richard put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to see for himself. He scanned over the heads of the crowd, to the far side of the room. “They’re just two of Michael’s aides. They know me. They’re probably wondering where I’ve been and why I look such a mess.” He looked into her eyes and spoke softly so that no one would hear. “It’s all right, Kahlan, relax. Those men from this morning are dead. You’re safe now.”
She shook her head. “More will follow. I should not be with you. I do not want to endanger your life any more than I already have. You are my friend.”
“There is no way another quad could track you now, not once you have come here, to Hartland. It’s impossible.” He knew enough about tracking to feel confident that he was telling her the truth.
Kahlan hooked a finger in the neck of his shirt and drew his face close. There was a flash of angry intolerance in her green eyes.
Her voice came in a slow, harsh whisper. “When I left my homeland, five wizards cast spells over my tracks so none could know where I went, or follow, and then they killed themselves so they could not be made to talk!” Her teeth were gritted in anger, and her eyes were wet. She was starting to tremble.
Wizards! Richard went rigid. At last, he let out his breath and took her hand gently from his shirt, holding it in both of his, his voice barely audible over the din. “I’m sorry.”
“Richard, I am scared to death!” She was trembling more now. “If you hadn’t been there today, you don’t know what would have happened to me. The dying would have been the best of it. You don’t know about those men.” She shook uncontrollably, giving herself over to her fear.
He felt goose bumps on his arms. He eased her back behind the column where they couldn’t be observed. “I’m sorry, Kahlan. I don’t know what any of this is about. You know at least some of it, but I’m in the dark. I’m scared, too. Today on the cliff . . . I’ve never been that afraid. And I didn’t really do much of anything that would have saved us.” Seeing her need was giving him the courage to reassure her.
“What you did,” she said struggling to get the words out, “was enough to make a difference. It was enough to save us. No matter how little you think it was, it was enough. If you hadn’t helped me . . . I don’t want my being here to bring you to harm.”
He squeezed her hand tighter. “It won’t. I have a friend, Zedd. He may be able to tell us what we can do to keep you safe. He’s a—little strange, but he’s the smartest man I know. If there’s anyone who would know what to do, it’s Zedd. If you can be tracked anywhere, then there is no place for you to run—they will find you. Let me take you to Zedd. As soon as Michael gives his speech we will go to my house. You can sit in front of the fire, and in the morning I’ll take you to Zedd.” He smiled, and pointed with his chin to a window near them. “Look over there.”
She turned to see Chase outside a tall, round-topped window. The boundary warden glanced back over his shoulder and gave her a wink and a heartening grin before resuming his scan of the area.
“To Chase, a quad would be just a bit of fun. While he was taking care of them, he’d be telling you a story about some real trouble. He’s been watching out for you since we told him of the men.”
That brought a small smile, but it quickly faded.
“There is more to it. I thought I was going to be safe by coming to Westland. I should have been. Richard, I came across the boundary only with the help of magic.” She was still shaking but starting to regain control of herself, taking strength from him. “I do not know how those men came across. They should not have been able to. They should not have even known I left the Midlands. Somehow, the rules have changed.”
“We’ll deal with that tomorrow. For now, you are safe. Besides, it would take another quad days to get here, wouldn’t it? That will give us time to make plans.”
She gave a nod. “Thank you, Richard Cypher. My friend. But know that if I bring danger to you, I will leave before it can harm you.” She took her hand back and wiped the bottom lids of her eyes. “I am still hungry. Could we have more?”
Richard smiled. “Sure, what would you like?”
“Some more of your little treasures?”
They went back to the food and ate while they waited for Michael. Richard felt better, not about the things she told him, but because at least he knew a little more, and because he had made her feel safe. Somehow he would find the answer to her problem, and he would know what was going on with the boundary. As much as he feared the answers, he would know them.
Whispers rippled through the crowd as heads turned to the far side of the room. It was Michael. Richard took Kahlan’s hand and moved to the side of the room, closer to his brother, so they could watch.
As Michael stepped up onto a platform, Richard realized why it had taken him so long to come out. He had been waiting for the sunlight to fall on that spot, so he could stand in the light and be lit in its glory for all to see.
Not only was he shorter than Richard, but heavier and softer. Sunlight lit his mop of unruly hair. His upper lip proudly displayed a mustache. He wore baggy white trousers, and his white tunic with bloused sleeves was cinched at the waist by a gold belt. Standing there in the sunlight, Michael positively gleamed, casting the same cold, eerie glow the marble did when struck by the sun. He stood out in stark relief against the shadowed background.
Richard held up his hand to catch his attention. Michael saw the hand and smiled at his brother, holding his eyes for a moment as he began speaking, before shifting his gaze to the crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen, today I accepted the position of First Councilor of Westland.” A roar went up from the room. Michael listened without moving, then thrust his arms suddenly into the air, calling for silence. He waited until every last cough died out. “The councilors from all of Westland selected me to lead us in these times of challenge because I have the courage and vision to take us into a new era. Too long we have lived looking to the past and not to the future! Too long we have chased old ghosts and been blind to new callings! Too long we have listened to those who would seek to drag us into war and ignored those who would guide us on a path to peace!”
The crowd went wild. Richard was dumbfounded. What was Michael talking about? What war? There was no one to have a war with!
Michael held up his hands again and, not waiting for quiet this time, went on. “I will not stand by while the Westland is put into peril by these traitors!” His face was red and angry. The crowd roared again, this time with fists jabbing the air. They chanted Michael’s name. Richard and Kahlan looked at each other.
“Concerned citizens have come forward to identify these cowards, these traitors. At this very moment, as we join our hearts here today in a common goal, the boundary wardens protect us while the army is rounding up these conspirators who plot against the government. They are not the common criminals you might think, but respected men in high authority!”
Murmurs swept across the assembly. Richard was stunned. Could it be true? A conspiracy? His brother hadn’t gotten where he was by not knowing what was going on. Men in high authority. That would certainly explain why Chase didn’t know anything about it.
Michael stood in the shaft of sunlight, waiting for the whispering to die down. When he began again his voice was low and warm.
“But that is past history. Today we look to our new course. One reason I was chosen as First Councilor is because being a Hartlander, I hav
e lived my life in the shadow of the boundary, a shadow that has shaded all our lives. But that is looking to the past. The light of a new day always chases the shadows of the night away, and shows us that the shape of our fears is only the ghost of our own minds.
“We must look forward to a day when the boundary will no longer be there, for nothing lasts forever, does it? And when that day comes we must be ready to extend a hand of friendship and not a sword, as some would have us do. That only leads to the futility of war and needless dying.
“Should we be wasting our resources, preparing to do battle with a people we have been long separated from, a people who were the ancestors to many of us here? Should we be ready to do violence to our brothers and sisters simply because we don’t know them? What a waste! Our resources should be spent eliminating the real suffering around us. When the time comes, maybe not in our lifetime, but it will come, we should be ready to welcome our long-separated brothers and sisters. We must not join only the two lands, but all three! For someday, just as the boundary between Westland and the Midlands will fade away, so too will the second boundary between the Midlands and D’Hara, and all three lands shall be one! We can look to a day when we can share the joy of reunion, if we have the heart! And that joy will spread from here, today, in Hartland!
“This is why I have moved to stop those who would plunge us into war with our brothers and sisters merely because someday the boundaries will fade away. This does not mean we don’t need the army, for we can never know what real threats lie in our path to peace, but we know there is no need to invent them!”
Michael swept his hand out over the crowd. “We in this room are the future. It is your responsibility as councilors of Westland to carry the word throughout the country! Take our message of peace to the good people. They will see the truth in your hearts. Please help me. I want our children and our grandchildren to be the beneficiaries of what we lay down here today. I want us to set a course for peace to carry us into the future, so when the time comes, future generations will benefit and thank us.”
Michael stood with his head bowed and both his fists held tightly to his chest. The sunlight glowed about him. The audience was so moved that they stood in absolute silence. Richard saw men in tears, and women weeping openly. All eyes were on Michael, who stood still as stone.
Richard was stunned. He had never heard his brother speak with such conviction or eloquence. It all seemed to make such sense. After all, here he stood with a woman from across the boundary, from the Midlands, and she was already his friend.
But then, four others had tried to kill him. No, not exactly, he thought—they wanted to kill her—he was just in the way. They had offered to let him go, and it was his decision to stand and fight. He had always been fearful of those from across the boundary, but now he was friends with one, just as Michael said.
He was starting to see his brother in a new light. People had been moved by Michael’s words in a way Richard had never witnessed. Michael was pleading for peace and friendship with other peoples. What could be wrong with that?
Why did he feel so uneasy?
“And now, to the other part,” Michael continued, “to the real suffering around us. While we have worried about the boundaries that have not harmed a single one of us, many of our families, friends, and neighbors have suffered, and died. Tragic and needless deaths, in accidents with fire. Yes, that is what I said. Fire.”
People mumbled in confusion. Michael was starting to lose his bond with the crowd. He seemed to expect it—he looked from face to face, letting the confusion build, and then dramatically he thrust his hand out, his finger pointing.
At Richard.
“There!” he screamed. Everyone turned as one. Hundreds of eyes looked at Richard. “There stands my beloved brother!” Richard tried to shrink. “My beloved brother who shares with me”—he pounded a fist to his chest—“the tragedy of losing our own mother to fire! Fire took our mother from us when we were young, and left us to grow up alone, without her love and care, without her guidance. It was not some imagined enemy from across a boundary that took her, but an enemy of fire! She couldn’t be there to comfort us when we hurt, when we cried in the night. And the thing that wounds the most is that it didn’t have to be.”
Tears, glistening in the sunlight, ran down Michael’s cheeks. “I am sorry, friends, please forgive me.” He wiped the tears with a handkerchief he had handy. “It’s just that only this morning I heard of another fire that took a fine young mother and father, and left their daughter an orphan. It brought my own pain back to me and I couldn’t remain silent.” Everyone was now solidly back with him. Their tears flowed freely. A woman put her arm around Richard’s shoulder as he stood numb. She whispered how sorry she was.
“I wonder how many of you have shared the pain my brother and I live with every day. Please, those of you who have a loved one, or a friend, who has been hurt, or even killed, by fire, please, hold up your hands.” Quite a few hands went up, and there was wailing from some in the crowd.
“There, my friends,” he said hoarsely, spreading his arms wide, “there is the suffering among us. We need look no further than this room.”
Richard tried to swallow the lump in his throat as the memory of that horror came back to him. A man who had imagined their father had cheated him lost his temper and knocked a lamp off the table as Richard and his brother slept in the back bedroom. While the man dragged his father outside, beating him, his mother pulled Richard and his brother from the burning house, then ran back inside to save something, they never knew what, and was burned alive. Her screams brought the man to his senses, and he and their father tried to save her, but couldn’t. Filled with guilt and revulsion at what he had caused, the man ran off crying and yelling that he was sorry.
That, his father had told them a thousand times, was the result of a man losing his temper. Michael shrugged it off—Richard took it to heart. It had instilled in him a dread of his own anger, and whenever it threatened to come out, he choked it off.
Michael was wrong. Fire had not killed their mother—anger had.
Arms hanging limply at his side, head bowed, Michael spoke softly again. “What can we do about the danger to our families from fire?” He shook his head sadly. “I do not know, my friends.
“But, I am forming a commission on the problem, and I urge any concerned citizen to come forward with suggestions. My door always stands open. Together we can do something. Together we will do something.
“And now my friends, please excuse me, and allow me to go comfort my brother, as I am afraid bringing out our personal tragedy was a surprise to him, and I must ask his forgiveness.”
He hopped down off the stand, the crowd parting to let him through. A few hands reached out to touch him as he passed. He ignored them.
Richard stood and glared as his brother strode to him. The crowd moved away. Only Kahlan stayed at his side, her fingers lightly touching his arm. People went back to the food and began talking excitedly among themselves, about themselves, and forgot him. Richard stood tall and choked off his anger.
Smiling, Michael slapped Richard on the shoulder. “Great speech!” he congratulated himself. “What did you think?”
Richard looked down at the patterns on the marble floor. “Why did you bring her death into it? Why did you have to tell everyone about it? Why did you use her like that?”
Michael put an arm around Richard’s shoulder. “I know it hurts, and I am sorry, but it’s for a greater good. Did you see the tears in their eyes? The things I’ve started are going to take us all to a better life, and help Westland grow to prominence. I believe what I said—we have to look to the challenge of the future with excitement, not fear.”
“And what did you mean about the boundaries?”
“Things are changing, Richard. I have to stay ahead of them.” The smile was gone. “That’s all I meant. The boundaries won’t last forever. I don’t think they were ever meant to. We all have to be ready
to face up to that.”
Richard changed the subject. “What have you found out about Father’s murder? Have the trackers picked up anything?”
Michael took his arm back. “Grow up, Richard. George was an old fool. He was always picking up things that didn’t belong to him. He probably got caught with something that belonged to the wrong person. A person with a bad temper, and a big knife.”
“That’s not true! And you know it!” Richard hated the way Michael called their father “George”—“he never stole anything in his life!”
“Just because the person you take it from is long dead, that doesn’t mean you have any right to it. Someone else obviously wanted it back.”
“How do you know all this?” Richard demanded. “What have you found out?”
“Nothing! It’s common sense. The house was torn apart! Someone was looking for something. They didn’t find it, George wouldn’t tell them where it was, they killed him. That’s all there is to it. The trackers said there were no tracks. We’ll probably never know who did it.” Michael glared. “You had better learn to live with that fact.”
Richard let out a deep breath. It made sense—someone was looking for something. He shouldn’t be angry with Michael because he couldn’t find out who. Michael had tried. Richard wondered how there could be no tracks.
“I’m sorry. Maybe you’re right, Michael.” Another thought struck him. “So, it didn’t have anything to do with this conspiracy? It wasn’t those men trying to get to you?”
Michael waved his hand. “No, no, no. It had nothing to do with that. That problem has been taken care of. Don’t worry about me, I’m safe, everything is all right.”
Richard nodded. Michael’s face turned to a look of annoyance.
“So, little brother, how come you’re such a mess? Couldn’t you at least clean yourself up? It’s not like you didn’t have notice. You have known about this party for weeks.”
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