Naked Empire tsot-8

by Terry Goodkind

  “The Sword of Truth’s magic, as my gift, could only again be viable when I comprehended—completely—that the magic needs no balance for the killing I’ve done because the killing I’ve done is not only moral, but the only moral course of action I could have taken.

  “By not eating meat, I was acknowledging that some part of my mind believed the same thing that the people here in Bandakar believed when we first met Owen and his men—that killing is always wrong.

  “By thinking that I must not eat meat as a balance, I was denying the moral necessity of self-preservation, denying the essential of protecting the value of life. The very act of seeking ‘balance’ for what I’m right in doing is a conflict which is what was causing the headaches and also caused the Sword of Truth’s power to fail me. I was doing it to myself.”

  Richard had violated the Wizard’s First Rule by believing a lie—that it was always wrong to kill—because he feared it was true. He had also violated the Second Rule, among others, but most grievous of all, he had violated the Sixth Rule. In so doing, he had ignored reason in favor of blind faith. The failure of his gift and the sword’s power was a direct result of not applying reasoned thought.

  Fortunately, with the Eighth Rule, he had come to reexamine his actions and finally realized the flaw in his thinking. Only then was he able to correct the situation.

  In the end, he had fulfilled the Eighth Rule.

  Richard shifted his weight to the other foot as he gazed at the faces watching him. “I had to come to understand that my actions are moral and need no balance, but are in themselves balanced by my reasoned actions, that killing is sometimes not only justified, but the only right and moral thing to do.

  “I had to come to understand the very thing I was asking all of you to understand. I had to understand that I must deserve victory.”

  Owen looked over at those with him and then scratched his head. “Well, considering everything, I guess we can understand how you could make such a misjudgment.”

  Jennsen, her red hair standing out against the green of the trees and fields, squinted at him in the sunlight. “Well,” she said with a sigh, “I’m glad to be pristinely ungifted. Being a wizard sounds awfully hard.”

  The men all nodded while voicing their agreement.

  Richard smiled at Jennsen. “A lot of things in life are hard to figure out. Like what you’ve been considering. What have you decided?”

  Jennsen clasped her hands and glanced over at Owen, Anson, and all the rest of the people with them.

  “Well, this is no longer a banished empire. It’s no longer an empire naked to the aggression of tyrants. It’s part of the D’Haran Empire, now. These people want the same as us.

  “I think I’d like to stay with them for a while and help them come to be part of the wider world, just as I’ve been starting to do. It’s kind of exciting. I’d like to take your suggestion, Richard, and help them in that.”

  Richard smiled at his sister. He ran his hand down her beautiful red hair.

  “On a condition,” she added.

  Richard let his hand drop back. “Condition?”

  “Sure. I’m a Rahl, so . . . I was kind of thinking that I ought to have some proper protection. I could be a target, you know. People want to kill me. Jagang would love to—”

  Richard laughed as he drew her into a hug with one arm to silence her.

  “Tom, being as you are a protector to the House of Rahl, I’m assigning you to protect my sister, Jennsen Rahl. It’s an important job and it means a great deal to me.”

  Tom lifted an eyebrow. “Are you sure, Lord Rahl?”

  Jennsen swatted him with the back of her hand. “Of course he’s sure. He wouldn’t say it unless he was sure.”

  “You heard the lady,” Richard said. “I’m sure.”

  The big blond D’Haran smiled with a boyish grin. “All right, then. I swear I will protect her, Lord Rahl.”

  Jennsen gestured vaguely back at the men and the town behind her.

  “Since I’ve been with them, they have come to see that I’m not a witch, and Betty is not a spirit guide—although for a time there I was afraid they might be right about Betty.”

  Richard peered down at the goat. Betty cocked her head. “I guess none of us but Betty knew the truth of what Nicholas was up to.” At the sound of her name, Betty’s ears pricked forward and her tail went into a fit of expectant wagging.

  Jennsen patted Betty’s round middle. “Now that these people understand that I’m not a witch, but I do share some of their traits, I suggested I might play an important role.” She drew the knife at her belt and held it up, showing Richard the ornate letter “R” engraved on the silver handle. “I suggested that I be the official representative of the House of Rahl—if you approve.”

  Richard grinned. “I think that’s an excellent idea.”

  “I think that would be wonderful, Jennsen.” Kahlan pointed to the east with her chin. “But don’t wait too long before you get back to Hawton to see Ann and Nathan. They will be a valuable help in insuring that the people here are no longer the prey of the Imperial Order. They will help you.”

  Jennsen twisted her fingers together. “But aren’t they going to want to be going with the both of you? Helping you?”

  “Ann thinks she should direct Richard’s life,” Kahlan said. “I don’t think some of her directions have been the best thing.” She slipped her arm through Richard’s. “He is the Lord Rahl, now. He needs to do things his way, not theirs.”

  “They both feel responsible for us,” Richard explained. “Nathan Rahl is a prophet. Prophecy, because of the way it functions, actually does require balance. The balance to Prophecy is free will. I am the balance. I know those two don’t like it, but I think I need to be free of them—for now at least.

  “But there is more to it. I think it’s more important that they help the people here, first. We already know the uses to which Jagang will put the pristinely ungifted. I think it’s vital that these people here, who are willing to value and protect the freedom they’ve won, are given some guidance in how to do that.

  “Ann and Nathan will be able to set up defenses that will help protect the people here. They will also be valuable in teaching you the history that is important for you to know.”

  After Richard picked up his pack and slipped his arms through the straps, Owen gripped Richard’s hand. “Thank you, Lord Rahl, for showing me that my life is worth living.”

  Marilee stepped forward and hugged him. “Thank you for teaching Owen to be worthy of me.”

  Richard laughed. Owen laughed. Cara gave Marilee an approving clap on the back. And then all the men laughed.

  Betty pushed in and with a flurry of tail wagging got the point across that she didn’t want to be left out.

  Richard knelt down and scratched Betty’s ears. “And you, my friend, from now on I don’t want you letting any Slides using you to spy on people.”

  Betty pushed her head against his chest as he scratched her ears, and bleated as if to say she was sorry.

  Chapter 67

  Alone at last beneath the vast blue sky, the soaring walls of snowcapped mountains, and in among the trees, Richard felt good about being on their way. He would miss Jennsen, but it was only for a time. It would do her good to be on her own, yet among people also discovering how to live their own lives as they learned more about the wider world. He knew he would not trade away all he had learned since he’d left his sheltered life in Hartland. If not for that, he wouldn’t be with Kahlan.

  It felt good to walk and stretch his legs. He hitched his bow up higher on his shoulder as they made their way through the dappled sunlight of the hushed forest floor. After being so close to death as well as to losing his ability to see, he found everything more vibrant. The mosses looked more lush, the leaves more shimmery, the towering pines more awe-inspiring.

  Kahlan’s eyes seemed more green, her hair softer, her smile warmer.

  As much as he at one tim
e had hated the fact that he had been born gifted, he was now relieved to have his gift back. It was part of him, part of who he was, part of what made him the individual he was.

  Kahlan had once asked him if he wished she had been born without her Confessor’s power. He had told her that he would never wish that, because he loved her for who she was. There was no way to separate out the parts of a person. That was to deny their individuality. He was no different. His gift was part of who he was. His abilities touched everything he did.

  His problem with his gift was of his own making. The magic of the Sword of Truth had helped him understand that by failing him. In so doing, it had revealed his own failure to recognize the truth.

  To have it back at his hip, and to know that it was once again in harmony with him and ready to defend him and those he loved, was a comforting feeling—not because he wished to fight, but because he wished to live.

  The day was warm and they made good time climbing the rocky trail up into the pass. By the time they reached the crown of the notch through the formidable mountains, it was colder, but without a biting wind it was not unpleasant.

  At the top of the pass they stopped to gaze up at the statue of Kaja-Rang, sitting where it had been for thousands of years, all alone, keeping vigil over an empire of those who once could not see evil.

  In some ways, the statue’s presence was a monument to failure. Where Kaja-Rang and his people had failed to get these people to see the truth, Richard had succeeded—but not without Kaja-Rang’s help.

  Richard put his hands on the cold granite, on the words—Taiga Vassternich—that had helped save his life.

  “Thank you,” he whispered up at the face of the man staring off toward the Pillars of Creation, where Richard had discovered his sister.

  Cara placed her hands over the words, and Richard was surprised to see her look up at the statue and say, “Thank you for helping to save Lord Rahl.”

  After they started descending the pass, first crossing the open ledges and then making it down into the dense woods, Richard heard the call of a pewee, the signal he had taught Cara that had served them so well.

  “You know,” Cara said as she led them down the rocky ground beside a small stream, “Anson knows a lot about birds.”

  Richard stepped carefully among the tangle of cedar roots. “Really.”

  “Yes. While you were recovering we spent time talking.” She put a hand against the fibrous bark of the reddish trunk of a cedar to keep her balance. She pulled her long blond braid forward over her shoulder as she started out again, running her hand down the length of the braid.

  “He complimented me on my bird whistle,” Cara said.

  Richard glanced to Kahlan. She shrugged to let him know that she didn’t have any idea what Cara was getting at.

  “I told you that you learned it well,” Richard said.

  “I told him that you taught it to me, that it was the call of the short-tailed pine hawk. Anson said that there wasn’t any such bird as a short-tailed pine hawk. He said the call I used as a signal—the call you taught me—was a common wood pewee. Me, a Mord-Sith, using the call of a bird named a pewee. Imagine that.”

  They walked in silence for a moment.

  “Am I in trouble?” Richard finally asked.

  “Oh, yes,” Cara answered.

  Richard couldn’t help smiling but he made sure the Mord-Sith didn’t see it, nor did Cara see Kahlan look back over her shoulder with the special smile she gave no other but him.

  Kahlan lifted an arm, pointing. “Look.”

  Through the gaps in the crowns of the cedars, against the bright blue sky, they saw a black-tipped race circling high above them, riding the mountain air currents. The races were no longer hunting them. This one was simply looking for its dinner.

  “What’s that old saying?” Cara asked. “Something about a bird of prey circling over you at the beginning of a journey being a warning sign.”

  “Yes, that’s right,” Richard said. “But I’m not going to let that old tale bother me; we’ll let you come with us anyway.”

  Kahlan laughed and received a scolding scowl. Kahlan laughed all the more when Richard started laughing, too. Cara couldn’t hold out, and as she turned back to the trail, Richard saw the smile spread across her face.

  FB2 document info

  Document ID: ooo-exporttofb21-20085115230

  Document version: 1.3

  Document creation date: 2008-05-01

  Created using: ExportToFB21, FB Editor v2.0, FictionBook Editor Release 2.6, AlReader2 software

  Document authors :

  Cherckes

  olimo

  Source URLs :

  lib.ru

  Document history:

  v 1.0: Cherckes (Preliminary reading)

  v 1.1: quotes, ellipses, hyphens, dedication, proofreading by olimo

  v 1.2: the series name change to The Sword of Truth by olimo, 2011

  v 1.3: proofreading by olimo

  About

  This file was generated by Lord KiRon's FB2EPUB converter version 1.1.5.0.

  (This book might contain copyrighted material, author of the converter bears no responsibility for it's usage)

  Этот файл создан при помощи конвертера FB2EPUB версии 1.1.5.0 написанного Lord KiRon.

  (Эта книга может содержать материал который защищен авторским правом, автор конвертера не несет ответственности за его использование)

  http://www.fb2epub.net

  https://code.google.com/p/fb2epub/