“After you have finished here, and before you come to me at dawn, there is one more task you will perform this night.”
Ranson took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Another task? Must I do another task this night?”
She smiled and patted his cheek. “This second task you will enjoy. It’s a reward for doing a good job with the first. Serving the Keeper well has its rewards, as you will find out. Failing him has its punishments, as I hope you never discover.”
He looked suspicious. “And what is this second task?”
“You know a novice named Pasha?”
He let out a grunt. “There isn’t a man in the palace who doesn’t know who Pasha Maes is.”
“And how well do these men ‘know’ her?”
Ranson shrugged. “She likes to give a kiss and a cuddle in a corner.”
“Any more than a ‘kiss and a cuddle’?”
“I know a few men who have had their hand up her skirt. I’ve heard them talk about what fine legs she has, how they would give up the gift just to have those legs around them. But I don’t think any have. Some of the men watch out for her, as if she were a defenseless kitten. One in particular, young Warren, keeps a watchful eye on her.”
“Warren is one of the men she likes to kiss and cuddle?”
“I don’t think she would know him if he was standing in front of her.” He chuckled softly. “If he could even work up enough courage to take his nose out of the archives and look her in the face.” He frowned. “So what is the task?”
“When you are finished here, I want you to go to her room. Tell her how you are to be released tomorrow, and that when you passed all your tests, the Creator came to you in a vision. Tell her that the Creator told you in this vision that you were to go to her and teach her how to use the glorious gift of her figure that He had given her, how she was meant to use this gift to please men, so that when the special task He has for her is revealed, she will be prepared.
“Tell her the Creator said it was to help her deal with her new one, as he would be the most difficult any novice has ever been given. Tell her the Creator revealed to you that He made this night hot, so she would sweat between her breasts, over her heart, to awaken her to His wishes.” She gave him a smooth smile. “Then, I want you to teach her how to please a man.”
He stared incredulously at her. “What makes you think she will believe any of this, or go along?”
Her smile widened. “You tell her what I told you to tell her, Neville, and you will have a great deal more than your hand up her skirt. She will probably have her legs around you before you finish talking.”
He nodded dumbly. “All right.”
She glanced deliberately down at him. “I’m glad to see that you are . . . up to the task.” She looked back to his eyes. “Teach her everything you can think of to please a man. At least everything you can teach her by dawn. Teach her well. I want her to know how to make a man happy, and keep him coming back for more.”
He smiled. “Yes, Sister.”
She put the tip of the rod under his chin, lifting it a little. “You be gentle with her, Neville. I don’t want you to hurt her in any way. I want this to be a very pleasant experience for her. I want her to enjoy it.” She looked down at him again. “Well, do the best you can with what you have.”
“I’ve never had any complaints,” he snapped.
“Idiot. Women don’t complain about that to men’s faces; they complain to the backs of their heads. Don’t you dare jump on her, please yourself, then fall asleep. You have until dawn. I don’t want you sleeping tonight. You make sure this is an experience she remembers fondly. You teach her well. Everything you know.”
She pushed up with the rod a little more. “This may be a pleasant task, but it is a task for the Keeper just the same. Fail in this, as in any other, and your service will end abruptly. But your pain will go on and on. Keep alert when you are with her. In the morning, I expect a detailed report of everything you have taught her. You will report every bit of it. I need to know what she knows so I may guide her.”
“Yes, Sister.”
She glanced past him to the man against the wall. “The sooner you finish here, the sooner you can be with Pasha, and the more time you will have to teach her.”
He nodded with a grin. “Yes, Sister.”
She took the rod away and he let out a breath. With a gesture, she made his robe float to her hand. She shoved it at him.
“Put this on. You’re embarrassing yourself.” She watched as he began gathering the material and pulling it over his head. “Tomorrow the real work, the real task, begins.”
His head poked through the robe, his arms following one at a time. “What work? What task?”
“After you are released, you must be off at once, in the service of your homeland. You do remember your homeland, don’t you? You are going to go to Aydindril, as an advisor to High Prince Fyren. You have things to do there. Important things.”
“Like what?”
“We will talk about it in the morning. But now, before you can do the first task, and the second, and the rest of it, you have an oath to give. Is this of your free will, Neville?”
She watched his eyes. They darted briefly to his friend huddled against the wall. Then he turned to glance at the knife and the quillion. She saw his dark eyes go out of focus, and she knew he was thinking about Pasha. He answered her in a whisper.
“Yes, Sister.”
She nodded. “Very good, Neville. Kneel. The time of the oath is upon you.”
As he went to his knees, she lifted her hand. The flame of the torch puffed out, plunging the room into total blackness.
“The oath to the Keeper,” she whispered, “is given in the darkness that is his homeland.”
Chapter 14
Gently, Kahlan pulled the door open. He was awake and sitting in front of the fire. When the door closed, it shut out some of the eerie sound of the boldas and the drums coming from the center of the village. She stood next to him and tipped his head against her leg and then combed her fingers through his hair.
“How is your headache?”
“It’s all right. The rest and that last drink Nissel gave me helped.” He didn’t look up. “They want me out there, don’t they?”
Kahlan sank down to sit on the ground next to him. “Yes. It is time.” She rubbed his shoulder. “Are you sure you want to eat the meat, knowing this time what it is?”
“I have to.”
“But it’s still meat. Will you be able to eat it?”
“If I want a gathering, I have to eat it. The way is the way. I will eat it.”
“Richard, I’m worried about this gathering. I’m not so sure you should go through with it. Maybe there’s another way. The Bird Man is afraid for you too. Maybe you shouldn’t do it.”
“I have to.”
“Why?”
He stared into the fire. “Because this is all my fault. I am responsible. It is my fault the veil is torn. That’s what Shota said. My fault. I caused it.”
“Darken Rahl caused it . . . somehow.”
“And I am a Rahl,” he whispered.
Kahlan glanced over, but he didn’t look back. “The crimes of the father, passed on to the son?”
He smiled a small smile. “I don’t believe that old line. But maybe there is a little snip of truth to it.” His eyes turned to her. “You remember what Shota said? That only I could restore the veil? Maybe because Darken Rahl tore it through the Magic of Orden, and my intervention, I have to restore it.”
She watched the firelight flicker in his eyes. “So you think . . . what? That maybe since a Rahl tore it, it takes a Rahl to close it?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. That could explain why only I can close it. It may not be the reason, but it’s the only one I can think of.” He smiled. “I’m glad I’m marrying a smart woman.”
She grinned. It made her happy to see him smile. “Well, this smart woman can’t see how that could b
e the reason.”
“It might not be, but it’s a possibility I have to consider.”
“Then why do you have to go through with the gathering?”
His eyes lit up with excitement as he gave her a boyish grin. “Because I figured it out. I figured out what we’re going to do.”
He rearranged himself, turning toward her and folding his legs. “Tomorrow night, we’ll have the gathering and find out what we can that will help us, then, the next morning when it’s over . . .” He snatched the dragon’s tooth up in his fist and held it up to her as the grin grew on his face. “Then I call Scarlet—with this. That’s how we get to Zedd. That’s how we can get to Aydindril without the headaches stopping me on a long journey by land. Scarlet flies with magic; her magic allows her to cover vast distances in little time.
“We’ll be gone before the Sisters can stop us, and it will take them a long time to follow. I won’t have to turn them down, for now; I can get to Zedd first. He will know what to do. About the headaches, I mean. After the gathering, I’ll call Scarlet. It will probably take her the better part of the day to reach us.” He leaned toward her and gave her a quick kiss. “While we’re waiting, we’ll be married.”
Her heart leapt. “Married?”
“Yes, married. All in the same day. Day after tomorrow. We’ll do it all and be away before the day is out.”
“Oh, Richard . . . I would like that. But, let’s do it now. Call Scarlet now. We can be married in the morning when she gets here. I know the Mud People would do it quickly for us. We can get to Zedd and he will know what to do and you won’t shave to risk a gathering.”
He shook his head. “We have to have the gathering. Shota said only I could close the veil. Not Zedd. What if he doesn’t have any idea what to do? He has said he doesn’t know much about the underworld. No one does. No one knows about the world of the dead.
“But the ancestors’ spirits do. I have to find out whatever I can to help. We can’t waste the time going to Zedd, only to find out he doesn’t know what to do. I have to find out what I can first, then go to Zedd. Shota said only I could close the veil. Maybe it’s because I am the Seeker. I have to do my job and find the answers. Even if they mean little to me, they might be significant to Zedd, and then he might know what to do, know what I can do.”
“What if we beat Zedd to Aydindril? If we travel on Scarlet, she will get us there in a day; Zedd may not be there yet.”
“If he isn’t there, we know he’s going there, and we’ll find him. He will be able to see Scarlet.”
She watched him a moment. “Your mind is made up about all this, isn’t it?”
He shrugged. “If anyone could poke holes in my idea, it would be you. You have any better ideas?”
She shook her head at last. “I wish I did, but I don’t. I like all of it but the gathering.”
Richard’s face softened with a gentle smile. “I would really like to see you in the wedding dress Weselan is making. Can she have it done that soon? We could spend our wedding night in Aydindril, in your home.”
Kahlan couldn’t keep the smile back. “She can. And there doesn’t have to be a big wedding party. Anyway, there’s not time to prepare, with the banquet for the gathering going on. But the Bird Man will be pleased to marry us without it.” She looked at him coyly. “We would have a real bed, in Aydindril. A big comfortable bed.”
His arm circled around her waist and pulled her against him. He gave her lips a soft kiss. She didn’t want it to end, but she gently pushed back and glanced away.
“Richard . . . what about the other things Shota said? About a child?”
“Shota was wrong before, about a lot of things. Even the things she was right about didn’t turn out how we expected. I’m not going to give you up on her word. Remember what you said to me one time? About never letting a beautiful woman pick your path for you when there was a man in her line of sight? And besides, we will be able to talk to Zedd first. Confessors and the gift are something he does know a lot about.”
She ran her finger down his chest. “You seem to have an answer for everything. How did you get so smart?”
He pulled her to him and kissed her again, harder this time.
“I will find an answer to anything that tries to keep me from you and your big comfortable bed. I would go to the underworld and fight the Keeper himself to be with you.”
She cuddled against his shoulder. It seemed like forever since he had found her in Westland, being chased by a quad. It seemed a lifetime ago, not a mere few months. They had been through so much. She was so tired of being afraid, and being chased, hunted. It wasn’t fair that just when it was over, it was starting again.
She gave herself a mental shake. That was the wrong way to see things. It was the problem, not the solution. She forced herself to look at the new problem in its own light, and not color it with what had happened in the past.
“Maybe it won’t be so hard this time. Maybe we can do as you say, and find out what needs to be done, and be finished with it.” She kissed his neck. “We’d better get out there; they are waiting. And besides, if I stay here with you any longer, we won’t make it to my big comfortable bed.”
They left the quiet of the spirit house and walked hand in hand through the dark pathways between the buildings of the village. She felt safe holding his hand. From the first day they met, and he offered his hand to her to help her up, she had liked having her hand in his. No one had ever done that before; people were afraid of Confessors. She wanted this over, so they could be together and live in peace. So they could hold hands whenever they wanted, and not ever have to run.
The sound of the people, the dancing, the conversation, and the children grew louder until the two of them passed into the firelit field. Musicians stood on open, grass-roofed platforms, swaying as they drew paddles up and down the carved ripples on the boldas, sending the haunting strains out over the surrounding flat grassland. Arms a blur, men pounded on drums, sending frantic, echoing beats across the village to others who answered or joined in. Dancers in costumes followed one another around in circles, stopping and turning as one, jumping and stomping, acting out stories for the gleeful children and adults who crowded around them. Cooking fires sent sweet-smelling smoke and wonderful aromas drifting to them.
As they walked past, large fires roared and crackled in the center of the field, warming one side of her with their heat. Men proudly wore their finest skins, and women their brightest dresses. All had their hair freshly slicked down with sticky mud. Woven trays of tava bread, roasted peppers, onions, long beans, cabbage, cucumber and beets, bowls of stewed meats, fish, and chicken, as well as platters of boar and venison, were carried by young women from the cook fires to people gathered at various shelters. The whole village was in joyful celebration to welcome the ancestors’ spirits.
Savidlin stood at their approach, welcoming them onto the elders’ platform. He looked dignified with his official coyote hide around his shoulders. The Bird Man and the other elders gave the two of them smiles and nods. As soon as she and Richard sat cross-legged, the young women brought woven trays and platters of food. They both took pieces of tava bread and rolled them around peppers, careful to put them to their mouths with the right hand only. A boy brought pottery mugs and a jug of water mildly flavored with spices.
When he was satisfied they were comfortably settled, the Bird Man nodded to a group of women at a nearby shelter. Kahlan knew what this meant. The women were special cooks, the only ones allowed to prepare the banquet specialties. Richard’s eyes watched as one of them came with a woven platter filled with dried meat, neatly arranged in a circular pattern. He gave no sign of his feelings.
There would be no gathering if he didn’t eat this meat. Worse, this was not just any meat. She knew, though, that he was determined, and would eat it.
The woman bowed her head, holding the platter out to the Bird Man, and then the other elders. After each took some, she offered it to the elder
s’ wives. A few took a piece. She turned and held the platter out to Richard. He looked at it a moment, and then reached up and took one of the larger pieces. He held it in his fingers, looking at it as the woman left after Kahlan declined the offer.
“I know it is difficult for you,” the Bird Man said to Richard, “but it is necessary for you to have the knowledge of our enemies.”
Richard pulled off a big bite with his teeth. “The way is the way.” He chewed and swallowed without showing any emotion. He looked off into the distance. “Who is it?”
The Bird Man watched him a moment after Richard looked back to him. “It is the man you killed.”
“I see.”
He took another bite. He had taken a big piece, and was eating the whole thing to show them his determination to have the gathering, to show them that despite the warning from the spirits, he was resolved to go through with it. He watched the dancers as he chewed, washing each swallow down with a drink from his mug. The elders’ platform was an isolated island of quiet in the sweep of noise and activity.
Richard abruptly stopped chewing. His eyes widened. He sat up straighten. His head snapped around to the elders.
“Where’s Chandalen?”
They looked at one another after studying his face a moment.
Richard sprang to his feet. “Where’s Chandalen!”
“He is here, somewhere,” the Bird Man said.
“Find him! Right now! Bring him here!”
The Bird Man sent one of the nearby hunters to search. Richard hopped down off the platform without a word and went to the shelter with the banquet cooks. He found the woman with the platter of meat and took a piece.
Kahlan turned to the Bird Man. “Do you have any idea what is going on?”
He nodded solemnly. “He has had a vision; a vision from our enemies’ flesh. It happens sometimes. That is why we do this—to know what is in our enemies’ hearts.”
Richard returned and paced back and forth in front of the elders’ platform, waiting.
“Richard, what is it? What do you see?”
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