Chainfire: Chainfire Trilogy Part 1

"Or it proves that maybe your story is nothing more than part of a fabrication spawned by the mad obsession of a glamour spell."

"No one remembers what happened and that Kahlan isn't buried there, but I do. It's something solid that shows me, at least, that I'm not imagining all this."

"Or it is simply part of the delusion-whatever its cause. Richard, this just can't go on forever. It has to come to a close at some point. You're at a dead end. Have you come up with anything else to try?"

He put his hands on the stone wall of the sliph's well. "Look, Nicci, I admit that I'm running out of ideas, but I'm not ready to give up on her, to give up on her life. She means too much to me to do that."

"And how long do you think you can wander around not giving up on her, all the while the Imperial Order marches ever closer to our forces? I don't like Ann's meddling in my life any more than you like her meddling in yours, but she isn't doing it because she is trying to be malicious. She's trying to preserve freedom. She's trying to save innocent people from being slaughtered by brutes."

Richard swallowed back the lump in his throat.

"I need to think about things, to gather my thoughts. I found some books in that room back there. I want to study them for a while, just a while, and try to think things through, try to see if I can figure out what's happening and why. If I can't think of something — I just need to think of what to do next."

"And if you can't think of what to do next?"

Richard leaned on both hands as he stared off into the dark well, doing his best to stifle his tears.

"Please.»

If he only knew who to fight, if only he could strike out at an enemy. He didn't know how to fight shadows in his mind.

Nicci laid a hand gently on his shoulder. "All right, Richard. All right."

CHAPTER 55

Nicci knocked on the round-top oak door and waited. Rikka, standing at her back, waited with her.

"Come in," came a muffled voice.

Nicci thought that it sounded like Nathan's deep, powerful voice, rather than Zedd's. Inside the small, round room that Richard's grandfather was fond of using, she saw the prophet along with Ann, her hands pushed into opposite sleeves of her simple, dark gray dress as she stood patiently waiting for their invited guest. Nathan, in dark brown trousers and high boots, with a ruffled white shirt under a sweeping cloak, looked more like an adventurer than a prophet.

Zedd, in his simple robes, stood quietly at a round leaded window between book cabinets with glassed doors, his hands clasped behind his back. He appeared to be lost in thought as he gazed out at the city of Aydindril far below at the base of the mountain. It was a beautiful view; Nicci could understand why he favored the cozy room. Rikka started pushing the thick oak door closed.

"Rikka, dear," Ann said with a Prelate's practiced smile, drawing the Mord-Sith's attention, "my throat is still terribly dry from all that smoke yesterday when that dreadful creature set the library ablaze. Would you mind making me some tea, maybe with a spot of honey?"

Rikka, holding the half-closed door, shrugged. "Not at all."

"Any of your biscuits left?" Nathan asked with a wide smile. "Your biscuits were wonderful, especially when they're warm."

Rikka gazed briefly at everyone in the small room. "I will bring biscuits and tea along with some honey."

"Thank you so much, my dear," Ann said, the smile never breaking, as Rikka vanished out the door.

Zedd, still watching out the window, hadn't said anything.

Nicci, ignoring Ann and Nathan, instead turned and addressed Zedd. "Rikka said that you wanted to see me."

"That's right," Ann said in his place. "Where is Richard?"

"Down in that place I told you about, the place he found between the shields where he will be safe. He is reading, looking for information, doing what a Seeker does, I suppose." With exaggerated care, Nicci folded her fingers together. "So, the three of you want to talk to me about Richard."

Nathan huffed a short laugh that transformed itself into a throat-clearing cough when Ann glanced his way. Zedd, standing with his back to the rest of them, stared out the window without saying anything.

"You always were a bright one," Ann said.

"It wasn't exactly a guess that required great intellect," Nicci said, not wanting to allow Ann to get away with such empty flattery. "If you please, withhold your praise until I do something to deserve it."

Both Nathan and Ann smiled. Nathan's even looked genuine.

Flattery had been a plague that had followed Nicci her whole life. "Nicci, you're such a bright child, so you must give more of yourself." "Nicci, you're so beautiful, the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. I must hold you." "Nicci, my dear, I simply must be allowed to sample your exquisite charms or I will surely die an impoverished man." To Nicci, vacuous flattery was the sound of a prybar, a tool used by a thief as he tried to get at what she had.

"What is it I can do for you," Nicci asked in a businesslike voice.