Phantom: Chainfire Trilogy Part 2

Cara didn't look like she thought that was a good idea. She held a hand out toward the square.

"Thinking about Lord Rahl might help."

"Thinking about Nathan is not going to do me any good. I don't care if everyone thinks that Nathan is the Lord Rahl. Richard is Lord Rahl."

Cara smiled. "I know. That's what I meant." She took Nicci by the arm, drawing her toward the pool. "Come on."

Nicci stared at the woman as she was being dragged along, and then said, "I suppose it couldn't hurt to stop for a short time to think about Richard."

Cara nodded, looking somehow very wise at that moment. People respectfully made way for the Mord-Sith as she strode up to a spot near the pond. Nicci saw that there were fish gliding through the dark waters. Before she knew it, she was kneeling with Cara, putting her forehead to the floor.

"Master Rahl guide us," the crowd began chanting in one voice, "Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are yours."

Nicci added her voice to the others, and together they lifted to reverberate through the halls. The words "Master Rahl" and Richard seemed indistinguishable to her. They were one in the same.

Almost against her will, Nicci's turbulent thoughts quieted as she softly chanted the words along with everyone else.

"Master Rahl guide us. Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are yours."

She lost herself in the words. The sunlight was warm on her back. The next day was the first day of winter, but inside Lord Rahl's palace the sun was warm, much like up in the Garden of Life. It seemed odd in that Darken Rahl, and his father, Panis, were the Lord Rahl before, making this place the seat of evil.

She realized, though, that the place was only that — a place. The man was what mattered. The man made the defining difference. The man set the tone that others followed, either rightly or wrongly. In a way, the devotion was the formal statement of that concept.

"Master Rahl guide us. Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are yours."

Those words reverberated in Nicci's mind. She missed Richard so much. Even though his heart belonged to someone else, she just missed seeing him, seeing his smile, talking to him. If that was all she could ever have, that was enough to sustain her. Just his friendship, his value in her life, and hers in his.

Just Richard being happy, being alive, being… Richard.

Our lives are yours.

Nicci abruptly rose up on her knees.

She understood.

Puzzled, Cara frowned up at her as everyone else chanted. "What's wrong?"

Our lives are yours.

She knew what she had to do.

Nicci stood in a rush. "Come on. I have to get back to the Keep."

As they ran together through the halls, Nicci could hear the whispering sound of voices rising up together to echo reverently through the vast corridors.

"Master Rahl guide us. Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are yours."

Nicci felt herself lost in words that suddenly had meaning for her that they had never had before.

She understood how it all fit together, at last, and knew what she had to do.

Zedd rose from his chair at the desk in the little room when he saw Nicci standing in the doorway. The lamplight softened his familiar face. "Nicci, you're back. How are things at the People's Palace?" Nicci hardly heard the question. Answering it was beyond her. Zedd stepped closer, concern settling in his hazel eyes.

"Nicci, what's wrong. You look like a phantom come to haunt the halls."

She had to force herself to speak. "Do you trust Richard?"

Zedd's brow drew down. "What kind of question is that?"

"Do you trust Richard with your life?"

Zedd gestured with one arm. "Of course. What's this about?"

"Do you trust Richard with everyone's life?"

Zedd gently gripped her arm. "Nicci, I love that boy."

"Please, Zedd, do you trust Richard with everyone's life?"

The concern in his eyes overspread his face, deepening the creases. He finally nodded. "Of course I do. If there was ever anyone I would trust with my life, or the life of anyone, it would be Richard. After all, I'm the one who named him to be Seeker."

Nicci nodded as she turned.

"Thank you, Zedd."

He lifted his robes a little as he hurried after her. "Do you need some help with something, Nicci?"

"No," she said. "Thank you. I'm fine."

Zedd at last nodded, taking her word for it, and returned to the book he was studying.

Nicci walked through the halls of the Keep without seeing them. She moved as if following an invisible glowing line to her destination, the way Richard said he could follow the glowing lines of a spell-form.