Temple of the Winds

Kahlan chuckled silently at Cara's concerned frown. "That would work." She waved her hands in the air as if shooing a gnat, trying to chase away the doubts. "It doesn't make any sense."

"The dream walker trying to kill his enemy doesn't make sense?"

"Well, think about it." She glanced over her shoulder to see Marlin hugging his ribs and rocking on the floor. His eyes, even when they were filled with terror, and even, as now, when he wasn't looking her way, for some reason made her skin crawl. She turned back to Cara and lowered her voice. "Surely Jagang had to know that one man, even a wizard, would fail at such a task. Richard would recognize a man with the gift, and besides, there are too many people here who would be only too ready to kill an intruder."

"But still, with his gift, he might have a chance. Jagang wouldn't care if the man was killed. He has an abundance of others to do his bidding."

Kahlan's thoughts flicked about, trying to pick out the nettle of a reason behind her itching doubt.

"Even if he managed to kill some of them with his magic, there are still too many. A whole army of mriswith failed to kill Richard. He can recognize one with the gift, with magic, as a threat. He doesn't know how to command his magic, much as you don't understand how to control Marlin's, beyond giving him pain with it, but his guard would be up, at the least.

"This just doesn't make any sense. Jagang is far from stupid; there has to be more to it. He must have some plan to this. Something more than we're seeing."

Cara clasped her hands behind her back as she took a deep breath. She turned. "Marlin." His head came up, his eyes at attention. "What was Jagang's plan?"

"To have me kill Richard Rahl and the Mother Confessor."

"What else?" Kahlan asked. "What more was there to his plan?"

His eyes flooded. "I don't know. I swear. I told you as he ordered me. I was to get a soldier's uniform and weapons so I would look like I belonged and could get close. I was to kill you both."

Kahlan wiped a hand across her face. "We're not asking the right questions."

"I don't know what else there could be. He has admitted the worst of it. He told us his goal. What more could there be?"

"I don't know, but there's something still itching at me." Kahlan sighed in resignation. "Maybe Richard can reason this out. He is the Seeker of Truth, after all. He'll figure out what it means. Richard will know the right questions to ask so that…"

Kahlan's head suddenly came up, her eyes wide. She advanced a long stride toward the man on the floor.

"Marlin, did Jagang also tell you to announce yourself when you arrived?"

"Yes. Once inside the palace, I was to give my reason for being here."

Kahlan stiffened. She snatched Cara's arm and pulled her close while keeping her eyes on Marlin. "Maybe we shouldn't tell Richard about this. It's too dangerous."

"I have Marlin's power. He's helpless."

Kahlan's gaze darted about, hardly hearing what Cara had said. "We have to put him somewhere safe. This room won't do." She put a thumbnail between her teeth.

Cara frowned. "This room is as safe as anywhere. He can't get away. He's safe in here."

Kahlan took her thumb from her mouth as she stared at the man rocking on the floor.

"No. We have to find someplace safer. I think we've made a big mistake. I think we're in a lot of trouble."

CHAPTER 3

Let me just kill him," Cara said. "I have but to touch him in the right place with my Agiel and his heart will stop. He won't suffer."

For the first time, Kahlan seriously considered Cara's oft-repeated request. Though she had had to kill people before, and had ordered the execution of others, she dismissed the impulse. She had to think this through. For all she knew, that could be Jagang's true plan, though she couldn't imagine what good it would gain him. But he had to have some scheme to what he had ordered. He wasn't stupid; he had to know that Marlin would be captured, at the least.

"No," Kahlan said. "We don't know enough yet. For all we know, that could be the worst thing we could do. We can't do anything else until we think it through carefully. We've already walked into a swamp without pausing to think about where we were going."

Cara sighed at the familiar refusal. "Then what do you wish to do?"

"I don't know yet. Jagang had to know he would be captured, at the least, yet he ordered it. Why? We have to figure this out. Until we do, we have to put him somewhere safe, where he can't escape and hurt anyone."

"Mother Confessor," Cara said with exaggerated patience, "he cannot escape. I have control of his power. Believe me, I know how to control a person when I have domination over their magic. I have had an abundance of experience. He is incapable of doing anything against my wishes. Here, let me show you."