The Third Kingdom

“Henrik was with them when the attack began. When the woman, Cara, hid you and Lord Rahl under a tarp, she told Henrik to run and to try to find help for you both. Fortunately, he soon arrived here seeking help.

“We rushed to the scene, and when we got there a couple of men were dragging you and Lord Rahl out of the wagon where you had been hidden.”

“Men from the attack?” Kahlan asked. “They were still there?”

“No, they were different men.”

“Different men?”

“I know it all sounds confusing,” Ester said, forestalling Kahlan’s questions. “I guess you could say that the attackers were gone, and these men were scavengers who happened by.”

“I see. I guess that makes sense. Then what?”

“These other men were trying to kill Lord Rahl and were going to carry you off. We got there just in time. We killed one of the men while Lord Rahl, even though he had horrible bite wounds from the men, was able to kill the other attacker.”

“Dear spirits…” Kahlan whispered through her fingers.

“You were both in bad shape. Sammie—sorry, Samantha—was able to cure both of you from your normal wounds and injuries, but she couldn’t cure the touch of death that was left in you both by the dying Hedge Maid. To do that, Lord Rahl says you both need the others—Zedd and the sorceresses—and they have to get you both back to the palace in order to do that kind of special healing.”

“All right,” Kahlan said, trying not to lose track of the details as she followed along with the story, or get too impatient. “I guess that makes sense.”

Ester put a hand compassionately on Kahlan’s forearm. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Mother Confessor, but if this wizard, Zedd, and the sorceress Nicci, can’t get you back to a special place in the People’s Palace—”

“Special place? What do you mean, special place?”

The woman made a bit of a face as she shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I’m not familiar with such things. It was a field of some sort. I think that’s it, a field.”

“A field? Do you mean a containment field?” Kahlan suggested.

Ester smiled suddenly in recognition. “That’s it. A containment field.” Her smile faded. “If they can’t get you back there to that field, then the dark sickness within you will kill you both. Jit will have claimed you at last. Your only hope to be saved from the touch of death is for your friends to do what only they can do in order to cure you both, and they must do it there, in that containment thing.”

Kahlan had little trouble believing the seriousness of her sickness. She could feel the dark shadow of something evil within her, sapping her of life. She instinctively grasped the truth of what Ester was saying. Her level of alarm rose as she now understood why Richard would have left her.

She rolled a hand to get Ester’s story back on track. “So then what?”

“So then Lord Rahl and Samantha went to try to rescue your friends who had been captured. They hope to find that Sammie’s mother is with them and rescue her as well.”

“I see,” Kahlan said, trying to take it all in. She was still disoriented and having trouble reconciling it all in her head and fitting the different pieces together.

She had at first been confused, then relieved to be awake, then even more relieved to know that Richard was alive and that they had escaped the Hedge Maid’s lair.

But now, she felt terror seeping back in.

Able to see that Kahlan was getting upset, Ester returned her hand to Kahlan’s forearm.

“Mother Confessor, Lord Rahl wanted—”

The door burst open. Ester flinched, letting out a little squeak.

A tall man strolled into the room. He carried himself with an air of authority. A woman followed behind, but there were no candles on that side of the room and in the man’s shadow Kahlan couldn’t see much of her.

The severe-looking man wore a simple black coat with a turned-up straight collar that went all the way around his neck. The black coat was buttoned to his neck, keeping the collar closed at his throat. A rimless, four-sided hat that looked to be made from black material similar to his coat covered a head of blond hair cut short on the sides.

Kahlan blinked in surprise. “Abbot Dreier?”

He looked as surprised to see her as she was to see him. He recovered quickly.

“Mother Confessor.” A sly smile that Kahlan didn’t like one bit slowly spread across his face. “Well now, isn’t this quite the pleasant surprise.”

As Ester rose up up from beside Kahlan, he removed the rimless hat in an act of formality. He turned the smile on Ester. The woman took a deferential step back.

“Abbot Ludwig Dreier,” he said in a smiling introduction.

“Ester,” she said as she bowed. “Welcome to Stroyza, Abbot Dreier. Our humble village is honored to have you here.”

“Yes,” he drawled, the smile remaining on his lips.

After making a show of looking around, he turned a cunning look back to Kahlan. “And is Lord Rahl with you, Mother Confessor? The both of you taking a tour of the Dark Lands and the remote little village of Stroyza, are you?”

Kahlan twitched a frown. “Where?”