The Third Kingdom

He recalled that his gift hadn’t worked to protect Kahlan, or to heal her. It was further confirmation, as if he needed any, that for some reason his gift was not working.

In a fluid gesture, Samantha’s fingers traced the lines of the Grace carved into the stone blocking the opening, doing it in the proper sequence in which a Grace was to be drawn. First the outer circle representing the limits of life, then the square inside that circle that represented the world of life, then another circle inside the square that represented the beginning of life, then the eight-pointed star, representing Creation, within the inner circle. Lastly she traced the lines coming from each point of the star, crossing the inner circle that marked the beginning of the world of life, and then the outer circle that represented the end of life and the beginning of the world of the dead.

“The gift,” Samantha said as she traced the last of the eight lines going outward, “as it is meant to be.”

Richard frowned, wondering what she was getting at. “The world of life and the spirit world, with the spark of the gift connecting it all.”

“As it is meant to be,” she again prompted. “In the proper order,” she stressed. “The world of life, and then after life ends, the spirit world—the underworld, the world of the dead.”

“I know,” he said, still frowning, still not understanding what she was getting at, but a bit unsettled by how easily she slipped into the enigmatic temperament of a sorceress.

“Your said that your gift does not work.”

“That’s right.”

“From the things my mother taught me about the gift and its connection to everything as shown in the Grace, I think your gift isn’t working because it is corrupted.”

“Go on. I’m listening.”

“You have death in you, do you not?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Death in the world of life,” she said as she arched an eyebrow. “That can’t be. That is not the order of things, not as the Grace shows it should be.

“There is supposed to be the world of life, and the world of the dead. They each exist in their own place, as shown by the Grace. You have both at the same time, in the same place. That violates the Grace.”

Richard felt goose bumps on his arms. He had not thought of it in that way before.

“That is how I know you are the one,” she said in a confidential tone as she leaned in.

Richard’s brow drew even tighter. “What do you mean?”

“Right now, you are neither of the kingdom of life, nor the kingdom of death.”

“How does that make me the one you think you’re looking for?”

“I have to show you,” she said as she straightened.

She placed the flat of her hand against the metal plate. At her touch, the stone blocking the doorway began to roll to the right, revealing a passageway beyond. Richard stood in silence, staring into the darkness, as the heavy stone rumbled to a stop at the side.

“What is this place?”

“A place for the gifted of Stroyza. For those who keep watch.”

Richard wondered what they were keeping watch for. He stepped through the opening, to a bracket holding a glass sphere just on the other side. He knew what that was as well. He had often used the light spheres left from ancient times.

But this time, as he approached, the glass sphere remained dark. He brushed his fingertips along the smooth surface, but it remained dead and dark.

As Samantha came closer and reached for the glass sphere, it began to glow, lighting the hall. She picked up the glowing sphere and then set her lantern down back in the hall before touching another metal shield placed on the inside to shut them in. The massive stone began to roll back into place across the opening.

“My gift doesn’t work for that either, I guess,” Richard said in frustration as he gestured to the light sphere.

“What I don’t understand,” she said with a twitch of a frown, “is why, if your gift doesn’t work, the magic of your sword did. It seems a contradiction.”

“If your theory is correct, and I think it is, then it isn’t a contradiction at all. My gift is something within me.” Richard lifted the sword a few inches and then let it drop back into its scabbard. “The sword, on the other hand, is external magic, something constructed. It doesn’t need the gift to work. Anyone, including those who are not gifted, could use the sword and its magic would work for them. Its magic is independent of any person. It only requires the intent of the person wielding it.”

Samantha nodded thoughtfully at the explanation. “That makes sense.”

Richard looked back the way they had come. “But that means that Kahlan’s Confessor power likely won’t work. She was born a Confessor. It’s innate in her, just as I was born with my gift.”

It was a troubling realization that Kahlan very well might be without the protection of her Confessor power.