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  　They had to stop three times, while soldiers checked the coach. Once, the soldiers made them all get out and line up for a look. The blankets and cloak had to remain in the coach as Janet, Amelia, and Manda climbed out for inspection.

  　Walsh explained, in very crude terms, what he was doing with these slaves- how he was taking them for the pleasure of His Excellency's plenipotentiary. The soldiers were satisfied by Walsh's explanation, and allowed them to continue on their way.

  　They turned north at the harbor, and headed up the coast road. Clarissa sighed in relief as she saw the last of the fires and tents finally fade into the distance behind them. It wasn't until they crested a hill, nearly an hour's ride out after leaving the last of the soldiers, that the flash lit the sky behind.

  　Clarissa heard a cheer from up on the driver's seat. Walsh leaned down, gripping a rail with one arm, and stuck his face, nearly upside down, partly into the window. "Good job, Clarissa! You did it!"

  　Clarissa grinned. He swung back up, and he and Bollesdun booted into the night air. It was then that the sudden boom reached them, making Manda jump with fright.

  　Verna, sitting in the center, opposite, produced a flame above her upturned palm and leaned toward Clarissa. "Job? What is it that you have done?" Clarissa patted the inky black book in her lap. "Nathan sent me for this book, and he wanted the ones left behind destroyed. He said that they were dangerous, what with you, and especially Warren, telling Jagang the meaning of the prophecies in them. Nathan didn't want Jagang to be able to use the information."

  　"I see," Verna said. "Lucky for us that we agreed to swear loyalty to . . . Lord Rahl, and go with you."

  　Clarissa nodded. "Nathan said I was to offer you the chance, but in either case, I was to open that locket and leave it hidden there. He said that Jagang having both Warren and the prophecies together could ruin everything, if you told Jagang anything important."

  　Verna pressed her lips together as she let out a breath. She shared a look with Warren.

  　"I can't believe that after all this time. I'm finally going to get to meet the prophet himself," Warren said. "Not long ago I had given up hope, and now . . . I will be meeting Nathan."

  　Verna harrumphed. "Out of the rain and into the lake. I can't believe I've sworn loyalty to that crazy old man."

  　Clarissa leaned forward. "Nathan is dashing. He isn't old." Verna barked a laugh. "You have no idea, child."

  　"And he isn't crazy, either. Nathan is the kindest, most wonderful, most generous man I've ever met!"

  　Verna glanced down at Clarissa's cleavage, and back up to her eyes. She had that look that Clarissa was used to seeing. "Yes," Verna murmured. "I'm sure he is, my dear."

  　"You could have no better man to swear loyalty to," Clarissa said. "Besides being thoughtful and kind, Nathan is a powerful wizard. I saw him turn another wizard to a pile of dust." Verna's brow creased. "Another wizard?"

  　Clarissa nodded. "Named Vincent. Vincent and another wizard and two Sisters, Jodelle and Willamina, came to see Nathan. They tried to hurt him. Nathan turned Vincent into a pile of ash." Verna's eyebrows rose.

  　"After that," Clarissa said, "they were very polite to Nathan, and Jagang agreed to give the book"-she tapped the book in her lap-"to Nathan. Jagang said Nathan could have either the book, or Sister Amelia. Now, Nathan will have both. Nathan has great plans. Nathan will rule the world, one day." Verna and Warren shared a sidelong glance. She looked at Amelia. "What is this book, Amelia?"

  　"I stole it from the Temple of the Winds," Amelia said in a hoarse voice. "I'm the only one who can use it. I started a plague. Thousands have already died because of what I did. It was how Jagang eliminated Richard Rahl.

  　"Thank the Creator that we still have Nathan Rahl to protect us with the bond to him."

  　"Dear Creator," Verna whispered, "what have we agreed to with our oath to the likes of Nathan?"

  　CHAPTER 63

  　Richard rose from the wizard's chair when he recognized the spirit gliding toward him. He couldn't call a specific spirit, and he didn't always know the ones who came, but he knew this one. With this one, he had a deep connection.

  　The person this spirit once was, he had loathed, he had feared. Only once he understood her, and only after he had forgiven her for what she had done to him, was he able to gain his release. This one he had killed, and in so doing, he freed her from her torment.

  　This spirit was the one who had later brought Kahlan and Richard together in that place between worlds. "Richard," the spirit said as she seemed to 【创建和谐家园】ile. "Denna."

  　"I see you wear an Agiel. It is not mine."

  　Richard slowly shook his head. "It is that of yet another Mord-Sith who died because of me."

  　"Raina. I knew her in the world of life, and I know her here. Since she passed into the spirit world after the violation of the winds, she may not come to you, here. She is not one of those who holds sway over the forces involved as they pertain to you and the winds. Know that her spirit is at peace. You gave her peace, in life, and so she asked me to come to you."

  　Richard rolled the red Agiel in his fingers. "I gave your Agiel to Kahlan. As I promised you, one time, only she is able to give me more pain than you." "Only you, Richard, are able to give yourself more pain than I could give you." "Have it your way. I care not to argue. It is good to see you, Denna." "You may disagree, after I am finished with you."

  　Richard 【创建和谐家园】iled at her nature showing through, even in her spirit form. "You cannot harm me here, Denna."

  　"You think not? I may not be able to harm your body, but I can still hurt you." She nodded to herself. "Oh, yes, Richard, I can hurt you." "And how is that?"

  　Denna lifted an arm. "I can make you remember-remember and make it real again. You and I have a past." Richard spread his hands. "And to what purpose?" Denna spread her luminous arms. "That is for you to decide, Richard." With a flash of light in his mind, the Temple of the Winds was gone, fading from his consciousness, and he was in a place he remembered: the castle in Tamarang. He was there again.

  　He could taste the terror. Denna had captured him. She had tortured him for days. He was delirious and weak. Every step was painful as he followed Denna through the grand dining hall. His

  　wrists were cut and swollen from the manacles she used to shackle him up to a beam. When Denna stopped and spoke to people, Richard kept his eyes to her braid as he silently waited behind her.

  　Denna controlled his life. his destiny. He was allowed only that which she granted. He hadn't eaten since she had captured him. He longed to eat something. Anything.

  　All around, the jumble of talking and laughter from the queen's guests droned in his head. Denna, too, was a guest of the queen. Richard, at the end of a chain running from his mistress to a collar around his neck, was Denna's prisoner.

  　She hadn't let him eat during those days of torture, and he needed food. As she sat at the dining table, Denna snapped her fingers, pointing at the floor behind her chair. Richard sank to the floor, relieved to be allowed that 【创建和谐家园】all comfort. He could rest. He wasn't hanging from the shackles; he wasn't being made to stand all night; he wasn't being tortured.

  　All of the guests were eating. The varied aromas tormented him. He ached with hunger. Everyone else was eating, but he had to sit on the floor behind Denna. watching what others enjoyed-what he was denied.

  　Richard thought about the times he had been with Kahlan, at camp, eating rabbit cooked over the fire or porridge sweetened with berries. He licked his lips thinking about the succulent, hot, tender meat, brown and crunchy on the outside from the fire. He had so enjoyed those meals with her. The food and the company were the best.

  　Now, he was denied that life, and was yoked to another. After everyone else had been eating for a while, a server brought a bowl of gruel. Denna had him hand it down to Richard. He held it in trembling hands. Almost any time before, he would have cast it aside in disgust, but now. it was all he had.

  　He was made to put it on the floor and to eat it like a dog. while laughter from the guests filled his ears. He didn't care. He was being allowed to eat at last.

  　Gruel was all he was allowed, but at that moment, in his state of tormented need, it was wonderful-it was freedom from the ache of hunger, freedom from the misery of seeing others eat while he starved, fulfillment of a simple but long denied need.

  　He slurped at it, relishing it, gulping it down. He could not escape his imprisonment in his new life, over which he had no say, and so he decided that if gruel was all he would be allowed, then he would have to accept that fact, and sate his hunger with what he was given. The light flashed in his head.

  　Color bled from his sight, vanishing almost painfully, and he saw again the muted mists of the Temple of the Winds around him.

  　Richard was on his hands and knees on the floor, panting in terror. The glowing white spirit of Denna lowered over him.

  　Denna was right. She could hurt him, still. This pain, though, she had given him out of love.

  　Richard staggered to his feet. How could he have thought he was ignorant before, and that the knowledge of the Temple of the Winds had brought him new sight? He had had sight all along, but had failed to see. Knowledge without heart was empty.

  　Wizard Ricker had left, with the sliph, a message for him, but he had ignored it.

  　Ward left in. Ward right out. Guard your heart from stone. He had failed to guard his heart from stone, and it had almost cost him everything.

  　"Thank you, Denna, for that gift of pain." "It has taught you something, Richard?" "That I have to go home, back to my world." "Thank you, Richard, for living up to what I expect of you." Richard 【创建和谐家园】iled. "Were you not a spirit. I'd kiss you." Denna 【创建和谐家园】iled a sad 【创建和谐家园】ile. "The thought is the gift, Richard." Richard shared a gaze with her for a moment, a gaze between worlds. "Denna, please tell Raina that we all love her." "Raina knows this. Feelings of the heart cross the boundary." Richard nodded. "Then you know how much we love you, too." "That is why I came to vouch for you in your quest to the winds." Richard held his arm out. "Would you escort me to the passageway? I would find peace in your company before I leave this empty place. The worst is yet ahead of me."

  　Denna glided along at his side as he headed for the passageway out, striding the Hall of the Winds for the last time. They didn't speak; words were too paltry to touch what was in his heart.

  　Near the great doors, the spirit of Darken Rahl waited.

  　"Going somewhere, my son?" The sound of his words echoed painfully through the hall.

  　Richard glared at the spirit of his father. "Back to my world." "There is nothing for you there. Kahlan, your true love, is married to another man. She has sworn an oath to him before the spirits." "You could never understand why I'm going back." "Kahlan is married to my son, Drefan. You cannot have her now." "That is not why I'm going back."

  　"Then why leave this place? The world of life will be empty for you now." Richard stalked past the spirit of his father. He didn't have to explain his reasons to the one who had caused so much grief. Denna glided along beside Richard. At the doors. Darken Rahl appeared again, blocking the way. "You may not leave." "You can't stop me." "Oh, yes, my son, I can." "You must let him pass," Denna said. "Only if he agrees to the terms." Richard turned to Denna. "What's he talking about?"

  　"The spirits set the requirements for your path into our world. Because it was your unique path here. Darken Rahl was called upon and given commensurate sway over your price for coming here, your sacrifice to come here. Darken Rahl set the more onerous of the sacrifices, such as Drefan marrying Kahlan. If one who participated in your coming so chooses, this spirit also has the right to set requirements if you are to leave."

  　"I will simply banish him," Richard said. "I know how to do that, now. I can banish him from the winds, and then leave."

  　"It is not that simple," Denna said. "You traveled from the world of life, through the underworld, to this place within the world of souls. You must return through the underworld. The spirits can set a price. It must, however, be one that is fair, in view of the forces and worlds involved, and it must be a price within your ability to satisfy."

  　Richard ran his fingers back through his hair. "And I must pay?"

  　"If he names a price within the edicts, then you must. if you are to return to ,. your world."'

  　【创建和谐家园】iling that vile 【创建和谐家园】ile of his. Darken Rahl glided closer. "I only have two 【创建和谐家园】all, insignificant requirements. Meet them, and you may return to your brother, Drefan, and his wife."

  　Richard glared. "Name them, but if you set the price too high, and I choose not to pay it and remain here instead, then I swear I will devote my eternity to making your soul twist in torment. And you know I can do it-the winds have taught me how."

  　"Then I guess you will have to decide just how important this is to you, my son. I think you will pay it."

  　Richard didn't want to tell him how important it was, or the price would climb. "Name the price, and I will decide if I will pay it. I was willing to stay here, I may yet decide to do so."

  　Darken Rahl came closer, close enough that the pain of his spirit coruscation was almost enough to make Richard back away. He willed himself to hold his ground, without a shield of magic.

  　"Oh, the price is going to be high, indeed, but I think you will pay it. I know you, Richard. I know your foolish heart. Even this price, you will pay for her."

  　Darken Rahl did indeed know Richard's heart. Darken Rahl, after all, was the one who had almost destroyed it. "Name the price or be gone."

  　"First, the knowledge of the Temple of the Winds was not yours before you came to this place. You will return as you came-without the knowledge you acquired here. Back in your world, you will be as you were before you left it." Richard had expected as much. "Agreed."

  　"Oh, very good, my son. How eager, how earnest, you are. Will you agree to the second requirement so readily?" His 【创建和谐家园】ile seemed as if it would strip flesh from bone. "I wonder." His voice went on in a lethal hiss.

  　When Darken Rahl named the second requirement, Richard's knees nearly buckled.

  　"Can he do that?" Richard could manage no more than a whisper. "Can he demand that?"

  　Denna stared back with somber, spirit eyes. "Yes."

  　Richard turned away from the two spirits. Head bent, he pressed his hand over his eyes. "It is that important to me," he whispered. "I agree to the price."

  　"I knew you would." Darken Rahl's malevolent laugh echoed the length of the Temple of the Winds. "I knew that even this, you would pay for her."

  　Richard gathered his senses. He slowly turned, lifting his hand toward the evil spirit.

  　"And with this price, you have shown me your barren spirit. In that, dear father, you have made a mistake, for I can now use that emptiness against you."

  　The laughter died out. "You have agreed to the price I have set within my right and power. You can do nothing but banish me from the winds, and that will not negate the price; the world of souls will enforce it, now that it is named and accepted."

  　"So they will," Richard said. "But you will taste my revenge for all you have done, including the price you have demanded, when you could have stopped with the first as fair."

  　Richard freed a pristine flow of Subtractive Magic, uncontaminated by so much as a scintilla of the Additive. It was the force of the void unleashed. Total oblivion of Light engulfed the spirit of Darken Rahl. A wail came from that deep forever as Darken Rahl was plunged into the unmitigated shadow of the Keeper of the Underworld, where not the slightest trace of Light from the Creator shone.

  　It was the pain of denial of that Light that was the true torture of the Keeper's dark eternity.

  　When he was gone, Richard turned once more to the passageway back to the world of life.

  　"I am sorry, Richard," came Denna's tender voice. "None but he would have demanded this of you."

  　"I know," Richard whispered as he called the lightning to take him back. "Dear spirit, I know."

  　CHAPTER 64

  　Drefan hooked his hand under her arm and pulled her shoulder against him. At the white ruffles of his shirt hung two red Agiel.

  　"Isn't it about time you ended this pretense, my wife? Isn't it about time you gave in to your desires, and admitted your hunger for me?"

  　Kahlan glared into his blue. Darken Rahl eyes. "Are you really mad, Drefan, or do you just pretend it? I agreed to wed you to save lives, not because I wanted it. When will you ever admit it to yourself? I do not love you, nor will I ever." "Love? When have I ever mentioned love? I speak of passion." "You are delusional if you think I will ever-" "You already have. You want it again."

  　It cut her to the heart that he had so easily deduced what had happened with Richard. He pointed it out constantly. He taunted her for it. It was her eternal punishment for what she had done, a stain she couldn't annul.

  　Distant thunder rumbled through the mountains as the spring storm that had come so suddenly moved on, away from the city. The wild lightning had reminded Kahlan of Richard. She had stood at the window, watching the violent flashes, remembering. "Never."

  　"You are my wife. You have sworn an oath."

  　"Yes, Drefan, I have sworn an oath, and I am your wife. I will live by my words, but the spirits are satisfied with what I have given. They demand no more, or the plague would not be gone." She pulled her arm away. "If you want me, then you will have to rape me, for that is what it will be. I will not go to your bed willingly, nor easily."

  　His 【创建和谐家园】ile was maddening. "I can wait until you finally give in to your lust. I want you to enjoy it. I long for you finally to admit it, to ask for it." He stalked away, but turned back when she called his name. "What are you doing with Cara and Berdine's Agiel?"

  　Touching an Agiel was painful only if it was one that had been used against you in the past-if you had been the prisoner of a Mord-Sith. Agiel were weapons only in the hands of the Mord-Sith to whom they belonged, but without the bond to a true Lord Rahl they no longer functioned. For Drefan, they were nothing more than obscene decoration.

  　He lifted the red rods away from his chest to have a look at them. "Well, I thought that since I am the Lord Rahl now, I should wear these, as a symbol of my authority. After all, Richard wore one. You wear one."

  　"The Agiel we wear are not symbols of authority. They are symbols of our respect for the women to whom they belonged." He shrugged as he let them drop back down. "The army seems quite intimidated