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  　Chase stared in shock. "You told me her power can't touch him, can't take him."

  　"It couldn't before. I don't know if it can now, but I doubt it. Nonetheless, she is going to try. She is in the grip of the Con Dar, the Blood Rage. She doesn't care if she dies. She is going to try, she is going to touch Darken Rahl even if it's futile, even if it kills her. If anyone gets in her way, she will kill them. Without a second thought." He put his face closer to Chase to make his point. "That includes us."

  　Kahlan was curled almost into a ball against the ground, her head bowed, her hands on opposite shoulders, the pale blue light tight around her. She stretched slowly to her feet, pushing through the light, as if she were emerging from an egg. She stood naked, blood still throbbing from her wounds. Blood, still wet and fresh, dripped from her chin.

  　But her face showed the pain of wounds other than the ones on her body. And then even that expression was gone, and she showed nothing but a Confessor's face.

  　Kahlan turned a little, to one of the two men who had held her. The other one was nowhere to be seen. She calmly lifted a hand toward him. He was a dozen feet away.

  　There was an impact to the air, ,thunder with no sound. Zedd felt the pain in his bones.

  　"Mistress!" the man called out as he fell to his knees. "What do you command of me? What do you wish of me?"

  　She regarded him coolly. "I wish for you to die for me. Right now."

  　He convulsed and fell over, face first, into the dirt, dead. Kahlan turned and stepped to Demmin Nass. He had a 【创建和谐家园】ile on his face; his arms were folded. Kahlan's broken arm hung at her side. She put her other hand against his chest with a sharp slap. The hand stayed there as their eyes locked together. He towered over her.

  　"Very impressive, bitch. But not only have you used your power, I am also protected by Master Rahl's spell. You cannot touch me with your power. You still have a lesson to learn, and I'm going to teach you as I have never taught anyone before." His hand came up and grabbed her tangled, matted hair. "Bend over."

  　Kahlan's face showed no emotion. She said nothing.

  　There was an impact to the air, thunder with no sound. Again, Zedd felt the ache of it in his bones. Demmin Nass's eyes went wide. His mouth fell open.

  　"Mistress!" he whispered.

  　Chase leaned over. "How did she do that! She wasn't even touching the first one, and Confessors can only use their power once, and then must rest and recover it!"

  　"Not anymore. She is in the Con Dar."

  　"Stand there and wait," she said to Nass.

  　With graceful 【创建和谐家园】oothness, Kahlan walked to the wizard. She stopped, and lifted her broken arm to him.

  　Her eyes had a glaze to them. "Fix this for me, please. I need it."

  　Zedd took his eyes from hers and looked down at the arm. He reached out and took it gently, speaking softly to distract her mind from the pain while he gripped above and below the break, pulling, setting the bone. She didn't cry out, or even flinch. He wondered if she even felt it. Tenderly, his fingers surrounded the damage, letting the warmth of the magic flow into her, taking the cold pain into himself, feeling it, suffering with it, tolerating it with resolve.

  　His breathing stopped momentarily with the sharpness of the hurt. He felt all of her hurt; it mixed with his own pain, threatening to overwhelm him, until he was able to put it down at last. He felt the bone knit together, and added more magic to protect and strengthen it until it could heal the rest of the way on its own. He removed his hands from her at last, finished. Her green eyes came up to his, and the cold anger in them was frightening.

  　"Thank you," she said softly. "Wait here."

  　She returned to Demmin Nass, who stood where he had been told to wait.

  　There were tears in his eyes. "Please, Mistress, command me."

  　Kahlan pulled a knife from his belt, ignoring his request. With her other hand she unfastened the flanged battle mace from its hook. "Take off your pants." She waited until he had pulled them off and stood once more before her. "Kneel."

  　The coldness of her voice sent a shiver through Zedd as he watched the big man kneel before her.

  　Chase grabbed a fistful of his robes. "Zedd, we have to stop her! She's going to kill him! We need information. Once he tells us what we need to know, then she can do whatever she wants, but not until we question him first!"

  　Zedd gave him a stern look. "As much as I agree with you, there is nothing we can do. If we interfere, she will kill us. If you take two steps toward her, she will kill you before you can take

  　the third. A Confessor in the Blood Rage cannot be reasoned

  　with. It's like trying to reason with a thunderstorm it will only

  　get you hit by lightning." "

  　Chase released the wizard's robes with a frustrated huff and folded his arms in resignation. Kahlan turned the mace around, holding the handle down to Nass.

  　"Hold this for me."

  　He took it and held it at his side. Kahlan kneeled down in front of him, close.

  　"Spread your legs," she ordered in an icy voice. She reached down between his legs, gripping him in one hand. He flinched, grimaced. "Don't move," she warned. He became still. "How many of the little boys you've molested have you killed?"

  　"I don't know, Mistress, I don't keep count. I've done it for many years, since I was young. I don't always kill them. Most live."

  　"Make a good guess."

  　He thought a moment. "More than eighty. Less than one hundred twenty."

  　Zedd could see a glint off the knife as she put it under him. Chase unfolded his arms and stood up straighter, his jaw muscles tightening when he heard what Demmin Nass had done.

  　"I'm going to cut these off. When I do, I don't want you to make a sound," she whispered. "Not one sound. Don't even flinch."

  　"Yes, Mistress."

  　"Look into my eyes. I wish to see it in your eyes."

  　Her arm with the knife strained, and jerked up. The blade came up red.

  　Demmin's knuckles around the mace were white.

  　The Mother Confessor rose to her feet in front of him. "Hold out your hand."

  　Demmin held a shaking hand before her. She put the bloody sack in his palm.

  　"Eat them."

  　Chase 【创建和谐家园】iled as he watched. "Good for her," he whispered to no one in particular. "A woman who knows the meaning of justice." She stood before him, watching, until he finished. She tossed the knife aside. "Give me the mace."

  　He handed it up. "Mistress, I am losing a lot of blood. I don't know if I can remain upright."

  　"It will displease me greatly if you don't. Just hold on. It won't be long."

  　"Yes, Mistress."

  　"Was what you told me about Richard, the Seeker, true?"