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Zedd stood with one hand on a bony hip, the other stroking his chin, as he inspected the altar and other things behind it. Kahlan fell to her knees before him, taking his hands in hers, kissing them.
“Zedd, he loves me! He figured out how to make it work, with the magic. There was a way, and he found it.”
Zedd frowned down at her. “Well, it took him long enough.”
Kahlan came to her feet. “You knew how to do it?”
Zedd looked indignant at the question. “I’m a wizard of the First Order. Of course I knew.”
“And you never told us?”
Zedd smiled. “Had I told you, dear one, it wouldn’t have worked. The foreknowledge would have interjected a grain of doubt. That single grain would have caused failure. To be the true love of a Confessor, there must be total commitment, to get past the magic. Without the willingness to give himself over to you, selflessly, despite the knowledge of the consequence, it wouldn’t work.”
“You seem to know a lot about it.” Kahlan frowned. “I have never heard of it before. How often does this happen?”
Zedd rubbed his chin in thought, looking up at the windows. “Well, only once before that I know of.” His eyes rested on the two of them. “But you can tell no one, just as I wasn’t able to tell you. No matter how much pain it may cause, no matter the consequences, you can never tell. If even one other knows, it could be passed on, destroying forever the chance for others. It’s one of the ironies of magic; you have to accept failure before you can have success. It is also one of the burdens of magic; you must accept the results, even the death, of others, to protect the hope for the future. Selfishness costs the lives, the chances, of those yet unborn.”
Kahlan nodded. “I promise.”
“Me too,” Richard said. “Zedd, is it over? With Darken Rahl, I mean. Is he dead?”
Zedd gave Richard a look he found unexpectedly uncomfortable. “Darken Rahl is dead.” Zedd put a thin hand on Richard’s shoulder, his bony fingers gripping tightly. “You have gotten it right, Richard, all of it. You scared the wits out of me. I have never seen a performance to match it.”
Richard grinned in pride. “Just a little trick.”
Zedd nodded, his white hair sticking out in every direction, looking wild. “More than a trick, my boy. More than little.”
They all turned when they heard the sound of someone approaching. Chase came dragging Michael in by the scruff of his neck. His dirty white trousers and shirt spoke that he had not come willingly. Chase gave him a shove, forcing him in front of Richard.
Richard’s mood darkened at seeing his brother. Michael’s defiant eyes came up to meet Richard’s gaze.
“I’ll not be treated in this manner, little brother.” His voice was as condescending as it had ever been. “You don’t know what you’ve interfered with, what I was trying to do, how I would have helped everyone by uniting Westland and D’Hara. You have doomed the people to needless suffering that Darken Rahl could have spared. You are a fool.”
Richard thought about all he had been through, about all that Zedd, and Chase, and Kahlan had been through. He thought about all those he knew who had died at Rahl’s hands, and the countless number of dead he would never know of. The suffering, the cruelty, the brutality. He thought of all the tyrants allowed to flourish under Darken Rahl, all the way from Darken Rahl himself down to Princess Violet. He thought of those he had killed. He felt pain and grief at the things he had had to do.
The metallic ring of the Sword of Truth filled the air. Michael’s eyes went wide at seeing its point at his throat.
Richard leaned a little closer to his brother. “Give me the loser’s salute, Michael.”
Michael’s face turned crimson. “I would rather die first.”
Richard nodded as he straightened. He looked deep into his brother’s eyes as he took the sword away. Richard pulled the anger back, tried to make the sword turn white. It would not. He slid the blade home into its scabbard.
“I’m glad to see we have one thing in common, Michael. We would both die for what we believe in.” He took his gaze from Michael, to the big, crescent battle-axe hanging at Chase’s belt. His eyes came up to the boundary warden’s grim face. “Execute him,” he whispered. “Take his head to his personal guard. Tell them he was executed by my order, for treason against Westland. Westland will have to find a new First Councilor.”
Chase’s big fist grabbed Michael by the hair. Michael screamed out, falling to his knees, giving the loser’s salute.
“Richard! Please, I’m your brother! Don’t do this! Don’t let him kill me! I’m sorry, forgive me. I was wrong. Please, Richard, forgive me.”
Richard stared down at his brother, who was on his knees before him, his hands together, imploring. Richard held out the Agiel in his fist, feeling the pain it gave him, tolerating it, remembering it, the visions flashing through his mind. “Darken Rahl told you what he was going to do to me. You knew. You knew what was going to happen to me, and you were indifferent because it brought you personal gain. Michael, I forgive everything you have done against me.”
Michael sagged in relief. The Seeker stiffened. “But I cannot forgive what you have done against others. Others have forfeited their lives because of the things you have done. It is for those crimes that you are to be executed, not the ones against me.”
Michael screamed and cried as Chase dragged him away. Richard watched in pain, shaking, as his brother was taken to his execution.
Zedd placed his hand over Richard’s on the Agiel. “Let it go, Richard.”
Richard’s thoughts masked the pain it was giving him. He looked to Zedd, standing before him with his bony, leathery hand over his, saw things in his friend’s eyes he had never seen before, a shared understanding of the pain. He released the Agiel.
Kahlan’s eyes went to it as it fell against his chest. “Richard, do you have to keep that?”
“For now, I do. It was a promise I made to one who I killed. One who helped teach me how much I love you. Darken Rahl thought this would defeat me. Instead, it taught me how to defeat him. If I discard it now, I would be denying what is inside me, what I am.”
Kahlan put her hand on his arm. “Right now, I don’t understand, but someday, I hope I will.”
Richard looked around the Garden of Life, thinking about Darken Rahl’s death, and about his father’s death. He had seen justice done. He grieved a moment when his memories touched his father. But then the pain lifted as he realized that he had completed the task his father had given him. Richard had remembered every word of the secret book perfectly. His duty was done. His father could rest in peace.
Zedd straightened his robes with a huff. “Bags! A place this big must have something to eat, don’t you suppose?”
Richard grinned, put one arm around each of them as he led them out of the Garden of Life. He took them to a dining hall he remembered. People sat at tables as if nothing had changed. The three of them found a table in the corner. Servers brought plates of rice, vegetables, brown bread, cheese, and bowls of steaming spice soup. The surprised but smiling servers kept bringing more as Zedd resolutely emptied the plates of food.
Richard tried the cheese, and to his surprise found it had a sickening flavor. He threw it back on the table as he made a sour face.
“What’s the matter?” Zedd asked.
“That has to be the worst-tasting cheese I’ve ever eaten!”
Zedd sniffed it and took a bite. “
Nothing wrong with the cheese, my boy.”
“Fine, then you eat it.”
Zedd was only too happy to comply. Richard and Kahlan ate spice soup and brown bread, and smiled as they watched their old friend eat. Zedd had his fill at last, and they resumed their journey out of the People’s Palace.
As they strode through the halls, the bells tolled in a single, long peal, calling people to the devotion. Kahlan watched with a frown as everyone gathered at the squares, bowing to the center, chanting. Since Richard had changed the words in his devotion, he no longer felt the pull, the nervous need to join the people. They passed a number of squares as they continued on, each filled with people chanting. Richard wondered if he should do something about it, stop them somehow, but decided at last he had already done the most important part.
The three emerged from the cavernous halls out into the winter sunlight. The hillside of steps cascaded down before them, to the huge expanse of courtyard. The three paused at the brink. Richard gasped when he saw the numbers gathered there.
Spread out before them were thousands of men, standing tall in rank upon rank. At the head, at the base of the steps, stood Michael’s personal guard, formerly known as the Home Guard, before Michael took that name from them. Their mail, shields, and yellow banners shone brightly in the sun. Behind them, nearly a thousand men of the Westland army. Behind them, many more of the D’Haran forces. Chase stood before them all, his arms folded, looking up the steps. Next to him, planted in the ground, was a pole with Michael’s head atop it. Richard stood, stunned by the silence. If a man in the back, a half mile away, had coughed, he would have heard it.
Zedd’s hand on his back started him down the steps. It felt a little too much like a push. Kahlan took his arm, giving it a squeeze, and held herself tall as they descended the series of steps and expansive landings. Chase watched Richard’s eyes as he came. Richard saw Rachel beside him, clutching one arm around his leg, holding Sara in the other hand. Sharing the grip with the doll was Siddin’s hand. Siddin saw Kahlan and broke from the hand, running to meet her. Kahlan laughed and scooped him up in her arms. He grinned at Richard and jabbered something Richard didn’t understand, before throwing his arms around Kahlan’s neck. After she hugged him and whispered to him, she put him down, holding his hand tightly.
