Hateful Things Read online

  “How?” Kahlan asked.

  Richard ran his fingers back through his hair. “Everyone in our world is now in danger from the Glee, but the people here at the palace are in much greater danger because we’re here. They are going to be targeted, just like these two women were, simply to try to draw us into making a mistake. As long as we’re here at the palace, this place is going to be a killing field.

  “Besides that, the goddess could be looking at us through the eyes of anyone in the palace.” He passed a brief look over the soldiers with their backs to them, swords pointed out toward any threat. His meaning was obvious. The goddess could even be using one of the men of the First File. “It’s too dangerous for the people here at the palace for us to be here, and it’s too dangerous for us to be here. We need to leave.

  “If we leave, the focus of the Glee will be to come after us. We need to draw them away from all these innocent people.”

  Kahlan’s brow lifted with a sudden idea. She leaned in and spoke quietly so that the soldiers wouldn’t hear in case the goddess was listening through one of them.

  “We can leave in the sliph. In a way, the sliph enables us to do something like the Glee. It allows us to travel to a different place in our world in a very short time. Traveling in the sliph will get us far away from here and draw the attention of the goddess away from all these people. That kind of departure might even confuse the goddess.”

  Richard smiled at her. “Exactly. We need to leave at once.”

  “But go where?” Kahlan asked.

  Richard’s smile broadened. “To someplace with gifted who do have lots of power. We need to get to the Wizard’s Keep. There are gifted there—real gifted. The Sisters of the Light are there, as are other gifted they are training.”

  “What are Sisters of the Light?” Shale asked, keeping an eye toward any soldier who might be listening.

  “Sorceresses,” he said before turning back to Kahlan. “We need to leave at once, before there are more attacks here and before the goddess can get one of us. If we leave in the sliph, that will confuse the goddess as to where we went and hopefully buy us some time.”

  22

  Kahlan stuffed some of her things into a backpack on the bed as Richard did the same. They needed to get out of the People’s Palace to confuse the Golden Goddess and lead the Glee away from all the innocent people there.

  Kahlan was cautiously excited about being at the safety of the Wizard’s Keep. Not only were there a lot of gifted people there, the Keep itself was filled with all kinds of protective shields. Any of the Glee that the goddess sent there would be in danger without realizing it. There were lethal shields in any number of places throughout the Keep that would incinerate anything that didn’t belong there or have the proper magic to allow safe passage. The whole Keep would be a death trap for the Glee.

  For the first time in days, Kahlan felt a glimmer of hope.

  The Keep would also be a place of safety for her to have their children.

  Once they were safely in the Keep and it would soon become obvious, Kahlan would finally be able to tell Richard that she was pregnant with twins. They would be safe there, with Sisters of the Light and others to protect her. The Keep had protective magic to protect from invasions. The whole purpose of the Keep was to protect the First Wizard and the gifted working there.

  At the Keep, Richard would be able to figure out a way to stop the goddess. Kahlan didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of the Keep sooner.

  The Wizard’s Keep was also Richard’s other ancestral home. The People’s Palace had always been the seat of power for the House of Rahl, but the Wizard’s Keep had always been the ancestral home to the First Wizard. It was his Keep. Part of its purpose was to protect him.

  If it was safe enough to leave the Keep, Kahlan could possibly give birth to their children at the nearby Confessors’ Palace, where she had been born. That was her ancestral home. There were people there who had known Kahlan since she had been born. If it was safe enough to leave the Keep, her dream would be to have her children at the Confessors’ Palace. The daughters of a Confessor were always Confessors, so Kahlan would dearly love to have her daughter be born at the Confessors’ Palace. The twins could then be raised in the safety of the Keep.

  As a young girl, Kahlan had spend a great deal of time in the Keep, under the watchful eye of wizards. The Keep was a place of power for the First Wizard. It would protect his children. And, in turn, those children would continue their lines of magic to protect their world. That would bring life back to the Wizard’s Keep the way it had been alive when she had been a girl.

  Both she and Richard changed out of their official clothes and into their traveling clothes. Richard put some of his war-wizard outfit in his pack, but kept on the black shirt, the special weapons belt, and the broad, leather-padded, silver wristbands with ancient symbols in the language of Creation. Kahlan didn’t need to pack her Mother Confessor’s dress, because the Confessors’ Palace was there in Aydindril, near the Keep. She had other dresses of the Mother Confessor there, all the same silky fabric, all with the same square-cut neckline.

  Her whole life she had grown up wearing the black dresses that all Confessors wore. Only the woman chosen by her sister Confessors wore the white dress of the Mother Confessor. Kahlan had been the youngest woman ever named Mother Confessor. It was a testament to the strength of her power.

  When she and Richard emerged from their bedroom, all six Mord-Sith, all in red leather, were waiting out in the round entryway along with Shale. Each of the Mord-Sith had a small pack with her. Shale was dressed in her black traveling clothes with a black cloak draped over her shoulders and held together at the top with bone buttons connected by a short silver chain. She had her pack with her as well.

  They were all obviously intending to go with Richard and Kahlan. That was fine with Kahlan, and she knew it would be with Richard, too. Of course, their wishes were irrelevant, because the Mord-Sith would have already decided that they were going.

  Importantly, the goddess couldn’t use them or Shale, so the Mord-Sith would be fearless guardians of her children. Kahlan was grateful that they were coming along to the Keep.

  A large force of the First File, Lieutenant Dolan in command, waited off a ways in the wide corridor. With what had happened in the containment-field library, as well as the two women being murdered, to say nothing of the horrific discovery down in the lower reaches of the palace, the men all looked grim and tense. Kahlan couldn’t help looking to see if any of them averted their eyes. None did.

  “We need to get down to the sliph,” Richard told Berdine confidentially, so that the soldiers wouldn’t overhear. “I don’t want anyone but us nine knowing where we are going.”

  She nodded. “I know a fast route. It will also keep us out of sight.”

  Richard nodded to her and then went down the hall a short distance to meet the man in command. “Lieutenant, I need to leave on an important mission.”

  The man tipped his head. “Of course, Lord Rahl. How many men do you want to take with you?”

  “None. Right now I’m in too much of a hurry.” At the look on the man’s face, he added, “I will send for some of the First File when I can. In the meantime, you know the threat here at the palace. You know how dangerous these creatures are. As you saw, they bleed, so they can be killed if you can catch them in time before they can vanish.”

  The lieutenant looked uneasy. “While you were getting your things, there was another attack back not far away in one of the hallways branching from this corridor. Two of my men were killed.”

  The muscles in Richard’s jaw flexed in anger.

  “They need to eliminate Kahlan and me so that they can rampage unrestrained across our world, hunting our species to extinction. That’s one reason we need to leave. By leaving I hope to confuse them. Since they are focused on us, the sooner we leave the palace, the less the danger to the people here. At least for now.

  “Tell Mr. Bu
rkett that the Lord Rahl has had to leave on an important mission. The man is used to taking care of the palace while the Lord Rahl is gone. He will know what to do. Help him in any way you can.”

  “I will see to it, Lord Rahl.”

  “With Kahlan and me gone, the First File will be the only protection for the people here at the palace. I don’t want any of the First File to leave the palace for any reason. I’m counting on you and the First File to stand here in my place and protect everyone. I will be the magic against magic, doing what is necessary to end the threat.”

  Lieutenant Dolan, looking resolute, clapped a fist to the leather armor over his heart.

  “The Mord-Sith will protect us from here on out. You and the men must see to protecting the people here.”

  The man reluctantly saluted again, tapping his fist to his heart.

  Richard turned to Berdine. “Let’s go.”

  23

  Berdine immediately started down the corridor. The ranks of heavily armed men in the corridor all moved to the sides of the broad passageway for her and her charges. Nyda went in front with Berdine. Kahlan, holding Richard’s hand, was next, with Vika right behind her. Shale, Rikka, Vale, and Cassia took up the rear guard.

  The entire way past all the soldiers to either side of the corridor, all standing with their backs to the wall to make room, Kahlan met the eyes of each man in turn. There was not one who averted their gaze. That much of it was a relief. She hoped they could escape the People’s Palace without the Golden Goddess seeing them leaving through someone’s eyes. As she had learned as a little girl being taught combat strategy by her father, King Wyborn, confusing the enemy was always a valuable tactic.

  Berdine led them at a near run down side halls and narrow stairwells and through a labyrinth of dark and deserted passageways as they wound their way ever lower and across the restricted section of the palace. Everyone followed in silence. They all knew the dangers they were leaving behind and the ones they might encounter along the way. They watched for any threats as they moved as silently as possible.

  Kahlan was excited to finally have a plan that she knew could work. The Sisters of the Light could be overbearing and full of themselves at times, but they were loyal to Richard and to life. They had fought valiantly in the war. She was confident they would face this new threat with determination and grit.

  Kahlan wished so much, as she had so many times, that Richard’s grandfather were still with them. Zedd had been an important part of her life ever since she met him. He had watched over her in ways that no other could. The wily old wizard had wormed his way into her heart from the first. But in a way, with Richard, she still had part of Zedd with her.

  With a great sense of relief, they finally reached the sliph’s room without being seen or being attacked. Kahlan had feared that the goddess would somehow try to stop them. But with only the Mord-Sith and Shale with them, there had been no eyes able to watch where they went, rendering the goddess blind. While the protection of the First File would be valuable, the risk of having the goddess see or hear what they were doing through one of them was now too great.

  Without delay, Richard crossed the ancient room to the waist-high, round wall of the massive well. He leaned over the stone cap and put the silver wristbands together at his wrists. They began to glow brighter until Kahlan could see the shadows of his bones right through his flesh.

  “Sliph!” he called down into the darkness. “I need you!” His voice echoed up from the well and around the domed room.

  Shale looked especially tense, not knowing what to expect. Kahlan twisted her fingers together, worried that maybe the sliph might not come, or maybe she wasn’t even there anymore. Shale, now knowing what Richard was doing, gave Kahlan a puzzled frown. Kahlan thought it would be best for her to wait and see it for herself.

  As they waited in silence, pebbles and dirt on the stone floor started dancing as a vibration rose up from deep below. With building intensity, the whole room reverberated with a droning rumble. Dust fell from joints in the stone walls and domed ceiling.

  With a roar of tremendous speed the silver sliph shot up from the depths of her well, stopping abruptly at the top rather than surging out. The silvery, liquid surface calmed, and then a lump of it rose up into the air. A beautiful silver face formed. A silver arm reached out and cupped Richard’s face.

  “Master, it is good to see you again,” she said in her beguiling voice. “Come, we will travel. You will be pleased.”

  Richard held an arm back to the rest of them waiting by the wall. “We all need to travel. We need to go right away.”

  For the first time, it seemed, the sliph looked around and saw that there were eight women with him, or possibly she’d seen them before and simply didn’t care about anyone but Richard. Now that she thought about it, Kahlan realized that was probably it. She fumed silently at the way the sliph smiled at Richard.

  “All of you wish to travel?”

  “Yes,” Richard hurriedly said for everyone, as he motioned with an arm to urge them all closer. “We all need to travel. I would be very pleased if you would take us all. We’re in a hurry.”

  Shale, looking quite alarmed, took a step back.

  “Where do you wish to travel?” the sliph asked in that silky, silvery voice that for some reason grated on Kahlan’s nerves.

  “The Keep,” Richard said. “I would be very pleased if you would take us all to the Wizard’s Keep.”

  “I know the place,” she cooed to him. “I can take you there. But you know you can’t take that sword.” She slipped her arm around behind him in a familiar way to touch the scabbard.

  Richard pressed his lips tight for a moment. “I know. I’ll have to leave it here until we can return.”

  He pulled the baldric off over his head. “Now that the blade has touched death,” he told Kahlan, “I think I could take it, but with so much at stake, I fear to risk it.” He leaned the scabbard up against the stone wall.

  Kahlan didn’t like the idea of him leaving the sword, but she remembered how in the past taking it with him nearly cost him his life. He was right, there was too much at stake.

  “Come closer,” the sliph said to everyone, her voice more businesslike, not nearly as soft and smooth as when she spoke to Richard.

  All the Mord-Sith approached to stand before the stone wall of the well. The sliph’s silver arm reached out, her fingers gently passing from one to another, brushing each forehead briefly.

  “You all have what is required to travel.”

  Richard hooked Shale’s arm under his and pulled her closer. Her eyes were wide with shock at seeing the sliph and hearing it speak. Such a creature, created by ancient wizards, was obviously something she had never encountered before, and she was more than a little wary of it. It had to be incomprehensible to her.

  “Is this safe?” she whispered to Richard.

  “It is for me,” the sliph said with a smooth, silvery smile before sliding her silver fingers across Shale’s smooth brow. Shale winced but stood her ground. The sliph pulled her hand back. “She cannot travel. She doesn’t have the required magic.”

  “What is she talking about?” said Shale with sudden displeasure. “I’m a sorceress. I have the gift. Obviously, I have magic.”

  Richard shook his head. “You misunderstand. You need both Additive and Subtractive Magic to travel in the sliph.”

  Shale took a step back. “Subtractive Magic? Are you crazy?”

  Richard waved a hand to dismiss her concern as he climbed up to stand on the stone wall. “I can give you enough of it to make it possible for you to travel. Don’t worry. I’ve done it before.”

  As Richard was reassuring Shale, the sliph reached out to run a hand across Kahlan’s brow.

  “She may not travel,” the silver face announced with a hint of distaste.

  Richard had just helped Vika up beside him. He turned to frown at the sliph, then held an arm out toward Kahlan. “What are you talking about? Kahl
an has traveled before many times. Of course she can travel.”

  “Not now.”

  Richard growled his impatience. “Why not?”

  “Because she is pregnant. She and the two babies growing in her would die in me if she were to try to travel.”

  Richard turned with a look that locked Kahlan’s breath in her lungs. Richard stood frozen with a look of shock on his face as he stared down at her. She suddenly felt hot all over. Her fingers and toes tingled. She thought she might pass out.

  Kahlan forced herself to speak. “It’s all right, Richard. You and Vika go. I will stay here. Shale and my sisters of the Agiel will protect me. I will have your sword. You must travel to the Keep to get help. You must. It’s our only chance.”

  Richard hadn’t moved a muscle as he stared at her. The room rang with a terrible silence. No one said a word.

  The Mord-Sith were all staring at her, but Kahlan could only look into Richard’s gray eyes.

  She swallowed again, desperately trying to hold back tears as she took a step back away from the sliph’s well. “I love you. Now go.”

  The story continues.

  Episode 3 of the Children of D’Hara

  WASTELAND

  coming soon…

  About the Author

  TERRY GOODKIND is a number one New York Times bestselling author. His Sword of Truth series has sold over 20 million copies. Before writing full-time, Terry worked as a wildlife artist, a cabinetmaker and a violin maker. He writes thrillers as well as epic fantasy and lives in the desert in Nevada.

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