Into Darkness Page 3

  The sorceress hesitated. “I hope so. At least for now she and the twins are alive and together. With the mother’s breath we have a chance. Now, I must hurry and prepare the medicine she needs.”

  “What can I do to help?” Richard asked as he followed close behind her as she hurried back to the fire.

  Shale paused and considered a moment, looking toward the lean-to beyond a crackling fire before gazing at the three plants resting in her hand.

  “I need to prepare the remedy, but that is going to take several hours. Since you were able to bring three plants, and considering the seriousness of the situation”—she handed Richard the one with the longest taproot—“maybe there is something you can do to help. Take this one, go to her, break off the bottom tip of the root, and then let the milky fluid drip into her mouth. She needs to swallow it. Do it only when you have it over her mouth so you don’t waste any. It is a very rare and precious substance.”

  “If I’m going to let some of the milk drip into her mouth, why do you need to prepare a remedy?”

  Shale didn’t shy away from his gaze. “Lord Rahl, please do as I ask, and hurry.”

  Richard was concerned that she was deviating from the plan of preparing the plants first. He knew a great deal about plants and herbs, but he didn’t know anything about mother’s breath or how it needed to be prepared. He did know that there were plants that when prepared properly could heal. But he also knew that when raw and not properly prepared they could kill.

  “Will it harm her to give her the raw milk of the plant? Are you sure you shouldn’t prepare it first?”

  Shale touched her fingers to the hollow of her neck as she considered it a moment. It was apparently a question that worried her, too.

  “To tell you the truth, I can’t be sure. I’ve never heard that mother’s breath is poisonous, but also, I’ve never heard of giving a miscarrying woman the milk of the plant raw, rather than in a prepared remedy. I do know that the healing power of the plant lies in the milk.” She held up a hand and rubbed her first two fingers together with her thumb. “It’s a sticky substance, much stickier than the milky sap in any other plant. I believe that sticky quality is what may be the key to how the plant helps stop a miscarriage.

  “I was told by an herb woman I knew that she believed the sticky milk of the mother’s breath plant strengthens the bond the mother’s body has with the unborn babies, keeping them in her womb. But to be honest, I’ve never heard of the milk being given raw. My thought is that women are always given the prepared potion but that may be because living plants are never at hand, whereas the preparation can be made up ahead of time and kept in stock, sealed in jars, ready for when needed in an emergency.”

  “Then to be safe, why not just wait until you can prepare the plants the way you were taught?”

  Shale gave him a meaningful look. “Because it took you a long time to find the plant. Too long. I realize that’s not your fault, and it is remarkable that you were even able to find it at all, but as far as the life of the Mother Confessor is concerned, it took too long. That’s the reality.

  “The only reason she hasn’t miscarried and she is still alive is because I was there right when it started and so I was able to put her into that deep state of sleep before it had advanced too far. Traditionally the remedy is prepared by an herb woman for those times when it is urgently needed. That is often later when a healer has been summoned, so much time would have already passed by the time any help reached the mother. My intention was to prepare the plant in that way. But it took you a long time to return. Too long.”

  “But if you were to prepare it—”

  “To be honest, Lord Rahl, even though she is in a deep sleep, I don’t think your wife can last long enough for me to prepare the plants. My hope is that the raw milk will stop the miscarriage and keep the three of them alive and together until the preparation is ready. For all I know, the raw milk might even work better and then the prepared potion wouldn’t even be needed.

  “But what I can’t say is that it won’t do harm. In my judgment we have to chance it.”

  “It’s a big chance,” he said.

  “It is,” Shale agreed with a nod. “I leave the choice to you, then. You are her husband and would know best what her wishes would be. You decide for her. What would she want you to do?”

  Richard didn’t have to think about it. “She would say that it’s the only chance for her and the babies, so we have no choice but to try it.”

  Shale offered him a brief smile. “Hurry, then, and give it to her.”

  Richard gripped the plant in his hand as he nodded. “How long will it take you to prepare the other two?”

  She looked over at the fire. “To boil it down and prepare the remedy will take a few hours. I think you have made the right decision in the meantime. You must give her some of the raw milk now.”

  Richard looked down at the plant she had handed him. “Could it hurt her? Could it hurt her if it’s raw, or hurt the babies?”

  “I already told you that I just don’t know.” The sorceress glanced over the fire to the still Mother Confessor. “But I think that the problem may actually be if it works too well.”

  Richard frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Shale looked back at him. “I mean that it may bind the babies into her so well that it may prove difficult for her to give birth.”

  “Well then, maybe—”

  “Lord Rahl, there is no time. It is already long past when she should have been given the potion that I have yet to cook. By all rights, she shouldn’t even still be alive. I doubt she will be for much longer. If you have made your decision, then you must do it now or she will be lost.”

  Richard let out a troubled sigh as he gently gripped the plant in his fist. He knew that there was really no choice. He just wished it were not a choice he had to make.

  Shale put a hand on his forearm as if to steel him. “Hurry now. Go to her.”

  5

  Richard’s fear for Kahlan had him feeling like he was watching himself from somewhere high above the campsite as he rushed around the fire to the lean-to. If he had made the wrong decision, he could very well be about to poison the only woman he had ever loved, the only woman he ever could love.

  He found Kahlan laid out just under the shelter of the lean-to on a bed of grass. She was covered with blankets. He marveled at how exquisite she looked in her deep sleep. It was the perfect innocence and beauty of a child. He hoped the sleep was a peaceful one. He knew, though, that if Shale really had succeeded in putting Kahlan in that nowhere place between the world of the living and the world of the dead, it was anything but peaceful there.

  The Keeper of the underworld would be whispering promises to her, urging her to take that last step and enter his eternal realm of rest. Richard knew all too well that it was a seductive call and difficult to resist. But he knew, too, that she would be trying with all her will to resist so that her babies would have the chance to live. If she was able to resist that longing to be free of pain and suffering, it would be for them.

  Cassia was there as well, on the opposite side of Kahlan from the fire, sitting on the ground beside her, holding her hand in both of hers. As Richard knelt down beside her, Cassia offered a hopeful smile as she moved back out of the way.

  “How is she?” he asked back over his shoulder.

  Cassia’s voice was heavy with anguish. “She hasn’t moved since Shale put her in a deep sleep. I was relieved, though, when she did because the Mother Confessor was struggling terribly in pain. I ached myself at seeing her in such agony. At least she is breathing more easily, now.”

  Richard nodded and turned back to Kahlan. He pushed her chin down until her mouth fell open. With his thumbnail, he clipped off the bottom of the taproot. One drop of the milky white sap dripped on her cheek before he could get the tip of the root over her mouth. As he held the plant over her with one hand, letting the milky fluid slowly drip into her mouth, he swept the drop u
p with a finger and wiped it onto the inside of her lower lip.

  Even though she was still not conscious, Kahlan’s tongue worked at the contact with the milky fluid. When the dripping slowed to a stop, Richard pushed up on her jaw to close her mouth. He knew she needed to get it into her stomach, so he was relieved to see her swallow.

  After she had swallowed a few times, he opened her mouth again, then snapped off the taproot halfway up. When he did, more fluid again began running out, dripping into her mouth. Once the flow finally stopped, he closed her mouth again until she swallowed, then opened it and snapped the root off where it turned to the green stem. An even more plentiful, thicker flow started to drain from the rest of the plant. He understood, then, why Shale had told him that it had to be a living plant. A dead and dried-up plant would have no milky sap.

  When the flow stopped, he worked his fingers to gradually wad up the plant in his fist. He squeezed to force out as much fluid as possible. When he was sure the dripping was finished, he handed the crumpled plant to Cassia.

  “Take this to Shale. There may still be some milk in the plant that she can add to the medicine she’s making.”

  Cassia nodded and then raced off to take the crumpled plant to the sorceress. Sitting on the cold ground beside Kahlan, Richard watched as Shale tore the plant into small pieces and added it to the steaming pot she already had cooking on the fire. She reached into a pocket of her trousers and pulled out a pouch. From the pouch she added a few pinches of some kind of powdered preparation to the pot.

  As she stirred the boiling potion, Richard lay down close beside Kahlan to help keep her warm. He gently ran a hand over her round belly, hoping she would know that he was there with her. As much as he wanted to stay awake, he was exhausted and soon nodded off into a troubled sleep.

  He hadn’t been asleep long when he heard Shale speaking to some of the Mord-Sith. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. The brief nap had done nothing to banish his exhaustion. To his side, Vika sat on the ground, watching over him and Kahlan. He knew that she had to be just as tired as he was.

  “Why don’t you lie down and get some sleep?”

  “I will,” she answered. “But not until after the Mother Confessor gets the medicine Shale is preparing.”

  He looked over at Shale, squatted down beside the fire, leaning over the pot she had set on the ground, continually stirring the preparation. She lifted the stick out, letting the concoction drip off to test its consistency. She dipped her little finger into it to test if it had cooled enough. Apparently, it had. She gave an order to one of the Mord-Sith. Vale quickly stood and rushed to one of the saddlebags. She dug around until she came up with a piece of cloth.

  Shale urged both Nyda and Vale to hold all four corners of the cloth. When they had, she slowly poured the pot of liquid in the cloth to filter the preparation and let it drip into a tin cup she had placed on the ground. Once the liquid had mostly dripped through, she took the cloth and twisted it around and around. She grimaced with the effort of squeezing out all the remaining liquid.

  When she was finished, she threw the cloth and its contents onto the fire. Blue and green flames and glowing sparks shot up from the cloth as it burned, lighting the trees all around in flickering, colored light.

  After dispensing with the filter cloth, she picked up the cup and hurried to Kahlan. She knelt down on the other side and set down the cup before putting a hand to Kahlan’s forehead, checking on her fever.

  “That’s good. Her fever is down,” Shale told Richard. She gestured. “Sit her up for me.”

  He carefully and gently scooped an arm under Kahlan’s shoulders and lifted her. Kahlan’s head slumped to the side. Shale straightened her head and then put her fingers on Kahlan’s temples with her thumbs over her eyes. She softly spoke some kind of chant. Richard couldn’t hear the words well enough to understand them. He doubted that even if he could hear them well enough he would have known what the words were. He assumed it was some sorceress’s—or even witch’s—spell. Sorceresses, and likely witch women, often relied on spells.

  Whatever it was, it caused Kahlan to gasp in a deep breath along with Shale. Richard noticed that Shale synchronized her breathing with Kahlan’s for a moment. Finally, the sorceress took her hands away and Kahlan opened her eyes.

  Richard jumped a little in surprise. “Kahlan!” He was excited to see her awake. “How are you feeling?”

  The sorceress swished a hand. “She can’t hear you. She is still in that deep place. I don’t want her to choke or drown when I give her the preparation.”

  Indeed, Kahlan seemed completely unresponsive. Though her eyes were open, it didn’t seem like she saw anything. Still, Richard felt hope at seeing her beautiful green eyes. There was life in them, and that was cause for hope.

  As he held Kahlan up, Shale brought the tin cup with the milky potion to her lips. As she tipped it in, Kahlan began to drink it. It took a while for her to slowly drink it all. When she had, Shale took the cup away and motioned for Richard to lay her back down. As he did, Kahlan’s eyes closed once more.

  Shale stood and let out a weary sigh. “Now we must let the mother’s breath do its work—both what you gave her and what I prepared. When it has done all it can, and if it is enough, she will wake on her own from the deep sleep and be fully back in the world of life. Until then, let her rest. Tonight determines if she will survive this ordeal or not. Until then, we all need to sleep to be able to face what tomorrow holds.”

  Richard couldn’t take issue with that. He nodded as Shale went to her nearby bedroll. She looked exhausted. Richard was as well, but he was worried that the medicine might not work. He was terrified that he might lose Kahlan this night. But at least she seemed to be resting peacefully. What terrified him more was that she might instead rest peacefully for eternity with the good spirits.

  He leaned close. “Life is a struggle,” he whispered to her. “Fight for me, for us, for our children.”

  When he was finished and sat back up, Cassia touched his shoulder. “Berdine and I will watch over her tonight. You and Vika need to get some sleep.”

  Richard didn’t want to sleep. More than his better judgment, it was his exhaustion that made him lie down beside Kahlan. He kissed her cheek and then gripped her hand in his.

  6

  Richard was having a wonderful dream that Kahlan was kissing him. As it always did, the feel of her soft lips on his seemed to open up the feminine half of the universe to him. It was a profound completion of his reason for being. It made him whole.

  As he was kissing her, something made him open his eyes. He abruptly realized that it wasn’t a dream.

  It was not yet dawn, but through the trees he could see the eastern sky just beginning to brighten a bit. Her hair had fallen down to flow around his face. Flickering firelight gave her face a warm glow as she pulled back and looked down at him with that radiant smile he knew so well.

  “You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn’t want to wake you.” The smile widened with mischievousness. “But I couldn’t resist kissing you.”

  Richard let out a deep breath of relief as he embraced her, holding her tight to him. His fears melted away in that moment.

  He finally gripped her shoulders and lifted her back away from him. “How do you feel?”

  Her mouth twisted playfully. “Pretty good now that I’ve had a kiss.”

  “No, I mean everything else.” He looked at her skeptically. “Are you all right?”

  She shrugged. “I feel surprisingly well, actually. I think I was having a terrible nightmare and it felt like I was asleep forever in some faraway place. I didn’t like being in that place. While I was sleeping, I thought I heard you say that life is a struggle, and I should fight for you, for us, and for our children. So I did and woke up.”

  Seeing that Kahlan was awake and up, Shale threw off her blanket and rushed around the fire. “Mother Confessor! You’re awake. How are you feeling. Don’t try to stand. Any pain? Are you hurtin
g anywhere?”

  Kahlan struggled to sit up as Shale tried to push her back down. “I feel like I’ve had a very long and restful sleep, actually. I feel fine.” As the Mord-Sith rushed up around them, Kahlan frowned. “Why is everyone acting so strange?”

  “You don’t remember?” Richard asked.

  Kahlan made a face as she half smiled. “No. Remember what?”

  “You … were having difficulty with your pregnancy,” Shale said.

  Kahlan’s face suddenly went ashen. “What?”

  The sorceress waved her hands to dispel the fear from Kahlan’s suddenly pale expression. “No, no, everything is fine, now. Lord Rahl found a plant I needed to make you some medicine and it fixed you right up. It was not a big thing, really. You were exhausted and just needed a bit of medicine and rest, so I helped you go to sleep. Don’t worry, everything is fine, now.”

  Kahlan looked skeptically at all the faces watching her as she ran a hand over her round belly. “Are you sure?” She looked under the blanket. “Where are my trousers?”

  When everyone was silent for a moment, Rikka finally spoke up. “I washed them for you, Mother Confessor. I dried them by the fire. They are ready whenever you want them.”

  “I made some breakfast,” Berdine said with a big grin. “I thought you would be hungry when you woke up. We have fresh fish and rabbit. Which do you prefer? I have to say, I like the rabbit best.”

  “Well, actually, I am pretty hungry. The fish sounds good.” She tipped her head to look out of the lean-to. “It looks like the weather is no better.”

  Richard glanced out. “At least it’s not snowing down here. Fortunately it’s not raining any longer, either. At least for now. The weather in these mountains can change in an instant, but I don’t think it’s going to be getting much better for a while.”

  “Well,” Kahlan said, “we need to get moving south to try to find a way to get around these mountains if I’m to have these babies at the Wizard’s Keep.”