Terry Goodkind: Temple of the Winds

“Everyone knew Denna.”

“And was she as good at . . . at torturing people as you?”

“Me?” Cara said with a laugh. “No one was as good at it as Denna. That’s why she was Darken Rahl’s favorite. I could hardly believe the things she could do to a man. Why, she could . . .”

With a glance at the Agiel hanging at Kahlan’s neck—Denna’s Agiel—Cara suddenly caught the meaning behind Kahlan’s questions.

“That was in the past. We were bonded to Darken Rahl. We did as we were commanded. We are bonded to Richard, now. We would never hurt him. We would die to keep anyone from hurting Lord Rahl.” Her tone lowered to a whisper. “Lord Rahl not only killed Denna, but he also forgave her for what she did to him.”

Kahlan nodded. “So he did. But I have not. Though I understand how she did as she was trained and commanded, and her spirit has been a comfort and an aid to both of us, and I appreciate the sacrifices she has since made on our behalf, in my heart I can’t forgive her for the horrifying things she did to the man I love.”

Cara studied Kahlan’s eyes a long moment. “I understand. If you ever hurt Lord Rahl, I would never forgive you, either. Nor would I ever grant you mercy.”

Kahlan held the woman’s gaze. “Likewise. It is said that, for a Mord-Sith, there is no worse death to be had than by the touch of a Confessor.”

A slow smile came to Cara’s lips. “So I have been told.”

“It’s fortunate we’re on the same side. As I’ve said, there are things I won’t, I can’t, forgive. I love Richard more than life itself.”

“Every Mord-Sith knows that the worst pain comes from one you love.”

“Richard need never fear that pain.”

Cara seemed to consider her words carefully. “Darken Rahl never had to fear that kind of pain; he never loved a woman. Lord Rahl does. I have noticed that where love is concerned, things sometimes have a way of changing.”

So that was the heart of the matter.

“Cara, I could no more hurt Richard than could you. I would lay down my life first. I love him.”

“As do I,” Cara said, “if in a different way, but with no less ferocity. Lord Rahl freed us. In his place, anyone else would have had every Mord-Sith put to death. He instead has given us a chance to live up to his expectations.”

Cara shifted her weight to her other foot as her eyes withdrew their cold assessment. “Perhaps Richard is the only one of us to understand the good spirits’ principles—that we can’t truly love until we forgive another their worst crimes against us.”

Kahlan felt her face flush at Cara’s words. She never thought of a Mord-Sith as having such depth of understanding in matters of compassion. “Was Denna a friend?” Cara nodded. “And has your heart forgiven Richard for killing her?”

“Yes, but that’s different,” Cara admitted. “I understand the way you feel about Denna. I don’t blame you. In your place, I would feel the same.”

Kahlan stared off. “When I told Denna—her spirit—that I couldn’t forgive her, she said that she understood, and that the only forgiveness she needed had already been granted. She told me that she loved Richard—that even in death she loved him.” Just as Richard had seen in Kahlan the woman behind the magic, he had seen in Denna the person behind the fearsome persona of a Mord-Sith. Kahlan could understand Denna’s feelings at having someone finally see her for herself. “Perhaps the forgiveness of one you love is the only thing in life that really matters—the only thing that can truly heal your heart, heal your soul.”

Kahlan watched her finger as she traced the scoop of a curled leaf carved in the banding of the tabletop. “But I could never forgive anyone who hurt him.”

“And have you forgiven me?”

Kahlan looked up. “For what?”

Cara’s fist tightened on her Agiel. Kahlan knew that it hurt a Mord-Sith to hold her Agiel in her hand—part of the paradox of being a giver of pain. “For being Mord-Sith.”

“Why should I have to forgive you that?”

Cara looked away. “Because if Darken Rahl had commanded me instead of Denna to take Richard, I would have been as merciless as she. As would Berdine, or Raina, or any of the rest.”

“I told you, the spirits mark a distinction between the might have been and the deed. So do I. You cannot be held responsible for what others have done to you, any more than I can be held answerable because I was born a Confessor, and no more than Richard can be held guilty because that murderous Darken Rahl fathered him.”

Still Cara didn’t look up. “But will you ever truly trust us?”

“You have already proven yourselves, in Richard’s eyes, and in mine. You are not Denna, nor responsible for her choices.” With a thumb, Kahlan wiped oozing blood from Cara’s cheek. “Cara, if I didn’t trust you, all of you, would I allow Berdine and Raina, two of you, to be alone with Richard right now?”

Cara glanced again to Denna’s Agiel. “In the battle with the Blood of the Fold, I saw the way you fought to protect Lord Rahl, as well as the people of the city. To be Mord-Sith is to understand that you must sometimes be merciless. Though you are not Mord-Sith, I have seen that you understand this. You are a worthy guardian to Lord Rahl. You are the only woman I know worthy of wearing an Agiel.

“Though to you that may sound reprehensible, in my eyes, it is an honor that you wear an Agiel. Its ultimate purpose is to protect our master.”

Kahlan offered a sincere smile, understanding Cara just a little bit better than she had before. She wondered what the woman behind the appellation had been like before she was captured and trained to become a Mord-Sith. Richard had told her that it was a horror far beyond anything that had been done to him.

“In my eyes, too, because Richard gave it to me. I am his protector, as are you. In that way, we are sisters of the Agiel.”

Cara smiled her approval.

“Does this mean that you’ll follow our orders for a change?” Kahlan asked.

“We always follow your orders.”

With a wry smile, Kahlan shook her head.

Cara nodded toward the man on the floor. “He will answer your questions, as I promised you before, Mother Confessor. I won’t practice my skills on him any more than is necessary.”

Kahlan squeezed Cara’s arm in sorrow and sympathy for the warped role the woman’s life had been twisted into by others. “Thank you, Cara.”

Kahlan turned her attention to Marlin and the problem at hand. “Let’s try it again. What were your plans?”

He glared up at her. Cara shoved him with a foot.

“You answer truthfully, or I’ll start finding some nice, tender places for my Agiel. Understand?”

“Yes.”

Cara squatted down, fanning her Agiel before his face. “Yes, Mistress Cara.” The sudden threat in her tone seemed to annul everything she had just said. It frightened even Kahlan.

Wide-eyed, he swallowed. “Yes, Mistress Cara.”

“That’s better. Now, answer the Mother Confessor’s question.”

“My plans were as I told you: to kill Richard Rahl and you.”

“How long ago did Jagang give you these orders?”

“Nearly two weeks.”

Well, there was that. It could be that Jagang had been killed at the Palace of the Prophets when Richard destroyed it. That was what they had been hoping, anyway. Perhaps he had given the orders before he was killed.

“What else?” Kahlan asked.

“Nothing else. I was to use my talent to get in here and kill the both of you, that’s all.”

Cara landed a kick on his cracked rib. “Don’t lie to us!”

Kahlan gently pushed Cara back and knelt beside the choking, gasping young man.