Read Online Temple of the Winds by Terry Goodkind - Free Book Online
Authors: Terry Goodkind
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door.”
“ Still don’t trust me?” Cara asked, when they were out of earshot of the soldiers.
Kahlan offered a friendly smile. “My father was King Wyborn. He was Cyrilla’s father, and then mine. He was a great warrior. He taught me that it’s impossible to be too cautious with prisoners.”
Cara shrugged as they passed a sputtering torch. “Fine by me. It doesn’t hurt my feelings. But I have his magic. He’s helpless.”
“ I still don’t understand how you can fear magic, and have such control over it.”
“ I told you, only if he specifically attacks me with it.”
“ And how do you take control of it? How do you make it yours to command?”
Cara spun the Agiel on the end of the chain at her wrist as she walked. “I don’t know myself. We just do it. The Master Rahl himself takes part in some of the training of Mord-Sith. It is during that phase that the ability is instilled in us. It’s not magic from within us, but transferred to us, I guess.”
Kahlan shook her head. “Yet you don’t know, really, what you’re doing. And still it works.”
With her fingertips, Cara hooked the iron rail at a corner, swung around it, and followed Kahlan up the stone stairs. “You don’t have to know what you are doing in order for magic to work.”
“ What do you mean?”
“ Well, Lord Rahl told us that a child is magic: the magic of Creation. You don’t have to know what you are doing to make a child.
“ One time, this girl—a very naive girl—of about fourteen summers, a daughter of one of the staff at the People’s Palace in D’Hara, told me that Darken Rahl—Father Rahl, he liked to be called—had given her a rosebud and it had bloomed in her fingers as he smiled down at her. She said that that was how she had come to be with child—through his magic.”
Cara laughed without humor. “She really thought that that was how she became pregnant. It never occurred to her that it was because she had spread her legs for him. So you see? She did magic, created a son, and without knowing how she had really done it.”
Kahlan paused on the landing, in the shadows, and seized the crook of Cara’s elbow, halting her.
“ All Richard’s family is dead—Darken Rahl killed his stepfather, his mother died when he was young, and his half brother, Michael, betrayed Richard … allowing Denna to capture him. After Richard defeated Darken Rahl, Richard forgave his brother for what he had done to him, but ordered him executed because his treachery had knowingly caused the torture and death of countless people at the hands of Darken Rahl.
“ I know how much family means to Richard. He would be thrilled to come to know a half brother. Could we send word to the palace in D’Hara and have him brought here? Richard would be—”
Cara shook her head and glanced away. “Darken Rahl tested the child and discovered that he was born without the gift. Darken Rahl was eager to have a gifted heir. He considered anything less deformed and worthless.”
“ I see.” Silence filled the stairwell. “The girl … the mother …?”
Cara heaved a sigh, realizing that Kahlan wanted to hear it all. “Darken Rahl had a temper. A sick temper. He crushed the girl’s windpipe with his bare hands after he had made her watch him … well, watch him kill her son. When ungifted offspring came to his attention it often made him angry, and then he did that.”
Kahlan let her hand fall away from Cara’s arm.
Cara’s eyes came up; the calm had repossessed them. “A few of the Mord-Sith suffered a similar fate. Fortunately, I never came to be with child when he chose me for his amusement.”
Kahlan sought to fill the silence. “I’m glad Richard freed you from bondage to that beast. Freed everyone.”
Cara nodded, her eyes as cold as Kahlan had ever seen them. “He is more than Lord Rahl to us. Anyone who ever hurts him will answer to the Mord-Sith—to me.”
Kahlan suddenly saw what Cara had said about Richard
“ Still don’t trust me?” Cara asked, when they were out of earshot of the soldiers.
Kahlan offered a friendly smile. “My father was King Wyborn. He was Cyrilla’s father, and then mine. He was a great warrior. He taught me that it’s impossible to be too cautious with prisoners.”
Cara shrugged as they passed a sputtering torch. “Fine by me. It doesn’t hurt my feelings. But I have his magic. He’s helpless.”
“ I still don’t understand how you can fear magic, and have such control over it.”
“ I told you, only if he specifically attacks me with it.”
“ And how do you take control of it? How do you make it yours to command?”
Cara spun the Agiel on the end of the chain at her wrist as she walked. “I don’t know myself. We just do it. The Master Rahl himself takes part in some of the training of Mord-Sith. It is during that phase that the ability is instilled in us. It’s not magic from within us, but transferred to us, I guess.”
Kahlan shook her head. “Yet you don’t know, really, what you’re doing. And still it works.”
With her fingertips, Cara hooked the iron rail at a corner, swung around it, and followed Kahlan up the stone stairs. “You don’t have to know what you are doing in order for magic to work.”
“ What do you mean?”
“ Well, Lord Rahl told us that a child is magic: the magic of Creation. You don’t have to know what you are doing to make a child.
“ One time, this girl—a very naive girl—of about fourteen summers, a daughter of one of the staff at the People’s Palace in D’Hara, told me that Darken Rahl—Father Rahl, he liked to be called—had given her a rosebud and it had bloomed in her fingers as he smiled down at her. She said that that was how she had come to be with child—through his magic.”
Cara laughed without humor. “She really thought that that was how she became pregnant. It never occurred to her that it was because she had spread her legs for him. So you see? She did magic, created a son, and without knowing how she had really done it.”
Kahlan paused on the landing, in the shadows, and seized the crook of Cara’s elbow, halting her.
“ All Richard’s family is dead—Darken Rahl killed his stepfather, his mother died when he was young, and his half brother, Michael, betrayed Richard … allowing Denna to capture him. After Richard defeated Darken Rahl, Richard forgave his brother for what he had done to him, but ordered him executed because his treachery had knowingly caused the torture and death of countless people at the hands of Darken Rahl.
“ I know how much family means to Richard. He would be thrilled to come to know a half brother. Could we send word to the palace in D’Hara and have him brought here? Richard would be—”
Cara shook her head and glanced away. “Darken Rahl tested the child and discovered that he was born without the gift. Darken Rahl was eager to have a gifted heir. He considered anything less deformed and worthless.”
“ I see.” Silence filled the stairwell. “The girl … the mother …?”
Cara heaved a sigh, realizing that Kahlan wanted to hear it all. “Darken Rahl had a temper. A sick temper. He crushed the girl’s windpipe with his bare hands after he had made her watch him … well, watch him kill her son. When ungifted offspring came to his attention it often made him angry, and then he did that.”
Kahlan let her hand fall away from Cara’s arm.
Cara’s eyes came up; the calm had repossessed them. “A few of the Mord-Sith suffered a similar fate. Fortunately, I never came to be with child when he chose me for his amusement.”
Kahlan sought to fill the silence. “I’m glad Richard freed you from bondage to that beast. Freed everyone.”
Cara nodded, her eyes as cold as Kahlan had ever seen them. “He is more than Lord Rahl to us. Anyone who ever hurts him will answer to the Mord-Sith—to me.”
Kahlan suddenly saw what Cara had said about Richard
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