Please be paitent with this story.
The Prologue may not make much sense at first, but by the end of the story it will. Also, the build up is quite slow as I felt that it would take a while for Darken Rahl to develope a close relationship with anyone.
Disclaimer: I do not own LOTS or it's characters, however, the story is my own idea.
Prologue
Richard, Kahlan & Zedd emerged from the woods, before them, about a mile ahead, lay Martello Castle. They were on their way to the nearby town of Three Rivers, but Kahlan wanted to stop here first. This is where the confessor had located the Book of Counted Shadows before delivering it to the seeker. The castle had an extensive library and at the time of obtaining the book, they had not had time to search further. She thought there may be other books that could be of use to Richard and Zedd.
As they approached, it was very quiet, there appeared to be no one about, the drawbridge was down and the gates were open. Upon entering the main courtyard, they found the place deserted, doors were left open, barrels and equipment were scattered around. A great heavy oak dresser lay on its side, Richard looked up and saw a gaping hole where a window had been, he thought it looked like a giant had thrown the dresser through the window.
Zedd was the first to speak, "Kahlan, what in the world happened here?"
Kahlan looked stunned, "I don't understand, the last time I was here there were people living here, a whole garrison of soldiers."
Richard was still studying the dresser "Well, whatever happened her, it was some time ago, look how the moss is growing over the wood of this dresser."
"Do you think they decided to leave after Darken Rahl was defeated?"
"No, it's more than that, people left in a hurry." Richard tipped out a bag of rotted food. "People don't leave food & weapons behind unless they have to."
Kahlan looked hopeful "If they left food behind, they may not have had time to empty the library."
Zedd spoke in his usual gruff manor "We need to be careful, we don't know what the cause of this was."
Richard & Kahlan drew their weapons and cautiously entered the main building. They walked into the great hall and stared open mouthed, the room was wrecked, furniture destroyed, tapestries shredded and great burn marks seared across the walls.
Kahlan looked at the other two as if she needed to explain "It wasn't like this, the place was alive and vibrant with people."
Zedd pointed at the walls, "these scorch marks were not cause by ordinary fire; this is magical fire"
"Then what were they fighting?" asked Richard
"I don't know, but whatever it was, it was dangerous; I think we ought to find the library as soon as possible."
They moved from room to room, everything was the same, torn tapestries, broken pottery and furniture and the scorch marks on the walls. As they searched Richard asked, "Kahlan, why was the Book of Counted Shadows here in the first place, wouldn't Darken Rahl have had it sent to him at the peoples palace? "
"I don't think he knew. The book had been hidden for many years in a library in the Midlands. Unfortunately there was a fire at the library, most of the books were saved, but several people lost their lives. The head librarian was severely injured and during the time it took for him to heal, the books were moved around and stored in various temporary locations. When he recovered, he spent several months tracking the journeys of the books, he eventually came and told us of the loss when he found out that some the books had been transferred to this castle, he believed this included the Book Of Counted Shadows. Denne and I had to break in to retrieve the book before anyone realised it was here."
Zedd was still looking very concerned, "Kahlan, can you remember at all where the library was?"
Kahlen looked confused "No, Dennee and I had people to guide us, I thought when we returned, that someone would be able to help us."
Richard looked around "I think we should split up, we can cover more ground that way and meet up again in the main courtyard in an hour."
"Well be careful, whatever caused this, may still be here." Zedd chose a corridor and walked down it……
After a while, Zedd found himself exploring a series of courtyards that led from one to another. Signs of the same hurried exodus were everywhere, baskets left rotting in the sun; one area still had sheets hanging on the lines, now dirty and tattered from their enforced exposure to the elements. He walked through a gateway and thought for a moment that he had been transported.
The contrast was stunning, before him lay the most beautiful gardens he had ever seen, this area was loved and cared for and Zedd wondered how truly marvellous the rest of the castle would have looked before the destruction. Trees & mature shrubs obscured any view of the castle and the air was heavy with the scent of flowers. In the middle of the garden stood a young woman, as he approached, he realised she was a statue, so finely carved and painted, that for a moment he had thought it was a real person. Zedd was transfixed by her face and a feeling of love and peace filled his soul as he looked at her.
"Beautiful, isn't she."
Zedd started and saw a man standing beside him; he wore an old apron and held a trowel in his hand.
"Who is she?" Zedd asked, not wanting to take his eyes off the statue.
"She was the most important woman who ever lived in D'Hara, yet if you had asked her; she would have said she was only a servant. Would you like to hear her story?"
"Please" said Zedd, he sat on a nearby stone bench and continued to stare at the statue while the gardener told his story.
"Once upon a time, there lived a great and powerful ruler of D'Hara……………
