At about the same time in a nearby Mord-Sith temple there was the whine of an Agiel as it was pressed against the abdomen of a prisoner. The prisoner was Nicci, chained to the ceiling, hanging several feet off the floor. She was half-naked but was wearing a Rada-Han. The man applying the Agiel was none other than Darken Rahl, former lord of D'Hara. Rahl was growing frustrated. It was taking far longer than he had hoped to break Nicci. He needed control of Nicci's great magical powers if he were ever to hope to reclaim D'Hara.
The only force that remained loyal to him were the Mord-Sith. They were devoted but had their limitations. Not only were they relatively few in number but most were quite young and had limited combat skills since their early training emphasized compliance instead. This meant that many Mord-Sith did not survive their first combat. In the past this did not matter since combat was not the primary purpose of the Mord-Sith. Rather the bulk of the combat was performed by legions of D'Haran soldiers. Now many legions had disbanded and those that remained were fighting amongst themselves at the behest of various generals who were acting like petty warlords.
In order to reclaim control of the remaining legions and to rebuild the D'Haran army, Darken Rahl would need not only Nicci's powers but to make the Mord-Sith a more effective fighting force. This latter would require an expert leader. In the past the best leaders were those in their mid-20s, who had enough skill and determination to survive their early battles and yet still retained the fire of youth. Leaders such as Denna, Cara, or Garen. At the moment, the Mord-Sith were under the command of Alina who was remarkable in her own way. She was by the far the oldest Mord-Sith, having survived into her early 40s. She had a steady competence that had allowed her to keep the Mord-Sith intact while Darken Rahl had been dead but she did not have the brilliance and drive that was now required.
Denna, Rahl knew was dead. He had seen her in the Underworld, killed by Cara herself. They had revived Garen with the Breath of Life at the same time they had revived Nicci. But Garen had still been confessed and indeed the Mord-Sith that had revived her had become confessed as well. It had been necessary to kill them both.
In the case of Cara it would have been better if she had been dead since instead she was in the service of his half-brother Richard. Not only did he miss her leadership skills but she was skilled in other areas as well. As was his prerogative, he had bedded most of the Mord-Sith but for many of them it was clear that they were only performing their duty while most of the rest were overly obsequious in their desire to please. Cara on the other hand was as skillful and fiery in bed as she was on the battlefield yet her sharp and sometimes biting remarks were a pleasant contrast to the toadying that he was usually subjected to. Though Richard had piously claimed that he was loyal to Kahlan, Rahl had no doubt that Richard was availing himself of his prerogatives as "Lord Rahl" when it came to Cara, especially since Kahlan's confessor powers made her off limits. Rahl was sure that if only he could lure Cara back, he could rebreak her in no time.
Rahl had to do something and soon. Now that they had found the Stone of Tears and closed the Tear in the Veil, Richard, Kahlan, Zedd and Cara were heading to Aydindril. No doubt Kahlan intended to begin ruling from there backed up by the Council of Aydindril. Such an alternative form of government posed a serious threat to his plans to reinstate his rule over D'Hara. The combination of Kahlan, Richard, Zedd and Cara would make a far more dangerous opponent than any rogue D'Haran general.
His spies had discovered that Cara and Zedd had split off from Kahlan and Richard. They had just finished spending a week in Stowecroft. Apparently Cara had gone to see her old family. Rahl could not help shaking his head at Cara's indulging in such foolish sentimentality. It just showed how weak and soft she had become serving Richard. Richard and Kahlan were now half way to Aydindril, well beyond Rahl's reach but Cara and Zedd had been spotted only three days ago walking through Stowecroft on their way out of town. They must still be somewhere close.
Rahl had a thought. If Cara were really indulging in such sentimentality with regards to family there might be a way to lure her back and then she could be rebroken. He sent for Alina.