The Bard's Tales: A Fell Purpose Chapter 8
Disclaimer: Kahlan, Zedd and Richard aren't mine. If I were making money off this, I'd take the time to come up with some really dynamite magical chants for Zedd to use. But instead, all you get is a choice between, "Shlemiel, shlamozle, hasenpheffer incorporated!" or nothing. Take the nothing. Trust me. p.s. With regard to chapter 7, it wouldn't be a BuggyQ story without a cliffhanger (sorry, Ryalin :-).
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"Wizard! Wizard!" Zedd heard a woman calling, and he turned from the horse he'd just dismounted. Glynis Haviland was running across the courtyard toward him, her skirts hiked up and her tiny legs pumping faster than he would have thought possible. "Oh, thank the spirits you're here! I thought I'd have to ride--" She stopped, shaking her head. "Never mind. Hurry! You…have to come," she panted. "The Confessor…she's been poisoned!"
"What?!" Zedd said, and ran for the door. But Bryce left with Victor this morning, he thought, confused. Not now, he told himself, outpacing Glynis with his long legs, climbing the stairs two at a time. He skidded to a stop at the library door, and saw her lying on the floor beside the table, one arm stretched out toward the door. Her eyes were closed, and her lips were blue.
Oh, spirits, he thought, kneeling next to her. He put his face next to hers, and felt the ghost of a breath. That's my girl, he thought with a flicker of hope. Whoever did this didn't count on your strength, or on my being here to help you. He held his hands over her, and began chanting, hoping it wasn't too late.
He heard Glynis come into the room, but he didn't look up. He closed his eyes, feeling the power surge against the sensation of black energy from the stonebane dragging Kahlan down. I won't let you take her, he thought, feeding some of his strength into her, trying to give her the seconds she needed for his magic to work. He could feel his hands shaking as he pushed harder against the darkness. He sensed Kahlan's spirit rallying, and he sent a last surge into her, and felt the blackness shatter.
Zedd sagged forward, one hand braced on the floor beside Kahlan's still face.
"Is…is she…?" he heard Glynis ask from behind him.
He shook his head. "I don't know yet," he said. "The poison is gone, but I don't know how much damage it did to her before I got here." He looked down at her. Her lips were still blue, and she was far too pale, but she was still breathing.
"She said to tell you it was the water," Glynis said, and she handed him the glass from the table. It was still half-full. "And I'm not sure, but I think she'd figured something out."
"But she didn't tell you what it was," Zedd said, sighing with frustration.
"She didn't get the chance to," Glynis said. "I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"
Zedd looked back down at Kahlan and then closed his eyes. "Yes," he said finally. "I need you to send word to the Seeker. He'll want to be here."
"I understand," Glynis said, and there was an unexpected compassion in her voice. "I'll send someone to help you with her."
"Glynis," Zedd said, looking up at her, and she stopped at the door. "Thank you. I think you saved her life."
Glynis blushed slightly, and smiled. "She was…kind to me. Not many are. I'm glad I could help."
She left, and Zedd was alone with Kahlan. He gently brushed a lock of her dark hair away from her face. He was always amazed at how gentle her face looked when she slept. He took her hand in his. "You'd better wake up soon, Kahlan," he said quietly. "Richard's liable to tear this place down around our ears to find whoever did this to you." And I think I'll help him, Zedd thought grimly.
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Richard came in hours later that evening, covered in sweat and road dust. "How is she?" he said the moment he entered the room. He ran to the side of the bed she'd been placed in and grabbed her hand.
Zedd rose from the chair he'd been sitting in. "She's holding her own," he said quietly, not wanting to risk disturbing Kahlan if she were just sleeping. "I won't be able to tell you exactly how she is till she wakes up. And I have no idea when that will be."
Richard stared at the unconscious Confessor for a long moment, trying to master his emotions. He finally looked up at Zedd. "How did this happen?"
Zedd clenched his jaw, then took a deep breath. "Lars Felwyn," he said. "I just got back from talking to him. He's developed a way of delaying the onset of symptoms from stonebane."
Richard frowned. "But why--" He stopped. "Oh," he said, raising his eyebrows. "So when Hugh was poisoned, the poison could have been put in his glass much earlier than we thought."
"Exactly," Zedd said. "And more than that, the normal smell of stonebane wouldn't have been apparent. That's why neither Hugh nor Kahlan noticed it." He shook his head. "I never should have left her here alone."
Richard shook his head. "This could have happened to her whether you were here or not, Zedd. And you were here when it counted. Thank you," he said fervently.
Zedd shook his head. "It's not me you should thank. It's Glynis. If she hadn't gotten me to Kahlan as quickly as she did, I wouldn't have been able to do anything for her."
"Glynis?" Richard said, clearly surprised. "Then--"
Zedd nodded. "I've pretty well ruled her out as a suspect. Not because of this, necessarily--it is possible she could have poisoned Kahlan, and been surprised by my unexpected return. But that's not why. It's Bryce, Richard."
Richard frowned. "No, it can't be."
Zedd shook his head. "I know he wasn't here when Hugh died. But he was at the alchemist's shop. Lars knew him by sight, and he picked up a packet of Felwyn's stonebane."
"No, Zedd, you don't understand," Richard said emphatically. "Kahlan talked to Bryce this morning. I was there. He swore he hadn't murdered Hugh, and Kahlan said he was telling the truth."
Zedd blinked in confusion. "But--" He stopped, shaking his head. "He must have had an accomplice then, someone who did it for him so he could truthfully say he hadn't done it."
Richard shook his head. "He said he'd had absolutely nothing to do with Hugh's death."
"He had to have!" Zedd said.
"Zedd, you told me that a Confessor can't be lied to," Richard said. "Kahlan believed him."
Zedd swore under his breath. He looked over at Kahlan. As he did, he caught sight of the tray on the table beside the bed, and it set him thinking again. "There's something else," he said, nodding at the tray. "That food was left in the library this morning. Take a whiff." He picked up a chunk of cheese and waved it under Richard's nose.
Richard wrinkled his nose, then frowning in confusion. "But…Kahlan couldn't have missed that smell," he said.
"And I already found Felwyn's special blend in the water," Zedd said. "So why would someone go to the trouble of poisoning the cheese so obviously?"
Richard looked down at Kahlan for a moment, then his eyes narrowed. "What if somebody else wanted us to think Bryce was guilty? He was here this morning, presumably when the cheese would have been set out," Richard said. "He was gone during most of the time Kahlan was doing interviews, and then, on his way back, he was attacked. He caught an arrow in the arm."
"That could have been D'Harans. I ran into a patrol on my way to Middleton," Zedd said.
"True, but if it was someone other than Bryce who killed Hugh, then wouldn't it have been awfully convenient if one of the prime suspects died before Kahlan got to talk to him?"
"I'd have come back here with the news about the stonebane, and we'd have all assumed he was guilty," Zedd said, nodding.
"And today, when whoever it was found out Kahlan had talked to Bryce--"
"She'd have had to kill Kahlan to keep her from telling what she knew," Zedd said.
"She--?" Richard said. "You think it was Vera?"
"She was the one who told me to ask at the alchemist's about Bryce. She said she'd seen him there the day before she came back here." Zedd frowned. "She must have asked him to pick it up for her."
"But…that still doesn't explain how Hugh was killed," Richard said, realizing there was a flaw in their theory. "Vera wasn't here when he had to have been poisoned--she was with Glynis in a carriage. And she told Kahlan she didn't do it. She may have tried to kill Kahlan, but she didn't kill Hugh."
"Then there's someone else," Zedd said. "And it shouldn't be hard to figure out now. All we have to do is find the person who had access to Hugh's glass before dinner, and hadn't been interviewed by Kahlan yet."
"Will Haviland," Richard said after thinking for a moment.
"But he wasn't here the day Hugh died," Zedd said. "He--oh, I'm an idiot."
"It's nice to hear you say that about yourself for a change," Richard said, grinning, "but what brought on this sudden insight?"
"I'd already figured out that Bryce could have done it by coming back after he left with Will. Will could have done the same thing," Zedd said.
"Exactly," Richard said. "Will was the only one who hadn't been questioned by Kahlan, and looking back on it, it was almost as if he was avoiding her. It was his idea to go on that scouting mission with Victor and me."
Zedd looked steadily at Richard. "If it's Will, and Vera was trying to kill Kahlan to cover their tracks, and somebody already took a shot at Bryce--"
"--that means Bryce is in danger," Richard broke in.
Zedd nodded slowly. "But the murderer is clearly not stupid—if it is Will, he'd try to make it look like an accident or..." Zedd trailed off, and looked worriedly over at Richard. "He'll try to do it during the battle," Zedd said.
Richard returned Zedd's stare grimly. "It all makes sense now, doesn't it? And it doesn't really matter if he's working for the D'Harans or not--he gains either way. You have to admit, it's a pretty good motive. Once Hugh was out of the way, with Bryce as the murderer, then I'd be willing to bet Victor would be next, and then Will would become the leader of the Resistance in this valley."
"It's all well and good that we've figured it out," Zedd said, "but we have no proof. And until Kahlan wakes up, we're not likely to get any."
Richard nodded, looking down at the hand he was still holding. "Which means Vera would feel a whole lot safer if Kahlan were actually dead." Richard looked down at Kahlan's still face again, his lips tight. "We need her to try again. And I'll be here waiting."
