Chapter 17
After fainting again during a midday traveling break right in front of Kahlan, Rhea was finally persuaded to eat. She only had a few bites of bread, much to Cara's annoyance. Afterwards the three women continued their journey to Aydindril, eventually making it to the City before dark.
Upon their arrival, Kahlan immediately notices the scorched trees and dried pools of blood surrounding the city. Spirits what happened? Her mind races with the worst possibilities imaginable and she begins to pick up speed.
The Watchers excitedly blow into their horns as soon as they spot the three women, announcing the Mother Confessor's arrival. Villagers line up along the sides of the cobble stone road, cheering, and tossing white flowers into the air as the women pass. Cara rolls her eyes, "They seem happy to see you". The Valkyrie can't help but join in, "What kind of people are this happy? EVER?". Luckily, Kahlan is able to graciously ignore the two women. Instead she continues greeting her people, smiling brightly, and touching outstretched hands as she passes by.
As they walk past the crowds of people, Rhea begins to notice the women and children recoiling when they catch a glimpse of Cara. Suddenly feeling protective, she walks quickly to catch up with the Mord-sith, and links her arm through the other woman's, earning her a puzzled look. Filled with hot anger, Rhea makes sure to glare at anyone whispering or staring at her Warrior.
The main Palace is located at the very back of the bustling city on a small hill. It was built by a wizard of The First Order, and it's walls remain perfectly preserved even after hundreds of years. The magicks placed on the castle serve a duel purpose; to protect the structure from decay, and change colours when it rains. The bright white stone walls are so smooth they are almost glistening, even in the dwindling sunlight.
Finally reaching the front gates, Kahlan warmly greets one of her hand maidens, embracing her in a hug before continuing further into the castle. The brunette turns towards the other two women, "We must speak with my War Chief, Karyn. It doesn't look any intruders made it into the City, but there was definitely a battle outside of its walls". Another sharp pain shoots through Rhea's right side and she winces. The pain in her side is becoming worse with each day that passes, and she can't figure out why.
The three women make their way through the west side of the castle, until they reach two large iron double doors. The doors are over 10 feet tall, with angelic designs hand carved into the metal. The two guards on each side of the doors immediately bow at the site of The Mother Confessor.
Inside, the room is littered with candles, emitting a warm, orange glow throughout. At the back of the room, a tall, slim figure hunches over a map laid out on a long wooden table. She has long, wavy light brown hair, and piercing green eyes. Her war paint is black and spread from one side of her face to the other, just covering the space between her eyebrows and cheekbones. She's dressed in armour similar to Rhea's, the only differences are a dark red cloak draped from her shoulders, and black pants instead of a pleated leather skirt.
Karyn's head snaps up when she hears the large iron doors creak open. "Mother Confessor! So good to see you! We have much to discuss. Who-". Her voice trails off when she sees a Mord-sith standing behind Kahlan and she immediately draws her sword, "Step away from the Mother Confessor, or I will gut you like a shadran". Unfazed by the threat, Cara defiantly steps forward sporting her signature smirk, "You're welcome to try". Kahlan places a hand on the blonde's shoulder, letting her know that Karyn poses no threat and she can stand down. "Lower your weapon Karyn. She's my-". Her pale cheeks immediately turn bright red when she realizes what she was about to say. Cara's smirk widens. "She's with me- well not with me, I mean with us. Travelling! She is travelling with us". The words cause a light, fluttering sensation to spread throughout her body.
Rhea rolls her grey eyes as she brushes past a sputtering Kahlan, and walks straight over to the war table. The blonde takes a moment to study the map spread across the wood. Karyn gestures for the other two women to come over to the table too, "This is what I needed to speak with you about Mother Confessor. I've been trying to track the attacks on the Valkyries, but there's no pattern at all. Last night we were attacked by wizards and creatures from the underworld. Our High Wizard Raynor sacrificed himself to save the City; he used all the magic he had". Her voice begins to crack slightly, "We lost 5 Valkyrie sisters during the attack. All Valkyries have been ordered back to Valhalla until the person responsible can be contained. I wish them a fate worse than death".
Uncomfortable with the current conversation, Rhea pretends to now be interested in the weapons hanging from the wall on the far right side of the room. She replies as she is walking over to study the weapons, "His name is Barbas. He was Darken Raul's most powerful wizard… In case you were wondering". She suddenly feels the sharp pain in her side, this time more intense than before. A hiss involuntarily escapes her lips as she hunches forward, placing a hand on her ribs. The room suddenly becomes unbearably cold right before she feels hot breath against the back of her neck. She hears his voice. Ahhhh the thrill of the hunt. Run if you can my dear, it won't be much longer now. Think of me when you feel the pain.
A wave of nausea washes over Rhea, and her vision turns black. Her body hits the stone floor with a light thud.
When Rhea comes crashing back into consciousness, she immediately tries to take in her surroundings. It is the most excruciating pain she has ever felt, and she knows pain. In between shaky breaths she cracks open her grey eyes. She can see shadows, and can hear muffled voices rushing all around her. Next she notices that her head is supported by something firm and soft. As she tries to silently thrash around to escape the pain, her hand absent mindedly reaches up towards her head. Her hand comes in contact with smooth leather, and she immediately knows whose legs her head is resting on. It provides some sense of relief.
Kahlan had run off to retrieve a wizard and some of her handmaidens, leaving the Valkyrie alone with her War Chief and Cara. She soon returns with a novice wizard and two handmaidens. Cara notices the woman on her lap jerk awake. She is not going to like this. Everyone rushes around the fallen Valkyrie seconds after she wakes. Not knowing if it's a wound or something else, they need to examine her ribs so they begin trying to remove her armour. Rhea tries to fight all of the hands off of her, "D-don't. I- AGHH". Everyone is now shouting over one another, trying to decide what's wrong with the Valkyrie and how to heal her that they don't hear her speak. The blonde tilts her head up, helplessly making eye contact with her Warrior. Something within the Mord-sith stirs, and she understands, "ENOUGH. Kahlan, come here and switch places". As the blonde stands she points at the hand maidens, Wizard and Karyn, "You four. GO. Now and do not disturb us". Karyn hesitates, but obeys when the Mother Confessors nods in confirmation.
As Cara kneels beside the smaller blonde, she removes her red leather gloves and begins to feel a phantom ache underneath her right ribs. Accustomed to pain, she easily ignores the dull sensation, and she slowly begins to work on undoing the clasps on the Valkyrie's front armour. Even without the corset, beads of sweat trickle down Rhea's face and body. Her skin feels like it is on fire.
Kahlan gasps at the site of the other woman's body. "Spirits…". Pale skin is stretched so tightly against bone, that each rib is on full display. Cara is now feeling a different kind of pain. She knew that the Valkyrie wasn't eating, but she didn't know how bad it was.
Both women notice a glowing circular black mark right on top of Rhea's right ribs. The black light seems to be coming up from underneath her skin. The eery dark glow highlights her protruding bones even more. Cara's eyebrows furrow as she studies the mark further. She gently touches the other woman's side, right about the black spot, which elicits a pained hiss from the blonde. "I've seen this before. Darken Raul was testing quicker methods to create Mord-sith. He had his wizards implant black crystals into the children, but it didn't work. It was too painful and the girls often died suddenly overnight".
Cara looks at Kahlan with horrified eyes, "I-I don't know how to remove it".
