In the two weeks before Richard's and Kahlan's wedding, Cara drilled her Mord-Sith charges every day. Dahlia acted as Cara's second-in-command and took a major role in the training of the Mord-Sith. Cara's and Dahlia's first few evenings together were hardly restful and they found that given the extent of their activities during the daytime, they needed to pace themselves a little. They also found that even though they seemed to be destined to be together each one had certain little quirks that took some getting used to. Still for each of them this was the happiest time of their lives.
At the end of the first day of training, Richard stopped by to see how they were all settling in. Cara had them all stand at attention for Richard's inspection. Cara could tell that the Mord-Sith were expecting that one of them was going to be selected to provide for his evening's pleasure. They were surprised and a little relieved when all he did was formally welcome them to Aydindril and asked Cara that two of the Mord-Sith be assigned to guard Nicci at all times. He was concerned that somehow Nicci might break out of the Rada-Han and who better to deal with Nicci's great magical powers than a Mord-Sith.
Richard came by every day to see how Cara's training program was progressing. It took a few days before the Mord-Sith realized that Richard was not interested in their performing any "nighttime" duty. At the same time they were exposed to Richard's natural charm. In some ways he was similar to Darken Rahl but they soon realized that Richard was genuine whereas Darken Rahl charms were superficial, covering a far more sinister person.
About a week after their arrival at Aydindril, a Mord-Sith named Rachel approached Cara. "Is the Lord Rahl displeased with us?"
"Not at all. He is quite pleased with your progress."
"But it is a Mord-Sith's duty to serve Lord Rahl in every way, to meet all of his needs."
"I'm well aware of that. I have been a Mord-Sith far longer than you."
"Well—there are certain duties that we have yet to perform."
"Like what?"
"Darken Rahl would often select one or more Mord-Sith in the evening to help satisfy certain of his appetites."
"Yes, as I said, I served Darken Rahl many years, so I know what you mean but you needn't worry. Richard Rahl would never order you to perform such a duty."
Rachel hesitated for a second and then somewhat shyly said, "It wouldn't have to be an order. I'm would be happy to volunteer."
Cara now understood what Rachel was getting at and she had to suppress a little smile. She understood very well especially since at one time she had had a similar impulse. "You do know that Lord Rahl is soon to marry the Mother Confessor."
"What does that have to do with this? No doubt the Mother Confessor will be his wife. I just want to help him with his needs."
Cara had to suppress another smile. She was beginning to see that she and Rachel had a lot in common. "Richard Rahl is very loyal to the Mother Confessor. If you were to approach him on this subject, he would just turn you down." Again this was something that Cara knew from experience.
Rachel was puzzled, "How is that possible?"
"You will find that Darken Rahl and Richard Rahl are quite different people. And let me warn you, the Mother Confessor has a jealous streak. A Confessor is the last person a Mord-Sith should want to anger. So why don't you just stick to those duties that are required of you."
"Yes, Mistress," said a somewhat disappointed Rachel.
Afterwards this incident got Cara thinking about how these Mord-Sith still had not quite settled into their new lives. The next day, Cara suggested to Richard that perhaps there should be some formal ceremony for their entry into his service. Richard thought this was an excellent idea. He also told Cara of his initial plan for using these Mord-Sith. The remaining Mord-Sith were Darken Rahl's only power base. After the wedding and honeymoon, Richard wanted to lead Cara and his Mord-Sith to various of the other Mord-Sith temples to see if they could get more Mord-Sith to defect. He did have a concern that if a battle arose, it might be difficult to tell his Mord-Sith from those in the service of Darken Rahl. He had a suggestion for how to deal with this problem to which Cara readily agreed.
Though time was tight because of the approaching wedding, a few days later there was a formal ceremony that Richard, Kahlan, Zedd and the entire Council of Aydindril attended. Each Mord-Sith knelt before Richard and pledged her life to his service. As each one did so, Cara used a knife to cut off their braids. After they had finished their pledge and got back on their feet, they removed the parts of their Mord-Sith outfit that Cara no longer used. Soon all ten Mord-Sith looked like different versions of Cara. The ceremony was simple and lasted only about an hour. Afterwards Richard thanked each Mord-Sith personally for her pledge and then he had to go since in two days he was getting married.