Chapter 11 – Curse
"What?" Kahlan's eyebrows rose in worry.
The sunlight was shining through the window of her private office, which adjoined the council chambers. Kahlan had rose early and she and Nicci had some oatmeal for breakfast before going to the Wizard's Keep to check on Warren and Berdine, only to find the Mord'Sith by herself. Berdine looked up and smiled, giving them a knowing wink, saying that after midnight Verna came looking for Warren and the two of them had disappeared and had not been seen since.
Kahlan left Nicci to help Berdine and went about her duties as Mother Confessor. She had just finished an early morning meeting with her staff and was going over the day's schedule, when Rikka had arrived with a concerned look on her face.
"What?" Kahlan repeated, when the Mord'Sith didn't answer her.
"It's about the First Wizard, Mother Confessor," Rikka informed her. "Kerri went to check on him this morning… and… and he has not woken up."
"Oh," Kahlan relaxed. "It is not yet midmorning, let him sleep in. I heard from Nicci that he had been drunk…," she furrowed her brow. That was odd. She didn't know Zedd to drink. She looked up again, and saw that Rikka still looked worried and concerned.
"Mother Confessor…," the Mord'Sith began fiddling with her golden braid. "I… I checked on him little less than an hour ago myself. Whatever sleep he is in, it is not natural."
"How can you be so sure, Rikka?" Kahlan asked, becoming more concerned by the minute.
Rikka raised her eyebrows and looked terrified, as if she was about to be punished. Kahlan stood up from her desk and walked around it to place a comforting hand on her protector's arm. "It's all right, Rikka, you can tell me."
Rikka's big blue eyes looked at Kahlan, then she relented with a nod. "I… I touched him with my agiel," Rikka closed her eyes, as if awaiting a strike. When none came, she tentatively opened her eyes. Kahlan looked at her with nothing but kindness. "You… you will not punish me?"
"You did not hold it to him for long… did you?" Kahlan asked.
"Only for a second," Rikka asserted. "I would never harm the First Wizard. He's been kind to us, considering what we have done in the name of the Lord Rahl of the past."
Kahlan had noted that very early on. None of the Mord'Sith, who had arrived in Aydindril to protect Richard, ever called Darken Rahl by his name. They always called him, "the Lord Rahl of the past" or "the former Lord Rahl."
"Why are you not angry with me, Mother Confessor?" Rikka inquired. She looked more confused now than worried of punishment.
Kahlan gave her a soft smile. "You did not do what you did out of hate or anger or to torture," she explained. "You did it out of your love and concern for Zedd. You're worried about him, aren't you?"
"Yes," Rikka gave a nod. "The soldier who has been his guard woke up this morning and he was fine…"
She thought she noticed a little wisp of smile. Kahlan had to suppress tears. Was everyone having sex but her? She quickly pushed aside her feelings and put on her confessor's face. She had to be strong. She was the Mother Confessor and the betrothed to the Lord Rahl. D'Harans expected their leaders to be strong.
"Rikka," Kahlan said, heading for the door, the Mord'Sith quickly stepping in behind her. "Have Nicci brought to Zedd's chambers. She may know what to do… and see if anyone can find Verna and Warren, as well."
"Yes, Mother Confessor," Rikka said. "Right away."
Rikka gave a nod, and signaled to the other Mord'Sith in the room, who immediately went off to find the others. Kahlan strode down the halls of the Confessor's Palace feeling anxious. She wished Richard was here. If something was wrong with Zedd… Dear Spirits, Richard should be here!
Kahlan took a deep breath and held her emotions in check behind the mask of her confessor's face.
XXX
Sister Bree secreted herself away from the guards when they came to look for her. When the Keeper had returned her, he'd given her a gift. The dreamwalker could no longer walk into her mind. Her eternal father had broke the yoke which the Emperor had enslaved her. Though, she knew, she would still have to submit to him in the bedchambers, her mind was free again. It was hers and hers alone.
She inched herself down the dark halls, searching for the cell that the vile little pig was being held. When she had woken from her vision with the Keeper, the Emperor was already inside of her. He was moving much slower than he usually did and she thought she noticed tears on his face.
When he noticed she was awake, he went berserk and flipped her around, shoving her face into the pillow as he took her from behind. All the while he kept cooing to her that she was his favorite and that she was never too do that to him again.
Bree was baffled as to his meaning. She had no idea what she'd down. Perhaps she had died for a short time, and that was how her eternal father had spoken to her. She instantly became sicken by the fact that the Emperor had pushed himself inside of her when he thought she was dead. The man was more depraved than she had thought. But now she no longer had to worried about him in her head.
Presently, she dashed across the hall and hid in the shadows as the surly guards in fur armor walked by. These were men of the army, not like the command guards. They cared little for whether or not she was the Emperor's personal slave. If they saw her, they'd try and take her. As she watched them past, Bree thought of killing them with her black lightning. She could use the subtractive magic she possessed to then wipe them from existence and there would be no evidence that she'd even killed them. They'd just be two soldiers who had disappeared. Not an uncommon thing in an army such as the Imperial Order.
Ducking through the halls, Bree finally reached the cell she'd been looking for. She could sense the vile man behind the iron wrought door. Using her Han, she unlock the latch and pulled the door open.
"Sister Bree," came the regal voice of the prisoner. "So good of you to set me free."
Bree glared at him. He was not as immaculately groomed as he had been when the Order had taken him prisoner. He had a thick black beard and his long hair was greasy and matted. He looked nothing like the Lord Rahl he once was.
"You have only the Keeper to thank for this, Darken Rahl," she hissed at him. "In my book, you are still a vile little traitor."
Rahl gave a twisted smile and held up his hands. "So kind of you, Sister Bree," he said. "Now, if you don't mind. Get me out of here so I can do our master's bidding."
Bree held up her hand and pointed it at him. For a moment, Rahl's eyes flashed with fear. She smiled, enjoying the look on his face. "Do not worry, Rahl, I do not intend on burning you. I will send you to the Vargr."
"The Vargr!" he spat. "They're nothing but filthy animal men! Why would you send me to them?"
Bree narrowed her eyes. "That is where the master told me to send you. If you had paid attention to the details of the Keeper's plan, instead of imagining deflowering the Mother Confessor, I would have no need to explain everything to you."
"All right, all right," Rahl held up his hands. "Send away, Sister Bree." He looked at her and grinned. "Perhaps next time we met, you can show me what it is you've been doing for the Emperor that has him keeping you for himself."
Bree scowled and shot out at him with her Han, sending him away in a flash of blue light. Right. Now that that was done, it was time for stage two. She turned back and whistled to a guard down the hall. The brute turned and his eyes went wide as she dropped her flaxen robe to the floor, giving the man a seductive pout.
The man's eyes lit up with lust and he came rushing for her. The moment he was on her, Bree struck him with a blast of black lightning, killing him. She dragged his body into the cell and then used her magic to transform him into the image of Darken Rahl. A dead Darken Rahl.
Bree smirked. How clever the Emperor thought he was? But he would never know of the deception. The Keeper had placed Rahl's mind under protection as well, so the dreamwalker would never no the difference.
Steeling herself for the coming encounter with the Vargr, Bree prepared to transport herself to where she'd sent Darken Rahl. The Vargr were nasty men, but they were not as bad as the men of the Order. Unlike them, the Vargr feared her. Though she could not stay away for long—she had to return back to keep up the ruse with the Emperor—Bree was looking forward to seeing Darken Rahl's reaction to the men of the mountains.
XXX
Nicci entered the room, her eyes wide with worry. She saw Kahlan sitting on the edge of Zedd's bed, the confessor's face streaming with tears. Nicci rushed to the bed and gripped Kahlan in a tight hug, when the Mother Confessor turned to see her.
"What's happened?" was all she could ask.
"We don't know," Kahlan said, looking up at the Mord'Sith Kerri, who had not left Zedd's side since the moment she had come to wake him.
Nicci knelt beside them and held her hands, open palmed, over Zedd's chest, using her Han to sense what it was that was wrong with the wizard. Though they had been fierce adversaries, Nicci had grown very fond of the old wizard and had begun to think of him as a sort of father figure. He was certainly better than having the Keeper as a father.
Nowadays, Nicci shuddered to even think that she had once been considered one of the Keeper's "four daughters." Only two of them were left alive. Her and Sister Bree. She had no idea what had happened to the later. Bree had been assigned to keep track of the Prelate and the Sisters of the Light. Most likely she had been taken by the Emperor when the Imperial Order took Tanimura.
Focused on finding out what was wrong with Zedd, Nicci closed her eyes and searched with her Han. Her gift was confounded and blocked. Something was wrong with him, but she could not be certain. Suddenly she hit upon something, something dark and she had to pull back.
Gasping for air, Nicci almost retched, but she managed to control herself. Kahlan immediately gripped her arms.
"Nicci," the Mother Confessor spoke franticly. "What's wrong with him?"
Nicci gulped down air and recovered herself. "He's been cursed," she answered, turning to a servant girl, telling her fetch some water. "I don't know how, but it was with dark magic."
"Can you help him?" Kahlan asked, desperation lacing her voice. "You have to, Nicci? He's like a grandfather to me, not to mention that he's Richard's grandfather."
"I know, Kahlan," Nicci answered coolly, but not unkindly. She knew the Kahlan was worried, but it was not helping for her to be so distraught. For such a strong woman, Kahlan had a tendency to let her emotions get the better of her at times.
"Well?" Kahlan asked, sniffling. "Can you help him."
"I don't know," Nicci said, frustrated. She raised her hands above Zedd again, worry sinking in as she sensed the wizard's life energy beginning to decrease in strength.
Rikka arrived with Verna and Warren. The later two were disheveled and Nicci could see evidence of lovemaking on the beady sweat on their brows. Ignoring it for the moment, she ushered them over.
"What's wrong?" Warren spoke with a heavy breath. Nicci raised an eyebrow. She did not know Warren was that fierce of a lover, but from the look on Verna's face as the stern Sister of the Light stared at the young wizard, Nicci knew that Verna had thoroughly enjoyed her time with Warren.
"Nicci says that Zedd's been cursed!" Kahlan nearly wailed, tears freely flowing from her brilliant blue eyes. Rikka was at the Mother Confessor's side in an instant and it surprised Nicci to see the Mord'Sith try and sooth Kahlan. She knew that the confessor had been working on restoring Rikka's humanity, but she had been unaware Kahlan had gotten that far.
Verna stepped forward and frowned. "Let me see," she said, as Nicci stepped aside for the Sister of the Light. Verna put her hands over Zedd and closed her eyes. Warren's eyes stared at Verna's tousled brown eye with adoration.
Nicci stood back and watched. Her breath was becoming labored and she felt hot tears on her cheeks. Wiping them away angrily, she bit her lower lip. When had she allowed herself to become such a nervous wreck?
She shook her head. It was all right to cry. Richard had shown her that. Richard was one of those rare men who was not afraid to cry. It made Nicci love him all the more to have shown her that it was all right to cry when someone you cared about was in trouble.
"Verna?" Kahlan asked.
Verna shook her head despondently. "I don't know, Kahlan," she said. "Nicci's right, Zedd has been cursed, but I don't know what to do?"
"Maybe a wizard can," Warren stepped forward. "Wizard's powers are different than sorceress'."
Verna gave a nod. "Yes, Warren, try."
Warren knelt before the bed and placed a hand on Zedd's forehead. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. Nicci heard him begin to softly mumble some words. However, just as soon as he had started, something went wrong. Warren was suddenly propelled backwards from the bed and was flung against the opposite wall. Verna ran to his side, tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm all right," Warren reassured his lover, as she helped him back up to his feet. "He has, indeed, been cursed. And once more, it is a powerful curse."
Nicci furrowed her brow. "I might be able to remove it with my subtractive magic."
"No," Warren quickly interjected. "This curse was designed to ravage its victim if anyone so much as tries to use magic to cure him."
"What can we do?" Kahlan asked, very near collapsing into sobbing.
Warren looked at her for a moment, before biting his lower lip in thought. He placed his hands behind his back and paced the room. "It's like a disease of the body, a virus if you will. What we need is to fight it as if it was a disease."
"Like a disease?" Nicci was dubious about that. If it was a curse, then she should be able to remove it with her magic. She was the most powerful sorceress that had ever been. Her Han was more powerful than anyone in this room. Only Richard's Han was stronger than hers. That was why it had been so painful to give it back to him, and why it left her weak afterwards.
"Yes," Warren gave a nod. "We need to fight it with medicines and ointments, as if it was a fever." He looked at Nicci. "Feel his forehead."
Nicci stepped back to the bed and sat on the edge. She knitted her eyebrows together in thought, but then did as Warren had asked. Her mouth dropped in surprise. Why had she not noticed that?
"You're right, Warren," Nicci said, not caring that the surprise carried in her voice. "He's burning up."
Kahlan choked back her tears. "Warren?" she asked. "What should we do?"
The young wizard stepped back over and looked down on the older wizard. His curly blond hair was unruly and wet from the activities he had been doing with Verna before they had been fetched. But his mind looked a million miles away.
"Warren!" Verna hissed, stepping up behind him and resting a hand on his arm.
Warren shook his head, coming back. "There's a root that grows around wayward pines, it might help." He looked to Kahlan. "Are there any wayward pines around Aydindril?"
Kahlan's eye went wide as she thought. Nicci could see the desperation in the confessor's eyes. "No… not that I know of." She looked down, disappointed in herself. "To tell the truth, I wouldn't know the difference. Richard was always the one to find the wayward pines, and by the time we got there it was so dark I couldn't really see them."
Nicci reached over and placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "Do not worry, Kahlan," she said. "You have an army to search for you."
