Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cara had recovered quickly, but Richard had expected she would. It had only taken him minutes to recover, so he was a little confused when it took her a few hours. He decided that it took her hours because she was locked in a bed with people staring at her, and she knew where she was.
So Cara had recovered quickly, but her actions afterwards had begun to concern Richard. She was spending an increasing amount of time with Darken Rahl, which Richard knew was needed, Rahl had the spell to save them all, but Richard didn't think that the hours upon hours she spent with him was needed to learn where the spell was hidden.
To his relief, Cara returned to him before nightfall everyday, which really didn't mean too much, but it gave him a sense of comfort. She still thought of Richard as her Lord Rahl, and Darken Rahl was just a ghost from her past.
One day to his confusion, Berdine walked up to him, her leathers creaking. She said nothing to him, but continued to stare at him, like she was unsure what to say. He spared her the trouble, "Hello, Berdine."
She looked a little taken aback, maybe by the friendliness in his tone, or maybe by the fact that he knew her name, he couldn't tell. "Hello."
There was another long, awkward pause, as Richard waited for whatever Berdine wanted to talk to him about. Finally she spoke, haltingly as if she didn't want to be there, and didn't want to say this, "The Mord –Sith are – we are . . . concerned about you – your lack of . . . control – control of . . . Cara." Richard was confused by her statement, which had sounded like a drunken man walking.
"What?" He asked, truly unsure of what she had been saying.
Berdine sighed, and then took a deep breath. "The Mord-Sith are concerned that Cara is spending so much time with Lord Rahl." She looked him in the eyes, using the icy glare that only a Mord-Sith can achieve. "Control your Mord-Sith, or we will control her."
Richard was a little baffled by their odd jealousy, for that's what he thought it was, a blind fool could see that Cara would never hurt Darken Rahl. For some reason the Mord-Sith's affection for Darken Rahl touched Richard's heart, but he could read in the lines of Berdine's face that she hated Rahl just as much as she loved him.
"You know, if you decided to join me, I will make as much time for you as possible. I'd let you do what ever you wanted, as long as it was killing, or maiming, which includes torturing." Richard hadn't really expected his suggestion to make an impression on her, in fact he had expected a sudden attack from her Agiel.
However, the look on her face told a different story, she was confused. "You would except me?" She asked, and Richard nodded. Then, suddenly darkness flashed across her face. "Would you let me kill you first?"
Richard considered his answer for a second. "Only if you brought me back."
That seemed to confuse her even more, and she started back away, before she left she said, "Another time Richard Rahl."
Later, she returned with five Mord-Sith, Richard had met none of them in the otherworld, and he was surprised that Raina was not there. Berdine came up to him, a hurt expression on her face. "Would you take all of us?" She asked.
Richard looked at the group of Mord-Sith. They all looked a bit ragged, and torn, but Richard could see opposing hatred and love of Darken Rahl on their faces. They looked towards him with new hope, and Richard knew what he was doing. "Of course."
And then, pain.
Berdine's Agiel touched him on his chest, right above his heart, he screamed, and he looked into her cold eyes as he felt the life go out from his body. As he fell to the floor, he hoped he had made the right choice.
He was dead longer than he wanted to be, for he almost made it to the realm of the Keeper, the Underworld, but then there was a pull, and his soul hurried back to his body.
He gasped as he woke, and looked into the eyes of the Mord-Sith who had saved him, knowing it should have been Berdine, but expecting his savior to be Cara. He was pleasantly surprised when he saw Berdine's brown hair surrounding her piercing blue eyes. "Lord Rahl." She said.
"Berdine." He paused. "Thank you for saving my life."
For the next hour, his life consisted of die and being revived, but he never had to wait as long to feel the pull back to the world of the living. Before every Agiel was stabbed into his chest, Berdine told him the name of the Mord-Sith, and so he learned their names, and the distinct feel of each ones Agiel.
Just as the last Mord-Sith, a young girl, who Berdine had told him was named Hope, stabbed him, Kahlan rushed into the room. He screamed, and stared into Hope's green eyes, but when he hit the floor, he saw that the five other Mord-Sith that were now his were standing in a defensive formation near the only door of the room. Just as he blacked out, he thought he heard Kahlan scream his name.
He was soon revived, and he hurried to finish the ritual he had established with Berdine, as soon as he finished, he shot up, knocking the young Mord-Sith off him. "Stop!" He commanded, and all the Mord-Sith stood still, even Berdine, who was locked in combat with Kahlan.
"What is going on Richard?" Kahlan asked, her had moved towards Berdine's neck.
"Lord Rahl." Berdine spoke calmly, "Will you tell your wife to remove her hand, please?"
Richard grimaced; he hadn't expected to be found by anyone. "Kahlan, these six Mord-Sith have sworn fealty to me, and have denounced Darken Rahl." That wasn't exactly true, but none of the Mord-Sith denied it.
"How do you know?"
"Each and everyone of them saved my life."
"You mean each and everyone of them killed you, and then revived you with the breath of life." Kahlan spat the words out, and Richard saw her hand restricting even more on Berdine's neck.
"Kahlan let her go." Richard tried to keep the anger and fear out of his voice, but he wasn't sure of his success.
Kahlan stared at him for a while, and then with a look of disgust, released Berdine, who turned around towards Kahlan, Agiel in hand. "Berdine." Richard warned, and she slowly lowered her Agiel.
Kahlan left without another word.
