Crossroads

When Richard arrived at the People's Palace, he dashed first to the quarters he had begun sharing with Kahlan after Darken's gift of the Rada Han. It had been too long since he saw her, too long since he held her in his arms.

He was disappointed not to find her there.

"She is in Prince Mason's nursery, my lord," Alice, Kahlan's servant, told him. He turned to go, still finding it odd to be called 'lord', when he felt a gentle hand upon his arm. "Begging my lord's pardon, but Queen Cara doesn't let anyone near the prince without properly washing first."

Richard looked down at his mud spattered boots, his dusty clothes, and the dirt encrusted under his nails. With a sheepish sigh, admitted to himself that sparing time to take a bath wouldn't kill him.

-l-

As soon as Richard entered the nursery, Haden and a Mord'Sith he didn't recognize crossed their Agiels in front of him, barring his path.

"You go no further without reciting the devotional," Haden informed him tonelessly.

Puzzled, Richard looked past the Mord'Sith to see Kahlan smiling at him. She nodded, telling him that it was all right, he should do as they asked.

So Richard knelt, and pledged himself to the Master Rahl.

When Haden and the other Mord'Sith stepped back to their places guarding the door, Richard could see that Darken was sitting in a kingly chair by the fireplace, Cara in a slightly less ornate seat by his side. She wore her white leathers once more, though they were unfastened down the front to expose her breast as she nursed a child in her arms.

Zedd, Kahlan, and Jennsen rounded out the familial scene, seated in a half circle around the new parents. Kahlan had scrolls and quill in her lap, Jennsen appeared to be sewing something, and Zedd held a book. It was clear that they weren't here simply to visit the child, but had begun carrying out their usual duties in the sanctuary of this room.

"Forgive the formality, brother," Darken's voice roused Richard from his musings. "You are likely protected from the hypnotic power of the unicorns by virtue of the Rahl bloodline, but I will take no chances with the safety of my heir."

Richard barely heard him, for Kahlan was in his arms and her lips were against his.

But then he pulled back. "The unicorns?"

"Many things have happened while you were away," Kahlan told him softly.

Richard was allowed to hold his nephew while the Mord'Sith whose name he didn't know was sent to fetch a chair for him. Unfortunately, having just been fed, Mason spat regurgitated milk all over Richard's fresh tunic.

While Richard didn't truly mind, as Mason was a baby and couldn't help it, it was a little irksome how pleased, amused, and proud Darken seemed to be at his son's aim.

Zedd leaned over and charmed Richard's tunic clean once more, and then Richard settled into the chair that was brought for him, eager to be informed of everything that had transpired in the People's Palace while he was away, and why his family had sequestered themselves in Mason's nursery.

-l-

Renn sat in the dark back corner of a tavern called The Red Hen, his eyes locked on the kitchen door. He'd run out of food a few days ago, and he was afraid to draw attention to himself by cheating at cards to get money to buy more. Stealing a little from the kitchens would be better, because a lot of people steal. Stealing wouldn't mark him out as a Listener.

And he'd remember the name of the tavern, and when he got to D'Hara he would tell Richard, and Richard would send them money because if Richard was a Lord Rahl now he must have money he wouldn't mind giving to the tavern, right?

Seeing his chance, Renn crept toward the kitchen, falling in line with the dirty children who worked scrubbing pots and turning spits. He moved fast, stuffing a few rolls and some raw carrots into is bag, thinking he had gone unseen until a hard little hand pulled him into the shadows of a pantry.

"Yer gonna get us bof caught, ya idiot," a boy a little shorter than him hissed.

"No one saw," Renn whispered back, jerking his arm away. The thoughts of those around them buzzed lowly through his head, no one voice standing out more than the rest unless Renn concentrated. If anyone had seen him steal, he'd know. Their thoughts would turn red and snarly.

"Not yet they ain't, but they woulda if ya'da kept on," the boy retorted.

Renn could hear rustling, and the creak of wood. He turned to see the boy silhouetted by moonlight, standing on an overturned crate to work at the small window high in the back of the pantry's wall, used to let light in during the day. As Renn watched, the boy forced the window open, then pulled himself up and through. Seconds later brown eyes were peering at him through the opening. "Ya comin', or ain't ya?"

Knowing from his thoughts that the boy didn't mean to run away, Renn handed his pack up first, and then pushed himself through the window. He almost didn't fit – he had to wriggle his shoulders while the boy pulled his arms.

"S'why nobody thinks ta check that winder," the boy confided. "Almost nobody kin fit 'cept me."

His bag was passed back to him, and Renn opened it, removing a roll and two of the carrots and holding them out to his new friend before the boy could ask for his fair share, seeing as he showed Renn the way out.

The boy grabbed the food, wolfing the roll down as Renn watched. Looking into his thoughts, Renn saw that his companion was an orphan, homeless. A street rat, some would say. And something else…

"You're a girl!" Renn exclaimed, looking her up and down. She was a bit shorter than him, with short brown hair, or short for a girl anyway, and wearing a worn tunic and torn linen pants. She didn't have any shoes.

"Course I'ma girl," she answered as if he were stupid to think otherwise. "Name's Lexi."

"If you're a girl, why's your hair so short?" Renn demanded, annoyed at her tone.

"Sister of tha Light cut it. Said I had lice," Lexi shrugged.

Renn opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, a feeling coming over him like cold bath water being dumped over his head. He turned to face the road. Someone, something was coming that didn't feel right. The thoughts were slimy, oily, hard to grasp. They made him feel like he might be sick.

"We have to hide," he told Lexi, grabbing her by the back of the shirt and dragging her behind a clump of bushes, out of sight of passersby.

For a long time, nothing happened.

But then came the sound of hooves on the road.

Clop clop. Clop clop.

Renn felt his heart beating faster, his breath catching. From the sheer wrongness of the thoughts of the thing approaching, he imagined all sorts of horrors. Maybe it was a six legged horse that breathed fire. Maybe it was an undead rider come back to life to drag people down to the underworld.

At last, the source of Renn's fear came into sight.

It was a beautiful woman in a blue dress, riding on the back of a unicorn.

"Oh," Lexi gasped, moving as if to get up, to approach the creature.

"No," Renn grasped her arm so hard his knuckles turned white.

It seemed as if the woman on the unicorn would never move on. Twice, Renn felt sure they knew he was there, their thoughts oozing through his mind and leaving a trail of poisonous slime behind. The sound of the hooves stopped, and he knew this was the end, any moment he would feel the spiral of a unicorn's horn through his heart.

Clop clop. Clop clop.

When the woman was gone, Renn slumped onto his back, staring up at the stars.

"I've got to get to D'Hara."

"Why wouldn't ya let me, idiot boy," Lexi demanded, kicking dirt on him in her irritation.

"My name is Renn and I'm on an important mission for Lady Kahlan!" He sat up, his face red, his heart still pounding from fear.

"An' I'm tha Mother Confessor." Lexi stuck her tongue out at him, going into the road to see if she could see the woman with the unicorn.

"Fine, don't believe me."

Renn got up, slung his pack across his back, and went to read the signpost at the crossroad.

"What ya doin'?" Lexi demanded, loudly crunching one of the carrots he had given her.

"I told you. I have to go to D'Hara. I'm on a mission for Lady Kahlan."

Taking the left fork, he started off, hoping he'd be able to find a wagon to sneak onto as the new day dawned. He hadn't gone very far when he heard the slap-slapping sounds of Lexi's bare feet on the road, running to catch up with him. "I'm comin' too!"

Renn didn't say anything. He just waited for her to catch her breath. Looking into her eyes, he could see she was telling herself that if he really was on a mission, there might be food or a reward in it for her if she helped him. But beneath that thought, there was another.

He was the first person to say more than Get out of the way, urchin to her since the Sister of the Light she'd talked about moved on to a different village.