Richard and Kahlan knelt on the ground ready to assemble the boxes of Orden. As much as Kahlan feared taking Richard's soul, she knew the magic of Orden would counteract her confessor power. Zed kept watch beside them, his brown eyes alert; shinning as brightly as the full moon overhead. Kahlan took a deep breath and grabbed Richard's throat, sending up a silent prayer to the Spirits that this would work. At the same time Richard connected the three boxes of Orden. Out of nowhere the M'ord Sith appeared like monsters of the night in their dark leather. They ran towards Richard and Kahlan, determined to stop them. Zed shot wizard's fire at them, but they deflected it slamming Zed into the ground.
Darkern Rahl appeared too, and with a desperate shout he drew his sword. Richard and Kahlan were too far into the magic to stop now. With a mighty heave, Rahl drove his sword into the three boxes. The power was disrupted and an intense wave of energy shot forth from the boxes sending everyone flying.
Richard and Kahlan were lucky. They lay stunned on the ground with the wind knocked out of them, but Rahl and his M'ord Sith had hit the wall of a cave. The force of their impact in addition to the force of the boxes of Orden led the wall to collapse upon them, burying them under large slabs of rock.
Richard opened his eyes and got up slowly, testing his legs to make sure he had not been hurt. Upon seeing Kahlan lying on the ground he ran to her. Kahlan's eyes fluttered open, and she assured Richard that she was all right. The two of them hurried to Zed but the wizard's eyes remained closed. Richard and Kahlan quickly gathered the two boxes of Orden that were strewn on the ground but could not find the third. "Let's go. Zed needs a healer and we need to leave before Rahl and his M'ord Sith wake up. We have two of the boxes and Zed is more important than finding the third box." Richard spoke with conviction. He knew that the life of his grandfather was worth more than the final box of Orden.
Rahl opened his eyes to see Richard and Kahlan carrying Zed into the forest. He tried to get up but found his left arm pinned under a large piece of rock. Attempting to free himself was of no avail, and the pain in his arm was increasing by the minute. The M'ord Sith woke as well and a few of them were able to get out from under the rocks. They quickly freed Rahl and went to work helping dig out the few sisters of the agiel still trapped under the rocks. Once everyone was out Rahl and his M'ord Sith set off tracking the Seeker but in the dark and in their pain they could not follow his tracks. Furious, Rahl ordered the M'ord Sith to search through the rubble to see if, by some slim chance, the boxes of Orden were still here. They found one box and Rahl assumed that Richard had the other two boxes. Rahl was livid at his failure. He had been so close! Rahl needed to release his rage, to punish somebody, but he did not let his emotions get in the way of doing his best to control the situation. The nearest town was Elmira, and if the wizard was injured, the Seeker and Mother Confessor would seek help there. He instructed his M'ord Sith to send men to Elmira to intercept the Seeker.
Rahl returned to the castle in the early morning. As usual there were people up and about. Everyone turned away from him once they saw the murderous expression on his face. Unable to sleep, Kristina had risen early. She had been walking to the kitchen to get some breakfast, grateful for a night without Rahl, when she saw him coming down the hallway. She quickly turned her face away, and thankfully he did not see her. But Darkern Rahl was heading towards her room, and after seeing the look on his face she could only imagine how angry he would be that she was not there, but she could not face him now. What ever he had been doing last night had ended badly for there was much blood on his sleeve.
After nearly running to the kitchens, Kristina entered and saw the head cook, a ruddy faced, slightly overweight man. He turned to Kristina and she asked him politely, "Do you, by any chance, have any hawaj?" The man seemed to sense her desperation and led Kristina to a large cabinet filled with spices. He pulled out a glass jar filled with the yellow leaves. The cook remembered the pretty girl who had stopped by yesterday for some food. Rumor had it that she was Rahl's new mistress. The cook knew that hawaj, a flavorful spice from the islands, was soothing and calming. If this girl wanted it, she must want to feed it to Darkern Rahl to save herself from his notorious temper. The cook felt badly for the girl, she seemed to be very young, about the age of his own daughter. He wanted to help her, knowing that she must have suffered at the hands of Darkern Rahl.
With a thud the doors to the kitchen slammed open. Rahl himself walked in, a picture of fury. When he saw Kristina, his face contorted with anger and the blood drained from her face. With an air of calm she did not feel Kristina said, "I heard you were not well my lord, and I came to make you some tea." Rahl had no answer so the cook quickly poured Kristina a cup of hot water and she seeped the leaves. Once the tea was ready, she took the cup and headed back to her room with Rahl.
Kristina offered Rahl the tea and said, "Drink my lord; it will make you feel better." He eyed her suspiciously. Kristina took a sip of the tea herself to assure him that it was not poisoned. He grudgingly took the cup and downed the tea. He felt calm flood through his body. "Your wounds need to be tended to," said Kristina, "let me go fetch some bandages." She returned a few minutes later with a basin of hot water and some strips of linen. She took of his shirt and cleaned the wound. She pulled out her herb pouch that he had brought from the cave and ground some herbs into a paste. She applied the salve to his arm as well as to his remaining cuts and bruises.
With the pain in his arm lessening, exhaustion set in. Rahl lay down on the bed. Kristina moved a chair beside the bed and sat down with some needlework. Rahl thought about how she was always so eager to please him despite all that he had done to her. Back in the cave she took pains to cook meals that he would enjoy. Now she tended to his wounds and made him tea. This childlike desire to please him, in addition to the endearing way she rubbed her cheek against the soft pillow when she slept, made her seem so young and naive like she was still a little girl. She had also not seen much of the world and constantly asked questions. Although at times she seemed like a girl, her body was all woman. He closed his eyes picturing her soft curves as he fell asleep. Kristina breathed a sigh of relief; for now she was safe.