Chapter Seven
They had argued, but eventually Rikka gave in and stayed with the Mother Confessor and Dennee for the day. She spent most of the time sleeping; dying took a lot out of a person. By the time she had left the next night, smuggled out of Aydindril with help from the sister confessors, Rikka still hadn't learnt the Mother Confessor's name. She had tried (you never knew when information like that could come in handy) and failed miserably. The Mother Confessor on the other hand had learnt a lot from Rikka. There was just something about the woman that made you want to tell her everything, it was infuriating. She had already described Raina and Berdine and explained what they did for the Overlord. She explained the intricacies of Cara's court, who could be pushed around and who couldn't. Cara couldn't, most other people could.
Rikka hadn't even known what the Mother Confessor had been planning until sunset the next day. She had been shoved into the boot of a car and told not to make any noise. She hadn't, though it had been an incredibly boring four hours being bounced around and more than once she had wanted to do something to cause a ruckus. Luckily, the Mother Confessor had been kind enough to fill the boot with pillows and a few blankets. Rikka had no idea what time it was when the boot was finally opened, but it was dark, and she could see the stars in the sky clearly. Stars and not light pollution, so they were definitely not in any city anymore. A hand helped her up and out of the boot. The hand was attached to an arm; and arm that belonged to Dennee. Rikka blinked at the confessor.
"What are you doing here?"
Dennee pouted. "Aren't you happy to see me?"
"Well, I'm not unhappy, but what are you doing here?"
Dennee sighed unhappily. "My sister. She's up to something and wants me out of the city. Which means it's something dangerous. She's asked me to help you get to wherever you plan to go."
"How do you know she's up to something?"
"Even the Mother Confessor can't lie to another confessor. So, where are we going?"
Rikka ran a hand through her shortened hair.
"Away. I can't be in the Midlands or D'Hara. A … friend recommended going to Westland."
Dennee grinned at her. "I think I know somewhere better. It's only a few days away, but almost no one knows about it. It's been a secret held by the confessors for generations. We call it Valeria."
Rikka froze.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea. I'm not the sort of person you want to take to a secret sanctuary for confessors."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure they'll love you."
Rikka wasn't so sure.
xxxxx
Rikka's 'death' put Raina in a bit of an awkward position. Rikka had been one of her third in commands. She didn't have any seconds, just a lot of thirds. It meant no one was going to be ambitious enough to kill her for the position. Not that anyone really wanted to deal with Cara on a daily basis, but it left her with a position to fill that Cara had to approve. Maybe she could get Berdine to ask…
"Raina."
Raina looked up from her desk, to Cara, who was working at her own desk. The Overlord didn't look up.
"Make Hally your second in command. She'll be replacing you at the end of the month. You have an appointment at three with a man for a make over."
Raina blinked. "I need a make over?"
"Yes."
Raina looked at Berdine. She mouthed 'Do I?' to her lover. Before Berdine could answer, Cara was looking at Raina and talking.
"Yes, Raina, you do. I have a delicate task for you and you need to be someone else."
xxxxx
The first few days after Dennee and Rikka had left had been lonely. Then Zedd had found out and had insisted on staying with Kahlan until Dennee got back. It was annoying, and caused a kink in her plans. But she was the Mother Confessor and nothing would stand in her way. She would get revenge for Richard's death. It had been just under a month, with Zedd making breakfast each morning, and attempting small talk.
"Dennee's been gone a while. When do you expect her back?"
"I don't. She's not coming back until I tell her it's safe."
"Safe? From what?"
Kahlan moved the food around on her plate. She huffed out a sigh but didn't answer.
Zedd was getting gradually more concerned about Kahlan's behaviour. She was erratic. Switching between almost happy, depressed and angry.
"I'm going out. I'll be back sometime."
She pushed her chair back and left before Zedd could stop her and picked up the back pack she had stowed under the table when she came down for breakfast. She would be back, maybe. If she were lucky.
xxxxx
Security was tight around the Confessors Palace. Kahlan was firmly guided towards the side of the palace, though a doorway and into a large room filled with chairs and people sitting on chairs. Two tables with chairs were set up on one side of the room, though no one was there. The people in the room were a mix of gender, size and ethnicity. There was a large group of D'Haran men in one corner. Large men with large attitudes and loud voices. There was a smattering of other D'Harans around, and visually less Midlanders. Generally, you could tell from the clothing, and D'Harans always seemed to manage to look scarier and meaner. It was probably a cultural thing.
A tall blonde haired, blue eyed Mord-Sith stood in a corner of the room. She watched everything and everyone, glaring at anyone who looked at her. Kahlan wondered if she was competing, or guarding. Every now and then the Mord-Sith gripped her agiel when one of the D'Haran men looked at her. He had looked at glanced at her seventeen times (Kahlan had been bored, and no one else was doing anything) before turning around to face her.
"Well, Hally…"
The Mord-Sith Hally drew her agiel and glowered at the man.
"Don't even think anything Trimack. I'd rather hurt you than help you, and right now it's looking rather tempting."
Trimack held out his hands as if surrendering. "I was only going to ask why you were here. It's a sad day when a Mord-Sith has to enter these sorts of competitions to get any action. If you needed action, I could…"
"Not another word Trimack. I am here as a guard on our Lord's command and she would not begrudge me your death."
"I really don't…"
The door to the room banged open, and another Mord-Sith stormed in, her hands full of sheets of paper. Two D'Haran soldiers followed carrying a large box each. The chests were set down next to the table the Mord-Sith had sat at.
The Mord-Sith said nothing as she sorted though the piles of paper she had. Most of the room stared at her, not that she seemed to notice. She wasn't as tall as the blonde Mord-Sith, but was still a substantial height. Her hair was dark brown, and wavy enough that it seemed to try and escape her braid. She sorted the pile of paper into two piles, one significantly smaller than the other. The smaller pile was placed on the other table. She looked up, her gaze flicking over everyone in the room.
"Okay, this is how it's going to work. You're all here for the Overlord's competition. If you're not, get lost. I'm Mistress Berdine, and this is Mistress Hally." Mistress Berdine gestured to the blonde Mord-Sith. "That's what you'll call us, no exceptions. We have the authority to kick your arses from here to D'Hara, and trust me, we will. Now, if you received an invitation tot his event and have your registration, contract and waiver filled out and signed, go to Hally. If you're anyone else, get in a straight line and pick up the registration, contract and waiver from me, take a pen and fill everything in. then get back in line. There is no negotiation over the contact or waiver. Once you're done, men down the left corridor, women, the right. Get plenty to rest today people. Your first fight is tomorrow."
Mistress Berdine opened one of the large boxes as Hally moved to sit behind the 'invited' table. It was full of ball point bens.
"Well, get to it. I have over things I'd prefer to do."
Kahlan moved to get in the line, making sure to stay clear of a grumbling Trimack. She really didn't want to have to deal with him and his hurt feelings about not being invited. She could hear his muttering from four meters away. Luckily, Kahlan was able to get the sheets of paper to sign relatively early. Unlike some contestants (Trimack for example) she read through the contract and waiver, which meant she was one of the last to register. There had been a lot of conditions to read. It was slightly daunting, the amount of freedom she was signing away if she 'won', or even placed in the top ten. But she needed to do this, so she would.
xxxxx
Most of the day had passed by the time Kahlan was registered and for her room. Kahlan recognized the hallway, and knew it led down to the dungeons. There were only about one hundred and fifty competitors, and she knew that the Confessor's Palace could hold that many in the guest rooms, so there really was no reason to use the dungeons. At least they seemed to have been refurbished, and two decent beds had been placed in each cell. A nameless Mord-Sith told her to find a bunk partner, all the 'rooms' were filled. She moved down the row of rooms until she found someone who didn't tell her to fuck off as soon as she knocked on the door. She had long red hair falling loose over her back. Her eyes were light green, and her skin was pale with a light dusting of freckles. As Kahlan knocked on the door her eyes flicked up for a moment before returning to the leather whip she was rubbing oil into.
"Yes?"
"All the rooms have been taken up. I've been told to find someone to share with."
The woman grunted. "Typical. Why did you choose me?"
"So far you're the only one who hasn't told me to fuck off as soon as I knocked."
The woman gestured to the bed on the opposite of the room.
"At least you're honest. The rest of the women here are just pansy arse bitches who think that they can fight because they've had martial art training back in their mansions in D'Hara. The name's Alexa"
Kahlan sat on her bed and dropped her back pack to the floor.
"I'm Kahlan. I see you have strong opinion about the other competitors."
"Not many of them are going to be here in two days time. A third of all the competitors will be eliminated tomorrow. Them I'll bother to acknowledge."
"Two thirds? Why so many?"
Alexa grinned as she oiled the tip of her whip before coiling it and storing it in a bag.
"The Overlord has no patience for bad fighters. So instead of her watching a bunch of losers fight, they're setting us all up against each other. The last third standing gets to advance to the next round."
"That sounds barbaric."
"Yeah, but it's entertaining, and that's all that matters." Alexa grinned. "By the way, I sleep naked."
Kahlan blushed furiously as Alexa pulled her t-shirt off.