Richard gripped the arms of the chair as he leaned forward. “You mean to tell me that all D'Harans can sense me, and know where I am?"

"No. There's more to it." Ulic stuffed a finger under a leather plate to scratch his shoulder while he tried to think of how to explain.

Berdine put a foot on the bench beside Ulic and leaned forward on an elbow, coming to his rescue. Her thick, brown braid fell forward over her shoulder. "You see, first of all, we must recognize the new Master Rahl. By that I mean we must recognize and accept his rule in a formal manner. This acquiescence in not formal in the sense of ceremony, but more in the sense of an understanding and acceptance within our hearts. It does not have to be an acceptance we desire, and in the past, with us, anyway, it was not, but acceptance is implicit, nonetheless."

"You mean you must believe."

All the faces staring at him brightened.

"Yes. That's a good way to express it," Egan put in. "Once we acquiesce to his dominion, and as long as the Master Rahl lives, we are bonded to him. When he dies, the new Lord Rahl takes his place, and we are then bonded to him. At least that's the way it's supposed to work. This time, something went wrong, and Darken Rahl, or his spirit, somehow maintained a part of himself in this world."

Richard straightened in his chair. "The gateway. The boxes in the Garden of Life are a gateway to the underworld, and one was left opened. When I came back, two weeks ago, I closed it, sending Darken Rahl back to the underworld for good."

Ulic's muscles bulked as he rubbed his palms together. "When Darken Rahl died at the beginning of winter, and you spoke outside the palace, many of the D'Harans there believed you were the new Lord Rahl. Some did not. Some still held on to their loyalty, their bond, to Darken Rahl. It must have been because of this gateway you said was opened. It's never happened that way before, that I heard of, anyway.

"When you returned to the palace, and defeated Darken Rahl's spirit with the use of your gift, you also defeated the rebel officers who denounced you. In banishing Darken Rahl's spirit, you broke the bond he still held over some of them, and convinced the rest at the palace of your authority as Master Rahl. They are loyal, now. The whole palace is. They are all bonded to you."

"As it should be," Raina said with finality. "You have the gift; you are a wizard. You are the magic against magic, and the D'Harans, your people, are the steel against steel."

Richard looked up into her dark eyes. "I know less about this bond, this steel against steel and magic against magic business, than I know about being a wizard, and I know next to nothing about being a wizard. I don't know how to use magic."

The women stared for a moment, and then laughed as if he had made a joke and they wanted him to think they were amused.

"I'm not joking, I don't know how to use my gift."

Hafly clapped him on the back of his shoulder and pointed at Gratch. "You command the beasts, just as Darken Rahl did. We cannot command beasts. You even talk to him. A gar!"

"You don't understand. I saved him when he was a pup. I raised him, that's all. We became friends. It's not magic."

Hally clapped his shoulder again. "It may not seem magic to you, Lord Rahl, but none of us could do it."

"But — "

“We saw you become invisible today." Cara said. She wasn't laughing anymore. "Are you going to tell us that was not magic?"

"Well yes, I guess it was magic, but not in the way you think. You just don't understand — "

Cara's eyebrow lifted. "Lord Rahl, to you it is understandable, because you have the gift. To us, it is magic. Surely, you would not suggest that any of us could do it?"

Richard wiped a hand across his face. "No, you couldn't do it. But still, it's not what you think."

Raina's dark eyes fixed on his with that look that Mord-Sith flashed when they expected compliance, and no argument; a steely gaze that seemed to paralyze his tongue. Though he was no longer the captive of a Mord-Sith, and these,women were trying to help him, the look still gave him pause.

"Lord Rahl," she said in a soft voice that rilled the quiet room, "at the People's Palace, you Sought the spirit oi Darken Rahl. You, a mere man, fought the spirit of a powerful wizard come back fr.-m the underworld, from the world of the dead, to destroy us all. He had no corporeal existence; he was a spirit, animate only through magic. You could only battle such a demon with magic of your own.

"During the battle, you sent lightning, driven by magic, racing through the palace to destroy the rebel leaders who opposed you and wished Darken Rahl to triumph. Everyone at the palace not bonded to you already became so that day. None of us, in our whole lives, has ever seen the like of the magic crackling through the palace that day."

She leaned toward him, still gripping him in her dark gaze, the passion in her voice cutting through the stillness. "That was magic, Lord Rahl. We were all about to be destroyed, to be swallowed into the world of the dead. You saved us. You kept your part of the covenant; you were the magic against magic. You are the Master Rahl. We would lay down our lives for you."

Richard realized that his left hand was tightly gripping the hilt of his sword. He could feel the raised gold letters of the word TRUTH biting into his flesh.

He managed to disengage himself from Raina's gaze to take in the rest of them. "All you say is true, but it's not so simple as you believe. There's more to it. I don't want you to think I was able to do the things I did because I knew how. It Just happened. Darken Rahl studied his whole life to be a wizard, to use magic. I know almost nothing about it. You place too much faith in me."

Cara shrugged. "We understand; you have more, to Jearn about magic. This is good. It is always good to learn more. You will serve us better as you learn more."

"No, you don't understand…"

She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "No matter how much you know, there will always be more; no one knows everything. This does not change anything. You are the Master Rahl. We are bonded lo you." She squeezed his shoulder. "Even if any of us wanted to change it, we could not."

Suddenly, Richard felt calm. He didn't really want to talk them out of this; he could use their help, their loyalty. "You've helped me before, maybe even saved my neck out there in the street, but I just don't want you to have more faith in me than is justified. I don't want to deceive you. I want you to follow me because what we do is right, not because of a bond forged with magic. That's slavery."

"Lord Rahl," Raina said, her voice unsteady for the first time, "we were bonded to Darken Rahl. We had no more choice in that than we do now. He took us from our homes when we were young, trained us, and used us to — "

Richard stood, putting his fingertips to her lips. "I know. It's all right. You're free now."

Cara gripped his shirt and drew his face close to hers. "Don't you see? Even though many of us hated Darken Rahl, we were compelled to serve; we were bonded. That was slavery.

"If you don't know everything, that's not important to us. We are bonded to you as the Master Rahl, regardless. For the first time in any of our lives, it is not a burden. If the bond were not there, we would chose to do the same; that is not slavery."

"We don't know anything about your magic," Hally said, "but we can help you learn what it means to be Lord Rahl. ' The irony of her spreading smile softened her blue eyes, letting the women behind the appellation of Mord_Sith show through. "It is, after all, the purpose of Mord-Sith to train, to teach." The smile faded as her expression turned serious. "It doesn't matter to us if you have more steps in the journey; we won't abandon you for it."