His expression slackened. "Oh, I see. When they said something about the moon-I thought."

The blood suddenly drained from Richard's face.

"Andolians," he whispered to himself. "Wizard Ricker was doing something with the Andolians. ." He seemed lost in a confusion of thought.

"We share the sun," Legate Rishi said through his grin, "The females share the moon. A female and a male share the sun. but not the moon."

Richard rubbed his brow. He looked engrossed in recollection, or confusion. Kahlan squeezed his hand, hoping he would get the message to let her handle this. She turned back to the legate. "Legate Rishi, I would like you to-" "Our husband has been drinking things that make him happy," one of the wives said, as if it were a fascinating bit of news. "He has been trading some of his prizes for this drink." Her expression turned perplexed. "It makes him slow. too, or we would have been here sooner."

"Thank you for telling me this," Kahlan said. One had always to thank an Andolian for any information they offered about themselves. Information about themselves so given was considered a gift.

Kahlan turned her attention once more to the legate. "Legate Rishi, I would like you to carry an important message for me." "Sorry," the legate said. "We can carry no message for you." Kahlan was dumbfounded. She had never heard of an Andolian refusing to carry a message.

"But, why not?"

One of the six leaned toward Kahlan. "Because we already carry a message of great importance." "You do?"

Her big black eyes blinked. "Yes. The greatest of all honors. Husband carries a message from the moon."

"You what?" Richard whispered as his head came up.

"The moon sends a message from the winds," the legate said in a drunken slur. Kahlan felt as if the world had frozen.

"We would have been here sooner, but husband had to stop many times to have the drink of happiness."

Kahlan felt her whole body tingle with icy dread.

"Been here sooner," Richard repeated. "While all those people died, you've been drinking?" His voice boomed like thunder. "Raina died, because you've been out getting drunk!"

Richard exploded in a blur of movement, his fist striking Legate Rishi so hard that the man tumbled back over the table.

"People are dying, and you're out getting drunk!" Richard roared as he vaulted over the table.

"Richard, no!" Kahlan shrieked. "He has magic!"

Kahlan saw a blur of red racing in from the side. Cara came at a dead run and dived over the table, knocking Richard sprawling across the floor.

Legate Rishi rose up in a rage. Blood frothed at his mouth. Strings of it whipped from his chin.

Wavering flares of light and undulating flutters of darkness radiated up his arms, gathering at his chest as he rose up. He was gathering his magic, preparing to unleash it against Richard. Richard went for his sword.

Cara shoved Richard again and rebounded back at the legate, backhanding him across his bloody mouth. The legate whirled, redirecting his rage at her.

Cat-quick, Cara spun past him, striking him again, turning his attention away from Richard as he followed her. His magic already gathered, he unleashed it at her. The air thumped and at the same time seemed to oscillate. The legate went down with a grunt of pain. Cara was on him before he hit the ground. She pressed her Agiel to his throat.

"You are mine, now," she sneered as he gagged in agony. "Your magic is mine, now."

"Cara!" Kahlan yelled. "Don't kill him!"

The six sisters were squatted down in a shivering clump, bugging one another in terror. Kahlan put a hand to the frightened sisters, reassuring them that they wouldn't be harmed.

"Cara, don't hurt him," Kahlan said. "He carries a message from the Temple of the Winds."

Cara's head came up. She had a disturbing look in her eyes. "I know. It came to him with magic. His magic is mine, now. The message he carries is embedded within his magic."

Richard let his sword drop back into its scabbard. "You mean, you know the message?" Cara nodded, her blue eyes filling with tears.

"I know it with him. I share his magic, his knowledge of the message." "Ulic, Egan," Richard said. "clear the soldiers out. Shut the doors. Keep everyone out."

As Ulic and Egan were ushering the soldiers out, Richard seized the legate by the robes at his throat and lifted him. He heaved him into a chair. Richard lowered over the suddenly meek-looking, panting Andolian leader.

His chest heaving, Richard gripped the amulet and Raina's Agiel in a fist. The muscles in his jaw flexed as he pointed at the legate's face.

"Let's have the message. And you had better tell it true. Thousands of people have already died while you delayed your arrival to get drunk."

"The message from the winds is for two people."

Richard looked up. The words had come not only from the legate, but also from Cara. She had spoken the words along with him. "Cara, do you know the message, too? Just as he does?" Cara looked as surprised as Richard. "I. . it came to me, as it came to him. I knew only that he carried a message. He didn't know it until he spoke it. I knew it when he did." "Who is the message for?" Kahlan knew.

"For Wizard Richard Rahl, and for Mother Confessor Kahlan Amnell." Once again, both had spoken the words. "What is the message?" Richard asked.

Kahlan knew. She went to Richard's side, taking his hand in hers. holding it for dear life.

The room was empty of everyone except Richard. Kahlan. Cara, Legate Rishi, and the six sisters, cowering under a table. The lamps around the room dimmed, as if their wicks had been turned down. It cast them all in an eerie, wavering light.

The legate, his face gone blank, looked to have gone into a trance. He rose from the chair, blood still dripping from his chin. His arm lifted, pointing at Richard. Only he spoke, this time.

"The winds summon you. Wizard Richard Rahl. Magic has been stolen from the winds, and used in this world to cause harm. You must wed in order to enter the Temple of the Winds.

"Your wife is to be one named Nadine Brighton."

Unable to speak, Richard brought Kahlan's hand to his heart, holding it there in both of his hands.

Cara's arm lifted, pointing at Kahlan. Only she spoke, this time, in a frigid, heartless voice.

"The winds summon you. Mother Confessor Kahlan Amnell. Magic has been stolen from the winds, and used in this world to cause harm. You must wed in order to help Wizard Richard Rahl enter the Temple of the Winds. "You husband is to be one named Drefan Rahl." Richard dropped to his knees. Kahlan sank down beside him. She thought she should feel something. She felt only numbness. It seemed a dream.

She had thought it would never come. Now that it was happening, it seemed too fast. as if she were tumbling over a cliff, grasping for a handhold, but finding nothing to stop her fall as she plunged into icy blackness.

It was over. Everything was over. Her life, her dreams, her future, her joy, was over. It only remained to act it out until the end. Richard's ashen face looked up from Cara's feet.

"Cara, please. I'm begging you, don't do this to us." His voice broke. "Dear spirits, please don't do this to us, Cara." Cara's cold blue eyes stared back.

"I do not do this to you. I only bear the message from the winds. You must both agree to this, if you wish to enter the Temple of the Winds." "Why must Kahlan marry?" "The winds require a virgin bride." Richard's eyes darted to Kahlan. He looked back to Cara. "She isn't a virgin." "Yes, she is," Cara said. "No! She's not!"

Kahlan put her forehead against the side of Richard's face as she gripped his muscular neck, hugging herself to him.