Du Chaillu walked off to her blade masters, apparently telling the men to sit and rest themselves while she spoke with the Caharin. While she was seeing to that, Kahlan, with the end of her finger in his ribs, prodded Richard in the direction of their gear.

"Get Du Chaillu a blanket to sit on," Kahlan murmured.

"Why does she need ours? They have their own blankets with them. Besides, she doesn't need a blanket to sit on to tell me why she's here."

Kahlan poked his ribs again. "Just get it," she said under her breath so the others wouldn't hear. "In case you hadn't noticed, the woman is pregnant and could use a rest off her feet."

"Well that doesn't-"

"Richard," Kahlan snapped, hushing him. "When you insist someone submit to your will, it is accomplished most easily if you give them a small victory so they can retain their dignity while they do as you insist. If you wish, I will carry it over to her."

"Well," Richard said, "all right, then. I guess-"

"See? You just proved it. And you will carry the blanket."

"So Du Chaillu gets a small victory, but I don't?"

"You're a big boy. Du Chaillu's price is a blanket to sit on while she tells you why she's here. The price is minuscule. Don't continue a war we have already won just to make the opponent's humiliation crushing and complete."

"But she-"

"I know. Du Chaillu was out of line in what she said to you. You know it, I know it, she knows it. But her feelings were hurt and not entirely without cause. We all make mistakes.

"She didn't understand the dimensions of the danger we have only just discovered we face. She has agreed to peace for the price of our blanket to sit upon. She only wants you to pay her a courtesy. It won't hurt you to indulge her sensibilities."

Richard glanced over his shoulder when they reached their things. Du Chaillu was speaking to the blade masters.

"You threaten her?" Richard whispered as he pulled his blanket from his pack.

"Oh yes," Kahlan whispered back. She put a hand on his arm. "Be gentle. Her ears are liable to be a bit tender after our little talk."

Richard marched over and made a show of flattening the grass and spreading his blanket on the ground before Du Chaillu. With the flat of his hand, he smoothed out the bigger wrinkles. He set a waterskin in the middle. When finished, he held out a hand in invitation.

"Please, Du Chaillu"-he couldn't make himself address her as his wife, but he didn't think that mattered-"sit and speak with me? Your words are important, and time is precious."

She inspected the way he had matted down the grass, all in one direction, and scrutinized the blanket. Satisfied with the arrangement, she sat at one end and crossed her legs under herself. With her back straight, her chin held high, and her hands clasped in her lap, she looked somehow noble. He guessed she was.

Richard flipped his golden cape back over his shoulders and sat cross-legged at the other end of the blanket. It wasn't very big, so their knees almost touched. He smiled politely and offered her the waterskin.

As she graciously accepted the waterskin, he recalled the first time he had seen her. She had been in a collar and chained to a wall. She had been naked and filthy, and smelled as if she had been there for months, which she had, yet her bearing was such that she had somehow seemed to him just as noble as she did now, clean and dressed in her spirit-woman prayer dress.

He remembered, too, how when he had been trying to free her, she feared he was going to' kill her and she had bitten him. Just recalling it, he could almost feel her teeth marks.

The troubling thought occurred to him that this woman had the gift. He wasn't sure the extent of her powers, but he could see it in her eyes. Somehow, his ability allowed him to see that timeless look in the eyes of others who were at least brushed with a dusting of the gift of magic.

Sister Verna had told Richard that she had tried little things on Du Chaillu, to test her. Verna said the spells she sent at Du Chaillu disappeared like pebbles dropped down a well, and they did not go unnoticed. Du Chaillu, Verna had said, knew what was being tried, and was somehow able to annul it.

From other things, Richard had long ago come to the realization that Du Chaillu's gift involved some primitive form of prophecy. Since she had been held in chains for months, he doubted she was able to affect the world around her with her magical ability. People whose magic could affect others in an overt manner didn't need to bite, he imagined, nor would they allow themselves to be held captive to await being sacrificed. But she was able to prevent others from using magic against her, not an uncommon form of mystical protection against the weapon of magic, Richard had learned.

With the chimes in the world of life, Du Chaillu's magic, whatever its extent, would fail, if it hadn't already. He waited until she had her drink and had handed back the waterskin before he began.

"Du Chaillu, I need-"

"Ask how are our people."

Richard glanced up at Kahlan. Kahlan rolled her eyes and gave him a nod.

Richard set down the waterskin and cleared his throat.

"Du Chaillu, I rejoice to see you are well. Thank you for considering my words of advice to keep your child. I know it is a great responsibility to raise a child. I am sure you will be rewarded with a lifetime of joy at your decision, and the child will be rewarded by your teachings. I also know my words were not as important in your decision as was your own heart."

Richard didn't have to try to sound sincere, because he truly was. "I'm sorry you had to leave your other babies to make this long and difficult journey to bring me your words of wisdom. I know you would not have undertaken such a long and arduous journey were it not important."

She waited, clearly not yet content. Richard, patiently trying to play her game, let out a breath and went on.

"Please, Du Chaillu, tell me how the Baka Tau Mana fare, now that they are returned at last to their ancestral homeland?"

Du Chaillu smiled at last with satisfaction. "Our people are well and happy in their homeland, thanks to you, Caharin, but we will talk of them later. I must now tell you of why I have come."

Richard made an effort to school his scowl. "I am eager to hear your words."

She opened her mouth, but then scowled herself. "Where is your sword?"

"I don't have it with me."

"Why not?"

"I had to leave it back in Aydindril. It's a long story and it isn't-"

"But how can you be the Seeker if you do not have your sword?"

Richard drew a breath. "The Seeker of Truth is a person. The Sword of Truth is a tool the Seeker uses, much like you used the whistle to bring peace. I can still be the Seeker without the sword, just as you can be the spirit woman without the gift of the whistle."

"It doesn't seem right." She looked dismayed. "I liked your sword. It cut the iron collar off my neck and left my head where it was. It announced you to us as the Caharin. You should have your sword."

Deciding that he had played her game long enough, and considering the vital matters on his mind, he leaned forward and let his scowl have its way.

"I will recover my sword as soon as I return to Aydindril. We were on our way there when we met you here. The less time I spend sitting around on a good traveling day, the sooner I will arrive in Aydindril and be able to recover my sword.

"I'm sorry, Du Chaillu, if I seemed in a rush. I mean no disrespect, but I fear for innocent lives and the lives of ones I love. It is for the safety of the Baka Tau Mana, too, that I am in a hurry.

"I would be thankful if you would tell me what you're doing here. People are dying. Some of your own people have lost their lives. I must see if there is anything I can do to stop the chimes. The Sword of Truth may help me. I need to get to Aydindril to get it. May we please get on with this?"