*****
Kahlan pulled on the fabric, trying to bring it up as much as she could. "I've never worn anything cut this low. You don't think it... shows too much?"
Weselan looked up from the floor where she was fussing with the hem of the blue dress. She took the fine bone needle from her mouth as she rose to appraise her client's fit. She studied the expanse of flesh a moment.
"You don't think he will like it?"
Kahlan felt her face flush. "Well, I think he will. I hope so, but..."
Weselan leaned a little closer. "If you are worried about him seeing that much, maybe you had better reconsider this."
Kahlan lifted an eyebrow. "He is not the only one who will be looking. I've never worn anything like this before. I'm... worried that I don't do it justice."
Weselan smiled and patted Kahlan's arm. "You wear the dress well. It looks beautiful on you. It's perfect."
Kahlan still fretted as she glanced down at herself. "Really? Are you sure? I fill it out properly?"
Weselan's smile widened. "Really. You have fine breasts. Everyone says so."
Kahlan felt her face redden. She was sure of the truth of the casual statement. Among the Mud People, commenting favorably on a woman's breasts, in public, was no more odd that were a man elsewhere to tell a woman she had a pleasant smile. It was an uninhibited attitude that more than once had caught her off guard.
Kahlan held the skirt out to the sides. "It's the most beautiful dress I've ever worn, Weselan. Thank you for all your hard work. I will treasure it always."
"Maybe someday, if you have a daughter, she will wear it when she weds."
Kahlan smiled and nodded. Please dear spirits, she was thinking, if a child comes, let it be a daughter and not a son. She reached up and touched the delicate necklace she wore, her fingers turning the small, round bone strung among a few red and yellow beads.
Adie, the bone woman, had given her the necklace to protect her from the beasts that dwelt in the pass through the boundary that at the time had separated Westland from the Midlands. The old woman had told her it would help protect her child one day.
Kahlan dearly loved the necklace. It was just like the one her mother had received from Adie, and had, in turn, given to Kahlan. Kahlan had buried it with her childhood friend, Dennee. Since Dennee's death she had missed her mother's necklace.
This one was all the more special because the night before they had gone through the pass, Richard had added his oath to the necklace, to protect any future child she may have. Neither she nor Richard had suspected at the time that there was any way that child might possibly be his.
"I hope so. Weselan, will you stand with me?"
"Stand with you?"
Kahlan pulled some of her hair self-consciously over her half exposed chest. "Where I come from, it is the custom to have a friend stand by you when you wed. To stand as a representative of the good spirits watching over the joining. Richard would like Savidlin to stand with him. I would like it if you stood by me."
"That seems a strange custom. The good spirits always watch over us. But if it is your custom, I would be honored to be the one who stands by you."
Kahlan beamed. "Thank you."
"Now stand up straight. I am almost finished."
Weselan again bent to her task at the hem. Kahlan tried to stand with her back straight. It hurt from sitting on the floor next to Richard the last half of the night. She wished she could sit, or lie down, she was that sleepy. But mostly, her back hurt.
Suddenly, she wondered how much Denna was hurting right now.
She didn't care, she told herself. Whatever was happening to her would never be enough, after what she had done to Richard. Her stomach lurched at the memory of what Denna had told her.
Kahlan could still feel the place on her neck where Darken Rahl had put his lips. A shiver ran up her spine at the memory.
She remembered the mask of agony on Denna's face the instant before she disappeared. It didn't matter: she deserved it.
It could have been Richard, though. If it hadn't been for Denna, it could have been Richard.
"Don't be afraid, Kahlan."
"What?" She focused her eyes. Weselan was standing in front of her, smiling. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"
Weselan reached out and wiped a tear from Kahlan's cheek. "I said not to be afraid. Richard is a good man. You will have a happy life with him. It is natural to fear being wedded, but do not worry. It will be fine, you will see. I cried too, before I wedded my Savidlin. I didn't think I would, because I wanted him so, but I found myself crying, just like you." She winked. "I never had reason to cry again. Sometimes I find reason to complain, but never to cry."
Kahlan wiped the other cheek. What was the matter with her? She didn't care what was happening to Denna; she didn't. Not one bit.
She nodded to Weselan and forced a smile. "That would be my greatest hope in life. Never to cry again."
Weselan gave her a comforting hug. "Would you like something to eat?"
"No, I'm not..."
Savidlin came bursting through the door. He was sweating and panting. Kahlan went cold with fright at the look on his face. She started shaking even before his words came.
"When Nissel finished with Richard, I went with him to the spirit house, like you told me to, so he could call the dragon. The Sister of Light came for him. She is there, with him. I didn't understand his words, but I knew their meaning, and your name. He wanted me to come for you. Hurry."
"Noooo!" Kahlan wailed, as she shot past him and out through the doorway.
As she ran, she held the hem of her dress up in her fists so she wouldn't trip on it. She had never run so fast. Her breath couldn't keep pace as she raced down the narrow passageways. Her hair streamed behind her as she ran. The winter air was frigid on her skin. The sound of Savidlin running behind her faded away.
She couldn't form a thought, except that she must get to Richard. This couldn't be happening. It was too soon. The Sister shouldn't be here. The two of them were leaving, almost gone. It wasn't fair at all. Richard.
Big white snowflakes drifted down; not enough to turn the ground white, but enough to bring an icy foreboding of the winter that was coming; the winter that was here. The wet flakes melted instantly as they touched her hot skin. Some caught in her lashes until she blinked them away. A light breeze curled around a corne
r, swirling into a white curtain. Kahlan flew through it and down a passageway.
She skidded to a stop and looked around. It was the wrong way. She ran back and took the correct turn. Tears ran down her face with the melted snowflakes. It was too much. It couldn't be.
Panting and desperate, she broke from the buildings, into the clearing around the spirit house. The Sister's horses were tethered on the other side of the short wall, the wall with the gash through it from when Richard had tried to kill the screeling.
People were standing around, but she didn't see them. Everything except the door to the spirit house grayed in her vision. She ran desperately for it.
It took forever, as if she were running in a dream and couldn't make any headway. Her legs ached with the strain. Her hand stretched for the latch. Her heart pounded in her ears.
"Please dear spirits," she begged, "don't let me be too late."
Grunting through gritted teeth, she yanked the door open and threw herself through.
Kahlan jerked to a halt. She gulped air. Richard stood before Sister Verna, beneath the hole ripped through the roof by the lightning. The two of them stood in a shaft of gray light, in the gently drifting snowflakes floating down. The rest of the room dimmed into darkness around them. At his hip, Richard's sword glinted in the light. He didn't have the tooth, or whistle, or Agiel around his neck. He hadn't had time to call Scarlet yet.
In one hand, Sister Verna was holding the collar out to him. Her gaze went to Kahlan in silent warning for a moment, and then slid back to Richard. "You have heard the three reasons for the Rada'Han. This is your last chance to be helped, Richard. Will you accept the offer?"
Richard left the Sister's steady gaze, and turned slowly toward Kahlan, toward where she stood panting. His bright, gray eyes followed down her dress and came back up to her face. His voice was gentle, reverent. "Kahlan... that dress... is beautiful. Beautiful."
Kahlan couldn't find her voice. Her heart was pounding, breaking. Sister Verna spoke his name in a tone of serious warning.
For the first time, Kahlan saw that Sister Verna held something in her other hand. It was the silver knife. But she wasn't pointed it at herself; it was held toward Richard. Kahlan knew: if he didn't accept, she intended to kill him. He didn't even seem to be aware of the knife as it flashed in the dim light. Kahlan wondered if she had used a spell to block it from his vision.