The Sword of the Truth, Book 12 - The Omen Machine (29 page)

S
till drifting back from that distant place that felt completely detached from the real world, which was beginning to come back into focus all around her, Kahlan knew that something wasn’t right, both with her and with Richard.

She saw Nicci squat down beside him. By the worried expression that overcame the sorceress when she looked into his unblinking eyes, Kahlan knew that something about the healing hadn’t worked the way it should have.

Richard stared off at nothing, completely unresponsive, even as the pain raged in his eyes, even as Nicci placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him.

Nicci’s long blond hair fell forward over her left shoulder as she leaned in around Richard and pressed her first two fingers to Kahlan’s forehead. Kahlan felt the familiar tingle of Additive Magic vibrate and tingle through the nerves of her neck, shoulders, and arms.

Nicci withdrew the fingers and next put them to Richard’s forehead. She backed away and then shoved at his chest. “Let her go. Richard, let go of her.”

When Richard didn’t respond, she put her arms around Kahlan and gently pulled her out of his wooden embrace. Kahlan didn’t resist. She didn’t know why Nicci wanted him to let go of her, but she had no trouble grasping the concern in the sorceress’s voice, or on her face.

Nicci laid Kahlan gently back on the ground. She immediately turned her attention to Richard.

With his connection to Kahlan broken, Nicci pressed the flats of her hands to both his temples. “Let it go, Richard,” she murmured to him.

Richard gasped. Life, awareness, finally flooded back into his eyes. Kahlan let out a sigh of relief that Nicci had managed to pull him back from wherever he was. Richard grimaced when Nicci took her hands off him.

“What are you doing?” he asked Nicci. “Why did you stop me?”

“That would be my question,” Zedd said as he appeared behind Richard.

Nicci tapped the same two fingers she had put to Richard’s and Kahlan’s foreheads to her own, as if signaling Zedd to test it and see for himself. Zedd immediately hiked up his robes and knelt on the other side of Richard. He put two fingers to Kahlan’s forehead, then reached up and did the same to Richard.

“What?” he asked. “What am I supposed to feel?”

Nicci stared at him briefly. “You feel nothing?”

Zedd looked befuddled. “No. Should I?”

Nicci put her fingers back on Kahlan’s forehead, testing, and Kahlan again felt a brief tingle of Additive Magic before Nicci repeated the test on Richard.

She let out a sigh. “I don’t feel it anymore. Now that the connection is broken you can’t feel it.”

“Feel what?” Zedd asked with a frown.

Nicci cast a quick, surreptitious glance at Kahlan. “I don’t know. Nothing, I guess. It’s not important, we can talk about it later.”

Richard wiped a hand across his face as he recovered from the experience of trying to heal Kahlan. She didn’t really feel any better. Richard had healed far worse than this before. She couldn’t imagine why it hadn’t worked this time. What had her more concerned, though, was why Nicci appeared so upset.

“Why did you stop me?” Richard asked in a heated tone. “I was healing her. You didn’t let me finish.”

That confirmed what Kahlan had surmised, that perhaps he simply hadn’t been allowed to finish. Nicci had interrupted him before he had a chance to finish the healing. But as soon as she had the thought, she realized that couldn’t be the problem, because she had come back, became aware, before Nicci had come in and interrupted. It had failed before she separated them.

It had to be something else that was wrong.

Nicci let out a deep breath. “It wasn’t working. You weren’t healing her, you were just allowing yourself to be opened up to its contagion.”

Zedd looked as puzzled as ever. He glanced at Richard, then down at Kahlan’s arm. “What are you talking about?”

“I could tell that something wasn’t right. The flow of his gift into Kahlan had ceased. Something was back-feeding into him from her. It was using his lifeline, his way back, to steal into him.”

That brought alarm into Zedd’s expression.

Nicci’s gaze moved to Richard’s eyes. “Did you understand? Did you know what I mean?”

Richard, looking frustrated and impatient, shook his head. “Not really. I don’t know what I felt. I don’t know what happened. All I know is that it hurt. I was trying to take that hurt away from Kahlan and it just seemed to get out of hand.”

“The boy heals by instinct, through empathy,” Zedd told the sorceress. “He may have grown up without knowing he had the gift, and without learning how it’s supposed to be done, but I’ve known him to heal things I can’t.”

“So have I,” Nicci said. “He uses his gift in a unique way, but he wasn’t healing this.”

“Are you sure?” the old wizard asked.

Nicci nodded. “I could gauge the flow of power when I felt her, and then when I felt him. It was out of balance. The pain was back-feeding and was gaining control of him. It should have been the other way around. His gift should have been controlling the pain while feeding healing power into her, but it wasn’t. He may have been acting on instinct, or doing what he’s done in the past, but this time he was dealing with something different, something dangerous, and it wasn’t working.” She glanced at Kahlan. “Was it?”

Kahlan had to admit that what Nicci was saying made sense. “No. I don’t understand, though. He’s healed me before.”

“That’s right,” Richard said. “Why wasn’t it working the same this time?”

“I don’t know for certain, Richard, but for some reason the problem you were trying to heal was behaving like a contagion. I guess you could say that it’s like when you care for a sick person, you sometimes only end up catching what they have and then the both of you are sick.”

“But the gift is supposed to protect me from that.”

“The boy is right,” Zedd put in.

Nicci looked reluctant to answer. “It could simply be that with some guidance to fill in the blanks of your inexperience in using magic you might not have had the problem. I can’t say for sure.”

Zedd didn’t waste any time arguing or questioning. “Well, it’s obvious that the scratches I healed before have relapsed. They look infected. I need to go back in and fix this before we do anything else.”

“I agree,” Richard said as he scooted back out of Zedd’s way.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea just yet,” Nicci said, rather cryptically, under her breath to Zedd.

Zedd looked perplexed by her reluctance. “Well, what I don’t think is a good idea is to let this infection go unchecked. She could end up losing the arm. Worse, if the infection gets worse and moves into other parts of her body it can be fatal.”

Nicci saw the anxiety on Kahlan’s face and relented with a nod and a sigh. “You’re right, Zedd. But let me help you.”

“I would welcome any help,” Richard’s grandfather said as he leaned over Kahlan and pressed a hand against her forehead. Nicci laid her own hand over his.

Kahlan immediately felt the flow of his gift sweeping through her. She felt, too, the separate tingle of Nicci’s magic. While they were similar, each had a unique feel to it. Mixed together as they were, it felt warm and comforting, but in a very different way than Richard’s gift had felt warm and comforting. She knew that Zedd’s gift felt different, so she wasn’t concerned, and she also recognized the unique feel of Nicci’s power. Both of their gifts blended together was an intoxicating feeling.

But she also thought that she felt the shadow of something else, something dark, tense aggressively within her.

As swiftly as Kahlan had the thought, she was swept up in the flow of Zedd and Nicci’s power. She again felt that loss of time and place as the warm glow of magic flooded through her. She could feel Zedd lifting the pain in much the same way Richard had, but with a kind of swift, experienced precision.

Abruptly, it all stopped. In a heartbeat, the mix of Zedd and Nicci’s power was gone.

Kahlan opened her eyes as she gasped in a breath. It had felt like she had been under their influence for only a fleeting moment, but she knew from experience that it could easily have been an hour or two.

Zedd rocked back on his heels. He cast a worried look up at Nicci. “It’s not Richard. Something is wrong. The only difference is that I knew enough to pull back. Richard didn’t.” He pressed his lips tight in silent discontent before adding, “It’s not Richard. I can’t heal her either.”

Nicci regarded him with an unreadable look. “Did you feel it, then?”

Kahlan wondered what “it” was that he was supposed to feel.

Zedd’s face twisted in frustration. “I don’t know. I’ve never felt anything quite like it. It’s a new one on me. I don’t have any idea why I couldn’t get through, but I couldn’t.”

Nicci’s gaze remained locked on Zedd. “What did you feel?”

The creases in Zedd’s face had taken on a troubled angularity as he and Nicci shared a private look. “I don’t know. Something … something dark.”

Nicci betrayed only the slightest hint of understanding, but she didn’t say anything.

Kahlan didn’t know for certain what they were talking about, but she recognized that the two of them shared a silent understanding about it, and she also knew that she had felt something tense within her at the touch of their magic.

Kahlan’s level of alarm rose.

“Maybe Nathan could help,” Richard suggested, not noticing what Kahlan had seen pass between Zedd and Nicci. “He’s a Rahl. Maybe he would be better able to do it since his gift would work better here in the palace. Maybe that’s all it would take.”

W
hat’s this about me and my gift?” Nathan asked as he came to a halt behind Richard.

Kahlan saw that the prophet was clutching a piece of paper in his hand.

“Kahlan’s arm that Zedd healed before has gotten worse,” Richard said back over his shoulder. “He’s having a problem healing it again. I was just saying that since your power isn’t hindered by the spell around the palace, you might be better able to heal her arm.”

Nathan frowned down at Kahlan. She held the arm out a little for him to see in the torchlight. Her head was pounding. She just wanted to go to sleep.

“I’d be happy to give it a try,” he said.

“It won’t do any good,” Nicci said with quiet finality. “Zedd has already healed it once before. It shouldn’t have come back like this. Something more is going on here that we’re not seeing or understanding. If Zedd can’t get back in to correct what he already did before, then you wouldn’t be able to, either.”

Kahlan was greatly worried about what else Nicci knew but wasn’t saying.

“I’m afraid she’s right,” Zedd admitted with a sigh.

Kahlan pushed herself up onto her elbows. “But if you can’t heal it…”

Zedd patted her shoulder and smiled in a reassuring manner, the old twinkle back in his eye. “Don’t worry, dear one. There are a number other effective things we can do to get this taken care of. We have access to a wide variety of herbs here at the palace. It’s just a scratch and a bit of infection. I’ve been healing such scratches and infections with poultices and herbs my whole life. I’ll make one up that will have you better in no time.”

“Zedd’s right,” Richard told her. “He always took care of my cuts and scrapes without the aid of the gift. I even have some aum with me,” he told Zedd.

Zedd’s bushy eyebrows lifted. “Do you now. Well, that will be a help to ease her pain while the poultice does its work of drawing out the infection.” He patted her shoulder again. “I’ll make it up right away and have you feeling better in no time.”

Kahlan smiled as she lay back. “Thanks, Zedd.”

He glanced about at the ground where she was lying, then looked up at Richard. “We need to get her to someplace more comfortable where she can rest.”

“I’m comfortable here,” Kahlan protested. She didn’t relish the idea of being watched again in one of the bedrooms.

“Are you really?” Zedd glanced over at the gaping hole in the center of the room. “That machine down there has been giving others prophecy as they sleep— others without even a hint of the gift. Imagine the power that thing must emanate to be able to do such a thing in the first place, not to mention that it’s doing it from within a containment field. I’m suspicious that that much power might have given you that headache while you slept.”

Richard shot a frown back at the hole in the floor. “I don’t have a headache, and I’ve been sleeping here too.”

Zedd held up a finger. “But you have the gift— both sides of it. What’s more, I believe that you have some kind of unique connection to the machine, so it may not affect you in the same way. But it could be harming others who spend too much time near it, like Kahlan has been doing.”

With a troubled look, Richard put a comforting hand on Kahlan’s shoulder.

Pain throbbed relentlessly in her head. “You really think the machine could be the cause?”

Zedd shrugged. “We don’t know much about the machine. We have no idea what it’s capable of, and that worries me greatly. It could be radiating a field of power that is responsible for your pain and nausea. At the very least I do know that when I tried to heal you I could sense that you’re not getting anywhere near the amount of sleep you need for your body to have time to heal. That is making you susceptible to any number of problems. Without the rest you need, that infection is only going to get worse. That’s why I think we need to get you to a comfortable bed— and more importantly, away from this machine— so you can get the proper rest you need to help us get you healed.”

She had to admit, that did make sense. Still…

“There are certainly enough comfortable places in the palace,” Richard told her. “We’ll find you a place where you can rest and Zedd can treat your arm.”

Kahlan pushed herself up on her elbows again. “And what about the problem we had in our bedroom?”

Richard showed her a crooked smile. “I have an idea about that. Not to worry.”

But she was worried. Kahlan did her best to ignore the pounding pain in her head and the throbbing ache in her arm. “I’m better,” she lied. She cleared her throat, trying to make her failing voice sound normal. It didn’t really help.

“You don’t sound better,” Nathan said.

“There are more important things to worry about other than fussing over me,” she said. “It was probably just a bad dream that gave me a headache, and as for my arm, well, sometimes scratches get worse before they get better. I think you’re all making too much of it.”

No one looked in the least bit convinced. Maybe because Kahlan wasn’t convinced herself, but more so because she knew she had a fever. It was making her hoarse. She hardly had any voice left. Whenever she spoke it only revealed how bad she felt.

“I still think I ought to give it a try,” Nathan said.

“If you want, I’d be happy to be your patient,” Kahlan said, trying to sound better than she felt.

As Nathan stepped around Richard, Richard gestured. “By the way, what do you have with you?”

Nathan looked at the paper in his hand as if he’d forgotten he had it. “Oh, yes.” He waggled it back at Richard. “From your personal prophet down in the library.”

Richard made a sour face. “What does Lauretta have to predict now?”

“I’m afraid that it sounds serious. That’s why I came looking for you. It’s hard to say what it’s actually about, but it’s possible that it’s another omen about Kahlan.” Nathan waved the paper briefly, then turned it around so that he could read it aloud. “It says, ‘A queen’s choice will cost her her life.’”

“You mean you think it could be another omen about Kahlan because it’s something like the one before?” Zedd asked. “Like that first one saying ‘Queen takes pawn.’”

Nathan shook his head in frustration. “I don’t know. I’ve had no visions about it. It could mean anything.”

Richard’s face had gone ashen. He snatched the paper from Nathan and read it himself as if he didn’t believe it.

“What’s wrong?” Zedd asked.

Richard continued to stare at the paper for a moment before he finally looked up at his grandfather.

“Earlier tonight,” he said in a quiet voice, “the machine spoke to me.”

Zedd leaned in. “What do you mean, it spoke to you?”

Richard’s hand holding the piece of paper lowered as he searched for words. “It’s kind of hard to explain.”

Zedd didn’t look inclined to let him off that easy. “I think you need to give it a good try.”

Richard pressed his lips together for a moment first as he considered how to explain it. “The machine told me that it had had dreams. Then it wanted to know why it had had dreams.”

Nicci’s brows lifted. “It asked you a question?”

Richard nodded. Kahlan frowned as she tried to recall through her throbbing headache where she had heard those words before. They sounded familiar. Finally, it came to her.

“Isn’t that what the boy down in the market said? That he’d had dreams? Then he asked why he’d had dreams. Remember?”

“I remember,” Richard said. “Henrik. And you’re right. He said the exact same words.”

The room was silent as everyone tried to take in the implications. Through experience, they had learned that the same prophecies the machine gave also came out through others. Kahlan wondered if this could be the same kind of thing.

Richard raked his fingers back through his hair. “It wasn’t just what the machine said. It was how it said it that has me so concerned.”

“What do you mean, ‘how it said it’?” Nicci asked. “It burns the things it says onto those metal strips. Did it give the message this time in a different manner?”

“No, it said both things by burning the symbols on the strips of metal, same as before.”

“Then what do you mean by ‘how it said it’?”

“You all know what the machine sounds like when it’s going to give a prophecy— the sudden crash of sound that it makes when it starts into motion all at once from a dead stop?” Richard glanced around at the nods. “Well, this time it was different. Rather than that kind of sudden beginning at full speed, this time it started slowly, softly, like it was waking up.”

Zedd threw his arms up in the air. “Waking up! Waking up and telling you that it had been dreaming? Dear spirits, Richard, it’s a machine!”

“I know, I know,” Richard said, gesturing for his grandfather to calm down and listen. “But it started slowly, quietly, all the gears and things inside gradually building speed and moving into place slowly. After it was fully up and running, then it inscribed two strips with those two things about dreams: ‘I have had dreams,’ and ‘Why have I had dreams?’

“Even more strange, though, is that the two strips weren’t hot when they came out of the machine.”

“They’re always hot when they come out,” Zedd declared.

Richard leaned in a little, looking to each of them in turn. “Well, this time they came out of the machine cool to the touch. Both of them.”

Zedd rubbed his chin. “That is odd.”

“I was down there the rest of the night,” Richard went on, “waiting to see if it would say anything else. I fell asleep for a while. Then, all of a sudden, the gears started into motion again, but the usual way, the way you’ve seen it happen— abruptly, all at once. The sudden crash of noise instantly woke me up.”

He leaned back, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a metal strip. “After it woke me up, just before I heard Kahlan scream and came running up here to see what was wrong with her”— he held the strip up—“the machine issued the same omen. And, it came out of the machine hot, like usual.”

“What same omen?” Zedd asked, suspiciously.

Richard gestured at the note Nathan was holding. “The same as that. ‘A queen’s choice will cost her her life.’”