Soul of the Fire by Terry Goodkind Read Free Book Online

their foes, Kahlan knew him to be profoundly gentle, understanding, and kind. She had never known a man more fair, or patient. She thought him the most rare person she had ever met.
    Ann smiled broadly at Kahlan, touching her face much as a kindly grandmother might do with a beloved child. Kahlan felt heartwarming honesty in the gesture. Her eyes sparkling, Ann did the same to Richard.
    Fingering gray hair into the loose bun at the back of her head, she turned to feed a small stick of bundled grass into the fire. “I hope your first day married is going well?”
    Kahlan briefly met Richard’s gaze. “A little earlier today we went to the warm springs for bath.” Kahlan’s smile, along with Richard’s, faded. “One of the hunters guarding us died.”
    Her words brought the full attention of both Zedd and Ann.
    “ How?” Ann asked.
    “ Drowned.” Richard held out a hand in invitation for everyone to sit. “The stream was shallow, but near as we can tell, he didn’t stumble or fall.” He waggled a thumb over his shoulder as the four of them settled around the Grace drawn in the dirt in the center of the room. “We took him to a building back there.”
    Zedd glanced over Richard’s shoulder, almost as if he might be able to see through the wall and view Juni’s body. “I’ll have a look.” He peered up at Cara, standing guard with her back against the door. “What do you think happened?”
    Without hesitation, Cara said, “I think Juni became a danger. While looking for Lord Rahl in order to harm him, Juni fell and drowned.”
    Zedd’s eyebrows arched. He turned to Richard. “A danger! Why would the man turn belligerent toward you?”
    Richard scowled over his shoulder at the Mord-Sith. “Cara’s wrong. He wasn’t trying to harm us.” Satisfied when she didn’t argue, he returned his attention to his grandfather. “When we found him—dead—he had an odd look in his eyes. He saw something before he died that left a mask of … I don’t know … longing, or something, on his face.
    “ Nissel, the healer, came and inspected his body. She said he had no injuries, but that he drowned.”
    Richard braced a forearm on his knee as he leaned in. “Drowned, Zedd, in six inches of water. Nissel said evil spirits killed him.”
    Zedd’s eyebrows rose even higher. “Evil spirits?”
    “ The Mud People believe evil spirits sometimes come and take the life of a villager,” Kahlan explained. “The villagers leave offerings before clay figures in a couple of the buildings over there.” She lifted her chin toward the north. “Apparently, they believe that leaving rice cakes will appease these evil spirits. As if ‘evil spirits’ could eat, or could be easily bribed.”
    Outside, the rain lashed at the buildings. Water ran in a dark stain below the window and dripped here and there through the grass roof. Thunder rumbled almost constantly, taking the place of the now silent drums.
    “ Ah, I see,” Ann said. She looked up with a smile Kahlan found curious. “So, you think the Mud People gave you a paltry wedding, compared to the grand affair you would have had back in Aydindril. Hmm?”
    Perplexed, Kahlan’s brow tightened. “Of course not. It was the most beautiful wedding we could have wished for.”
    “ Really?” Ann swept her arm out, indicating the surrounding village. “People in gaudy dress and animal skins? Their hair slicked down with mud? Naked children running about, laughing, playing, during such a solemn ceremony? Men painted in frightening mud masks dancing and telling stories of animals, hunts, and wars? This is what makes a good wedding to your mind?”
    “ No … those things aren’t what I meant, or material,” Kahlan stammered. “It’s what was in their hearts that made it so special. It was that they sincerely shared our joy that made it meaningful to us. And what does that have to do with offering rice cakes to imagined evil spirits?”
    With the side of a finger, Ann