Warheart by Terry Goodkind Read Free Book Online Page B

not belong. The one who would unbalance the worlds of life and death.”
    â€œYou mean Sulachan,” Nicci said, not the least bit intimidated by the look the witch woman was giving her.
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œSo, what were you going to tell us about this demon, Sulachan?” Nicci asked.
    â€œHe seeks to bend the forces of the Grace until they break. In his time he–”
    â€œWe know,” Nicci said as she licked white flakes of fish from a finger. “What does this have to do with your home being a mess?”
    Red idly rolled a red lock of hair around a finger as she studied Nicci with a hint of disapproval. “You are a very forward woman, aren’t you?”
    Nicci shrugged as she stabbed another piece of fish from the pile on the rock. “We didn’t come for a social visit,” she said as she sat back down. “Every moment counts if we are to send the demon back to the underworld where he belongs. Time is precious–at least it is here in this world. I don’t think we have a lot of time to lose.”
    Red conceded the point with a nod. “Well, from what I saw in the flow of time, he knew that you had escaped those he sent after you. He wanted all the soldiers annihilated. He wanted some, like Lord Rahl, the Mother Confessor, and anyone else gifted, captured and brought to him. He had plans for all of you and was furious that you escaped his grasp.
    â€œThe demon knew where you were headed, so he sent another force of his half people after you. A large force. He believed that this time they would not fail him.”
    Kahlan glanced at Nicci out of the corner of her eye. This was news. She had expected that Sulachan might send more half people after them, but didn’t know that he had.
    â€œSo what happened?” Kahlan asked.
    â€œThe route you traveled to get to Saavedra took you through the only mountain pass in that area of the mountains. If the horde of half people wanted to get to you, they had to follow the same route and come through that same pass, my home, first.”
    Kahlan swallowed some of her egg. Nicci paused eating her fish.
    Cassia’s eyes widened. “You mean the half people chased you out of your home?”
    The witch woman frowned at the Mord-Sith. “I don’t get ‘chased out’ of my home by anyone.”
    â€œHow close are they?” Nicci asked. “How much time until they reach us?”
    Red clasped her fingers together around one knee. “I don’t think you understand.”
    Kahlan did. “You killed them. You slaughtered them all.”
    Nicci looked up, her gaze moving suspiciously from Kahlan to Red. “Witch women can’t personally take direct action to alter events of consequence.”
    â€œTrue.” A smile widened on Red’s lips. “We don’t interfere with events in the flow of time–events of consequence, as you put it. While we see such events and try to use what we see to help those involved, those events must be allowed to run their course.
    â€œFor example, I told the Mother Confessor that you would kill Richard, and that she must kill you if she was to prevent that from happening. She chose a different path. As much as I advocated against such a choice, it was her choice to make. I could not kill you myself, I could only let her know what was going to happen if she did not act. The flow of time played out as I feared it would. It played out as I had warned.”
    Cassia frowned and looked up before taking another bite of rabbit from the forked stick. “If you knew something bad was going to happen, like Lord Rahl dying, and you did not act to prevent it, then the death is your responsibility.”
    â€œIt might seem that way to someone who does not understand such things, but we can’t impose ourselves overtly, directly. That is just the way it is for witch women. While it might seem to others, like you, that such action would be