Into Darkness

82

Once they were outside the room, Shale gently closed the door. “She wanted so much for you to see the babies that she has been trying to stay awake until you came back to her. She knew you would be back. And she wanted to see that you were safe. She can rest easy, now.”

The Mord-Sith were all beaming at him. Vika put a hand on his back for a moment, a touch of congratulations that meant more than words. In that simple human act, Richard saw far more. He saw a journey back from madness.

“She looked so tired,” he said. He gave Shale a meaningful look. “Is everything all right? Did it go well? The birth, I mean.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Mord-Sith all share a look. Shale glanced over at Rachel as an excuse to divert her gaze for a moment. She finally looked back up at Richard.

“Yes. The babies finally arrived. They are all well.”

“Why is she here, at the Confessors’ Palace?” Richard asked suspiciously. “We went through a lot of trouble to get to the Keep so she could give birth where she would be safe. What is she doing here?”

Rachel touched his arm to answer. “She said that she was born here, and she wanted her children to be born in the Confessors’ Palace as well.”

“But the danger of the Glee—why would you all let her come down here to give birth?”

“Have you ever tried to tell the Mother Confessor no?” Shale asked. “It is not so easy, let me tell you.”

Richard realized that he knew the truth of that.

“We tried to tell her to stay in the Keep where she would be safe,” Berdine said, “but she said it wasn’t a problem because you would see to it that she and your children would be safe.”

“But—”

“He did,” Vika said. “He saw to it that they were safe. He didn’t let her down. He didn’t let any of us down.”

Richard looked back at the sorceress. “You helped her, then, when the babies came?”

“I did,” she said as she was overcome with a peaceful smile. “As I promised you. I wouldn’t let you, or her, down.”

Richard could sense an odd tension in the mood of all those in the hallway.

“Was the birth difficult?”

Cassia, standing next to Shale, turned her back on Richard and whispered to Shale. Richard could just barely hear her say, “Tell him.”

Richard looked back at Shale. Her smile faltered.

“What is it? Was there a problem with the birth? I should have been here. I’m sorry. I came as fast as I could. What is it? What happened?”

Shale folded her fingers together, holding her hands together in front. “Well, to be honest, it was a difficult birth. Partly because of all the mother’s breath we gave her. But there was … more to it. Kahlan was in labor for days. She finally gave birth not long ago.”

“But … she looks all right. She looks just fine. The twins look beautiful and are sleeping peacefully.”

“No, no, she is fine. That’s not it. The babies are fine as well.”

Richard gestured as he grew impatient. “Well then, what is it that all of you know about and none of you are saying?”

Shale cleared her throat. “The thing is, Lord Rahl, she had a very difficult birth. The babies …”

“You already said that. The babies what?”

Shale glanced away from the intensity in his eyes. “The babies had a difficult time being born.”

Richard had been with Zedd when he had helped with a few difficult births. He knew how tense that kind of situation could be. “Why? What was the problem?”

“Well, actually,” Shale said, “I’ve never seen anything like it before, so it’s rather hard to explain.”

Richard was at his wits’ end. He threw his hands up in the air. “What was the problem? What happened?”

Shale cleared her throat again. “The thing is we were having a difficult time helping her in delivering the babies.”

Richard looked from face to face. “Were they breech?”

“No, that wasn’t it, exactly,” Shale said.

Richard planted his fists on his hips. “What was it, then? Why was it difficult? Tell me.”

Shale finally looked back up into his eyes.

“When the twins were being born, they were holding hands as the Mother Confessor was trying to give birth.”

Richard stared at her a long moment. “Holding hands.”

Shale nodded. “We had a very hard time getting them to let go of each other so they could finish being born. After we finally pried their hands apart, Cara was born first. Zeddicus came immediately after. For a time we didn’t know if we would be able to get their hands apart so they could both be born. It was a tense situation.”

Richard frowned. It didn’t make any sense.

“They are newborn infants. How difficult can it be to pry their little fingers away from each other?”

Shale looked up at him from under her brow. “You do realize they are both gifted, right? They were holding on to each other not just with their hands, but with the power of their gifts.”