“No.”

Her eyes snapped up to his. “What did you say?” she whispered.

Richard put his fists on his hips. “I said ‘no.’ I’m not going to kiss you with those silly things painted on your face. They nearly scared the life out of me.”

Her green eyes stared in disbelief. “You can deny me nothing, once I have touched you with my power.”

Richard squatted down close to her. He untied the gag from her neck. “Well, then, you have ordered me to kiss you”—he dunked the cloth in the water—“and I told you I won’t do it with this thing painted on your face.” He began wiping the lightning bolts from her skin. “So, I guess the only solution is to get rid of it.”

She knelt, frozen, while he cleaned the red off her face. Richard looked into her wide eyes when he finished. He tossed the rag aside, and knelt in front of her, slipping his arms around her waist.

“Richard, I touched you with the magic. I felt it. I heard it. I saw it. How could the power not have taken you?”

“Because I was protected.”

“Protected? How?”

“By my love for you. I realized I loved you more than life itself, and I would rather give myself into your power than live without you. Nothing the magic could do to me could be worse than living without you. I was willing to give it all over to you. I offered the power everything I have. All of my love for you. Once I realized how much I loved you, was willing to be yours on any terms, I understood that there could be nothing for the magic to harm. I’m already devoted to you—it didn’t need to change me. I was protected, because I have already been touched by your love. I had utter faith that you felt the same, and had no fear of what would happen. Had I had any doubt, the magic would have latched on to that crack and taken me, but I had no doubt. My love for you is smooth and seamless. My love for you protected me from the magic.”

She gave him her special smile. “You felt that way? You had no doubt?”

Richard smiled back. “Well, for a moment, when I saw those lightning bolts on your face, I have to admit, I was worried. I didn’t know what they were, what they meant. I pulled the sword, trying to gain time to think. But then I realized it didn’t matter—you were still Kahlan, and I still loved you, no matter what I wanted you to touch me more than anything, to prove my love and devotion for you, but I had to put on an act for Darken Rahl’s benefit.”

“These symbols mean that I, too, gave everything over to you,” she whispered.

Kahlan circled her arms around his neck, kissing him. They knelt on the tiles in front of the devotion pool, pressed against one another. Richard kissed her soft lips the way he had dreamed a thousand times of kissing her. He kissed her until he was dizzy, and then kissed her some more, not caring that bewildered people who passed watched them.

Richard had no idea how long they knelt there embracing, but decided at last that they had better go find Zedd. With her arm around his waist and her head leaning against him, they walked back to the Garden of Life, kissing once more before they went through the doors.

Zedd stood with one hand on a bony hip, the other stroking his chin, as he inspected the altar and other things behind it. Kahlan fell to her knees before him, taking his hands in hers, kissing them.

“Zedd, he loves me! He figured out how to make it work, with the magic. There was a way, and he found it.”

Zedd frowned down at her. “Well, it took him long enough.”

Kahlan came to her feet. “You knew how to do it?”

Zedd looked indignant at the question. “I’m a wizard of the First Order. Of course I knew.”

“And you never told us?”

Zedd smiled. “Had I told you, dear one, it wouldn’t have worked. The foreknowledge would have interjected a grain of doubt. That single grain would have caused failure. To be the true love of a Confessor, there must be total commitment to get past the magic. Without the willingness to give himself over to you, selflessly, despite the knowledge of the consequence, it wouldn’t work.”

“You seem to know a lot about it,” Kahlan frowned. “I have never heard of it before. How often does this happen?”

Zedd rubbed his chin in thought, looking up at the windows. “Well, only once before that I know of.” His eyes rested on the two of them. “But you can tell no one, just as I wasn’t able to tell you. No matter how much pain it may cause, no matter the consequences, you can never tell. If even one other knows, it could be passed on, destroying forever the chance for others. It’s one of the ironies of magic—you have to accept failure before you can have success. It is also one of the burdens of magic—you must accept the results, even the death, of others, to protect the hope for the future. Selfishness costs the lives, the chances of those yet unborn.”

Kahlan nodded. “I promise.”

“Me too,” Richard said. “Zedd, is it over? With Darken Rahl, I mean. Is he dead?”

Zedd gave Richard a look he found unexpectedly uncomfortable. “Darken Rahl is dead.” Zedd put a thin hand on Richard’s shoulder, his bony fingers gripping tightly. “You have gotten it right, Richard, all of it. You scared the wits out of me. I have never seen a performance to match it.”

Richard grinned in pride. “Just a little trick.”

Zedd nodded, his white hair sticking out in every direction, looking wild. “More than a trick, my boy. More than little.”

They all turned when they heard the sound of someone approaching. Chase came dragging Michael in by the scruff of his neck. His dirty white trousers and shirt spoke that he had not come willingly. Chase gave him a shove, forcing him in front of Richard.

Richard’s mood darkened at seeing his brother. Michael’s defiant eyes came up to meet Richard’s gaze.

“I’ll not be treated in this manner, little brother.” His voice was as condescending as it had ever been. “You don’t know what you’ve interfered with, what I was trying to do, how I would have helped everyone by uniting Westland and D’Hara. You have doomed the people to needless suffering that Darken Rahl could have spared. You are a fool.”

Richard thought about all he had been though, about all that Zedd, and Chase, and Kahlan had been through. He thought about all those he knew who had died at Rahl’s hands, and the countless number of dead he would never know of. The suffering, the cruelty, the brutality. He thought of all the tyrants allowed to flourish under Darken Rahl, all the way from Darken Rahl himself down to Princess Violet. He thought of those he had killed. He felt pain and grief at the things he had had to do.

The metallic ring of the Sword of Truth filled the air. Michael’s eyes went wide at seeing its point at his throat.

Richard leaned a little closer to his brother. “Give me the loser’s salute, Michael.”

Michael’s face turned crimson. “I would rather die first.”

Richard nodded as he straightened. He looked deep into his brother’s eyes as he took the sword away. Richard pulled the anger back, tried to make the sword turn white. It would not. He slid the blade home into its scabbard.

“I’m glad to see we have one thing in common, Michael. We would both die for what we believe in.” He took his gaze from Michael, to the big, crescent battleaxe hanging at Chase’s belt. His eyes came up to the boundary warden’s grim face. “Execute him,” he whispered. “Take his head to his personal guard. Tell them he was executed by my order, for treason against Westland. Westland will have to find a new First Councilor.”

Chase’s big fist grabbed Michael by the hair. Michael screamed out, falling to his knees, giving the loser’s salute.

“Richard! Please, I’m your brother! Don’t do this! Don’t let him kill me! I’m sorry, forgive me. I was wrong. Please, Richard, forgive me.”

Richard stared down at his brother, who was on his knees before him, his hands together, imploring. Richard held out the Agiel in his fist, feeling the pain it gave him, tolerating it, remembering it, the visions flashing through his mind. “Darken Rahl told you what he was going to do to me. You knew. You knew what was going to happen to me, and you were indifferent because it brought you personal gain. Michael, I forgive everything you have done against me.”