Her voice trailed off. She hooked a stray strand of hair behind an ear.

"Look, Richard, Owen went in there before; he can go in there again."

Richard saw desperation in her eyes. She was terrified of losing him.

He hated that he was making her afraid.

"That's right, Lord Rahl," Owen assured him. "I will get the antidote and bring it to you."

"While we're waiting, you can get some rest," Kahlan said. "Some sleep would do you more good than anything else until they bring back the antidote."

Richard couldn't debate how tired he was. He still didn't like the idea of not going himself.

"Tom could go with him," Cara suggested.

Richard looked up into Cara's blue eyes. He looked up into Kahlan's eyes. He knew he had already lost this argument.

"How far is this place?" Richard asked Owen.

"A goodly distance. Here, we are just at the fringe of the city. I wanted to take us to a place where we would be less likely to encounter soldiers. The antidote is at most an hour distant. I thought it best if we were not too far into the city if we had to get back out, but we are close enough so that you will not have long to wait for the antidote."

Richard nodded. "All right. We'll wait here for you and Tom."

Kahlan paced in the small, damp basement as the others sat against the wall, waiting in silence. She couldn't stand the tension. It felt too much like a deathwatch.

They were so close that it made it seem impossibly far. They had waited so long that the small amount of time left seemed an eternity that would never end. Kahlan told herself to calm down. Shortly, Richard would have the antidote. He would be better, then. He would be cured of the poison, then.

But what if it didn't work? What if he had already waited so long that he was beyond any cure? No, the man who had made the poison and the antidote had told Owen that this last dose would cure Richard of the poison for good.

Because of the beliefs of these people, they would be certain that the poison was reversible. They would never have used it if they believed it would risk a life.

But what if what they believed was wrong?

Kahlan rubbed her shoulders as she paced, and admonished herself to stop inventing problems to worry about. They had enough real problems without letting her imagination get carried away. They would get the antidote and then they would address the problem with Richard's gift. After that, they had to turn their attention to larger issues of Jagang and his army.

When Kahlan glanced over and saw that Richard had fallen sound asleep, she decided to go outside and watch for Owen and Tom. Cara, leaning against the wall beside Richard, guarding him while he slept, nodded when Kahlan whispered to her, telling her where she was going. Jennsen, seeing that Kahlan was heading for the door, quietly followed her out. Betty had fallen asleep beside Richard, so Jennsen left her there.

The moonlit night had cooled. Kahlan thought she should be sleepy, but she was wide awake. She followed the brick path out between the buildings toward the alley.

"Owen will be back soon," Jennsen said. "Try not to worry. It will be over, soon."

Kahlan glanced over in the dark. "Even after he has the antidote, we still have his gift to worry about. Zedd is too far. We're going to have to get to Nicci right away. She is the only one close enough that might know what to do to help him."

"Do you think the trouble with his gift is getting worse?"

Kahlan was haunted by the pain she so often saw in his eyes. But there was more to it.

"When he used the sword the last two times I could see that even the sword's magic had failed him. He's in more trouble with his gift than he will admit."

Jennsen chewed her lower lip as she watched Kahlan pace. "Tonight he will have the antidote," she finally said in soft assurance. "Soon, we can be on our way to Nicci."

Kahlan turned when she thought she heard a noise in the distance. It had sounded like the crunch of a footstep. Two dark figures appeared off at the end of the alleyway. By the way one of them towered over the other, Kahlan was pretty sure that it was Tom and Owen. She wanted to run to meet them, but she knew how deadly tricks could be, so she drew Jennsen back with her around the corner of the building, into the darkest part of the shadows.

This was no time to get careless.

When the two men reached the narrow walkway and started to turn in.

Kahlan stepped out in front of them, prepared to unleash her power if necessary.

"Mother Confessor-it's me, Tom, and Owen," Tom whispered.

Jennsen let out a breath. "Are we ever glad to see you back."

Owen looked both ways down the alley. When he turned to check, Kahlan saw moonlight reflect off tears running down his face.

"Mother Confessor, we have trouble," Tom said.

Owen spread his hands. "Mother Confessor, I, I…"

Kahlan grabbed his shirt in both fists. "What's wrong? The antidote was there, wasn't it? You have it, don't you?"

"No." Owen choked back his tears and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Instead of the bottle of antidote, I found this in its hiding place."

Kahlan snatched it out of his hands. With trembling fingers, she unfolded the paper. She turned as she held it close so she could read it in the light of the moon.

/ have the antidote. I also hold by a thread the lives of the people of Bandakar. I can end all their lives as easily as I can end the life of Richard Rahl./ will give over the antidote and the lives of all the people in this empire in exchange for the Mother Confessor.

Bring the Mother Confessor to the bridge over the river one mile to the east of where you are. In one hour, if I do not have the Mother Confessor, I will pour the antidote in the river and then I will see to it that all the people of this city die.

Signed, Emperor Nicholas Kahlan, her heart racing out of control, started east.

Tom grabbed her arm and held her back. "Mother Confessor, I know what it says."

Kahlan's hands wouldn't stop shaking. "Then you know why I have no choice."

Jennsen put herself in front of Kahlan to stop her from starting out once again. "What does the letter say?"

"Nicholas wants me in exchange for the antidote."

Jennsen put her hands against Kahlan's shoulders to stop her. "What?"

"That's what the letter says. Nicholas wants me in exchange for the lives of everyone else in this empire and the antidote to save Richard's life."

"The lives of everyone else… but how could he carry out such a threat?"

"Nicholas is a wizard. There are any number of deadly things available to such a man. If nothing else, he could use wizard's fire and incinerate the entire city."

"But his magic won't harm the people here-they're pristinely un-gifted, the same as me."

"If he uses wizard's fire to set a building ablaze, like we did to those soldiers sleeping back in Owen's town, it won't matter to the people inside how the fire started. Once the buildings catch fire, then it's just regular fire-fire that will kill anyone. If not that, Nicholas has soldiers here. He could immediately start executing people. He could have thousands beheaded in hardly any time at all. I can't even imagine what else he could do, but he put this letter where the antidote was hidden, so I know he's not bluffing."

Kahlan stepped around Jennsen and started out again. She couldn't make herself stop trembling. She tried to slow her racing heart, but that didn't work, either. Richard had to have the antidote. That was what mattered. She focused her attention ahead as she marched swiftly up the dark street.

Tom paced along beside her, opposite Jennsen. "Mother Confessor, wait.

We have to think this out."

"I already have."

"We can take a force of men to the meeting place-take the antidote by force."