Kahlan kept going. "From a wizard? I don't think so. Besides, if Nicholas were to see such a force coming he would probably pour the antidote in the river. Then what? We have to do as he demands. We have to get our hands on the antidote, get it safely away from them."

"What makes you think that after Nicholas has you he won't then pour it in the river?" Tom asked.

"We'll have to make the exchange in a way that best insures we get the antidote. We aren't going to rely on his goodwill and honesty. Owen and Jennsen are pristinely ungifted. They won't be harmed by his magic. They can help make sure we get the antidote in the exchange."

Jennsen pulled her hair away from her face as she leaned close.

"Kahlan, you can't do this. You can't. Please, Richard will go crazy- we all will. Please, for his sake, don't do this."

"At least he will be alive to go crazy."

Tears streamed down Jennsen's face. "But this is suicide!"

Kahlan watched the buildings, the streets, making sure there were no troops to hem them in. "Let's hope Nicholas thinks so, too." *

"Mother Confessor," Owen pleaded, "you can't do this. This is what Lord Rahl has shown us is wrong. You can't bargain with a man like Nicholas. You can't try to appease evil."

"I have no intention of appeasing Nicholas."

Jennsen wiped tears from her cheek. "What do you mean?"

Kahlan stiffened her resolve. "What is our best chance of getting rid of the Imperial Order in this city-and all of Bandakar? Eliminating Nicholas. How better to get close to him than to make him think he has won?"

Jennsen blinked in surprise. "You intend to touch him with your power.

That's what you're thinking, isn't it? You think you will have a chance to touch him with your Confessor power."

"If I get him in my sight, he's dead."

"Richard would never agree to this," Jennsen said.

"I'm not asking him. This is my decision."

Tom stepped in front of her, blocking the way. "Mother Confessor, I'm sworn to protect the Lord Rahl, and I understand risking your life to protect him-but this is different. You may be acting to try to save his life, but at what cost? We would lose too much. You can't do this."

Owen moved around in front of her, too. "I agree. Lord Rahl will be more than crazy if you exchange yourself for the antidote."

Jennsen nodded her agreement. "He will kill us all. He will take off our heads for allowing you to do this."

Kahlan smiled at their tense expressions. She put a hand to the side of Jennsen's face.

"Remember back just after we'd met you, and I told you that there were times when there was no choice but to act?"

Jennsen nodded, her tears returning.

"This is one of those times. Richard is getting sicker by the day. He's dying. If he doesn't get the antidote, he has no chance and will soon be dead. That's the truth of the way things are.

"How can we let this chance slip away from us? There are no more opportunities after this. Our chances to save him will forever be lost. It will be the end. I don't want to live without him. I don't want the rest of our people to live without him.

"If I do this, then Richard will live. If Richard lives, then there will still be a chance for me, too. I can touch Nicholas with my power, or Richard and the rest of you can think of something to do to save me.

"But if Richard dies, then our chances end."

"But, Mother Confessor," Jennsen sobbed, "if you do this, then we'll lose you…."

Kahlan looked to each face, her anger rising. "If any of you have a better idea, then put words to it. Otherwise, you are risking me losing the only chance left."

No one had anything to say. Kahlan was the only one with a realistic plan of action. The rest of them had only wishes. Wishing would not save Richard.

Kahlan started out once again, hurrying her pace to get there in time.

CHAPTER 57

Kahlan paused in the quiet darkness not far from the bridge. She could just make out what appeared to be a burly man standing on the other side. He was all alone. She couldn't see his face, or tell what he looked like. She scanned the far bank of the river, along with the trees and buildings she could make out in the moonlight, looking for soldiers, or anyone else.

Jennsen clutched her arm. "Kahlan… please." Her voice was choked with tears.

Kahlan felt oddly calm. There were no options for her to weigh, so she suffered no gnawing indecision; there was only one choice. Richard lived, or he died. It was as simple as that. The choice was clear.

Her mind was made up, and with that came clarity and determination. She could now focus on what she was to do.

The river through the city was larger than Kahlan had expected. The steep banks to each side, in this area, anyway, were a few dozen feet high and lined with stone blocks. The bridge itself, wide enough for wagons to pass each other, had two arches to make the span and side rails with simple stone caps. The waters below were dark and swift. It was not a river she would want to have to try to swim.

Kahlan approached as far as the foot of the bridge and stopped. The man on the other side watched her.

"Do you have the antidote?" she called over to him.

He lifted what looked like a little bottle high above his head. He lowered the arm and pointed to the bridge. He wanted her to come across.

"Mother Confessor," Owen pleaded, "won't you reconsider?"

She gazed into his wet eyes. "Reconsider what? If I will have Richard live rather than let him succumb to the poison? If I will try to kill Nicholas in order to make it possible to defeat them and for your people to have a better chance to free themselves? How would I ever live with myself if Richard died without the antidote and I knew there was something I could have done that would have saved him and also have given me a chance to get close enough to Nicholas to eliminate him?

"I couldn't live with myself if I failed to do this.

"We are fighting this war to stop people like this, people who bring death upon us, people who want us dead because they cannot stand that we live our lives as we wish, that we are successful and happy. These people hate life; they worship death. They demand that we do the same and join them in their misery.

"As Mother Confessor, I decreed vengeance without mercy against the Imperial Order. Changing from our course is suicide. I will not reconsider."

"What would you have us tell Lord Rahl?" Tom asked.

She smiled. "That I love him, but he knows that."

Kahlan unbuckled her sword belt and handed it to Jennsen. "Owen, come with me."

Kahlan started out, but Jennsen threw her arms around her and hugged her fiercely. "Don't worry," she whispered. "We'll get the antidote to Richard, and then we'll come back for you."

Kahlan hugged Jennsen briefly, whispered her thanks, and then started onto the bridge. Owen walked at her side, saying nothing.

The man on the far side watched, but stayed where he was.

In the center of the bridge, Kahlan stopped. "Bring the bottle," she called across.

"Come over here and you can have it."

"If you want me, you will come to the center of the bridge and give the bottle to this man to take back, as Nicholas offered."

The man stood for a time, as if considering. He looked like a soldier.

He didn't match the description of Nicholas that Owen had given her.

Finally, he started onto the arch of the bridge. Owen whispered that it looked like the commander he had seen with Nicholas. Kahlan waited, watching the man walk through the moonlight. He wore a knife at one side and a sword at his other hip.

When he had almost reached her, he came to a halt and waited.

Kahlan held her hand out. "The note said we were to trade. Me for what Nicholas has."