"That's right!" Zedd said, throwing his hands up. "I haven't seen Cat for ages! Is Lee treating Cat well?"

Rachel nodded earnestly. "Oh, yes. We all take good care of Cat."

"What do you think, Rachel?" Chase finally asked. "Would you want to live here in this dusty old place with Zedd?"

Rachel ran over and hugged Chase's leg. "Oh, yes, can we, please? It would be ever so grand."

Chase sighed. "Then I guess it's settled. But you'll have to behave and not bother Zedd by being too loud."

"I promise," Rachel said. She frowned up at Zedd. "Will Mother have to crawl into the Keep through that little tunnel, like we did?"

Zedd chuckled. "No, no, we'll let her come in the proper way, like the lady she is." He turned to Friedrich. "How about it, boundary warden? Would you be willing to continue doing Lord Rahl's bidding and stay to help guard the Keep?"

Friedrich slowly spun the bird carving by the tip of one wing, thinking.

"You know," Zedd added, "while you're waiting for some fearsome attack, there are any number of old gilded things here at the Keep that are in terrible need of repair. Perhaps you would consider taking on the job of being the Keep's official gilder? We have plenty of gold leaf. And, someday, when the people return to Aydindril, you would have a steady supply of customers."

Friedrich stared down at the table. "I don't know. This one adventure was all well and good, but since my wife, Althea, died, I don't seem to be interested in much."

Zedd nodded. "I know how it is. I used to have a wife. I think it would do you good to get paid to do something needed."

Friedrich smiled. "All right, then. I will take your job, wizard."

"Good," Chase said. "I'll have someone to help me when I need to lock troublesome children in the dungeon."

Rachel giggled as he set her on the ground.

Chase pushed his chair back and stood. "Well, Friedrich, if we're going to be Keep wardens, then I think we ought to make some rounds and satisfy ourselves about the security of a few things. As big as this place is, Rikka could use the help."

"Just mind the shields," Zedd reminded them as they headed for the door.

After the two men had gone off, Rachel got Zedd another biscuit to go with the rest of his stew. Her little brow bunched together earnestly.

"When we live here, we'll try to be real quiet for you, Zedd."

"Well, you know, Rachel, the Keep is a big place. I doubt you would bother me much if you and your brothers and sisters wanted to play a little bit."

"Really?"

Zedd pulled the leather-covered ball painted with faded blue and pink zigzagged lines all around it out of his pocket and set it on the table.

Rachel's eyes lit up in astonishment.

"I found this old ball," he said, gesturing with his biscuit. "I think a ball has a much better time if it has someone to play with it. Do you think you and your brothers and sisters might like to play with this when you live here? You can bounce it down the halls to your heart's content."

Her mouth fell open. "Really, Zedd?"

Zedd grinned at the look on her face. "Really."

"Maybe I can bounce it in the dark hall that makes the funny noises.

Then it wouldn't bother you any more than now."

"This old place is full of funny noises-and a bouncing ball isn't liable to cause too much trouble."

She climbed up in his lap and put her little arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"It's a lot better hugging you now that you found those things to get that awful collar off your neck."

Zedd rubbed her back as she hugged him. "Yes, it is, little one; yes, it is."

She leaned back and looked at him. "I wish Richard and Kahlan could be here to play with the ball, too. I miss them something fierce."

Zedd smiled. "Me, too, little one. Me, too."

She frowned at him. "Don't get tears, Zedd. I won't make a lot of noise to bother you."

Zedd shook a bony finger at her. "I'm afraid you have a lot to learn about playing with a ball."

"I do?"

"Of course. Laughing goes with playing with a ball like biscuits go with stew."

She frowned at him, not sure if he was telling the truth.

He set her on the floor. "Tell you what. Why don't you come with me and I'll show you."

"Really, Zedd?"

Zedd stood up and mussed her hair. "Really."

He scooped the ball off the table. "Let's see if you can show this ball how to have a good time."

CHAPTER 66

Richard rested his back against a rock in the shade of a stand of white oaks as he gazed off at the line of silver maples shimmering in the breeze.

The air smelled fresh after the rain of the day before. The clouds had moved on and left a clear, bright blue sky behind. His head finally felt clear, as well.

It had taken three days, but he was finally recovered from the effects of the poison. His gift had not only helped bring Kahlan back from the brink, but himself as well.

The people of the town of Witherton were just beginning to try to put their lives back together. With all the people they'd lost, it was going to be difficult for them. There were gaping holes where there used to be friends or members of families. Still, now that they were free there was the beginning of a vibrant sense of their future being better.

But just because they were free, that did not mean they would stay that way.

Richard gazed up the broad valley beyond the town. People were out working with their crops and tending to the animals. They were going back to their lives. He was impatient to be on his way, and back to his own life.

This place had kept them from important business, from people who had been waiting for them.

He guessed that this place had been important business as well. It was hard telling what this all had begun, or what the future would hold.

For sure, the world would never be the same.

Richard saw Kahlan coming out through the gate, Cara beside her. Betty frolicked along at their side, eager to see where they were going. Jennsen must have let the goat go for a romp. Betty had grown up and spent her entire life on the move. She'd never stayed in one place for long. Maybe that was why she always wanted to follow Richard and Kahlan. She recognized family and wanted to be with them.

"So, what's she going to do?" Richard asked Kahlan as she came close and set her pack down beside Richard's.

"I don't know." With the flat of her hand to her brow, Kahlan shielded her eyes from the sunlight. "I think she wants to tell you first."

Cara set her pack beside Kahlan's. "I think she's torn and doesn't know what to do."

"How do you feel?" Kahlan asked as she reached down and with her fingertips rubbed the back of his shoulder. Her gentle touch was a calming connection.

Richard smiled up at her. "I keep telling you, I'm fine."

He tore off a strip of dried venison and chewed as he watched Jennsen, Tom, Owen, Marilee, Anson, and a small group of the men finally emerge through the gates and make their way across the waving field of waist-high green grass.

"I'm hungry," Kahlan said. "Can I have some?"

"Sure." Richard pulled strips of the meat from his pack, stood, and handed a piece to both Kahlan and Cara.

"Lord Rahl," Anson said, waving, as the group joined Richard, Kahlan, and Cara in the shade of the oaks, "we wanted to come out to say good-bye and see you off. Maybe we will walk with you toward the pass?"

Richard swallowed. "We'd like that."

Owen frowned. "Lord Rahl, why are you eating meat? You just healed your gift. Won't you harm your balance?"

Richard smiled. "No. You see, incorrectly trying to apply a false notion of balance was what caused the problem I was having with my gift."

Owen looked puzzled. "What do you mean? You said that you must not eat meat as the balance to the killing you sometimes must do. After the battle at the fortification, don't you need to balance your gift all the more?"