Tristan bowed. "I realize that, and you will know my stand by tomorrow. Lord Rahl. You have my word. Good night, then."

Richard rounded on the rest of them. "We have a lot of work to do tomorrow. It's very late. As Drefan is constantly reminding me, we need to get some sleep. You all have your orders. Any questions'?" Each answered with a silent shake of the head.

Two hours after they had returned to the palace, and Richard had sent them all to bed, Kahlan thought she saw something move in her room.

The lamp on the far wall was turned down low. The clouds hid the moon, so there was no light coming in the glassed doors to the balcony. The thick carpets silenced the sound of footsteps, if there were any. The weak flame from the lamp was all that betrayed the shape she thought she saw.

Another motion came from across the room-a hint of shadowed movement. She hadn't seen a person enter her rooms; it could be nothing other than her imagination. The day had left her in an edgy state.

With the next silent step, there was no doubt: there was someone in her room. Someone slipped ever closer to her bed. As furtive as the movements were, he had closed the distance in remarkably short order.

Kahlan didn't move a muscle as she saw the knife glint in the dim lamplight. She held her breath.

A powerful arm stabbed hatefully into her bed. The arm rose and fell, stabbing in quick succession.

With a finger, Richard pushed on the balcony door. It swung open on silent hinges. Berdine glided across the room the instant Richard gave her a hand signal. When she was in place, he tapped the glass once. Berdine turned up the wick on the lamp.

Tristan Bashkar straightened beside Kahlan's bed, knife in hand, panting with the effort of what he had just been doing.

'Toss down the knife, ambassador," Richard said in a quiet tone. Tristan spun the knife in his fingers, seizing the blade in preparation to throw it.

Berdine's Agiel to the back of his neck dropped him instantly. She pressed the Agiel down on his shoulder to support herself as she bent and picked up the knife. Tristan howled in pain.

Berdine straightened, coming up with three knives. "You were right, Richard," Drefan said from behind. "I can't believe it," Nadine said as she stepped up into the lamplight. "Believe it," General Kerson said as he, too, came in from the balcony. "I'd say Tristan Bashkar has nullified his immunity as a diplomat."

Richard put two fingers between his lips and whistled. Raina charged through the door ahead of a large contingent of D'Haran soldiers bristling steel. Two of them lit more lamps.

Richard hooked his thumbs behind his belt as he stood beside Kahlan, a towering black form defined with gold trim on his tunic and silver ornaments, buckles, and wristbands, watching the soldiers haul Tristan to his feet.

"You were right, Richard," she said. "He attacked Nadine to draw the guard off me. It was me he was after all along."

For a while, she had thought he had lost his mind. His performance had convinced everyone, including Tristan. "Thanks for believing me." Richard whispered.

When he had first told her what he was doing. Kahlan had suspected that Richard had accused Tristan because of the incident earlier. Kahlan had not put words to it, but she had wondered if Richard was simply acting out of jealousy.

Since she had told him what Shota said, he had now twice displayed jealousy. something she had never before seen from him. He didn't have any reason to be jealous, but Shota's words played on his mind. casting in doubt.

Whenever she looked at Nadine. Kahlan understood his feelings. Whenever she saw Nadine so much as standing near him. Kahlan felt the hot claws of jealousy rake through her insides.

She knew that Shota and the spirit had told her the truth. She knew that she would not have Richard. Her mind tried to put rational thought to it. to tell her that it would work out. that they would be together, but her heart knew better. Richard would marry Nadine. Kahlan would marry another man.

Richard refused to believe it. At least, he said he refused to believe it. She wondered.

In her mind's eye, Kahlan saw Clive Anderson, sitting dead in his chair, holding his dead wife. In comparison to the tragedy that had befallen the Anderson family and so many others, what price was an unhappy marriage? Wouldn't it be worth that price, if it would stop the appalling suffering and death?

Nadine slipped up next to Richard on the other side. "Drawing the guard off Kahlan or not. I'd have been dead. Thank you, Richard. I've never seen anything like the way you caught that arrow right in front of my face."

Richard gave her a quick, one-armed hug. "Nadine, you've said thank you enough times. You'd have done the same for me."

Kahlan felt those hot claws again. She suppressed the feeling. As Shota had said. if she loved him, she would want him to have at least the small comfort of it being someone he knew.

"But what if he had killed me? I mean. if he just wanted to draw the guard away from Kahlan, what if he had killed me? What good would that have that done him?"

"He knows I have the gift, and counted on that. If he had happened to kill you. it might still have worked, or he could have faked something similar with Drefan. reinforcing our belief that the target was healers and not Kahlan." "Why didn't he just shoot Kahlan with the arrow?"

Richard watched the one-sided struggle on the other side of Kahlan's bed. "Because he likes to use that knife of his. He wanted to feel it when he killed her."

His words gave Kahlan a chill. She knew Tristan; Richard might be right. Tristan would have gotten pleasure from it.

The soldiers wrestled Tristan's arms behind his back as they hauled him to his feet. He was still full of fight, but he was grossly overpowered. More lamps were lit as the room filled with soldiers.

Kahlan felt embarrassed to have all those people in her bedroom. She guessed it was because the Mother Confessor's rooms had always been a private sanctuary. A safe place.

A man had invaded that sanctuary. A man intent on stabbing her to death. "What's this all about?" Tristan shouted.

"Oh, we just thought we'd like to watch a man stabbing a nightdress stuffed with tow," Richard said.

General Kerson inspected the prisoner to assure himself that Berdine had found all his weapons. When he was satisfied, he turned to Richard. "What would you like done, Lord Rahl?" "Behead him."

Kahlan turned in shock. "Richard, you can't do that." "You saw him. He thought he was killing you."

"But he didn't. He only stabbed my empty bed. The spirits mark a difference between intent and deed." "He tried to kill Nadine, too."

"I did no such thing!" Tristan shouted. "That wasn't me-I haven't even left the palace tonight!"

Richard turned a cold glare on Tristan. "You have white hairs on your knees. White goat hairs. You knelt behind that fence while you aimed the crossbow, and got the goat hairs on you."

Kahlan glanced down, and saw that Richard was right. "You're crazy! I never did!"

"Richard," Kahlan said, "he didn't kill Nadine, either. He may have tried, but he didn't. You can't execute him for intent."

Richard closed his fist around the amulet at his chest, the amulet representing the dance with death. No mercy.

The general's eyes left Kahlan and returned to Richard. "Lord Rahl?" "Richard," Kahlan insisted, "you can't."

Richard glared at Tristan. "He killed those women. He sliced them up with his fancy knife. You like to cut people, don't you, Tristan?" "What are you talking about? I never killed anyone-except in war!" "No," Richard said, "and you didn't try to kill Kahlan, and you didn't try to kill Nadine, and there aren't white goat hairs on your pants."