Richard put a hand on her shoulder in a signal for her to wait. "Drefan, Nadine, do either of you have anything for a headache? A really bad headache?" "I have some herbs that will help, Richard," Nadine offered. "I have something better." Drefan leaned closer to Richard. "It's called sleep. Perhaps you recall having experienced it in the past?" "Drefan, I know that I've been awake for a while, but-" "Many days and nights." Drefan held up a finger. "If you try to mask the outcome of lack of sleep with so-called remedies, you do yourself no service. The headache will return, worse than before. You will ruin your strength. You will be no good to yourself, or anyone else." "Drefan is right," Kahlan said.

Without looking up, Berdine turned the page she was reading in the journal. "I agree. I feel much better since I got some sleep." Berdine seemed to have finally noticed that there were other people around. "Now that I'm alert, I can think better."

Richard warded their insistence with a lifted hand. "I know. Soon, I promise. Now, what was it you wanted to tell me, Berdine?"

"What?" She was reading again. "Oh. I found out where the Temple of the Winds is."

Richard's brow went up. "What?"

"After I got some sleep, I could think more clearly. I realized that we were limiting our search by looking for a limited number of key words, so I tried to think of what the old wizards would do in their situation. I reasoned that-" "Where is it!" Richard bellowed.

Berdine finally looked up and blinked. "The Temple of the Winds is located atop the Mountain of the Four Winds."

Berdine noticed Raina for the first time. The two women smiled in greeting, their eyes sharing a private warmth.

Kahlan shrugged to Richard's questioning look. "Berdine, that's not much help unless you can tell us where it is."

Berdine frowned a moment, and then waved in apology. "Oh. Sorry. That's the translation"-she frowned again-"I think." Richard swiped a hand across his face. "What does Kolo call it?" Berdine flipped the page back and turned the book, tapping a finger at a place in the writing.

Richard squinted. "Berglendursch ost Kymermossf," he read from the journal. "Mountain of the Four Winds."

"Actually," Berdine said, "Berglendursch means more than just mountain. Berglen is 'mountain, and dursch can sometimes mean 'rock, though it can also mean other things, like 'strong-willed, but in this case I think it means something more along the lines of rock mountain, or great mountain made of rock. You know, rocky mountain of the four winds. . something like that." Kahlan shifted her weight on her tired feet. "Mount Kymermosst?" Berdine scratched her nose. "Yes. That sounds like it could be the same place." "That has to be the same place," Richard said, looking hopeful for the first time in hours. "Do you know where it is?"

"Yes. I've been on Mount Kymermosst," Kahlan said. "There's no doubt about its being windy up there-and rocky. There are some old ruins atop the mountain, but nothing like a temple."

"Maybe the ruins are the temple," Berdine offered. "We don't know how big it is. A temple can be small." "No, I don't think so, in this case."

"Why?" Richard asked. "What's up there? How far is it?" "It's not far to the northeast. Maybe a day's ride, depending. Two at the most. It's a pretty inhospitable place. As treacherous as the old trail going up and over the mountain is, going over Mount Kymermosst prevents you from having to go through some very difficult country and saves days of travel.

"At the top is the site of some old ruins. Just some kind of outbuildings, from the look of them. I've seen a lot of grand places: I recognize, architecturally, that what's up there isn't the main structure. They're something like the outbuildings here, at the Confessors' Palace. There's a road through the buildings, a bit like the grand promenade here going through the outbuildings."

Richard hooked a thumb behind his wide leather belt. "Well, where does it go, this grand road?"

Kahlan stared into his gray eyes. "Right to the edge of a cliff. The buildings are at the edge of a cliff. That sheer stone wall drops off for maybe three or four thousand feet."

"Is there any kind of stairway carved in the cliff? Something leading down to the temple itself?"

"Richard, you don't understand. The buildings are hard on the edge of the cliff. It's obvious that the buildings, walls, and the road itself went on, because they're sheared off abruptly right at the edge. There used to be more of the mountain there. It's gone now. It's all fallen away. A rockslide, or something. What was beyond the ruins, the main structure and the mountain, is gone."

"That's what Kolo said. The team returned, and the Temple of the Winds was gone." Richard looked devastated. "They must have used magic to tear away the side of the mountain, to bury the Temple of the Winds so no one could ever go there again."

"Well," Berdine sighed, "I'll keep looking in the journal to see if he says anything about the Temple of the Winds falling in a rockslide, or avalanche." Richard nodded. "Maybe there's more about it in the journal." "Lord Rahl, will you have time to help me before you go off to be married?" A chill silence filled the grand hall.

"Berdine-" Richard's mouth worked, but no more words were forthcoming. "I heard the soldiers are well," Berdine said, looking briefly at Kahlan and then back at Richard. "You told me that you and the Mother Confessor would be leaving to be wedded just as soon as the soldiers were well. The soldiers are well." She grinned. "I know that I'm your favorite, but you haven't changed your mind, have you? Gotten cold feet?"

She waited expectantly, seeming not to notice that no one was smiling at her joke. Richard looked numb. He couldn't say it. Kahlan knew that he feared speaking the words, feared he would break her heart.

"Berdine," Kahlan said into the heavy hush, "Richard and I won't be going away to be married. The wedding is called off. For now, anyway."

Even though she had whispered the words, they seemed to echo off the marble walls as if she had shouted them.

Nadine's intently blank face spoke more than if she had grinned. It was somehow worse that she didn't, because it made it all the more obvious that she was schooling her expression, yet no one could have cause to reproach her. "Called off?" Berdine blinked in astonishment. "Why?" Richard stared down at Berdine, not daring to look at Kahlan. "Berdine, Jagang started a plague in Aydindril. That's what the prophecy down in the pit was about. Our duty is to the people here, not to our own. . How would it look if. .? ' He fell silent. The journal in her hands lowered. "I'm sorry."

CHAPTER 32

Kahlan stared out the window at the falling night, at the falling snow. Behind her, Richard sat at his desk, his gold cloak laid over the arm of his chair. He was working on the journal with Berdine while he waited for the officers to arrive. Berdine did most of the talking. He grunted occasionally when she told him what she thought a word meant, and why. Kahlan didn't think that as tired as he was he was much use to Berdine.

Kahlan glanced back over her shoulder. Drefan and Nadine were huddled together beside the hearth. Richard had asked them to come along to answer any questions the generals might have. Nadine confined her attention to Drefan, scrupulously avoiding looking at Richard, and especially at Kahlan. Probably because she knew that Kahlan would detect the glint of triumph in her eyes.

No. This wasn't a triumph for Nadine-for Shota. This was only a postponement. Just until. . until what? Until they could halt a plague? Until most of the people of Aydindril died? Until they themselves got the plague and died, as the prophecy foretold?