 At the end of the "Soul of the Fire" Richard realizes that he cannot win against Emperor Jagang until the people themselves want to fight for freedom.Because of this mindset Richard isolates himself in the woods, to allow Kahlan time to heal, and refuses to give orders to the D'Haran army.After Kahlan has made a significant recovery, Nicci arrives and captures Kahlan by using a maternity spell, linking herself to Kahlan and enabling herself to kill Kahlan at any time.