Plot

Temple of the Winds picks up shortly after where the last volume, Blood of the Fold, left off. A wizard named Marlin, appears in Aydindril announcing his intent to kill Richard Rahl. He is immediately captured and questioned by the Mother Confessor, Kahlan Amnell, and one of Richard's bodyguards, Cara. Cara uses her Mord-Sith ability to capture Marlin's gift when he tries to escape, but the link between Cara and Marlin is used against her when Emperor Jagang takes possession of Marlin soon thereafter. Later a woman from Richard's past appears, Nadine, a herbalist from the Westland. She attempts to heal Cara, but fails. Richard's half-brother Drefan, a high priest of a sect of healers, does however succeed in curing Cara. Meanwhile, Zedd and Prelate Annalina continue their search for the unleashed Nathan Rahl. Their search leads them to a run down inn in an unnamed city, where they discover that Nathan misled them into following another man. The man then gives them a message informing them not to follow Nathan but to protect a treasure instead. A Sister of the Dark, who was also following Nathan, ends up getting caught in a snare Zedd intended for the Prophet Rahl. Richard and Berdine continue to work on the translation of the journal of Kolo, a dead wizard found in the depths of the Wizard's Keep. In the midst of all these activities, a Sister of the Dark travels through Aydindril spreading a magical plague. In a search for a cure, Richard travels to the First Wizard's Enclave. In order to save the people of the Midlands from the plague, Kahlan Amnell must betray Richard in order to allow him to enter the Temple of the Winds. In doing so, Richard saves the people of the Midlands, but in order to return, he pays the price of knowledge, leaving the Temple with something that no vast library of knowledge can ever teach - understanding. Through this, Richard is saved from the life of the eternally condemned. Meanwhile, Nathan rescues a woman named Clarissa from a life of slavery in the Imperial Order. He then builds a relationship with the woman and uses her to obtain items from Jagang that were given under a tentative deal struck between Nathan (acting as Lord Rahl at the time) and the Emperor. When Richard returns, Kahlan learns that she must destroy a book in order to save Richard, so she travels to the Old World in the sliph. Upon her arrival she finds Nathan, Sister Verna, and Warren in a compromised situation, and she immediately spring into action to aid them. Clarissa is killed in the struggle by traitors. With the book, Kahlan returns to Aydindril, but a battle ensues with Drefan, and she is unable to defeat him. Luckily, Richard arrives and disables Drefan by ripping his spine out through his stomach. When Richard rushes to Kahlan's side, the still-conscious Drefan gets up and prepares to attack him, but is killed by the sliph. Kahlan destroys the book, and Richard is cured of the plague. Richard and Kahlan travel to the land of the Mud People to be wed, where they meet up with Zedd and Ann. Richard and Kahlan are soon thereafter wed and are visited by the witch woman Shota, who once again warns them not to conceive a child.