Benjamin Meiffert was a former Captain in the D'Haran Army, but became its commanding general after all higher officers were killed in battles with the Imperial Order. He was loyal to Richard Rahl, Lord Rahl of D'Hara and Kahlan Amnell, Mother Confessor of the Midlands. General Meiffert later married Cara and became the Commander General of the First File.
Biography[]
Imperial Order War[]
Anderith[]
Captain Meiffert was in charge of the thousand men sent to protect Richard and Kahlan while they were in Anderith.
Messenger[]
Captain Meiffert was sent by General Reibisch to deliver general status reports from the D'Haran Army to Richard. Upon arrival, Cara "tickled" Meiffert's ribs with her Agiel. She jokingly offered to kiss them, but the offer was refused. Richard also made a joke about offering Meiffert Cara's hand in marriage, hinting at a future relationship between the two.
Meiffert was then sent back to Reibisch and the D'Haran forces by Richard, telling them that Richard wanted no more status reports because he had had a vision that had forewarned him to avoid frontal assault on the Imperial Order and involvement in the military campaign.
Promotion[]
When Kahlan returned to the Army after Richard was taken captive by Nicci, she promoted Captain Meiffert to general to replace the recently deceased General Reibisch (while demoting General Leiden of Kelton to Lieutenant.) General Meiffert took control of the army and followed Kahlan into battle on their first "after-dark raid" on the Imperial Order camp.
The first hint of a relationship between Cara and General Meiffert was during the first raid on the D'Haran camp. He was frantic about getting her out of underneath a fallen tent and obviously concerned about the head injury she sustained. He also called her Cara, instead of the typical Mistress Cara.
The second hint of a relationship between the two was while Cara and Kahlan were decorating a cabin for Verna and Warren. Cara called General Meiffert by his first name, Benjamin, much to the Mother Confessor's amusement, as even Kahlan did not know his first name. Benjamin and Cara later danced at Verna and Warren's wedding.
Later, Cara came into Kahlan's tent, clad in nothing but a sheet, with "love bruises" on her chest. Kahlan asked the question: Is Benjamin over there in your tent with you? which was answered by a non-committal silence.
General Meiffert was left in charge of the D'Haran troops and ordered to oversee the evacuation of Aydindril as per Kahlan's orders, after she left to retrieve Richard from Nicci's clutches.
Meeting Nicci[]
General Meiffert first met Nicci, a former Sister of the Dark, when Richard, with Cara in tow, arrived at the D'Haran Army encampment settled near the People's Palace. The army had encountered an injured old lady, who was later confirmed to be Sister Tovi, and General Meiffert had his field surgeons stitch her up. When he was accompanying Nicci to Tovi's tent, she introduced herself as Death's Mistress. General Meiffert responded to this with a coughing fit, his face turning red, while saying that she was more feared than Emperor Jagang himself. When they arrived, Nicci suggested that he convince Richard to rest so General Meiffert could have the night with Cara. She also jokingly implied that if Cara didn't leave with a grin by the next day, she would gut him alive. Benjamin also told Nicci how much he was worried and missed Cara, further fortifying the relationship between the general and the Mord-Sith.
Dissolution of the D'Haran Army[]
Rescuing the Lord Rahl[]
When Richard was a captive of the Order, General Meiffert and Adie unexpectedly arrived to save him. Both were also shocked to see the Lord Rahl in the middle of a Ja'La field, surrounded by mobs of Imperial Order soldiers fighting each other. General Meiffert was able to navigate the whole encampment in the guise of one of Emperor Jagang's bodyguards. He also met Adie, who had left the People's Palace for the Wizard's Keep, in the camp.
Both he and Adie helped Richard, Jillian, Nicci and Bruce escape. Riding in a wagon, General Meiffert and Adie slowly escaped the rioting camp and made their way to the ramp the Order was building for the siege of the palace, as suggested by Nicci, who was being tormented by Jagang through a Rada'Han. They arrived at a passageway in the catacombs of the palace. With the aide of Aide's magic, General Meiffert, Richard, and Bruce fought their way through the hundreds of Imperial Order soldiers inside the catacombs.
Cara, with Verna, Nathan Rahl, a dozen Mord-Sith, General Trimack, and a contingent of the First File, joined the battle. The Imperial Order soldiers were quickly cut down by the D'Haran Army or burned down by Nathan Rahl's Wizard's Fire.
End of the war[]
Aftermath[]
In the epilogue of Confessor, Benjamin married Cara. Their wedding was attended by all the Mord-Sith, and Cara wore her white leather to signify that he was her mate, and she did not have to hurt him to keep him so. It was the first marriage of a Mord-Sith, and Richard Rahl honored his friends by speaking over them the same marriage rites that he and Kahlan Amnell had be en married by. In the aftermath of the wedding, Richard declared to everyone present that they were free to live their lives as they chose to, and therefore they did not have to say the devotion anymore.
Sadly, General Benjamin Meiffert was eaten alive after being overwhelmed by a swarm of Shun-tuk unholy half dead while bringing up the rear guard of those escaping from the ancient volcanic tunnel system within the Third Kingdom where they had been imprisoned and where Hannis Arc and the Shun-tuk had reanimated the near 3,000 year old corpse of Emperor Sulachan. His gruesome death, noted as so fast he didn't have time to scream, was witnessed by his wife Cara and Lord Rahl who attempted to avenge Benjamin's death, only to have a visibly devastated Cara restrain him and remind him to continue to escape so that Benjamin's death would not be in vain. First Wizard Zeddicus Z'ul Zorander unleashed wizard's fire through the tunnel after Lord Rahl and Cara resumed their escape, consuming Benjamin's body and numerous Shun-tuk in a near-instantaneous crematory conflagration. Richard was relieved that the General would be spared the indignity of having his body ravenously devoured by the Shun-tuk as they sought to capture his soul through the consumption of his still-warm tissues and fluids.
Personality and traits[]
General Meiffert was a tall, broad shouldered man. He was well built and had the typical characteristic blond hair and blue eyes of a D'Haran. He wore the battle armor customary of D'Haran soldiers and was skilled in all forms of sword combat.
Benjamin was a moral man and never agreed with the rule of Darken Rahl, who he once served under. He was knowledgeable in most battle tactics and quick to understand strategic tricks pulled by Emperor Jagang.
Appearances[]
- Soul of the Fire (First appearance)
- Faith of the Fallen
- Naked Empire
- Chainfire
- Phantom
- Confessor
- The Omen Machine
- The Third Kingdom
- Warheart (Appears as spirit)