He rolled his shoulders, pulling the mantle of calm authority back around himself. “The bond worked for Nicci. I can no longer enter her mind.”
Sister Armina stood frozen in more than simple fear of the man; she was obviously baffled by what she’d just heard.
Sister Ulicia nodded to herself, staring off into memories. “I guess that, in retrospect, it’s not a surprise. I guess I always knew that she loved Richard. She never said a word to us, of course, to the other Sisters of the Dark, but back at the Palace of the Prophets she gave up a great deal—things I would never have imagined her giving up—in exchange for me naming her to be one of his six teachers.
“The price she paid for that chance to be his teacher made me suspicious of her motives. A couple of the others were driven by greed. They simply wanted to suck the gift out of that man—have it for themselves. But not Nicci. That wasn’t what she was after. So I watched her.
“She never gave it away—dear spirits, I don’t think she was even aware of it herself at the time—but there was a look in her eyes. She was in love with him. I never really understood that look back then, probably because she seemed so sure of her hatred for the man and for all that he represented, but she was in love with Richard Rahl. Even back then, she was in love with him.”
Jagang had gone crimson. Absorbed in her recollections, Sister Ulicia hadn’t noticed his mute rage. Sister Armina surreptitiously touched the other woman’s arm in warning. Sister Ulicia looked up and blanched at seeing the look on the emperor’s face, and immediately changed the subject.
“Like I said, she never said any such thing, so perhaps I’m just imagining it. In fact, now that I think about it, I’m sure of it. She hated the man. She wanted him dead. She hated everything he represented. She hated him. Plain as day. She hated him.”
Sister Ulicia closed her mouth, visibly forcing herself to stop babbling.
“I gave her everything.” Jagang’s voice rumbled like bottled thunder. “I made her as good as a queen. As Jagang the Just, I granted her the authority to be the fist of the Fellowship of Order. Those who opposed the righteous ways of the Order came to know her as Death’s Mistress. She was able to fulfill that virtuous call to duty only because of my generosity. I was foolish to have given her so much latitude. She betrayed me. Betrayed me for him.”
Kahlan didn’t think that she would ever see Jagang in the grip of hot jealousy, but she was seeing it now. He was a man who took what he wanted. He was not used to being denied anything. Apparently, he couldn’t have this woman Nicci. Apparently, Richard Rahl had her heart.
Kahlan swallowed back her own confused feelings over Richard Rahl—a man she had never met—and stared at her guards marching back and forth.
“But I’ll have her back.” Jagang held up a fist. Muscled cords stood out on his arms as the fist tightened. Veins in his temples bulged. “Sooner or later I will crush the immoral resistance offered by Richard Rahl, and then I’ll deal with Nicci. She will pay for her sinful ways.”
Kahlan and this Nicci had something in common. If Jagang ever got his hands on Nicci, Kahlan knew, he was going to do his worst to her as well.
“And the boxes of Orden, Excellency?” Sister Ulicia asked.
The arm dropped. He turned a grim smile on her. “Darlin, it doesn’t matter if one of them has somehow managed to put the boxes of Orden in play. It will do them no good.” He pointed a thumb back over his shoulder at Kahlan. “I have her. I have what we need to put the power of Orden to use for the cause of the Fellowship of Order.
“We have right on our side. The Creator is on our side. When we unleash the power of Orden we will wipe the blasphemy of magic from the world. We will make all men bow down before the teachings of the Order. All men will submit to divine justice and be of one faith.
“It will be a new dawn for mankind, the dawn of the age of man without magic to taint men’s souls. All men will rejoice to be part of the glory that is the cause of the Order. In that new world of man, all men will be equal. All men can then dedicate themselves in service to their fellow man, as is the will of the Creator.”
“Yes, Excellency,” Sister Armina said, eager to find an opening to worm her way back into his favor.
“Excellency,” Sister Ulicia ventured, “as I’ve explained before, while we may have many of the elements needed, as you have so rightly pointed out, we must still have all three boxes if we are to accomplish the goal of accessing the power of Orden for the cause of the Fellowship of Order. We still need that third box.”
His grisly grin returned. “As I told you, I was there in Tovi’s mind. I may have an idea about who was involved in taking it.”
Sisters Ulicia and Armina looked not only surprised, but curious.
“You do, Excellency?” Sister Armina asked.
He nodded. “My spiritual advisor Brother Narev had a friend he had dealings with from time to time. I suspect she might be involved.”
Sister Ulicia looked skeptical. “You think a friend of the Fellowship of Order might have been involved?”
“No, I didn’t say a friend of the Fellowship. I said a friend of Brother Narev. A woman I, too, have had occasional dealings with in the past on Brother Narev’s behalf. I think you may have heard of her.” Jagang arched an eyebrow at the woman. “She goes by the name of Six.”
Sister Armina gasped and went stiff.
Sister Ulicia’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “Six…Excellency, surely you don’t mean Six, the witch woman?”
Jagang looked pleased by the reaction. “Ah, so you know her.”
“I had occasion to cross paths with her once. We had a talk, of sorts. It was not what I would describe as a pleasant conversation. Excellency, no one can deal with that woman.”
“Well, you see, Ulicia, that’s just one more area where you and I differ. You have nothing of value to offer her but your boneless carcass to feed to those with a taste for human flesh she keeps back in her lair. I, on the other hand, have a pretty good grasp on what the woman needs and wants. I’m in a position to grant her the kinds of indulgences she seeks. Unlike you, Ulicia, I can deal with her.”
“But if Richard Rahl or Nicci put the box in play, that can only mean that they are now in possession of it,” Sister Ulicia said. “So, even if Six really did once have the box after Tovi, it’s now out of her grasp.”
“So you think such a woman will abandon her burning desires? All the things she lusts after?” Jagang shook his head. “No, it will not sit well with Six that her plans were…interrupted. Six is a woman who will not be denied. She does not treat very kindly anyone who gets in her way. Am I correct, Ulicia?”
Sister Ulicia swallowed before nodding.
“I expect that a woman of her dark talents and boundless determination will not rest until she has corrected the injustice, and then she will have to deal with the Order. So, you see, I think everything is well in hand. That one of those two criminals, Nicci or Richard Rahl, put that box in play will mean nothing in the end. The Order will prevail.”
Sister Ulicia, her fingers folded tightly together to stop them from trembling ever since she first heard the name Six, bowed her head. “Yes, Excellency. I can see that you do indeed have everything well in hand.”
Jagang, seeing her defeated demeanor, snapped his fingers as he turned his attention toward one of the shirtless slaves standing back near the entrance to the royal tent.
“I’m hungry. The Ja’La tournaments start today. I want a hearty meal before going to watch the games.”
The man bowed deeply from the waist. “Yes, Excellency. I will see to it at once.”
After he’d run off to see to the task, Jagang gazed out over the sea of men. “For now, our brave fighters need a diversion from the difficult work. One of the teams out there will eventually win a chance to play my own team. Let’s hope the team that eventually wins the right to play my team is good enough to at least make my men break a sweat in beating them.”
?
??Yes, Excellency,” the Sisters said together.
Jagang, looking annoyed by their groveling, gestured to one of the special guards as the man marched by.
“She’s going to kill you first.”
The man froze, panic in his eyes. “Excellency?”
Jagang tilted his head to indicate Kahlan only a half step behind him and to his right. “She’s going to kill you first, and you deserve it.”
The man dipped his head deferentially. “I don’t understand, Excellency.”
“Of course you don’t—you’re stupid. She’s been counting your steps. You take the same number of paces each time before you turn to march in the opposite direction. Each time you turn you look to check on her, then march away.
“She’s counted your paces. When it’s time for you to turn, she doesn’t have to be looking in your direction because she knows exactly when you will turn. She knows that just before you turn, you’ll check on her and see her looking the other way. That will put you at ease.
“When you march up to us from the right and turn, you pivot the same way each time—to your right. Each time you turn, the knife on your belt at your right hip is on the side closest to her.”
The man looked down at the knife on his belt. He covered it protectively with a hand. “But Excellency, I wouldn’t let her get my knife. I swear. I would stop her.”
“Stop her?” Jagang snorted a brief laugh. “She knows that she is but two strides from the spot where you turn, two strides from snatching your knife right out of its sheath.” He snapped his fingers. “Quick as that, she’ll have your knife. You probably won’t even realize it before you die.”
“But I would—”
“You will look to check on her, see her looking in another direction, and then turn. By the time you’ve taken your third step, she will have your knife. It will then be but an instant before she rams the entire length of the blade into your tender right kidney. You’ll be as good as dead before you know what hit you.”
Despite the cold, sweat beaded on the man’s forehead.
Jagang glanced back at Kahlan. She showed him only a blank expression devoid of any emotion.
Jagang was wrong. The man would die second. He was stupid, just as Jagang had said. Stupid men were easier to kill. It was harder to kill smart, attentive men. Kahlan knew each of her special guards. She made it her business to learn everything she could about each one of them. The other man marching before the tent was one of the smartest among her special guard.
Wherever she was, she always analyzed the situation and envisioned how she would implement an attempt to escape. This was not the time, or place, but she still had thought it through.
She wouldn’t kill the stupid one first, but she would take his knife, just as Jagang had said. Then she would turn to the smart one because he was more watchful and his reactions were far quicker. The special guards’ task was to prevent her from escaping; they weren’t supposed to use lethal force against her. When the smart one came at her to tackle her, she would already have the knife and would use their closing momentum as she spun toward him to slash his throat. She would sidestep his falling dead weight to his left side, spin, and plunge the knife into the kidney of the stupid fellow, just as Jagang had suggested.
“You have me dead to rights,” Kahlan told the emperor in a flat tone. “Well done.”
His left eye twitched just the slightest bit. He didn’t know if she was telling the truth, or lying.
CHAPTER 4
Do you know the consequences of breaking the seal on those doors?” Cara asked.
Zedd looked back over his shoulder at the woman. “Need I remind you that I am First Wizard?”
Cara returned the glare in kind. “Well, excuse me. Do you know the consequences of breaking the seal on those doors, First Wizard Zorander?”
Zedd straightened. “That’s not what I meant.”
The woman was still glaring. “You haven’t answered my question.”
If there was one thing that was consistent about Mord-Sith, it was that they didn’t like it when they asked questions and got evasive answers. They didn’t like it one bit. It made them surly. As a rule Zedd considered it wise not to give Mord-Sith cause to be surly, but then, he didn’t like being pestered when he was doing something important. That made him surly.
“Why does Richard put up with you, anyway?”
Cara’s glare only deepened. “I have never offered Lord Rahl a choice. Now, answer my question. Do you know the consequences of breaking the seal on those doors?”
Zedd planted his fists on his hips. “Don’t you suppose that I know a thing or two about magic?”
“I would have thought so, but I’m beginning to have my doubts.”
“Oh, so you think you know more about it than I do?”
“I know that magic is trouble. It would seem that in this instance I very well might know more about it than you. I know better than to go barging through a seal of this kind. Nicci would only have shielded this door for a good reason. I don’t think it’s too awfully wise, First Wizard, to go barging through her shield without knowing why it’s there.”
“Well, I think I know a thing or two about seals and shields and such.”
Cara arched an eyebrow. “Zedd, Nicci can wield Subtractive Magic.”
Zedd glanced at the door, then looked back at Cara. The way she was leaning over him he thought she very well might seize him by his collar and haul him back from the brass-clad doors if she decided that she had to.
“I suppose you have a point.” He held up a finger. “But on the other hand I can sense that something serious is going on in there—something altogether ominous.”
Cara sighed and finally withdrew her blue-eyed Mord-Sith glare. She straightened, drawing her long blond braid through her loose fist as she checked the hallway to both sides.
She tossed the braid back over her shoulder. “I don’t know, Zedd. If I was in a room and had locked the door it would be for good reason and I’d not like you to pick the lock. Nicci wouldn’t allow me to stay with her—and she’s never asked that I leave her alone like that before. I didn’t want to let her go in there by herself, but she insisted.
“She was in one of those spooky, quiet moods of hers. She’s been like that a lot lately.”
Zedd sighed. “That she has. But not without good reason. Dear spirits, Cara, we’ve all been in a mood lately, and we all have good reason.”
Cara nodded. “Nicci said she needed to be alone. I told her I didn’t care and that I intended to stay with her.
“I don’t know what it is about her, but sometimes when she says to do something you all of a sudden find yourself doing it. Lord Rahl is the same way. I don’t often pay a great deal of attention to his orders—after all, I know better than he does how to protect him—but sometimes he says something in that way he has and you just find yourself doing as he asked. I never know how he manages to do it. Nicci is the same way. They both have the odd ability to make you do things you have no intention of doing—and they don’t even raise their voices.
“Nicci said that it involved magic—said it in a way that made it clear she wanted to be alone. The next thing I know, I’d told her that I would wait out here in case she needed anything.”
Zedd tilted his head toward the woman, giving her a look from under his bushy brow. “I believe this has something to do with Richard.”
Her Mord-Sith glare returned in an instant. Zedd could see her muscles tighten beneath her red leather.
“What do you mean?”
“Like you said, she was acting pretty strange. She asked me if I trusted everyone’s life to Richard.”
Cara stared at him a moment. “She asked me that very same thing.”
“That’s been eating at me, making me wonder what she meant.” Zedd waggled a long finger back toward the door. “Cara, she’s in there with that thing—with that box of Orden. I can sense it.”
Cara nodded. “Well, you’re right ab
out that. I saw it in there just before she closed the door.”
Zedd pushed a stray wave of white hair back from his face. “That’s part of the reason I think this has something to do with Richard. Cara, I don’t go through this kind of seal lightly, but I think this is important.”
Cara sighed in resignation. “All right.” Her mouth twisted with the displeasure of agreeing to his plan. “If she bites your head off I suppose I can always sew it back on for you.”
Zedd smiled as he pushed his sleeves up his arms. Taking a deep breath, he hunched back to the business of un-knotting the seal Nicci had woven with magic around the lever.
The immense, brass-clad doors were covered with engraved symbols that were specific to the containment field in that part of the Keep. Such a place was already hardened against tampering and shielded against casual entry, but he had grown up in the Keep and knew how various elements of the place functioned. He also knew a great many of the tricks associated with those elements. This particular field was tricky because, being a containment field for what might be inside, it was double-sided.
He gently glided the first three fingers of his left hand over the area of convergence. It made the nerve in his left arm tingle up to his elbow—not a good sign. Nicci had added something to the shield, making a personal shield out of something that had been generic. Zedd was beginning to think that Cara knew more than he had given her credit for.
This was a shield that seemed to respond in a unique way to the application of force. He paused a moment to consider. He would have to achieve what he wanted without applying force that would invoke that reaction. He carefully slipped a thin thread of innocent nothing through the snarl. With his right hand he eased the tangled restriction of power so that the whole thing would begin to loosen.
He knew all too well that it would do no good to simply try to break through the seal, because the containment field was constructed in such a way that force only caused it to lock tighter. Nicci had apparently added multipliers to that quality. If he applied too much force the shield would simply tighten, like pulling the ends of a knotted rope tighter. If that happened, he would never get it undone.