Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy Part 3

Jillian screamed as the man ripped her out of Kahlan's grip and pulled her along as he followed after Commander Karg and Nicci. When Jillian tried to stab the man, he wrenched the blade from her hand. The men couldn't see Kahlan, or they would have grabbed her as well.

Kahlan stepped in close behind the man holding Jillian. She started to lift her knife, but a powerful hand grabbed her wrist. It was one of her special guards-the sixth man, whom she'd lost track of. He towered behind her. Kahlan knew him. He was one of the smarter men. He wasn't as careless as the others. He still had all his weapons.

As Nicci and a screaming Jillian were being dragged farther and farther away from Kahlan, the man twisted her arm behind her back until her fingers went numb. She cried out in pain. His expression was grim and indifferent to her torment as he stripped the knife out of her hand. She kicked back at his shins, trying to make him let go of her. Rather than let up, the man twisted her arm all the more until the pain made it impossible for her to struggle. He muscled her in the direction the emperor was going.

Nicci looked back at Kahlan as Commander Karg dragged her through the confusion of men. Kahlan could see only glimpses of blond hair between the churning bodies.

The hand holding her let go of her wrist. Instead it grabbed her upper arm. That hand abruptly pulled her back through the battling men, back into the darkness. Kahlan turned, ready to fight what the brute obvioush intended.

Richard was standing right there instead.

The world seemed to stop.

His gray eyes were staring into her soul.

Up close like this, the strange bloodred designs painted on his face were terrifying. But the smile on his face made him look like the gentlest, kindest man in all the world.

He seemed to be unable to do anything but smile as he stared into her eyes. It took Kahlan a moment to remember how to breathe.

She finally glanced down and saw the special guard who had been holding her wrist. He was on the ground; his head was twisted around at an unnatural angle. He didn't look to be breathing. With bodies sprawled everywhere, no one paid any attention to one more. After all, he was just a regular soldier, like all the men battling each other.

Except that he had been able to see her.

Kahlan's thoughts came rushing back in. The thought of that man having Nicci and Jillian made Kahlan feel dizzy and sick. She flicked her hand in a quick gesture.

"We have to help Nicci and Jillian. Commander Karg has them."

Richard didn't hesitate. His gray eyes turned toward where Nicci had vanished. "Hurry. Stay close."

Within a dozen steps they were back in the thick of battle. This time, though, it was not the regular soldiers that Richard had to fight-it was the royal guard. It didn't seem to matter. He moved through them, cutting men down to clear a path for her when he had to, avoiding them when possible.

As a man thrust his sword, Richard stepped back, out of the way, and severed the man's arm, catching the sword before it hit the ground. He tossed the sword to Kahlan. She caught it and immediately had to use it to stop a man going for Richard.

It felt good to have a sword in her hands. It felt good to be able to defend herself. The two of them cut their way onward through the royal guards.

Commander Karg glanced back and saw Richard coming. He let go of Nicci as he turned to his point man, grinning, ready to do battle. The guards all around saw that the commander wanted to handle this himself, so they turned back to their own problems.

"Well, Ruben, it seems-"

Richard swung, decapitating the snake without ceremony. He wasn't interested in anything but what needed to be done. He was a man who didn't need to teach the enemy a lesson. He was only interested in eliminating them.

A guard who had seen what happened started for Richard. Nicci swiftly reached around and pulled her knife across his throat. The man's face registered complete surprise as he clutched at the gaping wound, dropping first to one knee before falling face-first to the ground.

In an instant, they were in the middle of a furious battle. With so many experienced men coming after them, Richard could no longer hold back. He cut into the royal guard with a vengeance.

Worried that there were too many for him, Kahlan couldn't let him do it alone. She now had the advantage of being invisible. She could move among the men attacking Richard and do her own damage. Men expecting to fight Richard fell to her blade coming from nowhere. Between the two of them, they were slaughtering the guard.

Nicci, too, immediately went on the attack. The three of them now had a single purpose-to fight their way out of the midst of the royal guards.

"We need to get to the ramp!" Nicci shouted at Richard.

He pulled his sword out of a man falling past him and frowned at Nicci. "The ramp? Are you sure?"

"Yes!"