Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy Part 3

The general had been confident in the plan to hit the strength of the Order at its source, and for a time it had been working to great effect. They had hunted down and destroyed supply trains before they could even get out of the Old World. They had turned recruiting areas and training facilities into desolate forests of stakes with soldiers' heads. Along the way they'd demolished supply depots, ruined crops, and hunted down and killed the men who preached the Order's vile beliefs.

The people of the Old World had begun to understand the bitter reality of the war they had been eager to set loose on others. Their smug gloating over the way their troops were bringing the heathens to the north to heel had turned to sleepless fear that those heathens might be about to visit vengeance on them. Crowds for those who preached the teachings of the Order were thinner. There were even places where revolts against the rule of the Order had broken out.

Jagang, however, did several things to counter that effort. First, he had authorities clamp down swiftly on any hint of insurrection. Towns that were suspected of sympathizing with the cause of freedom were torched, all the people were tortured to extract confessions, and executions by the thousands were ordered. Questioning the rule of the Order brought terrible consequences. Actual guilt was only a minor consideration. Punishment and the exertion of authority were the objectives, so suspicion was enough to bring brutal treatment. People had quickly shrunk into fearful obedience, only too eager to provide anything demanded by the new dictates for supplies.

That widespread fear of being suspected of treason to the cause of the Order had dramatically increased the amount of supplies available to be sent north, so the additional supply trains had no difficulty collecting what was needed. Since the Old World was so vast, that massive effort insured that, despite the efforts of the D'Haran troops, enough supplies were still getting through. Richard remembered the sudden new stocks of food, like the ham, so he knew that the tactic was working, at least for the time being.

All of those issues were obstacles that the D'Haran troops sent south understood and were addressing. Given time, they would have adjusted their methods to address the new problems. That's what warriors did; they adjusted their plans to fit the circumstances they encountered. The enemy made adjustments, you had to counter.

The last thing Jagang had done, however, was a different matter. He sent a dragon and a witch woman-from the descriptions it sounded like Six-to hunt the D'Harans as they went after the supply trains and other facilities. Richard knew from personal experience that from high in the air it was much easier to locate and spot troops. It was an effective hunting technique. With a witch woman's talent, it was all the more deadly.

The tactic had not only reduced the effectiveness of the attacks in the Old World, it had been killing a great many D'Haran troops for nothing gained, making the work for the ones still fighting all that much more difficult. With the increased supplies and the attacks from above, Jagang appeared, despite the greater cost in lives and supplies, to be getting what he needed to continue the siege of the People's Palace. That was all that mattered to him.

It now appeared that it would be those in the palace who would not be able to hold out. Once the ramp was completed, and if they discovered other catacombs to also get through, then the Order's legions could attack the palace from both the top and bottom. Even the ramp alone, though, would prove enough in the end. Such an attack would be costly to the Imperial Order, but Jagang didn't care about the cost in lives to his army, he only cared about his objective. Sooner or later he would take his objective.

When that happened, and Richard knew that it was inevitable, the cause of freedom would be ended. They would be finished.

Richard's only hope now was to find a way to use the boxes of Orden. Of course, he didn't have any of the boxes, but even if he did he didn't yet know how to use them. He needed to learn how to do that, first. Knowledge was now his best weapon. He was determined to arm himself well.

The room he and Nicci were in was a private library that, according to Berdine, was filled with forbidden volumes-books meant for the Lord Rahl alone. Powerful shields protected the mahogany double doors of the arched entrance. Darken Rahl had sometimes asked Berdine to help him translate High D'Haran, but she said that this room was one she rarely visited. She said that he usually came here alone. Richard and Nicci had decided that this was a good place for them to start.