Faith of the Fallen

Jagang strolled over to the table and dragged his fingers through the dust that was all that remained of the stone vase. He turned back to her in all his naked, hairy, imperial glory.

"Are you threatening me? Do you actually think you could use your power against me?"

"I do not think it"-she yanked the laces tight-"I know it. The truth is I choose not to."

He struck a defiant pose. "And why is that?"

Nicci stood and faced him. "Because, as you said, the Order needs you, or rather, a brute like you. You serve the ends of the Order-you are their fist. You bring that cleansing fire. You perform that function very well. It could even be said that you perform that service with extraordinary talent.

"You are Jagang the Just. You see the wisdom in the title I have given you, and will use it to further the cause of the. Order. That is why I choose not to use any power against you. It would be like using my power against the Order, against my own duty to the future of mankind."

"Then why do you want to leave?"

"Because I must." She gave him a look of icy determination, and deadly threat. "Before I go, 1 will be spending some time with Sister Lidmila. You are to immediately and completely withdraw from her mind and remain out of it the entire time I am with her. We will use your tents, since you are not using them. You will see to it that everyone leaves us entirely alone for however long it takes us. Anyone who enters, without my express permission, will die. That includes you. You have my oath, as a Sister of the Dark, on that. When I'm finished, and after I leave, you may do what you will with Sister Lidmilakill her if that is your wish, although I don't see why you would want to bother, since she is going to be doing you a great service."

"I see." His huge chest rose. He let the deep breath out slowly. "And how long will you be gone, this time, Nicci?"

"This is not like the other times. This is different."

"How long?"

"Perhaps only a short time. Perhaps a very long time. I don't yet know.

Leave me alone to do as I must, and, if I can, I will one day return to you."

He gazed into her eyes, but he could not look into her mind. Another man protected her mind, and kept her thoughts her own.

In all the time she had spent with Richard, Nicci had never learned that which she hungered most to know, but in one way, she had learned too much. Most of the time she was able to entomb that unwanted knowledge under the numb weight of indifference. Occasionally, though, it would, like now, unexpectedly rise up out of its tomb to seize her. When it did, she was helpless in its grip, and could do nothing but wait for the oblivion of numb detachment to bury it yet again.

Staring into the long dark night of Jagang's inhuman eyes, eyes that revealed nothing but the bleakness of his soul, Nicci touched her finger to the gold ring Jagang had ordered pierced through her lower lip to mark her as his personal slave. She released a thread-thin channel of Subtractive Magic, and the ring ceased to exist.

"And where are you going, Nicci?"

"I am going to destroy Richard Rahl for you."

CHAPTER 15

Zeddicus Zu'1 Zorander had been able to talk and smile his way past the other soldiers, but these were not moved by his explanation that he was Richard's grandfather. He supposed he should have entered the camp in the daylight-it would have avoided a lot of the suspicion-but he was tired and hadn't thought it would be that much trouble.

The soldiers were properly suspicious, which greatly pleased him, but he was weary and had more important things to do than answer questions: he wanted to ask them, instead.

"Why do you want to see him?" the bigger guard repeated.

"I told you, I'm Richard's grandfather."

"This is the Richard Cypher, you're talking about, who you now say-"

"Yes, yes, that was his name when he grew up and that's what I'm used to calling him, but I meant Richard Rahl, who he is now. You know, Lord Rahl, your leader? I would think being the grandfather of someone as important as your Lord Rahl would accord me some respect. Maybe even a hot meal."

"I could say I'm Lord Rahl's brother," the man said, keeping a tight grip on the bit in the mouth of Zedd's horse, "but that doesn't make it so."

Zedd sighed. "How very true."

As vexing as it was, Zedd, at some dim inward level, was pleased to see that the men weren't stupid, nor easily duped.

"But I'm also a wizard," Zedd added, drawing low his eyebrows for dramatic effect. "If I wasn't friendly, I could simply do you up crisp and be on my way past the both of you."

"And if I wasn't friendly," the man said, "I could give the signal-now that we've let you venture in this far so that you're completely surrounded-and the dozen archers hiding all around you in the dark would let fly the arrows that are at this moment trained on you, as they have been ever since you approached our encampment."

"Ah," Zedd said, holding up a finger in triumph, "all very well and good, but-"