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"I see," Verna said, holding the smile in place. She knelt down and gently patted the girl's hands in her lap to reassure her. "Do you live around here?"

The girl's big brown eyes blinked, trying to judge the danger of the adult before her. She calmed just a little at Verna's smile and kind touch.

"A bit of travel to the north, ma'am."

"And someone sent you to see us?"

The big brown eyes filled with tears, but she didn't cry. "My parents are back there, down over the pass. The soldiers there have them. As guests, they said. Men came and took us to their army. We've had to stay there for the last few weeks. Today they told me to take a letter over the pass to the people here. They said that if I did as I was told, they would let my mother and father and me go home."

Verna again patted the girl's small hands. "I see. Well, that's good of you to help your parents."

"I just want to go home."

"And you shall, child." Verna straightened. "We'll get you some food, dear, so you have a full tummy before you go back to your parents."

The girl stood and curtsied. "Thank you for your kindness. May I go back after I eat, then?"

"Certainly," Verna said. "I'll just go read the letter you brought while you have a nice meal, and then you can return to your parents."

As she sat back up on the bench, squirming her bottom back beside Holly, she couldn't help keeping a wary eye on the Mord-Sith.

Trying not to show any apprehension, Verna smiled her good-bye to the girl before leading the others out of the tent. She couldn't even imagine what Jagang was up to.

"What's in the letter?" Verna asked as they hurried to the command tent.

General Meiffert paused outside the tent, his thumb burnishing a brass button on his coat as he met Verna's gaze. "I'd just as soon you read it for yourself, Prelate. Some of it is plain enough. Some of it, well, some of it I'm hoping you can explain to me."

Stepping into the tent, Verna saw Captain Zimmer waiting off to the side. The square-jawed man was absent his usual infectious smile. The captain was in charge of the D'Haran special forces, a group of men whose job it was to go out and spend their days and nights sneaking around in enemy territory killing as many of the enemy as possible. There seemed to be an endless supply. The captain seemed determined to use up the supply.

The men in Captain Zimmer's corps were very good at what they did. They collected strings of ears they took from the enemies they killed. Kahlan used to always ask to see their collection whenever they returned. The captain and his men dearly missed her.

They all glanced up at a flash of lightning. The storm was getting closer. After a moment's pause, the ground shook with the rolling rumble of thunder.

General Meiffert retrieved a small folded paper from the table and handed it to Verna.

"This is what the girl brought."

Looking briefly to the two men's grim expressions, Verna unfolded the paper and read the neat script.

/ have Wizard Zorander and a sorceress named Adie. I now hold the Wizard's Keep in Aydindril and all it contains. My Slide will soon present me with Lord Rahl and the Mother Confessor.

Your cause is lost. If you surrender now and open the passes, I will spare your men. If you do not, I will put every one of them to death.

Signed, Jagang the Just.

The arm holding the paper in her trembling fingers lowered.

"Dear Creator," Verna whispered. She felt dizzy.

Rikka snatched the paper from her hand and stood facing away as she read it. She cursed under her breath.

"We have to go get him," Rikka said. "We have to get Zedd and Adie away from Jagang."

Captain Zimmer shook his head. "There is no way we could accomplish such a thing."

Rikka's face went red with rage. "He's saved my life before! Yours, too! We have to get him out of there!"

In contrast to Rikka's anger, Verna spoke softly. "We all feel the same about him. Zedd has probably saved all of our lives more than once.

Unfortunately, Jagang will do all the worse to him for it."

Rikka shook the message before their faces. "So we are just going to let him die there? Let Jagang kill him? We sneak in, or something!"

Captain Zimmer rested the heel of his hand on a long knife at his belt.

"Mistress Rikka, if I told you that I had a man hidden somewhere in this camp, in one of the hundreds of thousands of tents, and no one would bother you or ask you any questions, but would allow you to freely go about a search, how long do you think it would take you to find such a hidden man?"

"But they won't be in just any tent," Rikka said. "Look at us, here.

This message came. Did it go to just any random tent in the whole camp? No, it went to a place where such things are handled."

"I've been to the Imperial Order encampment too many times to count,"

Captain Zimmer said as he cast his arm out toward the enemy over the mountains to the west. "You can't even imagine how big their camp is. They have millions of men there.

"Their encampment is a quagmire of cutthroats. It's a place of chaos.

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