Naked Empire

"I am sorry," he said in a sincere voice to the boy. He turned to the people watching. "I am sorry. I don't want to be a speaker any longer.

Prophecy has been fulfilled; our redemption is at hand. I think we would do best to listen to what these men have to say. I think I would like to live without the fear that the men of the Order are going to murder us all."

There were no cheers, no wild ovation, but, rather, silent agreement as all the people Kahlan could see nodded with what looked like expectant hope that their secret wish to be free of the brutality of the Imperial Order was not a sinful, secret thought after all, but was really the right thing.

Richard knelt beside Owen as other men worked at tying a strip of cloth around Anson's upper arm. He was sitting up. His whole arm was soaked in blood, but it looked like the bandage was slowing the bleeding. Kahlan sighed in relief at seeing that Anson was alive and not seriously hurt.

"It looks like it will need to be stitched," Richard said.

Some of the men agreed. An older man pushed his way through the crowd and stepped forward.

"I do such things. I also have herbs with which to make a poultice."

"Thank you," Anson said as his friends helped him stand. He looked light-headed and the men had to steady him. Once sure of his feet, he turned to Richard.

"Thank you, Lord Rahl, for answering the call in the words of the devotion I spoke: 'Master Rahl, protect us.

"I never thought I would be the first to bleed for what we have set out to do, or that the blood would be drawn by one of our own people."

Richard gently clapped Anson on the back of his good shoulder, showing his appreciation for Anson's words.

Owen looked around at the crowd. "I think we have all decided to be free again." When the crowd nodded their agreement, Owen turned to Richard.

"How will we get rid of the soldiers in Northwick?"

Richard wiped his sword clean on the cloth of the dead speaker's trouser leg. His gaze turned up to the crowd. "Any idea how many soldiers there are here in Northwick?"

There was no anger in his voice. Kahlan had seen, since the moment he had drawn his sword, that his eyes had been absent of the Sword of Truth's attendant magic. There was no spark of the sword's rage in the Seeker's eyes, no magic dangerously dancing there, no fury in his demeanor. He had simply done what was necessary to stop the threat. While it was a relief that he had swiftly succeeded, it was gravely worrisome that the sword's magic had not come out along with the sword itself.

What had always been there to help him before had apparently finally failed him. That absence of his sword's magic left Kahlan feeling icy apprehension.

People in the crowd looked around at others and then spoke of hundreds of men of the Order they had seen. Another man said there were several thousand.

An older woman lifted her hand. "Not that many, but approaching it."

Owen turned to Richard. "That's a lot of men for us to take on."

Having never been in a real battle, he didn't know the half of it.

Richard didn't seem to hear Owen. He slid his sword back into the scabbard hidden under his black cloak.

"How do you know?" he asked the woman.

"I am one of the people who help prepare their meals."

"You mean you people cook for the soldiers?"

"Yes," the old woman said. "They do not wish to do it for themselves."

"When do you next have to cook?"

"We have large kettles we are just starting to get ready for tomorrow's meal. It takes us all night to prepare the stew so that we can cook it tomorrow for their evening meal. Besides that, we also have to work all night making biscuits, eggs, and porridge for their morning meal."

Kahlan imagined that the soldiers were probably pleased to have such a ready supply of pliant slaves. Richard paced in a short track between her and Owen. He pinched his lower lip as he considered the problem. With such a small force of their own, nearly two thousand armed men was a lot to take on, especially considering how inexperienced the men were. Kahlan recognized that Richard was scheming something.

He took the arm of the older man tightening the bandage around Anson's wound. "You said you had herbs. Do you know about such things?"

The man shrugged. "Not a great deal, just enough to make simple remedies."

Kahlan's mood sank. She had thought that maybe this man might know something about making more of the antidote.

"Do you have access to lily of the valley, oleander, yew, monkshood, hemlock?"

The man blinked in surprise. "Common enough, I guess, especially just to the north in the wooded areas."

Richard turned to his men standing at the fore of the crowd. "We must eliminate the men of the Order. The less fighting we have to do, the better.

"While it's still dark, we need to slip out of the city and go collect the things we need." He lifted a hand to the woman who had spoken about cooking for the soldiers. "You show us where you're going to do all the cooking of tomorrow's evening meal. We'll bring you some extra ingredients.