by Angreal
A fever was just about the last thing Richard needed. There were important... important, something. He couldn't seem to recall at the moment. He concentrated on trying to remember the young man's name, or at least where he'd seen him before.
The last rays of the setting sun cast a pink glow across the mountains to the east. The closer hills were dimming to a soft gray in the gathering dusk. As darkness approached, the low fire was beginning to tint everything close around it a warm yellow-orange. Richard had kept the cook fire small, not wanting it to signal their location any more than necessary.
"Lord Rahl," the man said in a reverent tone as he stepped into camp. He dipped his head forward in a hesitant bow, apparently not sure if it was proper to bow or not. "It's an honor to see you again."
He was perhaps a couple of years younger than Richard, with curly black hair that brushed the broad shoulders of his buckskin tunic. He wore a long knife at his belt but no sword. His ears stuck out to the sides of his head as if he were straining to listen to every little sound. Richard imagined that as a boy he'd probably endured a lot of taunts about his ears, but now that he was a man his ears made him look rather intent and serious. As muscular as the man was, Richard doubted that he still had to contend with taunts.
"I'm ... I'm sorry, but I can't quite seem to recall..."
"Oh, no, you wouldn't remember me, Lord Rahl. I was only—"
"Sabar," Richard said as it came to him. "Sabar. You loaded the furnaces in Priska's foundry, back in Altur'Rang."
Sabar beamed. "That's right. I can't believe you remember me."
Sabar had been one of the men at the foundry able to have work because of the supplies Richard hauled to Priska when no one else could. Sabar had understood how hard Priska worked just to keep his foundry alive under the oppressive, endless, and contradictory mandates of the Order. Sabar had been there the day the statue Richard carved had been unveiled; he had seen it before it was destroyed. He had been there at the beginning of the revolution in Altur'Rang, fighting close alongside Victor, Priska, and all the others who had seized the moment when it was upon them. Sabar had fought to help gain freedom for himself, his friends, and for his city.
That had been a day everything had changed.
Even though this man, like many others, had been a subject of the Imperial Order—one of the enemy—he wanted to live his own life under just laws, rather than under the dictates of despots who extinguished any hope of bettering oneself under the crushing burden of the cruel illusion of a greater good.
Richard noticed, then, that everyone was standing in tense anticipation, as if they had expected this to be trouble.
Richard smiled at Cara. "It's all right. I know him."
"So he told me," Cara said. She put a hand on Sabar's shoulder and pushed him down. "Have a seat."
"Yes," Richard said, glad to see that Cara had been fairly amiable about it. "Sit down and tell us why you're here."
"Nicci sent me."
Richard rose again in a rush, Kahlan coming up right beside him. "Nicci? We're on our way to meet her."
Sabar nodded, rising into a half crouch, seeming not to be sure if he was supposed to stand, since Richard and Kahlan had, or stay seated
Cara hadn't sat down; she stood behind Sabar like an executioner. Cara had been there when the revolution in Altur'Rang had started and might remember Sabar, but that would make no difference. Cara trusted no one where the safety of Richard and Kahlan was concerned.
Richard gestured for Sabar to remain seated. "Where is she," Richard asked as he and Kahlan sat down again, sharing a seat on a bedroll. "Is she coming soon?"
"Nicci said to tell you that she waited as long as she could, but there have been some urgent developments and she could wait no longer."
Richard let out a disappointed sigh. "Some things came up for us, too." Kahlan had been captured and taken to the Pillars of Creation as bait to lure Richard into a trap. Rather than go into all that, he kept the story short and to the point. "We were trying to get to Nicci, but needed to go elsewhere. It was unavoidable."
Sabar nodded. "I was worried when she returned to us and said that you had not shown up at your meeting place, but she told us that she was sure you were busy taking care of something important and that was the reason you had not come.
"Victor Cascella, the blacksmith, was very worried, too, when Nicci told us this. He was thinking you would be returning with Nicci. He said that other places he knows, places he and Priska have dealings with for supplies and such, are on the verge of revolt. These people have heard about Altur'Rang, how the Order has been overthrown there, and how people are beginning to prosper. He said that he knows free men in these places who struggle to survive under the oppression of the Order as we once did, and they hunger to be free. They want Victor's help.
"Some of the Brothers in the Fellowship of Order who escaped from Altur'Rang have gone to these other places to insure that such revolt does not spread there. Their cruelty in punishing any they suspect of insurrection is costing the lives of many people, both the innocent and those valuable to the cause of overthrowing the Imperial Order.
"In order to insure their control of the gears of governance and to ready the Order's defense against the spread of the revolt, Brothers of the Order have gone to all the important cities, Surely, some of these priests have also gone to report to Jagang the fall of Altur'Rang, of the loss of so many officials in the fighting there, and of the deaths of Brothers Narev and many of his close circle of disciples."
"Jagang already knows of the death of Brother Narev," Jennsen said, offering him a cup of water.
Sabar smiled his satisfaction at her news. He thanked her for the water, then leaned forward toward Richard and Kahlan as he went on with his story.
"Priska thinks the Order will want to sweep away the success of the revolt in Altur'Rang—that they can't afford to let it stand. He said that instead of worrying about spreading the revolt, we must prepare, make defenses, and have every man stand ready because the Order will return with the intent of slaughtering every last person in Altur'Rang."
Sabar hesitated, clearly worried about Priska's warning. "Victor, though, said we should hammer the iron while it is hot and create a just and secure future for ourselves, rather than wait for the Order to gather their strength to deny us that future. He says that if the revolt is spreading everywhere, the Order will not so easily stamp it out."
Richard ran a weary hand across his face. "Victor is right. If those in Altur'Rang try to sit alone as a singular place of freedom in the heart of hostile enemy territory, the Order will sweep in and cut out that heart. The Order can't survive on its perverted ideals and they know it; that's why they must use force to sustain their beliefs. Without that bully of force, the Order will crumble.
"Jagang spent twenty years creating a system of roads to knit a diverse and fractured Old World together into the Imperial Order. That was but part of the means of how he succeeded. Many resisted the rantings of his priests. With roads to swiftly respond to any dissent, though, Jagang was able to react quickly, to sweep in and kill those who openly opposed his new Order.
"More importantly, after eliminating those who resisted the Order's teachings, he filled the minds of children, who didn't know any better, with blind faith in those teachings, turning them into zealots eager to die for what they were taught was a noble cause—sacrifice to some all-consuming greater good.
"Those young men, their minds twisted with the teachings of the Order, are now off to the north conquering the New World, butchering any who will not take up their altruistic tenets.
"But while Jagang and that vast army are to the north, that strength there leaves the Order weak here. That weakness is our opportunity and we must capitalize on it. Now, while Jagang and his men are absent, those same roads he built down here will be our means of rapidly spreading the struggle for freedom far and wide.
"The torch of freedom has been lit by the will of those like you,
those in Altur'Rang who seized liberty for themselves. The flames of that torch must be held high, giving others the chance to see its light. If hidden and insulated, such flames will be extinguished by the Order. There may never be another chance in our lifetimes, or our children's lifetimes, to seize control of our own lives. That torch must be carried to other places."
Sabar smiled, filled with quiet pride that he had been a part of it all coming to be. "I know that Victor would like for others, like Priska, to be reminded of such things, of what the Lord Rahl would say about what we must do. Victor wants to talk to you before he goes to these places to 'pump the bellows,' as he put it. Victor said that he awaits your word on how you would move next, on how best to 'put the white-hot iron to them'—again, his words."
"So Nicci sent you to find me."
"Yes. I was happy to go to you when she asked me. Victor will be happy, too, not only that you are well but to hear what the Lord Rahl would say to him."
While Victor was awaiting word, Richard also knew that absent such word, Victor would act. The revolution did not revolve around Richard—it couldn't to be successful—but around the hunger of people to have their lives back. Still, Richard needed to help coordinate the spreading revolt in order to be sure it was as effective as possible, not just at bringing freedom to those who sought it, but at crumbling the foundation of the Order in the Old World. Only if they were successful in toppling the rule of the Order in the Old World would Jagang's attention—and many of his men—be pulled away from conquering the New World.
Jagang intended to conquer the New World by first dividing it. Richard had to do the same if he was to succeed. Only dividing the Order's forces could defeat it.
Richard knew that with everyone evacuated from Aydindril, the Imperial Order would now turn its swords on D'Hara. Despite the competence of the D'Haran troops, they would be overwhelmed by the numbers that Jagang would throw at them. If the Order was not diverted from its cause, or at least divided into smaller forces, D'Hara would fall under the shadow of the Order. The D'Haran Empire, forged to unite the New World against tyranny, would end before it had really gotten started.
Richard had to get back to Victor and Nicci so that they could all continue what they had begun—devising the most effective strategy to overthrow the Imperial Order.
But they were running out of time to resolve another problem, a problem they didn't yet understand.
"I'm glad you found us, Sabar. You can tell Victor and Nicci that we need to see to something first, but as soon as we do, we'll be able to help them with their plans."
Sabar looked relieved. "Everyone will be happy to hear this."
Sabar hesitated, then tilted his head, gesturing north. "Lord Rahl, when I came to find you, following the directions Nicci gave me, I went past the area where she was to meet with you, and then I continued coming south." Worry stole into his expression. "Not many days ago, I came to a place, miles wide, that was dead."
Richard looked up. He realized that his headache seemed to be suddenly gone. "What do you mean, dead?"
Sabar waved his hand out toward the evening gloom. "The area where I was traveling was much like this place; there were some trees, clumps of grass, thickets of brush." His voice lowered. "But then I came to a place where everything that grew ended. All at the same place. There was nothing but rock beyond. Nicci had not told me that I would come to such a place. I admit, I was afraid."
Richard glanced to his right—to the east—to the mountains that lay beyond. "How long did this dead place last?"
"I walked, leaving life behind, and I thought I might be walking into the underworld itself." Sabar looked away from Richard's eyes. "Or into the jaws of some new weapon the Order had created to destroy us all.
"I came to be very afraid and I was going to turn back. But then I thought about how the Order made me afraid my whole life, and I didn't like that feeling. Worse, I thought about how I would stand before Nicci and tell her I turned around rather than go to Lord Rahl as she asked of me, and that thought made me ashamed, so I went on. In several miles I came again to growing things." He let out a breath. "I was greatly relieved, and then I felt a little foolish that I had been afraid."
Two. That now made two of the strange boundaries.
"I've been to places like that, Sabar, and I can tell you that I, too, have been afraid."
Sabar broke into a grin. "Then I was not so foolish to be afraid."
"Not foolish at all. Could you tell if this dead area was extensive? Could you tell if it was more than just a patch of open rock in that one place? Could you see if it ran in a line, ran in any direction in particular?"
"It was like you say, like a line." Sabar flicked his hand toward the east. "It came down out of the far mountains, north of that depression." He held his hand flat like a cleaver, and sliced it downward in the other direction. "It ran off to the southwest, into that wasteland."
Toward the Pillars of Creation.
Kahlan leaned close and spoke under her breath. "That would be almost parallel to the boundary we crossed not far back to the south. Why would there be two boundaries so close together? That makes no sense."
"I don't know," Richard whispered to her. "Maybe whatever the boundary was protecting was so dangerous that whoever placed it feared that one might not be enough."
Kahlan rubbed her upper arms but didn't comment. By the look on her face, Richard knew how she felt about such a notion—especially considering that those boundaries were now down.
"Anyway," Sabar said with a self-conscious shrug, "I was happy I did not turn back, or I would have had to face Nicci after she had asked me to help Lord Rahl—my friend Richard."
Richard smiled. "I'm glad, too, Sabar. I don't think that place you went through is a danger any longer, at least not a danger the way it was once."
Jennsen could contain her curiosity no longer. "Who is this Nicci?"
"Nicci is a sorceress," Richard said. "She used to be a Sister of the Dark."
Jennsen's eyebrows went up. "Used to?"
Richard nodded. "She worked to further Jagang's cause, but she finally came to see how wrong she had been and joined our side." It was a story he didn't really feel like going into. "She now fights for us. Her help has been invaluable."
Jennsen leaned in, even more astonished. "But can you trust someone like that, someone who had labored on behalf of Jagang? Worse, a Sister of the Dark? Richard, I've been with some of those women, I know how ruthless they are. They may have to do as Jagang makes them, but they're devoted to the Keeper of the underworld. Do you really think you can trust with your life that she will not betray you?"
Richard looked Jennsen in the eye. "I trust you with a knife while I sleep."
Jennsen sat back up. She smiled, more out of embarrassment than anything else, Richard thought. "I guess I see your point."
"What else did Nicci say," Kahlan asked, keen to get back to the matter at hand.
"Only that I must go in her place and meet you," Sabar said.
Richard knew that Nicci was being cautious. She didn't want to tell the young man too much in case he was caught.
"How did she know where I was?"
"She said that she was able to tell where you were by magic. Nicci is as powerful with magic as she is beautiful."
Sabar said this in a tone of awe. He didn't know the half of it. Nicci was one of the most powerful sorceresses ever to have lived. Sabar didn't know that when Nicci was laboring toward the ends sought by the Order, she was known as Death's Mistress.
Richard surmised that Nicci had somehow used the bond to the Lord Rahl to find him. That bond was loyalty sworn in the heart, not by rote, and its power protected those so sworn from the dream walker entering their minds. Full-blooded D'Harans, like Cara, could tell through the bond where the Lord Rahl was. Kahlan had confided to him that she found it unnerving the way Cara always knew where Richard was. Nicci wasn't D'Haran, but she was a sorceress and she was bonded to Richard, so
she might have been able to manipulate that bond to tell where he was.
"Sabar, Nicci must have sent you to us for a reason," Richard said, "other than to say that she couldn't wait for us at our meeting place."
"Yes, of course," Sabar said as he nodded hastily, as if chagrined to have to be reminded. "When I asked her what I was to say to you, she told me that she had put it all in a letter." Sabar opened the leather flap of the pouch at his belt. "She said that when she realized how far away you really were, she was distraught and couldn't take the time to journey to you. She told me that it was important for me to be sure I found you and gave you her letter. She said the letter would explain why she could not wait."
With one finger and a thumb, Sabar lifted out the letter, looking as if he were handling a deadly viper instead of a small roll sealed with red wax.
"Nicci told me that this is dangerous," he explained, looking up into Richard's eyes. "She said that if anyone but you opened it, I should not be standing too close or I would die with them."
Sabar carefully laid the rolled letter on Richard's palm. It warmed appreciably in his hand. The red wax brightened, as if lit by a ray of sunlight even though it was getting dark. The glow spread from the wax to envelop the whole length of the rolled letter. Fine cracks raced all across the red wax, like autumn ice on a pond breaking up under the weight of a foot placed on it. The wax suddenly shattered and crumbled away.
Sabar swallowed. "I hate to think of what would have happened had anyone but you tried to open it."
