Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy Part 3 tsot-11

by Terry Goodkind

  And that mind was infused, possessed, and commanded by a dreamwalker, Emperor Jagang.

  The emperor had made contact with them through the journey book that Verna still carried. Ann had for many years carried the twin of that journey book, but it was now in the possession of Sister Ulicia and, therefore, Jagang.

  Verna had been totally surprised by the contact. Richard had not. He had been expecting it. In fact, he was the one who had asked Verna to check in her journey book for a message.

  Jagang had wanted a meeting. He said he would come alone, but for his own safety in the mind of one of his men. He said that Richard could bring whoever he wanted to the meeting—as many as he wanted, a whole army if he wanted. Jagang was hardly worried about the life of the soldier. The emperor had said that even if they decided to kill the soldier, he didn’t care.

  Richard knew not only from his own experience but from Kahlan’s as well that catching the dreamwalker in the mind of another person was impossible. She’d said that she had touched such a person possessed by Jagang with her power, but even as it took them, the emperor was effortlessly able to escape the danger. Despite the talented people with Richard, he did not delude himself that any of them might just be able to catch the dreamwalker.

  Of course, the soldier would be dead. But that was just the sacrifice the man would have to make for the cause, as far as Jagang was concerned.

  No, the people Richard had with him had not been brought to try to kill Jagang through the mind of the surrogate; Richard knew better. They each had been brought for other reasons.

  The bridge finally thudded down in place. Richard had already given the bridge crew and guards their instructions, so once the bridge had been lowered he gave them the signal and they all started back up the road.

  Once the crew and guards were out of hearing distance, Richard started across. His entourage was quick to stay close to him. The man on the other side stood for a moment, his thumbs hooked in his weapon belt, before casually advancing to the middle of the bridge and striking an arrogant pose.

  As they came to a halt, the man’s dark eyes—Jagang’s dark vision—were fixed on Nicci. While the master looking through those eyes was no doubt angry, the young man himself was quite open about his lust for what he saw. He ignored everyone else but the blond woman standing before him in a revealing black dress. The neckline at the top of the bodice was loose and open and the man was quite interested in what he was seeing.

  “What is it you want?” Richard asked in a businesslike voice.

  The man’s eyes—Jagang’s vision—turned to Richard, but then went back to Nicci.

  “Well, darlin’,” the deep voice said, “I see you have managed once again to betray me.”

  Nicci returned only an indifferent expression.

  “You said that you wanted to meet with me,” Richard said, keeping his voice calm. “What’s so important to you?”

  The contemptuous gaze slid to Richard. “Not so important to me, boy. To you.”

  Richard shrugged. “All right, to me, then.”

  “Do you care about all those people back there behind you?”

  “You know I do,” Richard said with a sigh. “What of it?”

  “Well, I am going to give you a chance to prove it. Listen carefully, for I’m not in the mood to trade insults.”

  Richard wanted to ask the man—ask Jagang—if he was having trouble sleeping, but he resisted the urge for sarcasm. They were there for a purpose.

  “State your offer, then.”

  The soldier lifted an arm, rather haltingly, Richard thought, to gesture back up at the palace towering behind them. “You have many thousands of people in there, awaiting their fate. That fate now is entirely in your hands.”

  “That’s why they call me Lord Rahl.”

  “Well, Lord Rahl, while you only stand for yourself, I represent the collective wisdom of all of the people of the Order.”

  “Collective wisdom?” Again, Richard had to force himself not to make a flippant remark.

  “Collective wisdom is what guides our people. Together, because we are many, we are wiser than the few.”

  Richard looked down, picking at a fingernail. “Well, I’ve already played the collective wisdom of your Ja’La team and beat them up one side and down the other.”

  The man lurched forward half a step, as if about to attack. Richard stood his ground, folding his arms as he finally looked up to stare into Jagang’s eyes.

  The man halted. “That was you?”

  Richard nodded. “What is your offer?”

  “When we get in there—and we will get in—men like my young soldier, here, the pride of the people of the Old World come to crush the heathens of the New World, will be set free in the place. I will leave to your imagination what such men will do to the fine people in the palace.”

  “I already know how the pride of the Order treats innocent people. I’ve already seen the results of their collective wisdom. No imagining is necessary.”

  “Well, if you would like that to be repeated here, only tenfold worse just because they’re angry at your bullheaded defiance, at having to sit down there building their own way in, then you have to do nothing. They will come, they will get in, and they will extract their vengeance for all that you have done to the people of their homeland.”

  “I already know all that,” Richard said. “It’s pretty obvious, after all.”

  “And would you like to spare your people that pain?”

  “You know I would.”

  The man straightened a little, taking on Jagang’s smile. “And do you know that I have your sister, Jennsen?”

  Richard blinked in surprise. “What?”

  “I have Jennsen. She’s quite nice on the eyes, actually. She was brought back after we visited a graveyard in Bandakar to pay our respects to the deceased.”

  Richard was losing track of what Jagang was talking about. “What deceased?”

  “Why, Nathan Rahl, of course.”

  Richard’s eyes slid closed as he remembered that grave marker. “Dear spirits,” he whispered to himself.

  “While they were paying our respects to the tomb of Nathan Rahl, my representatives came across the most interesting books. One in particular I believe you’ve heard of: The Book of Counted Shadows.”

  Richard glared, but said nothing.

  “Now, as I’m sure you are aware, there are five copies of that particular book. In fact, I have three of them. From what my good Sisters tell me, you have memorized another copy. I’m not sure where the fifth is, but I suppose that it could be any of a number of places.

  “The thing is, it doesn’t really matter. You see, The Book of Counted Shadows that came into my possession, along with your beautiful little sister and a few of her friends, is not a copy.”

  Richard puzzled at the man. “Not a copy? Then what is it?”

  “It’s the original,” Jagang said in his deep voice, sounding quite amused with himself. “Because it’s the original, I don’t have to worry about which of the five is the one true copy and which four are the false copies. That no longer concerns me, since I now have the original.”

  Richard heaved a sigh. “I see.”

  “Besides that, I now also have all three boxes of Orden. My friend Six was kind enough to bring me the third.” The dark eyes turned toward Nicci. “She got it from the Wizard’s Keep. Just ask Nicci. Fortunately, Nicci recovered from the touch of the witch woman. I would have been so very displeased had she died.”

  Richard folded his arms again. “So you have The Book of Counted Shadows, and now you have all three boxes. Sounds like you have Ja’La dh Jin well in hand. What is it you want from me?”

  The soldier wagged an admonishing finger. “You know what I want, Richard Rahl. I want into the Garden of Life.”

  “I suppose you do, but I don’t think it would be very healthy for me to allow that.”

  “I suggest that you think about all those people in there, an
d ask yourself how healthy it will be for them if you don’t agree. You see, we are going to get in. It’s just a matter of when and what happens when we do get in. If you force me to fight my way in, then, as I said, I will have to let my men extract their revenge on every single person in there—every man, woman, and child. I expect that it will be terrifying beyond their wildest imagination.

  “But, if you surrender—”

  “Surrender!” Verna shouted. “Are you out of your mind!”

  Richard silenced her by easing her back. He turned again to Jagang. “Go on.”

  “If you surrender, I will not harm the palace.”

  “If we were to surrender, why in the world would you spare it? I certainly hope you don’t expect me to believe that you have it in you to honor such a bargain.”

  “Well, you see, we were planning to build a grand palace to be the headquarters of the Imperial Order. Brother Narev himself was overseeing the project. But you ended that dream for our people.

  “We could start over and build such a palace. . . .” The man gestured indulgently. “But it would be so much more fitting, since you took our palace, for us in the end to take yours and rule from it to show all who would defy the Fellowship of Order what comes of such foolish resistance. This seat of the Order would be a statement to all.

  “Of course, after you witness the opening of the correct box of Orden I would have you put to death.”

  “Of course,” Richard said.

  “A relatively quick death, but not too quick. I would want you to pay for some of your crimes, after all.”

  “How appealing.”

  “Well, your people would live. Aren’t you concerned for them? Have you no compassion? They would have to bow to the beliefs of the Order, which is, after all, the moral law of the Creator Himself, but they would not be molested by my men.”

  “That doesn’t sound very appealing,” Richard said, his arms still folded.

  The soldier shrugged, an awkward movement, like a puppet whose strings had been pulled. “Well, those are your only two choices. Either we eventually smash our way in on a river of blood, letting my men have what they want of your people and your palace while my Sisters and myself do what we must in the Garden of Life, or else you come to your senses and allow your people to live in peace, while my Sisters and myself do what we must in the Garden of Life.

  “Either way, I will have the Garden of Life to use as I must. The only question is how soon, and how much blood and suffering it will cost your people.”

  “You may never get in. You think you will, but you may not. I have that possibility to consider.”

  “Not really,” Jagang said with a surrogate smile. “You see, I always have the additional option of Six helping us. She wouldn’t have to fight her way up through the palace. She can just . . . drop us in, as it were. Beyond that, if I grow too impatient I could always go ahead and do it the easy way by simply using the book the way it was intended to open the correct box.”

  “You need the Garden of Life.”

  The man gestured dismissively. “The boxes predate the Garden of Life. There is nothing that says they must be opened in such a place—a containment field, as my Sisters explained it. My Sisters, as well as Six, also advised me that while the Garden of Life was built as a containment field specific to the boxes of Orden, the boxes can still be opened from right where they are.”

  Richard glared at the man before him. “Without the specific containment field offered by the Garden of Life it would be extremely dangerous to attempt to open one of the boxes. Any number of otherwise inconsequential errors would risk destroying the world of life.”

  Jagang again smiled a very wicked smile. “This world, this life, is transient. It is the next world that matters. Destroying this vile, wretched world, this miserable life, would be doing the Creator a great service. Those of us who have served His cause through the Fellowship of Order will be rewarded in that eternal afterlife. Those of you who have opposed us will fall into the eternal darkness beneath the Keeper. Ending this wretched world in the cause of saving it would be a noble act worthy of great reward.

  “So, you see, Richard Rahl, in this round of Ja’La dh Jin I am going to win it all, one way or the other. I am merely offering you the chance to decide how you wish it to end.”

  The wind carried a sheet of dust past as Richard watched the man. He knew from the things he’d studied, and the things that Nicci had told him, that Jagang wasn’t bluffing about being able to open the boxes without the Garden of Life. He also knew how dangerous it would be. Unfortunately, he also knew that the Order didn’t really care if all life ended. They valued death, not life. Even if they could somehow eliminate Jagang it would make no difference, really. He represented the beliefs of the Order, he did not shape them.

  In the end, he was hardly the most dangerous part of the Order. It was the evil beliefs the Fellowship of Order taught that were dangerous. Jagang was merely the brute who enforced those beliefs.

  “I don’t know that I can make such a decision immediately.”

  “I understand. I will give you some time to think it over. Some time to walk the halls of the palace and look into the eyes of those women and children under your care.”

  Richard nodded. “This is the kind of thing I will have to think about. There is much to consider. It will take time.”

  The man smiled. “Of course. Take your time. I give you a few weeks. I will give you until the new moon.”

  The man started to turn away, but then turned back. “Oh, one other thing.” His dark gaze slid to Nicci. “You will have to surrender Nicci to me as part of the bargain. She belongs with me. She must be given back.”

  “What if she doesn’t want to return to your side?”

  “Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. It doesn’t matter what she wants. She is to be returned to me. Is that clear enough?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good,” he said with a condescending smile. “That concludes our talk, then. You have until the new moon to surrender the palace—and Nicci.”

  The man turned to gaze out at the army spread out below; then he walked woodenly to the edge of the planks and, without a word, stepped out into space. He didn’t even scream as he tumbled down through the buffeting updrafts.

  Jagang wanted Richard to understand just how little he cared about life, and how easily he was willing to take it.

  Verna and Cara started shouting objections and angry arguments.

  Richard held up a hand. “Not now. I have things I must do.”

  He signaled to the bridge crew. “Raise the bridge,” he called out on his way up the road as he met them on their way back down.

  Fists clapped to hearts in salute.

  Chapter 53

  In the flickering torchlight, lost in deep concentration, Richard used his finger to draw the next element in the sorcerer’s sand. Running through the words silently to himself first, he finally looked up to the dark windows, then began murmuring the incantations aloud in High D’Haran.

  Through the leaded windows, in his distant awareness, he saw the moonlight. Only the day before, Jagang had given him until the new moon to surrender the palace. That moonlight would day by day continue to dwindle until they were enveloped in complete darkness.

  Richard had listened to Verna, General Meiffert, and Cara’s strong sentiment that they should not surrender. Verna thought that surrender would be giving moral sanction to criminal beliefs and they should fight such evil to the death; General Meiffert thought that it was little more than a trick and it would be foolish to believe Jagang would keep his word, so they should never surrender; Cara thought that they were going to die one way or the other, so they might as well fight to the death and in the process kill as many of the enemy as possible. Nathan and Nicci had only listened to the arguments, undecided on whether it would be best to surrender or fight.

  Richard had pointed out that they were only offering ideas on how they should die, not o
n how they could prevail. They were thinking of the problem, not the solution.

  He knew that there was only one realistic way he could ever expect to get close to the boxes of Orden, but it was not something that the others had wanted to hear.

  Moment by moment time was slipping through his fingers. He knew that he would not be granted more. Richard felt the crushing weight of the responsibility he alone had to bear. He had decided that he could wait no longer; ready or not he had to begin.

  He felt nothing as he spoke the proper incantations, just as he felt nothing when he drew the spell-forms. His emotions were entirely driven by his thoughts of Kahlan, the people he cared dearly about, and the choices he had left open to him.

  He had to keep reminding himself not to waste time allowing his thoughts to drift to what was about to be lost, but instead to use what time he had to think of a way to prevail.

  While he didn’t have access to the boxes of Orden, or the true copy or original of The Book of Counted Shadows, he knew from the books Nicci had studied, especially The Book of Life, which explained how to initiate the use of the boxes of Orden, that this ritual was a necessary component to using Orden to counter Chainfire. Countering Chainfire was central. If Richard ever did get the chance to use the boxes, he had to be ready to use that opportunity. This was one of those things that he had no choice about. Either he did it, or he could never open the boxes—simple as that.

  The sooner he made the attempt, the sooner they would know if it would work. Either he lived or he died. If he didn’t survive then it was better to let Nicci, Nathan, and Verna have as much time as possible to try to think of another way to avoid the inevitable.

  The emperor had a variety of options. Richard didn’t.

  Jagang, since he would be opening the boxes through Sister Ulicia, wouldn’t have to travel to the underworld. Sister Ulicia was a Sister of the Dark. She already had all the connection with the underworld that she would need to make Orden function for them. Richard would have to create his own connection and find a way to accomplish what was necessary in order to make Orden work to counter the Chainfire event.