“Now, I don’t think the guards can see me, but I need to find out for sure. I want you to stay right here. Don’t watch me or you will make them suspicious of you.”
“But—”
Kahlan crossed her lips with a finger. “Listen to me. Do as I ask.”
Jillian finally nodded her agreement.
Without waiting to see if the girl would change her mind and decide to argue, Kahlan again checked to make sure that Jagang and the Sisters were busy reading. Once seeing that they were, she immediately started across the floor. She moved as silently as she could; the guards may not know she was there, but if Jagang or the Sisters heard her, she would lose her chance before she could begin.
The two guards stared ahead, watching their emperor. Occasionally, the one closest to Jillian would glance over at the girl. Kahlan could tell by his lingering gaze what he was thinking: he was hoping that Jagang would give Jillian to him. Kahlan imagined that with a man like Jagang, such occasional rewards were a benefit of having earned such a trusted position as personal guard to an emperor. Jillian had no idea of the fate that was in store for her. Kahlan had to do something to change the headlong course of those looming events.
Once in front of the guards, she was careful to stay out of the line of sight between them and the four people at the table. She also had to be careful not to draw the attention of the Sisters, or Jagang, either. Even if the two guards couldn’t remember Kahlan long enough to be aware that she was there, she didn’t want to find out what would happen if they were mysteriously blocked from seeing their leader. These two were wary men, no doubt of exceptional talents, and there was no telling how small a thing could alert them to trouble, and Kahlan intended on being a great deal of trouble—but not until she was ready.
Standing directly in front of the two huge men, she realized that she came up only to the tops of their shoulders, so she wouldn’t likely block their view. They didn’t look at her, or in any way acknowledge her presence. She gently touched the metal post through one man’s nose. He wrinkled his nose and then casually reached up and scratched, but he did not grab her hand.
Satisfied that he would do no more, Kahlan reached out and smoothly drew a knife from a sheath on the leather strap crossing the men’s chest. As the blade came out into the torchlight, she was very careful to draw it evenly, without putting any twisting pressure on the sheath or strap. He didn’t notice anything as it came completely free.
It felt good to have the weapon in her hand. The emotion of it caused her to remember being back at the White Horse Inn when the Sisters had killed the husband and wife who had run the place. She remembered picking up a heavy cleaver to try to stop them from harming the daughter.
She remembered the deep inner satisfaction at having a weapon in her hand because it represented a sense of having the means to control her own life, to help her to survive. A weapon meant not being at the mercy of evil people who respected no law, whether of man or reason, of not being a helpless prey of those who were stronger and would use that strength to dominate others.
Kahlan twirled the knife across her hand, weaving it through her fingers, watching it reflect the flickering light from the torches as it spun. She caught the handle and for a moment stared at the well-honed, polished blade.
It represented salvation. If not for her, at least for Jillian.
Remembering where she was and what she was doing, Kahlan quickly slipped the weapon down inside her boot. She looked over to make sure that Jillian was quiet and staying put. The girl’s eyes had gone wide. Kahlan turned back to her task and carefully drew a second knife from a sheath on the other guard’s chest strap. The blade was a little thinner, the weapon a little better balanced. Like the first, she pierced the blade through the leather of her boot, near the top, and slid it down into her boot, being careful to position it as she did, so that the blade would be behind the bone of her ankle. She then pushed the point securely into the bottom of the boot. In the makeshift sheath the knife couldn’t move around and cut her when she walked.
As silently as possible, walking lightly on the balls of her feet, Kahlan quickly returned to a startled Jillian. The Sisters and their master were involved in an animated conversation about the relevance of star positions, weather, and time of year to the formation and concentration of power needed for specific spells. The Sisters were explaining the meaning of passages and Jagang was asking questions every few minutes, challenging their assumptions at every turn.
Kahlan was a bit surprised to hear how well versed the man was. The Sisters sometimes found that he had learned more than they knew on certain subjects to do with the boxes of Orden. Jagang didn’t look like a man who would be the kind to value knowledge from books, but Kahlan was wrong. While she didn’t understand most of what they were talking about, it was obvious that Jagang was well read and more than up to the task of conversing intelligently with the Sisters—especially about subjects that they said were found only in the rarest of books.
He wasn’t just a brute. He was worse than that. He was a very smart brute.
“All right,” Kahlan said in a voice low enough that she was sure the others couldn’t hear her. “I want you to listen to me. We may not have much time.”
Jillian’s eyes were still wide. “How did you do that?”
“I was right, they can’t see me.”
“And twirling the knife like you did?”
Kahlan shrugged, dismissing a question she couldn’t answer to address more important matters. “Look, I need to get you out of here. This may be our only chance.”
Jillian looked horrified at the notion. “But if I escape he will kill my grandfather, and probably the others as well. I can’t leave.”
“That is the power he holds over you. But if you don’t get away, the truth is that you all very well may be killed anyway. You need to understand that this could be the only chance you have, or will ever have, for your freedom.”
“Are you really sure of that? How can I risk my grandfather’s life on what you think might happen?”
Kahlan took a deep breath. She hadn’t wanted to have to explain it. “I don’t have time to put it to you nicely, to persuade you in gentle ways. I only have time to give you the bare bones of the truth, so that’s what I’m going to do, so listen carefully.
“I know what these men are like. I’ve seen what they do to young women like you and me—seen it with my own eyes. I’ve seen their naked broken bodies left sprawled where they lay when Imperial Order soldiers are finished using them, or dumped in ditches like refuse.
“If you don’t get away, very bad things are going to happen to you, at best. You will spend the rest of your short life as a slave, being used by soldiers for their sick pleasure and amusement in ways you don’t want to learn about. You will spend the rest of your life alternating between terror and sobbing. That’s at best. You will live, but wish every moment that you were dead. At worst, you are going to be killed when Jagang leaves.
“Either way, it’s a fool’s wish to think he’s going to let you go. No matter what happens, whether you escape or stay, he might let your grandfather and the others go simply because they may not want to take the time and trouble to kill them. Jagang has more important things he’s interested in.
“But you are plunder that has value to him. If nothing else, he will give you to those two guards as a bonus for their service. That’s how men such as Jagang draw ruthless brutes like those two into loyal service—by giving them tasty little scraps like you. Do you have any idea what they will do with you—before they cut your throat? Do you?”
Jillian was silent for a moment. She swallowed before speaking. “I know what Jagang meant, before, when he asked if I’ve ever been with a man—but I pretended I didn’t. I know what he meant when he said that he would give me over to his soldiers. I know what he meant when he said they would like getting their hands on a young woman like me. I know what he meant about their desires.
“My
family has warned me about the dangers from strangers like these. My mother has explained it. I think that she did not tell me everything, though, so that I wouldn’t have nightmares. I think the parts you know would give me nightmares. Before, I only pretended I didn’t know what Jagang was talking about so that he wouldn’t know how afraid I was of him doing that to me.”
Kahlan couldn’t help smiling. “That was a very wise thing you did, keeping such knowledge to yourself.”
Jillian twisted her mouth, fighting back tears at the grim fate she had just admitted understanding. “You have a plan?”
“Yes. You have long legs, but I still doubt that you can outran them. There’s another way, though, a way that uses what you know and they don’t. You said that one wrong turn out there and people get lost in the maze of tunnels and rooms. If you get even a small head start you will be able to quickly lose them in all the twists and turns. As complex as this place is, I don’t think that even the powers of the Sisters would help them get you, and I don’t think that Jagang would waste the time trying.”
She still looked dubious. “But I—”
“Jillian, this is a chance for you to escape. Another may never come along. I don’t want anything terrible to happen to you. If you stay, it will. I want you to understand that you must take this chance. I want you out of here. This is all I can do for you.”
Jillian was overcome with a look of horror. “You mean . . . you’re not going with me?”
Kahlan pressed her lips tight and shook her head. She tapped the metal collar around her neck. “They can stop me with this. It’s magic of some sort. They will be able to put me down. But I think that before they do I’ll be able to help slow them enough so that you can get away.”
“But they will hurt you, or even kill you, for helping me get away.”
“They are going to hurt me anyway—Jagang has already promised me the worst he can dream up. He can do no more than he already intends. As for killing me, I don’t think they would do that, for now at least. They still need me.
“I’m helping you get away and that’s all there is to it. My mind is made up. It’s my choice. It’s the only thing I can do, the only thing that I have a choice about. If I help you, then it makes my own life, no matter what will become of me, mean more to me. I will at least have done something to fight back. I will at least have this victory over them.”
Jillian stared at her. “You’re as brave as Lord Rahl.”
Kahlan’s eyebrows lifted. “You mean Richard Rahl? You know Richard Rahl?”
Jillian nodded. “He helped me, too.”
Kahlan shook her head in wonder. “For living out here in the middle of nowhere, you sure seem to have met a lot of important people. What was he doing here?”
“He came back from the dead.”
Kahlan frowned. “What?”
“Well, not exactly the dead, really. At least that’s what he told me. But he came up from the well of the dead in the graveyard, just as the tellings said he would. I am the priestess of the bones. I am his servant, a dream-caster. He is my master. There have been many priestesses of the bones before me, but he never came for them. I never knew that it would turn out that he would come back in my lifetime.
“He came to find books, too. He is the one who found this place—I never even knew it was down here. None of my people knew. Even my grandfather never knew this place of bones was here.
“Richard was looking for a book to help him find someone important to him. The book was called Chainfire. Once he discovered this place and brought me down here, I’m the one who found the book for him. He was really excited. I was so happy that I was the one who helped him find what he needed.
“Since coming down here with him, I’ve spent all my time exploring this place, learning every turn and tunnel and room. I hope Richard will return one day, as he said he might, and then I will be able to show him everything. I very much want to make him proud of me.”
Kahlan could see the longing in Jillian’s eyes to satisfy the man, to do something he would value, to have him recognize her effort and ability.
Kahlan wanted to ask a thousand questions, but she didn’t have the time. She couldn’t resist one, though.
“What’s he like?”
“Master Rahl saved my life. I’ve never met anyone else like him.” Jillian smiled in a distant way. “He was, well, I don’t know . . .” She sighed, unable to find the words.
“I see,” Kahlan said at the dreamy look in the girl’s copper-colored eyes.
“He saved my life from soldiers sent by Jagang, before. They were looking for these books. I was so afraid the man who had me was going to cut my throat, but Richard killed him. Then, he held me in his arms and quieted my tears.” She looked up from gazing into her memories. “And he saved my grandfather, too. Well, not exactly him, but the woman with him.”
“Woman?”
Jillian nodded. “Nicci. She said that she was a sorceress. She was so beautiful. I couldn’t stop staring at her. I’d never before seen a woman that beautiful. She was like a good spirit standing there before me, with hair like sunlight, and eyes like the sky itself.”
Kahlan sighed. Why wouldn’t a man like that have a beautiful woman with him. After hearing it, she didn’t know why she hadn’t ever considered such a likelihood before now.
Kahlan didn’t know why, but she felt as if something, some hope she had never dared define, or maybe an unfathomable longing she still clung to for something profoundly valuable hidden beneath the black shroud that had been drawn over her past . . . had just slipped away from her.
She had to look away from Jillian’s gaze lest she lose control at the thought of the forlorn situation she found herself trapped in. She used the excuse of looking over her shoulder, checking to make sure that the emperor and his Sisters were still busy, as she wiped an unexpected, solitary tear from her cheek.
The Sisters looked more involved than ever in a discussion of the technicalities in the book. Jagang was demanding to know how they could be sure that certain parts were correct.
When Kahlan looked back, Jillian was staring at her. “But she wasn’t as beautiful as you.”
Kahlan smiled. “Diplomacy must be a requirement of being a priestess of the bones.”
“No,” Jillian said, looking suddenly worried that Kahlan might not believe she was telling the truth. “Really. There’s something about you.”
Kahlan frowned. “What do you mean?”
Jillian’s nose scrunched up with the struggle of searching for words. “I don’t know how to explain it. You’re beautiful, and smart, and you know the right thing to do. But there’s something else.”
Kahlan wondered if this could be some link to who she really was. She had been looking for someone who would be able to see her, and remember her, and maybe give her a clue.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Something noble.”
“Noble?”
Jillian nodded. “You remind me of Lord Rahl in a way. He saved my life without hesitation, just like you want to do. It wasn’t just that, though. I don’t know how to explain it. There was just something about him . . . and you have that same quality about you, too.”
“Good. At least he and I have something in common, then, because I’m about to save your life, too.”
Kahlan took a steadying breath as she checked over her shoulder again. The others were still engaged in their heated conversation. She turned back to Jillian and gave her a dead serious look.
“We have to do this now.”
“But, I’m still worried about my grandfather . . .”
Kahlan looked into the girl’s eyes for a long moment.
“Now, you listen to me, Jillian. You’re fighting for your life. It’s the only life you will ever have. They will show you no mercy for staying. I know that your grandfather would want you to take this chance.”
Jillian nodded. “I understand. Lord Rahl told me much the same thing about
the importance of my life.”
For some reason, that lifted Kahlan’s heart and made her smile. The smile quickly vanished, though, as she put her mind back to the task at hand. She didn’t know if Jagang and the Sisters would be finished soon, or if they would be at it for the rest of the night, but she couldn’t afford to miss the opportunity.
“We have to do this now, before I lose my nerve. I want you to do exactly as I say.”
“I will,” Jillian said.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. You will stay right here. I’m going to go over there and kill these two men.”
Jillian’s eyes went wide. “You’re going to do what?”
“Kill them.”
“How? You’re just a woman, and they’re big. And there’s two of them.”
“It’s not impossible if you know how.”
“You’re going to cut their throats?” Jillian guessed.
“No. They would make noise if I did that. Besides, I couldn’t do that to both of them at the same time. So, I’m going to take two more of their knives and then I’m going to slip up behind them and I’m going to stab them right . . . here.”
Kahlan jabbed a finger in Jillian’s back, a little to the side, right in the soft spot of her kidney. Even the small jab made the girl grunt with the pain of how sensitive that place was.
“Stabbing a man right there, in his kidney, is so painful that it makes it impossible for him to cry out.”
“You can’t be serious. Surely they will scream.”
Kahlan shook her head. “The pain is so great when you’re stabbed in the kidney that your throat clamps shut. Your scream is locked in your lungs. That will be our chance. Before they collapse and hit the floor as they’re dying, we have to get through that door behind them. We have to slip through as quietly as possible to buy as much time as we can. We’ll probably only have a brief moment before we’re discovered, but that moment is all we need for you to get away.
“You stand right here. As soon as I drive the knives in their backs, you head for the door—fast as you can. But don’t make any noise. I’ll be there with you at the doors.”
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