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Richard knew he wouldn't have to face such a fate, because all he would have to do was attack and the archers would kill him. Still, he didn't want to die. He couldn't help Kahlan if he was dead.
"I don't much like that choice. You have another?" :
A sly smile spread on the man's face, befitting the reptilian half with the scale tattoos. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. You see, the different divisions of the army have Ja'La teams. Ours is made up of a mix of my men and the very best of those we have come across—men blessed by the Creator with exceptional talent.
"It was quite impressive the way you made your way through all those men and to the opening in the wall, like you were making your way toward a goal. You continued on toward that goal without allowing yourself to be stopped no matter what the men threw at you… well, you're a natural point man."
"Dangerous position, being the point man."
The commander shrugged. "That is the game of life. We are absent a point man right now. He died in the last game. As he was evading a blocking man he missed a catch and the broc stove in his ribs. They punctured his lungs. It was a messy, painful death."
"That doesn't sound like a very tempting job."
The commander's eyes gleamed with menace. "If you would rather, you can take your chances without your skin, watching the vultures fight over your bowels."
"Would I get the chance to play the emperor's team?"
"The emperor's team," the commander repeated. He stared at Richard for a moment, interested that he would have asked such a question. "You really are a competitive sort." He finally nodded. "All sanctioned Ja'La teams dream of having a chance to face the emperor's team. If you show your worth, and help us win tournaments with your skill as point man, then, yes, you might very well get the chance to play the emperor's team. If you survive that long."
"Then I'd like to join."
The commander smiled. "You are thinking of being a hero? Is that it? A Ja'La player who is cheered? A player of renown?"
"Perhaps."
The commander leaned a little closer. "I think you are dreaming of the women such a victory would earn you. The looks in the eyes of beautiful females. The smiles of attractive women."
Richard thought of Kahlan's beautiful green eyes, her smile.
"Yes, that thought had crossed my mind."
"Crossed your mind!" The man snorted a laugh. "Well, Ruben, banish the thought. You are not a player who has come to join. You are a captive, and a dangerous one at that. We have provisions for players of your kind. You will be put in a cage and taken by wagon. You will be let out to play, or to practice, but otherwise you will be no more than a caged animal. During practice sessions you will have to work hard to learn to work with the rest of the team, to learn their strengths and weaknesses—after all, you are the point man. But even so, you will not be one man alone."
Richard didn't see an alternative. "I understand."
The commander took a deep breath as he hooked his thumbs in his weapons belt. "Good. If you play well, if you do your best in every game, and if we should happen to beat the emperor's team, I will allow you to have your choice of the women who will be gathered, eager to lie with the players."
"With the victors," Richard corrected.
The commander nodded. "With the victors." He lifted a finger. "Make one wrong step in the meantime, and you will be killed."
"Bargain struck," Richard said. "You have your new point man."
The commander lifted an arm, signaling other officers closer. They came to attention before the commander.
"Have the wagon brought up—the one with the iron box—for our new point man, here. I think you already know how dangerous he is. Handle him as such. I want to unleash his talent against our opponents."
The officer gave Richard an appraising glance. "It would be nice to win more than on occasion."
The commander nodded as he started reeling off orders. "Post guards near the castle and in town, enough to insure that there will be no trouble from the people of Tamarang. Then have all the laborers start setting up the stations for our supply trains. You'll first have to find a place big enough. Look just outside the city, near the river.
"Summer is waning. Winter will be here before you know it, and the supply trains soon coming up through here will be large and often. All our troops in the New World will be needing supplies to last them the coming winter.
"The city of Tamarang will provide what our men will need for the construction. There is a port on the river where the lumber is to be brought in, so you will need to make provisions for roads to the new site, and for the barracks for all the men who will eventually be billeted here."
One of the officers nodded. "We have all the plans ready."
Richard could only assume that the Order intended to use the city of Tamarang for help in all the construction for the depot. He had seen them do such things before. It was easier to deal with places that were eager to join in the Order than to destroy everything and then just have to build it up again.
"I will be leaving at once with our troops and this supply train," the commander told the officers. "Jagang wants all the men he can get for the assault on the D'Haran Empire."
The leader of the D'Haran Empire stood quietly listening to the plans for the final assault on the people of the New World, for the slaughter of those who believed in freedom, for the battle that he had made sure would never happen.
* * *
CHAPTER 50
Rachel woke when she heard Violet padding around the bedroom. Through the little slit in the door of her iron box, Rachel could see the tall window across the room. Even though the heavy royal blue drapes were drawn, she could tell by the color of the light coming in the narrow gap between them that it was just dawn.
Queen Violet did not ordinarily get up this early.
Rachel listened, trying to hear what Violet was doing. She heard a long yawn, and then the sounds of the cave queen getting dressed.
Rachel's legs were cramped from being in the box all night. She wanted to get out and stretch. That was not a desire she dared to voice, though. At least they hadn't put the tongue clamp on her the night before; sometimes Violet didn't feel like bothering.
All of a sudden there was a BANG, BANG, BANG that made Rachel jump, made her heart race. It was Violet beating the heel of her shoe on the top of the iron box.
"Wake up," Violet said. "Big day. A messenger slipped a note under the door in the night. Six returned—a few hours before dawn."
The queen whistled as she went about dressing. That in itself was a little unusual, because the queen usually called in her attendants to get out her clothes and dress her. Now she was dressing herself, and whistling while she did it. Rachel had rarely heard Violet whistle. It was pretty clear that she was in a good mood because of Six returning.
Rachel's heart sank at all that meant.
What little light came into the sleeping box darkened as Violet's eyes appeared just outside the slit in the door. "She has Richard with her. The spells I drew all worked. Today is going to be the worst day of his life. I will see to that. Today, he begins to pay for his crimes against me."
Violet's face vanished. The whistling started in again as the queen crossed the room, finished getting dressed, and drew on stockings and laced boots. In a few moments she returned and leaned close again.
"I'm going to let you watch while the men whip him." She cocked her head. "What do you have to say?"
In the back corner of her box, Rachel swallowed. "Thank you, Queen Violet."
Violet snickered as she straightened. "He won't have an inch of flesh left on his back by the time the sun sets today." She went a short distance to the desk in the corner and then returned. Rachel heard the key turn in the lock. The lock made a metallic clang as it popped open, banging against the iron door. Violet pulled the lock off the hasp. "And that's only the beginning of what I will have done to him. I'll—"
There was an urgent knock at t
he door. A muffled voice demanded that the door be opened. It was Six's voice.
"Hold on, I'm coming," Violet shouted across the room.
Rachel moved a little closer to the slit and saw Violet hurriedly hook the lock back through the hasp. She pushed it to lock it again just as Six banged on the door.
"All right, all right," Violet said as she let go of the lock and rushed across the room. She turned the latch on the big, heavy door and almost immediately it burst open. Six swept into the room, all dark and towering like a thunderhead.
"You have him, right? He's here, locked up where I told you to put him?" Violet asked, her voice filled with trembling excitement as Six closed the big door. "We can start punishing him immediately. I will have the guards assemble—"
"The army took him."
Rachel moved closer to the iron door and cautiously peered out the slit. Six was standing just inside the door. The queen's back was to Rachel. Violet stood in a white satin dress with a deep blue belt and laced boots over her white stockings, staring up at the stark figure of the witch woman.
"What?"
