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He considered only briefly. "I will see to it at once." Nathan cast a look back at the crypt. "Any idea what's causing this spell to burn through?"
"Off the top of my head I'd say it was activated by one of the boxes of Orden having been opened up in the Garden of Life. I suspect they created a sympathetic reaction of some sort. It's not yet active enough lor me to tell the purpose of the Subtractive element, but the words inscribed on the coffin and walls indicate that the constituent composition in there was intended to be used to aid in the acquisition of the power of Orden, so they act in a harmonic response after having been in the vicinity of that specific power."
Nathan nodded in thought. "All right. I'll do an invocation of threes and keep my eye on it."
"I have to get back. I will check back later, just to see if you've had any word from Richard and to see how the Order is getting along out there."
"Tell Zedd that I have everything well in hand, and I have the enemy surrounded."
Nicci smiled. "I'll tell him."
On her way through the vast halls of the palace, with Cara at her side, Nicci was lost in thought. She was unsure of what to do next. There were troubling problems descending from every direction. Most felt shadowy and ill defined. There was no one with whom she could really discuss all the things going through her mind. Zedd was a help in some of it, while Cara was good to talk to for other things.
But Richard was the only one who would be able to grasp the ways in which she was beginning to understand fundamental issues. Richard, in fact, was the one to introduce her to the concept of creative magic. She still clearly remembered that talk with him, one night at camp. It was one of the many defining moments with Richard.
There were also things Richard needed to know. There were incidents involving him and the boxes of Orden that were troubling, to say the least. In a way, he had built a fire under ingredients that were not merely dangerous but were beginning to bubble and boil and could possibly combine on their own in the most insidious ways if action wasn't taken.
There were prophecies involved that, not being a prophet, she didn't trust herself to understand. There were other prophecies that she was beginning to think she understood all too well and could not avoid taking into consideration.
Primary among those was the prophecy that said, "In the year of the cicadas"—which this was—"when the champion of sacrifice and suffering, under the banner of both mankind and the Light, finally splits his swarm"—which Jagang had done—"thus shall be the sign that prophecy has been awakened and the final and deciding battle is upon us. Be cautioned, for all true forks and their derivatives are tangled in this mantic root. Only one trunk branches from this conjoined primal origin." This was the time, succeed or fail, all or nothing, the watershed moment, that would forever set the course for the future. "If fuer grissa ost drauka does not lead this final battle, then the world, already standing at the brink of darkness, will fall under that terrible shadow."
That prophecy, she was beginning to see, was tangled in the boxes of Orden, but she couldn't quite grasp how. From time to time she felt on the brink of understanding, but she could never quite break through to it. There was something just beneath the surface of that prophecy that she knew was key.
At the same time, she felt that events were cascading, unrestrained, and she had to do something before those events tumbled out of control. With each passing day, she knew that options would continue to close for them. The Sisters of the Dark having put the boxes in play had already cut off their ability to use the power of Orden for its intended purpose: to counteract the ignition of the Chainfire event. With Chainfire contaminated by the chimes, they were rapidly losing the ability to use their gift to correct the damage.
There was no telling how much longer any of them would have sufficient control of their gift necessary to be of any use in overcoming any of the obstacles they faced.
At the same time, The Book of Life had come to have meaning for her that she could never have imagined. She had also studied several very obscure books Zedd had found for her on Ordenic theory. They, too, had added depth to her understanding, but all of that only seemed to open other areas to bigger questions.
Startled, Nicci halted and looked up. "What was that?"
"The bell for devotion," Cara said, looking a little puzzled at Nicci's reaction.
Nicci watched people begin to gather before a nearby square with a pool in the center. The pool, with a large, dark rock set off center, was opened to the sky.
"Perhaps we should go to devotion," Cara said. "It sometimes helps when you're troubled, and I can tell that you are definitely troubled."
Nicci frowned at the Mord-Sith, wondering how she knew that something was troubling her. She supposed that it really wasn't all that hard to tell.
"I don't have time to go to devotion," Nicci said. "I have to get back and figure this out."
Cara didn't look like she thought that was a good idea. She held a hand out toward the square.
"Thinking about Lord Rahl might help."
"Thinking about Nathan is not going to do me any good. I don't care if everyone thinks that Nathan is the Lord Rahl. Richard is Lord Rahl."
Cara smiled. "I know. That's what I meant." She took Nicci by the arm, drawing her toward the pool. "Come on."
Nicci stared at the woman as she was being dragged along, and then said, "I suppose it couldn't hurt to stop for a short time to think about Richard."
Cara nodded, looking somehow very wise at that moment. People respectfully made way for the Mord-Sith as she strode up to a spot near the pond. Nicci saw that there were fish gliding through the dark waters. Before she knew it, she was kneeling with Cara, putting her forehead to the floor.
"Master Rahl guide us," the crowd began chanting in one voice, "Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are yours."
Nicci added her voice to the others, and together they lifted to reverberate through the halls. The words "Master Rahl" and Richard seemed indistinguishable to her. They were one in the same.
Almost against her will, Nicci's turbulent thoughts quieted as she softly chanted the words along with everyone else.
"Master Rahl guide us. Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are yours."
She lost herself in the words. The sunlight was warm on her back. The next
day was the first day of winter, but inside Lord Rahl's palace the sun was warm, much like up in the Garden of Life. It seemed odd in that Darken Rahl, and his father, Panis, were the Lord Rahl before, making this place the seat of evil.
She realized, though, that the place was only that—a place. The man was what mattered. The man made the defining difference. The man set the tone that others followed, either rightly or wrongly. In a way, the devotion was the formal statement of that concept.
"Master Rahl guide us. Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are yours."
Those words reverberated in Nicci's mind. She missed Richard so much. Even though his heart belonged to someone else, she just missed seeing him, seeing his smile, talking to him. If that was all she could ever have, that was enough to sustain her. Just his friendship, his value in her life, and hers in his.
Just Richard being happy, being alive, being… Richard.
Our lives are yours.
Nicci abruptly rose up on her knees.
She understood.
Puzzled, Cara frowned up at her as everyone else chanted. "What's wrong?"
Our lives are yours.
She knew what she had to do.
Nicci stood in a rush. "Come on. I have to get back to the Keep."
As they ran together through the halls, Nicci could hear the whispering sound of voices rising up together to echo reverently through the vast corridors.
"Master Rahl guide us. Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are yours."
Nicci felt herself lost in words that suddenly had meaning for her that they had never had before.
She understood how it all fit together, at last, and knew what she had to do.
