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The man looked completely puzzled. "Made me general?" He squinted off into the haze of his memory. "I can't recall…"
"It's all wrapped up in the trouble that has developed with magic."
The general and Verna shared a look.
"It was Lord Rahl's wife, Kahlan," Cara said. "She's the one, Benjamin, who named you general." His expression turned to astonishment. Cara shrugged. "It's a long story for another time," she added as she laid a hand on his shoulder. "None of us but Lord Rahl remembers her. It was a spell called Chainfire."
"Chainfire?" Verna grew yet more suspicious. "What Sisters?"
"Sister Ulicia and her other teachers," Nicci said. "They found an ancient spell called Chainfire and initiated it."
Verna regarded Nicci rather coolly. "I guess you would know what kind of trouble those women are, since you were one of them."
"Yes," Nicci said, wearily, "and you captured Richard and took him to the Palace of the Prophets. Had you not, he would not have destroyed the great barrier and the Imperial Order would be back in the Old World right now, not the New. If you want to start assigning blame, the Sisters of the Dark would never have encountered Richard had you not captured him in the first place and taken him back across the barrier to the Old World."
Verna pressed her lips tight. Richard knew the look, and what was coming.
"All right," he said in a low voice before they could start going at it. "We all did what we had to at the time, what we thought best. I've made my share of mistakes as well. We can only shape the future, not the past."
Verna's mouth twisted with a look that said she would like nothing more than to continue the argument, but she knew better. "You're right."
"Of course he is," Cara said. "He is the Lord Rahl."
In spite of herself, Verna smiled. "I guess he is, Cara. He has come to fulfill prophecy even if he didn't intend to."
"No," Richard said, "I have come to try to help us save ourselves. This isn't over yet, and prophecy, in the case of what you're talking about, has a different meaning."
Verna's suspicion returned in a flash. "What meaning?"
"I don't have time to go into it right now. I need to get back and see if Zedd and the others have come up with anything."
"You mean about finding your wife, Lord Rahl?"
"Yes, General, but it gets worse. Other things are happening. There is fundamental trouble with magic."
"Such as?" Verna pressed.
Richard appraised her eyes. "You need to know that the chimes have contaminated the world of life. Magic itself has been corrupted. Parts of it have already failed. There is no telling when yet more of it will fail, or how soon. We have to get back and see what can be done—if anything. Ann is there, along with Nathan, and they are working with Zedd to find some answers."
Before Verna could launch into a barrage of questions, Richard turned his attention to the general. "One last thing. With no army here to stand in their way, I'm sure that Jagang will try to take the People's Palace."
General Meiffert scratched his head of blond hair as he thought it over. "I suppose." He looked up. "But the palace is high on a huge plateau. There are only two ways up: the small road with the drawbridge, or through the great inner doors. If the great doors were closed there's not going to be any assault up that way, and the road is pretty useless for an armed attack.
"Still," the general said, "just to be on the safe side, I would advise that we send some of our best men up to the palace as reinforcements. With all of us heading south, Commander General Trimack and the First File will be facing Jagang's entire army all alone. But still, an assault on the palace?" He shook his head skeptically. "The palace is impenetrable."
"Jagang has gifted with him," Cara reminded him. "And don't forget, Lord Rahl, those Sisters made it into the palace before, way back in the beginning. Remember?"
Before Richard could answer, Verna caught his arm and turned him back to her frown. "Why would those Sisters ignite this spell you mentioned, this Chainfire spell?"
"To make people forget that Kahlan exists."
"But why would they want to do such a thing?"
Richard sighed. "Sister Ulicia wanted to get Kahlan into the People's Palace to steal the boxes of Orden. The Chainfire spell was designed to make a person the same thing as invisible. With the Chainfire spell ignited on Kahlan, no one remembers her. No one remembers that she walked right in and took the boxes out of the garden of life."
"Took the boxes…" Verna blinked in astonishment. "What in the world for?"
"Sister Ulicia put them in play," Nicci said.
"Dear Creator," Verna said as she pressed a hand to her forehead. "I will leave some Sisters there with a stern warning."
"Maybe you ought to be one of them," Richard said as he glanced out and saw the wind come up to carry the rain sideways at times. "We can't allow the palace to fall. Causing havoc down in the Old World is relatively simple conjuring for the Sisters. Defending the palace from Jagang's h
orde and his gifted may be a much greater challenge."
"Perhaps you're right," she admitted as she pulled a lock of wind-borne, wavy hair back off her face.
"Meanwhile, I'll see what I can do to stop Ulicia and her Sisters of the Dark." Richard glanced around at Nicci and Cara, then out at all the men rushing about through the rain to carry out their new mission. "I need to get back."
General Meiffert clapped his fist over his heart. "We will be the steel against steel, Lord Rahl, so that you can be the magic against magic."
Verna touched Richard's cheek, her brown eyes welling up. "Take care, Richard. We all need you."
He nodded and gave her a warm smile, putting more than words could say into it.
General Meiffert slipped an arm around Cara's waist. "Could I escort you to your horses?"
Cara smiled up at him in a very feminine way. "I think we would like that."
Nicci pulled the hood of her cloak up as they ducked out into the downpour. She looked over at Richard and frowned suspiciously.
"Where did you get such an idea as the 'phantom legion' ?"
He put a hand on the small of her back and guided her into the downpour. "Shota gave me the thought when she said I needed to stop chasing phantoms. She implied that a phantom can't be found, can't be caught. I want these men to be phantoms."
She gently circled an arm around his shoulders as they sprinted for their horses. "You did the right thing, Richard."
She must have read the sorrow in his eyes.
* * *
CHAPTER 26
Rachel yawned. Seemingly out of nowhere, Violet spun around and clouted her hard enough to knock her off the rock she'd been sitting on.
Stunned, Rachel pushed herself up on an arm. She cradled her cheek in one hand, waiting for the stupefying pain to loosen its grip, waiting for everything around her to come back into focus. Satisfied, Violet turned back to her work.
