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He rolled his shoulders, pulling the mantle of calm authority back around himself. “The bond worked for Nicci. I can no longer enter her mind.”
Sister Armina stood frozen in more than simple fear of the man; she was obviously baffled by what she’d just heard.
Sister Ulicia nodded to herself, staring off into memories. “I guess that, in retrospect, it’s not a surprise. I guess I always knew that she loved Richard. She never said a word to us, of course, to the other Sisters of the Dark, but back at the Palace of the Prophets she gave up a great deal—things I would never have imagined her giving up—in exchange for me naming her to be one of his six teachers.
“The price she paid for that chance to be his teacher made me suspicious of her motives. A couple of the others were driven by greed. They simply wanted to suck the gift out of that man—have it for themselves. But not Nicci. That wasn’t what she was after. So I watched her.
“She never gave it away—dear spirits, I don’t think she was even aware of it herself at the time—but there was a look in her eyes. She was in love with him. I never really understood that look back then, probably because she seemed so sure of her hatred for the man and for all that he represented, but she was in love with Richard Rahl. Even back then, she was in love with him.”
Jagang had gone crimson. Absorbed in her recollections, Sister Ulicia hadn’t noticed his mute rage. Sister Armina surreptitiously touched the other woman’s arm in warning. Sister Ulicia looked up and blanched at seeing the look on the emperor’s face, and immediately changed the subject.
“Like I said, she never said any such thing, so perhaps I’m just imagining it. In fact, now that I think about it, I’m sure of it. She hated the man. She wanted him dead. She hated everything he represented. She hated him. Plain as day. She hated him.”
Sister Ulicia closed her mouth, visibly forcing herself to stop babbling.
“I gave her everything.” Jagang’s voice rumbled like bottled thunder. “I made her as good as a queen. As Jagang the Just, I granted her the authority to be the fist of the Fellowship of Order. Those who opposed the righteous ways of the Order came to know her as Death’s Mistress. She was able to fulfill that virtuous call to duty only because of my generosity. I was foolish to have given her so much latitude. She betrayed me. Betrayed me for him.”
Kahlan didn’t think that she would ever see Jagang in the grip of hot jealousy, but she was seeing it now. He was a man who took what he wanted. He was not used to being denied anything. Apparently, he couldn’t have this woman Nicci. Apparently, Richard Rahl had her heart.
Kahlan swallowed back her own confused feelings over Richard Rahl—a man she had never met—and stared at her guards marching back and forth.
“But I’ll have her back.” Jagang held up a fist. Muscled cords stood out on his arms as the fist tightened. Veins in his temples bulged. “Sooner or later I will crush the immoral resistance offered by Richard Rahl, and then I’ll deal with Nicci. She will pay for her sinful ways.”
Kahlan and this Nicci had something in common. If Jagang ever got his hands on Nicci, Kahlan knew, he was going to do his worst to her as well.
“And the boxes of Orden, Excellency?” Sister Ulicia asked.
The arm dropped. He turned a grim smile on her. “Darlin, it doesn’t matter if one of them has somehow managed to put the boxes of Orden in play. It will do them no good.” He pointed a thumb back over his shoulder at Kahlan. “I have her. I have what we need to put the power of Orden to use for the cause of the Fellowship of Order.
“We have right on our side. The Creator is on our side. When we unleash the power of Orden we will wipe the blasphemy of magic from the world. We will make all men bow down before the teachings of the Order. All men will submit to divine justice and be of one faith.
“It will be a new dawn for mankind, the dawn of the age of man without magic to taint men’s souls. All men will rejoice to be part of the glory that is the cause of the Order. In that new world of man, all men will be equal. All men can then dedicate themselves in service to their fellow man, as is the will of the Creator.”
“Yes, Excellency,” Sister Armina said, eager to find an opening to worm her way back into his favor.
“Excellency,” Sister Ulicia ventured, “as I’ve explained before, while we may have many of the elements needed, as you have so rightly pointed out, we must still have all three boxes if we are to accomplish the goal of accessing the power of Orden for the cause of the Fellowship of Order. We still need that third box.”
His grisly grin returned. “As I told you, I was there in Tovi’s mind. I may have an idea about who was involved in taking it.”
Sisters Ulicia and Armina looked not only surprised, but curious.
“You do, Excellency?” Sister Armina asked.
He nodded. “My spiritual advisor Brother Narev had a friend he had dealings with from time to time. I suspect she might be involved.”
Sister Ulicia looked skeptical. “You think a friend of the Fellowship of Order might have been involved?”
“No, I didn’t say a friend of the Fellowship. I said a friend of Brother Narev. A woman I, too, have had occasional dealings with in the past on Brother Narev’s behalf. I think you may have heard of her.” Jagang arched an eyebrow at the woman. “She goes by the name of Six.”
Sister Armina gasped and went stiff.
Sister Ulicia’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “Six…Excellency, surely you don’t mean Six, the witch woman?”
Jagang looked pleased by the reaction. “Ah, so you know her.”
“I had occasion to cross paths with her once. We had a talk, of sorts. It was not what I would describe as a pleasant conversation. Excellency, no one can deal with that woman.”
“Well, you see, Ulicia, that’s just one more area where you and I differ. You have nothing of value to offer her but your boneless carcass to feed to those with a taste for human flesh she keeps back in her lair. I, on the other hand, have a pretty good grasp on what the woman needs and wants. I’m in a position to grant her the kinds of indulgences she seeks. Unlike you, Ulicia, I can deal with her.”
“But if Richard Rahl or Nicci put the box in play, that can only mean that they are now in possession of it,” Sister Ulicia said. “So, even if Six really did once have the box after Tovi, it’s now out of her grasp.”
“So you think such a woman will abandon her burning desires? All the things she lusts after?” Jagang shook his head. “No, it will not sit well with Six that her plans were…interrupted. Six is a woman who will not be denied. She does not treat very kindly anyone who gets in her way. Am I correct, Ulicia?”
Sister Ulicia swallowed before nodding.
“I expect that a woman of her dark talents and boundless determination will not rest until she has corrected the injustice, and then she will have to deal with the Order. So, you see, I think everything is well in hand. That one of those two criminals, Nicci or Richard Rahl, put that box in play will mean nothing in the end. The Order will prevail.”
Sister Ulicia, her fingers folded tightly together to stop them from trembling ever since she first heard the name Six, bowed her head. “Yes, Excellency. I can see that you do indeed have everything well in hand.”
Jagang, seeing her defeated demeanor, snapped his fingers as he turned his attention toward one of the shirtless slaves standing back near the entrance to the royal tent.
“I’m hungry. The Ja’La tournaments start today. I want a hearty meal before going to watch the games.”
The man bowed deeply from the waist. “Yes, Excellency. I will see to it at once.”
After he’d run off to see to the task, Jagang gazed out over the sea of men. “For now, our brave fighters need a diversion from the difficult work. One of the teams out there will eventually win a chance to play my own team. Let’s hope the team that eventually wins the right to play my team is good enough to at least make my men break a sweat in beating them.”
?
??Yes, Excellency,” the Sisters said together.
Jagang, looking annoyed by their groveling, gestured to one of the special guards as the man marched by.
“She’s going to kill you first.”
The man froze, panic in his eyes. “Excellency?”
Jagang tilted his head to indicate Kahlan only a half step behind him and to his right. “She’s going to kill you first, and you deserve it.”
The man dipped his head deferentially. “I don’t understand, Excellency.”
“Of course you don’t—you’re stupid. She’s been counting your steps. You take the same number of paces each time before you turn to march in the opposite direction. Each time you turn you look to check on her, then march away.
“She’s counted your paces. When it’s time for you to turn, she doesn’t have to be looking in your direction because she knows exactly when you will turn. She knows that just before you turn, you’ll check on her and see her looking the other way. That will put you at ease.
“When you march up to us from the right and turn, you pivot the same way each time—to your right. Each time you turn, the knife on your belt at your right hip is on the side closest to her.”
The man looked down at the knife on his belt. He covered it protectively with a hand. “But Excellency, I wouldn’t let her get my knife. I swear. I would stop her.”
