CHAPTER 64

Nicci was surprised by the encampment. She was so used to being among Jagang's army that she hadn't really given any thought to how different these men might be. It made sense, of course, but she had just never given it any thought.

Even in the dark, there was still the light of all the fires and she expected to be the center of morbid attention, with men calling out the filthiest things they could think of in an attempt to shock her, or humiliate her, or frighten her. Men in the Order encampment always hooted and hollered at her, made obscene gestures, and laughed uproariously as she passed among them.

These men, to be sure, looked her way. Nicci expected that it was a rare experience to see a woman like her riding into their camp. But they only looked. A glance, an admiring gaze, a smile here and there with a bow of the head in greeting was the most she got. It could be that she was riding in beside the Lord Rahl and a Mord-Sith in red leather, but Nicci didn't think so. These men were different. They were expected to conduct themselves with respect.

Everywhere when men saw Richard, they were eager to clap a fist to their hearts in salute as they stood in pride, or trotted alone beside his horse for a time. They looked overjoyed to see him riding into their camp, to see their Lord Rahl among them again.

The camp was also more orderly as well. That it was dry was a help; there were few things worse than an army camp in the wet. In this camp the animals were confined to areas where they wouldn't accidentally create trouble. Wagons were out of the main route through the camp. There actually were deliberate routes through the camp.

The men looked weary from the long march, but their tents were set up in a rather systematic manner, not the haphazard, every-man-for-himself method the Imperial Order employed. The fires were small and were only what was needed, not the drunken revelry of men dancing, singing, and brawling around the bonfires.

The other big difference was that there were not any torture tents set up. The Order always had an active area set aside for torture. A steady stream of people flowed in for questioning, and an equal number of corpses flowed out. The constant screams from victims made for a noisy camp.

That was the other thing. It was rather quiet. Men were finishing with meals and bedding down for the night. It was a quiet time. In the Order's encampment, there wasn't any time that was quiet.

«There,» one of the men escorting them said as he lifted an arm to point out the command tents in the darkness.

A big blond-headed officer came out of one of the tents when he heard horses nearby. He had undoubtedly already been alerted that the Lord Rahl was on his way.

Richard swung down off the saddle and stopped the man from going to his knees to do a devotion.

«General Meiffert, it's good to see you again, but we don't have time for that.»

He bowed his head. «As you wish, Lord Rahl.»

Nicci watched the general's blue eyes glance to Cara as she came up beside Richard.

He smoothed back his blond hair. «Mistress Cara.»

«General.»

«Life is too short for you two to pretend you don't care for each other,» Richard said, his anger surfacing. «You ought to realize that every moment you have together is precious and there is nothing wrong with holding someone in high regard. That's the kind of freedom we're fighting for. Well, isn't it?»

«Yes, Lord Rahl,» General Meiffert said, somewhat taken aback.

«We're here because of a report you sent about a woman who was stabbed. Is she still alive?»

The young general nodded. «I haven't checked in the last hour or so, but she was, earlier. My field surgeons attended to her, but there are wounds well beyond their ability. This is one of those. She was stabbed in the gut. It's a slow and painful way to die. She's lived longer than I expected.»

«Do you know her name?» Nicci asked.

«She wouldn't tell us when she was wide awake, but when she was in a fevered state, we asked again and she said her name was Tovi.»

Richard glanced at Nicci before asking, «What does she look like?»

«Heavy set, older woman.»

«Sounds like her,» Richard said as he wiped a hand across his face. «We need to see her. Right away.»

The general nodded. «Follow me, then.»

«Wait,» Nicci said.

Richard turned back to her. «What is it?»

«If you go in to see her, she won't tell you anything. Tovi hasn't seen me for ages. The last she knew, I was still a slave to Jagang and she had escaped. I might be able to talk to her in a way that will get the truth out of her.»

Nicci could see how impatient Richard was to get his hands on one of the women that he believed was responsible for taking the woman he loved.

Nicci still didn't know what she believed. She wondered if she still believed that he was only dreaming up this other woman simply because of her own feelings.

«Richard,» she said as she stepped close to him so that she could talk confidentially, «let me do this. If you go in there it will spoil what I can do. I think I can get her to talk, but if she sees you, the game will be over.»

«And how do you plan to accomplish getting her to talk?»

«Look, do you want to know what happened to Kahlan, or do you want to argue about how I'm going to get that information?»

He pressed his lips tight for a moment. «I don't care if you pull her intestines out an inch at a time, just get her to talk.»

Nicci briefly put a hand on his shoulder on her way by as she followed after the general. Once they were away, she moved up and walked beside him as they marched through the nearly dark camp. She could see why Cara found the man attractive. He had one of those handsome faces that just didn't look like it could wear a lie well at all.

«By the way,» he said, glancing over at her, «I'm General Meiffert.»

Nicci nodded. «Benjamin.»

He paused in the dark pathway through the camp. «How do you know that?»

Nicci smiled. «Cara told me about you.» Still, he stared at her. She took his arm and started him moving again. «And for a Mord-Sith to speak so highly of a man is quite unusual.»

«Cara spoke highly of me?»

«Of course. She likes you. But you know that.»

He clasped his hands behind his back as they walked. «I guess, then, that you must know that I think a lot of her.»

«Of course.»

«And who are you, anyway, might I ask? I'm sorry, but Lord Rahl didn't introduce us.»

Nicci gave him a sidelong glance. «You may have heard of me as Death's Mistress.»

General Meiffert stumbled to a stop, choking on spit from gasping. He coughed until his face was red.

«Death's Mistress?» he finally managed. «People are more afraid of you than Jagang himself.»

«For good reason.»

«You're the one who captured Lord Rahl, and took him to the Old World.»

«That's right,» she said as she started out again.

He walked along beside her, thinking it over. «Well, I'd guess that you must have changed your ways, or Lord Rahl wouldn't have you with him.»

She simply smiled at him, a smooth, sly smile. It made him uneasy. He gestured to the right.

«Down here. The tent where we put her is over here.»

Nicci grasped his forearm to hold him in place. She didn't want Tovi hearing her, yet.

«This is going to take a goodly amount of time. Why don't you tell Richard that I said he should get some rest. I think Cara ought to get some rest, too. Why don't you see to that, as well?»

«Ah, I guess I could do that.»

«And General, if my friend Cara doesn't leave here in the morning with a giddy grin, I'll gut you alive.»

His eyes widened. Nicci couldn't help but to smile.

«Figure of speech, Benjamin.» She arched an eyebrow. «You have the night with her. Don't waste it.»

He smiled at last. «Thank you.»

«Nicci.»

«Thank you, Nicci. I think about her all the time. You don't know how much I've missed her-how much I've worried about her»

«I think I do. But you should tell her that, not me. Now, where is Tovi?»

He lifted an arm and pointed. «Down there, on the right. The last tent in the line.»

Nicci nodded. «Do me a favor. See to it that no one disturbs us. Including the surgeons. I need to be alone with her.»

«I'll see to it.» He turned back and scratched his head. «Ah, it's none of my business, but are you»-he gestured between her and back the way they'd come."you and Lord Rahl, well, you know.»

Nicci couldn't seem to make herself come up with an answer that she wished to voice.

«Time is short. Don't keep Cara waiting.»

«Yes, I see what you mean. Thank you Nicci. I hope to see you in the morning.»

She watched him rush off into the darkness, then turned to her task. She hadn't really wanted to unnerve the general with talk of Death's Mistress, but she needed to slip back into that part of herself, needed to think that way again, needed to find the icy attitude that was numb to everything.

She pulled the tent flap aside and slipped inside. There was a single candle lit on a holder made of wrought iron that was stuck in the ground beside a cot. The tent was stuffy and warm. It smelled of stale sweat and dried blood.

Tovi's bulk lay on her back in the cot, laboring to breathe.

Nicci sat lightly on a field stool beside the woman. Tovi hardly noticed someone sitting down. Nicci laid a hand on Tovi's wrist and began to trickle in a thread of power to help the woman's suffering.

Tovi recognized such gifted help and immediately looked over. Her eyes went wide and her breathing quickened. She then gasped in pain and clutched at her abdomen. Nicci increased the flow of power until Tovi sagged back with a moan of relief.

«Nicci, where have you come from? What in the world are you doing here?»

«Well, since when do you care? Sister Ulicia and the rest of you left me in Jagang's clutches, his personal slave, left me a captive of that pig.»

«But you got away.»

«Got away? Sister Tovi, are you out of your mind? No one got away from dream walker-except you five.»

«Four. Sister Merissa is no longer living.»

«What happened?»

«Stupid bitch tried to play her own game with Richard Rahl. You remember how she hated him-wanted to bathe in his blood.»

«I remember.»

«Sister Nicci, what are you doing here?»

«The rest of you left me to Jagang.» Nicci leaned in so that Tovi could see her glare. «You have no idea of the things I've had to endure. Since then, I've been on a long mission for His Excellency. He needs information and he knows I can get it.»

Tovi smiled. «Makes you whore for him, to find out what he wants to know.»

Nicci didn't answer the question, instead letting it answer itself. «I just happened to hear about some fool woman who in the process of getting herself robbed or something also managed to get herself stabbed. Something about the description made me decide to come and check myself to see if it could possibly be you.»

Tovi nodded. «I'm afraid it's not good.»

«I hope it hurts. I came to make sure you're a long time dying. I want you to suffer for what you did to me-leaving me in the clutches of Jagang while the rest of you escaped without bothering to even tell me how it could be done.»

«We couldn't help it. We had a chance and we had to take it, that's all.» A cunning grin came to her. «But you can get free of Jagang, too.»

Nicci pressed forward. «How-how can I get free?»

«Heal me and I'll tell you.»

«You mean, heal you so you can betray me like before. No good, Tovi. You're going to tell it all, or I'm going to sit right here and watch you suffer your way into the Keeper's eternal embrace. I may trickle in just enough to keep you alive a little longer.» She leaned in. «So you can continue to feel the pain twisting in your guts a little longer.»

Tovi seized a fistful of Nicci's dress. «Please, Sister, help me. It hurts so much.»

«Talk, 'Sister.'»

She released her grip on Nicci's dress and let her face roll to face away. «It's the bond to Lord Rahl. We swore a bond.»

«Sister Tovi, if you think I'm that stupid, I'm going to make you suffer just to make you regret the thought until you die.»

She turned back to look at Nicci. «No, it's true.»

«How can you swear a bond to someone you want to eliminate?»

Tovi grinned. «Sister Ulicia figured it out. We swore a bond to him, but made him let us go before he could hold us to a list of his commands.»

«This story just gets more preposterous all the time.»

Nicci withdrew her hand from Tovi's arm, and with it the trickle of relief. As Nicci stood, Tovi groaned in agony.

«Please, Sister Nicci, it's true.» She grasped Nicci's hand. «In exchange for letting us go, we traded for something he wanted.»

«What could Lord Rahl possibly want that would convince him to let a clutch of Sisters of the Dark loose? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard.»

«A woman.»

«What?»

«He wanted a woman.»

«As the Lord Rahl, he can have any woman he wants. He has but to pick her and have her sent to his bed, unless she would choose the executioner's block instead, and none do. He hardly needs the Sisters of the Dark to cart women to his bed.»

«No, no, not that kind of woman. A woman he loved.»

«Right.» Nicci huffed a sigh. «Good-bye, Sister Tovi. Be sure to give the Keeper of the dead my regards when you get there. Sorry, but I'm afraid that meeting won't be for a while. I think you look like you may linger for a number of days, yet. Pity.»

«Please!» Her arm rotated around, searching for the contact of the one person who could save her. «Sister Nicci, please. Please listen, and I will tell you everything.»

Nicci sat down and gripped Tovi's arm again. «All right, Sister, but just remember, the power can go both ways.»

Tovi's back arched as she cried out in agony. «No! Please!»

Nicci had no compunction about what she was doing. She knew that there was no moral equivalence between her inflicting torture and the Imperial Order doing what might on the surface seem like the same thing. But her purpose in using it was solely to save innocent lives. The Imperial Order used torture as a means of subjugation and conquest, as a tool to strike fear into their enemies. And, at times, as something they relished because it made them feel powerful to hold sway over not just agony but life itself.

The Imperial Order used torture because they had no regard at all for human life. Nicci was using it because she did. While at one time she would have seen no difference, since coming to embrace life she saw all the difference in the world.

Nicci reversed the suffering she was trickling into the old woman and Tovi sank back in grateful, weeping relief.

Tovi was covered in a sheen of sweat. «Please, Sister, give me some comfort instead and I will tell you everything.»

«Start with who stabbed you.»

«The Seeker.»

«Richard Rahl is the Seeker. Do you really think I will believe such a story? Richard Rahl would have taken your head off with one swing.»

Tovi's head rolled side to side. «No, no, you don't understand. This man had the Sword of Truth.» She pointed at her gut. «I ought to know the Sword of Truth when it runs me through. He caught me by surprise and before I knew who he was or what he wanted, the bastard stabbed me.»

Nicci pressed her fingers to her brow in confusion. «I think you better go back to the beginning.»

Tovi was already sinking into a stupor. Nicci increased the magic flowing into her, giving her some healing relief without curing her of her injury. Nicci didn't want to cure her, she needed the woman unable to help herself. Tovi looked the kindly grandmother, but she was a viper.

Nicci crossed one leg over the other. It was going to be a long night.

The next time Tovi came around, Nicci sat up straighter. «So you swore a bond to Richard, as the Lord Rahl,» Nicci said as if there had been no gap in the conversation, «and that protected all of you from the dream walker.»

«That's right.»

«And then what?»

«We were able to escape. We kept track of Richard as we went about our work for our master. We needed to find a hook.»

Nicci knew very well who their master was.

«What do you mean, a hook?»

«In order to do what we need to do to satisfy the Keeper, we needed a way to make sure Richard Rahl could not interfere. We found it.»

«Found what?»

«Something that keeps us bonded to him no matter what we do. It was brilliant.»

«So what is it?»

«Life.»

Nicci frowned, not knowing if she had heard right. She laid a hand on Tovi's wound and gave some focused comfort.

After Tovi had calmed from the wave of pain, Nicci asked in a quiet voice, «What do you mean?»

«Life,» Tovi said at last. «It is his highest value.»

«So?»

«Sister, think. In order to stay out of the dream walker's grasp, we must be bonded to Richard Rahl all the time. We dare not waver for a moment. And yet, who is our ultimate master?»

«The Keeper of the dead. We have sworn oaths.»

«That's right. And if we were to do something that would harm Richard's life, such as loose the Keeper into the world of life, then we would be going against our bond to Richard. That would mean that before we could free the Keeper from his bounds in the world of the dead, Jagang, in this world, would be able to pounce on us.»

«Sister Tovi, you had better start making sense, or I will lose my patience, and I assure you, you would not like that. You would not like it one bit. I want to know what's going on so that I can be let in. I want my place back.»

«Of course. Of course. You see, Richard's highest value is life. In fact, he created a statue to it. We were in the Old World. We saw his statue dedicated to life.»

«I got that much out of what you said.»

Her head rolled back so she could again look at Nicci. «Well, my dear, what is it we are pledged to do in the Oaths we have given?»

«Free the Keeper.»

«And what is our reward for performing our task?»

Nicci stared at the woman's cold eyes. «Immortality.»

Tovi grinned. «Exactly.»

«Richard's highest value is life. You are saying that you plan to grant him immortality?»

«We are. We are working toward his most noble ideal: life.»

«But he may not want immortality.»

Tovi managed a shrug. «Maybe. But we don't intend to ask him. Don't you see the brilliance of Sister Ulicia's plan? We know that his highest value is life. No matter what else we may do against his wishes, those things do not rise to the level of his most important value. Thus, we are honoring our bond to the Lord Rahl in the most grand way possible, while maintaining the bond-keeping the dream walker out of our minds-and at the same time working to bring the Keeper into the world. See how it goes round and round. Each element locks the others in tighter.»