Phantom (45 page)

Deciding that she at the least had to try, she began leafing through the pages, trying to make it look like she was putting in an honest effort when she was really doing nothing more than flipping over blank pages of a book lying open on the table before her.

“I’m sorry,” she said at last, unable to think of anything to tell him other than the truth, “but this is all blank. There is nothing for me to verify.”

“She can’t see the words, Excellency,” Sister Ulicia said under her breath, as if it were hardly a surprise to her. “This is a book of magic. An intact link to specific kinds of Han is required to read it.”

Jagang glanced at the collar around Kahlan’s neck. “Intact.” He peered suspiciously into her eyes. “Maybe she’s lying. Maybe she just doesn’t want to tell us what she sees.”

Kahlan wondered if this was confirmation that he was not in her mind, or if for some reason he was still carrying out a carefully crafted ruse. It didn’t seem to her that at this point such reticence to reveal a presence in her mind, if there really was one, would serve any purpose. After all, the boxes, and the book, were the central reason for the entire deception of the Sisters. He had used his secret presence specifically to bring them here, to this book.

Jagang abruptly snatched Jillian by her hair. Jillian let out a surprised but brief, clipped cry. He was obviously hurting her. She did her best not to pull against the hand holding her hair, lest he rip her scalp off.

“I’m going to gouge out one of this girl’s eyes,” Jagang told Kahlan. “I will then ask again if the book is genuine or not. If I don’t get an answer—for whatever reason—then I will gouge out her other eye. I will ask one last time, and if you again don’t give me the answer, then I will gouge out her heart. What do you have to say about that?”

The Sisters stood mute as they watched, making no move to interfere. Jagang pulled a knife from a sheath at his belt. Jillian began panting in terror as he jerked her around, drawing his arm up tight across her throat, holding her against his chest to render her helpless and keep her still as he brought the point of a knife perilously close to her face.

“Let me see the book,” Kahlan said, hoping to avert the irrevocable.

With a thumb and a free finger of the hand holding the knife, he picked up the book and handed it to her. Kahlan thumbed through the pages more carefully, making sure she wasn’t missing any page that might say anything at all, but she still saw nothing. Every single page was blank. There was nothing to see, no way to tell if it was real or not.

She closed the cover and smoothed the flat of her hand over it. She didn’t know what to do. She had no idea what to look for. She flipped the book over, checking the back cover. She looked at the deckle edges of the pages. She turned the book, looking down at the title embossed in gold letters on the spine.

Jillian let out a strangled cry as Jagang tightened his grip across her throat, lifting her feet clear of the ground. He brought the point of the knife right up to the girl’s right eye. She blinked, unable to turn away from the threat, her lashes brushing the blade’s point.

“Time to go blind,” Jagang growled.

“It’s fake,” Kahlan said.

He looked up. “What?”

Kahlan held the book out to him. “This book is a false copy. It’s fake.”

Sister Ulicia took a step forward. “How can you possibly know that?” She looked clearly confused that Kahlan could pronounce the book a fraud without being able to read a single word in it.

Kahlan ignored her. Instead, she continued to look into the dream walker’s nightmare eyes. Cloudy shapes shifted like angry thunderstorms on a midnight horizon. It took all of her willpower not to look away.

“Are you sure?” Jagang asked.

“Yes,” she said with all the confidence she could muster. “It’s a fake.”

Now acutely focused on Kahlan, Jagang released Jillian. Once free, the girl fled around behind Kahlan, using her for cover.

Jagang watched Kahlan’s eyes. “How do you know that it’s not
The Book of Counted Shadows
?”

Kahlan, still holding the book out to him, turned it so that he could see
the spine. “You are all looking for
The Book of Counted Shadows
. This says
The Book of Counted Shadow
.”

His glare heated. “What?”

“You asked how I know it’s not genuine. That’s how. It says ‘Shadow,’ not ‘Shadows.’ It’s a fake.”

Sister Cecilia wearily wiped a hand across her face. Sister Armina rolled her eyes.

Sister Ulicia, though, frowned at the book, reading the spine for herself. “She’s right.”

“So what?” Jagang threw up his hands. “So the word ‘Shadow’ is missing a letter. It’s shadow, singular instead of plural. So what?”

“Simple,” Kahlan said. “One is real, one is not.”

“Simple?” he asked. “You think it’s that simple?”

“How much more simple can it get?”

“It probably means nothing,” Sister Cecilia said, eager to side with her ill-tempered master. “Singular, plural, what difference could it make? It’s just the cover; it’s what’s inside that counts.”

“It could just be a mistake,” Jagang said. “Maybe the person who bound the copy made a mistake. The book itself would likely have been bound by someone else, so the book itself is no doubt fine.”

“That’s right,” Sister Armina said, wanting to join in with the emperor as well. “The person who made the binding is the one who made the error, not the one who made the copy. It’s highly unlikely they would be the same person. The binder was probably an incompetent oaf. The one writing the words in the book would have had to be gifted. Those words written inside the book are what matters. That’s the information that must be true, not what it’s wrapped in. There is no doubt that it’s a simple error made by a binding artisan and it means nothing.”

“We brought her here for this reason,” Sister Ulicia reminded them under her breath. “It is irrelevant how simple it might appear. The book itself, before anything else, cautions that in this very circumstance it must be verified…by her.”

“This is a highly dangerous matter. Such an answer is too simple,” Sister Cecilia proclaimed.

Sister Ulicia cocked her head at the woman. “And if an assassin is coming at you with a knife, is that blade too simple for you to believe it a danger?”

Sister Cecilia did not look amused. “This matter is too complex to be decided by something so simple.”

“Oh?” Sister Ulicia leveled a condescending glare on the woman. “And where does it say that the verification must be complex? It says only that she must make it. None of us noticed the error. She did. She has satisfied the instruction.”

Sister Cecilia looked down her nose at the woman who used to be her leader but was no more. Now Sister Ulicia was no longer the one in charge, no longer the one they had to please.

“I don’t think it means anything,” Jagang said, still staring into Kahlan’s unflinching eyes. “I doubt that she really knows that this is a fake. She’s just trying to save her own neck.”

Kahlan shrugged. “If that’s what you want to think, fine. But maybe there is an absence of doubt in your mind because you
want
to believe that this copy is real”—she lifted an eyebrow—“not because it is.”

Jagang stared at her a moment. He suddenly snatched the book out of her hands and turned back to the Sisters.

“We need to take a careful look at what’s inside. That’s what matters in finding and opening the right box. We need to make sure it’s not flawed in any way.”

“Excellency,” Sister Ulicia began, “there may be no way to tell if something written in here is—”

Jagang tossed the book on the table, cutting her off. “I want you three to go over everything in this book. See if you can find any reason at all to think that this might be a fake.”

Sister Ulicia cleared her throat. “Well, we can try—”

“Now!” His booming voice echoed around the room. “Or would you rather go to the tents and entertain my men? The choice of service is up to you. Pick one.”

The three Sisters jumped to the table. They all leaned in as they began studying the book. Jagang pushed between Sisters Ulicia and Cecilia, apparently to watch over what they were reading and make sure that they were not overlooking anything.

Once she was sure that the four of them were busy, Kahlan quietly ushered Jillian back to the far end of the room, off to the side of the two big guards.

“I want you to listen to me very carefully and do exactly as I say,” Kahlan told her in a low voice that Jagang and the Sisters couldn’t hear.

Jillian frowned up at her, waiting.

“I need to be sure of something. I’m going to go walk over to those two guards—”

“What!”

Kahlan pressed her hand over the girl’s mouth. “Shhh.”

Jillian glanced to their captors, now worried that she had caught their attention. She hadn’t.

Satisfied that she had made her point, Kahlan took her hand away. “I’ve come to suspect that I’ve been spelled by those three sorceresses. I think that’s why I don’t remember who I am—it’s magic of some sort. Almost no one but them and Jagang can ever remember seeing me. Almost no one does. I have no idea why you can. They also put this collar around my neck and they can use it to hurt me.

“Now, I don’t think the guards can see me, but I need to find out for sure. I want you to stay right here. Don’t watch me or you will make them suspicious of you.”

“But—”

Kahlan crossed her lips with a finger. “Listen to me. Do as I ask.”

Jillian finally nodded her agreement.

Without waiting to see if the girl would change her mind and decide to argue, Kahlan again checked to make sure that Jagang and the Sisters were busy reading. Once seeing that they were, she immediately started across the floor. She moved as silently as she could; the guards may not know she was there, but if Jagang or the Sisters heard her, she would lose her chance before she could begin.

The two guards stared ahead, watching their emperor. Occasionally, the one closest to Jillian would glance over at the girl. Kahlan could tell by his lingering gaze what he was thinking: he was hoping that Jagang would give Jillian to him. Kahlan imagined that with a man like Jagang, such occasional rewards were a benefit of having earned such a trusted position as personal guard to an emperor. Jillian had no idea of the fate that was in store for her. Kahlan had to do something to change the headlong course of those looming events.

Once in front of the guards, she was careful to stay out of the line of sight between them and the four people at the table. She also had to be careful not to draw the attention of the Sisters, or Jagang, either. Even if the two guards couldn’t remember Kahlan long enough to be aware that she was there, she didn’t want to find out what would happen if they were mysteriously blocked from seeing their leader. These two were wary men, no doubt of exceptional talents, and there was no telling how small a thing could alert them to trouble, and Kahlan intended on being a great deal of trouble—but not until she was ready.

Standing directly in front of the two huge men, she realized that she came up only to the tops of their shoulders, so she wouldn’t likely block their view. They didn’t look at her, or in any way acknowledge her presence. She gently touched the metal post through one man’s nose. He wrinkled his nose and then casually reached up and scratched, but he did not grab her hand.

Satisfied that he would do no more, Kahlan reached out and smoothly drew a knife from a sheath on the leather strap crossing the men’s chest. As the blade came out into the torchlight, she was very careful to draw it evenly, without putting any twisting pressure on the sheath or strap. He didn’t notice anything as it came completely free.

It felt good to have the weapon in her hand. The emotion of it caused her to remember being back at the White Horse Inn when the Sisters had killed the husband and wife who had run the place. She remembered picking up a heavy cleaver to try to stop them from harming the daughter.

She remembered the deep inner satisfaction at having a weapon in her hand because it represented a sense of having the means to control her own life, to help her to survive. A weapon meant not being at the mercy of evil people who respected no law, whether of man or reason, of not being a helpless prey of those who were stronger and would use that strength to dominate others.

Kahlan twirled the knife across her hand, weaving it through her fingers, watching it reflect the flickering light from the torches as it spun. She caught the handle and for a moment stared at the well-honed, polished blade.

It represented salvation. If not for her, at least for Jillian.

Remembering where she was and what she was doing, Kahlan quickly slipped the weapon down inside her boot. She looked over to make sure that Jillian was quiet and staying put. The girl’s eyes had gone wide. Kahlan turned back to her task and carefully drew a second knife from a sheath on the other guard’s chest strap. The blade was a little thinner, the weapon a little better balanced. Like the first, she pierced the blade through the leather of her boot, near the top, and slid it down into her boot, being careful to position it as she did, so that the blade would be behind the bone of her ankle. She then pushed the point securely into the bottom of the boot. In the makeshift sheath the knife couldn’t move around and cut her when she walked.

As silently as possible, walking lightly on the balls of her feet, Kahlan quickly returned to a startled Jillian. The Sisters and their master were involved in an animated conversation about the relevance of star positions, weather, and time of year to the formation and concentration of power needed for specific spells. The Sisters were explaining the meaning of passages and Jagang was asking questions every few minutes, challenging their assumptions at every turn.

Kahlan was a bit surprised to hear how well versed the man was. The Sisters sometimes found that he had learned more than they knew on certain subjects to do with the boxes of Orden. Jagang didn’t look like a man who would be the kind to value knowledge from books, but Kahlan was wrong. While she didn’t understand most of what they were talking about, it was obvious that Jagang was well read and more than up to the task of conversing intelligently with the Sisters—especially about subjects that they said were found only in the rarest of books.

He wasn’t just a brute. He was worse than that. He was a very smart brute.

“All right,” Kahlan said in a voice low enough that she was sure the others couldn’t hear her. “I want you to listen to me. We may not have much time.”

Jillian’s eyes were still wide. “How did you do that?”

“I was right, they can’t see me.”

“And twirling the knife like you did?”

Kahlan shrugged, dismissing a question she couldn’t answer to address more important matters. “Look, I need to get you out of here. This may be our only chance.”

Jillian looked horrified at the notion. “But if I escape he will kill my grandfather, and probably the others as well. I can’t leave.”

“That is the power he holds over you. But if you don’t get away, the truth is that you all very well may be killed anyway. You need to understand that this could be the only chance you have, or will ever have, for your freedom.”

“Are you really sure of that? How can I risk my grandfather’s life on what you think might happen?”

Kahlan took a deep breath. She hadn’t wanted to have to explain it. “I don’t have time to put it to you nicely, to persuade you in gentle ways. I only have time to give you the bare bones of the truth, so that’s what I’m going to do, so listen carefully.

“I know what these men are like. I’ve seen what they do to young women like you and me—seen it with my own eyes. I’ve seen their naked broken bodies left sprawled where they lay when Imperial Order soldiers are finished using them, or dumped in ditches like refuse.

“If you don’t get away, very bad things are going to happen to you, at best. You will spend the rest of your short life as a slave, being used by soldiers for their sick pleasure and amusement in ways you don’t want to learn about. You will spend the rest of your life alternating between terror and sobbing. That’s at best. You will live, but wish every moment that you were dead. At worst, you are going to be killed when Jagang leaves.

“Either way, it’s a fool’s wish to think he’s going to let you go. No matter what happens, whether you escape or stay, he might let your grandfather and the others go simply because they may not want to take the time and trouble to kill them. Jagang has more important things he’s interested in.

“But you are plunder that has value to him. If nothing else, he will give you to those two guards as a bonus for their service. That’s how men such as Jagang draw ruthless brutes like those two into loyal service—by giving them tasty little scraps like you. Do you have any idea what they will do with you—before they cut your throat? Do you?”

Jillian was silent for a moment. She swallowed before speaking. “I know what Jagang meant, before, when he asked if I’ve ever been with a man—but I pretended I didn’t. I know what he meant when he said that he would give me over to his soldiers. I know what he meant when he said they would like getting their hands on a young woman like me. I know what he meant about their desires.

“My family has warned me about the dangers from strangers like these. My mother has explained it. I think that she did not tell me everything, though, so that I wouldn’t have nightmares. I think the parts you know would give me nightmares. Before, I only pretended I didn’t know what Jagang was talking about so that he wouldn’t know how afraid I was of him doing that to me.”

Kahlan couldn’t help smiling. “That was a very wise thing you did, keeping such knowledge to yourself.”

Jillian twisted her mouth, fighting back tears at the grim fate she had just admitted understanding. “You have a plan?”

“Yes. You have long legs, but I still doubt that you can outrun them. There’s another way, though, a way that uses what you know and they don’t. You said that one wrong turn out there and people get lost in the maze of tunnels and rooms. If you get even a small head start you will be able to quickly lose them in all the twists and turns. As complex as this place is, I don’t think that even the powers of the Sisters would help them get you, and I don’t think that Jagang would waste the time trying.”

She still looked dubious. “But I—”

“Jillian, this is a chance for you to escape. Another may never come along. I don’t want anything terrible to happen to you. If you stay, it will. I want you to understand that you must take this chance. I want you out of here. This is all I can do for you.”

Jillian was overcome with a look of horror. “You mean…you’re not going with me?”

Kahlan pressed her lips tight and shook her head. She tapped the metal collar around her neck. “They can stop me with this. It’s magic of some sort. They will be able to put me down. But I think that before they do I’ll be able to help slow them enough so that you can get away.”

“But they will hurt you, or even kill you, for helping me get away.”

“They are going to hurt me anyway—Jagang has already promised me
the worst he can dream up. He can do no more than he already intends. As for killing me, I don’t think they would do that, for now at least. They still need me.

“I’m helping you get away and that’s all there is to it. My mind is made up. It’s my choice. It’s the only thing I can do, the only thing that I have a choice about. If I help you, then it makes my own life, no matter what will become of me, mean more to me. I will at least have done something to fight back. I will at least have this victory over them.”

Jillian stared at her. “You’re as brave as Lord Rahl.”

Kahlan’s eyebrows lifted. “You mean Richard Rahl? You know Richard Rahl?”

Jillian nodded. “He helped me, too.”

Kahlan shook her head in wonder. “For living out here in the middle of nowhere, you sure seem to have met a lot of important people. What was he doing here?”

“He came back from the dead.”

Kahlan frowned. “What?”

“Well, not exactly the dead, really. At least that’s what he told me. But he came up from the well of the dead in the graveyard, just as the tellings said he would. I am the priestess of the bones. I am his servant, a dreamcaster. He is my master. There have been many priestesses of the bones before me, but he never came for them. I never knew that it would turn out that he would come back in my lifetime.

“He came to find books, too. He is the one who found this place—I never even knew it was down here. None of my people knew. Even my grandfather never knew this place of bones was here.

“Richard was looking for a book to help him find someone important to him. The book was called
Chainfire
. Once he discovered this place and brought me down here, I’m the one who found the book for him. He was really excited. I was so happy that I was the one who helped him find what he needed.

“Since coming down here with him, I’ve spent all my time exploring this place, learning every turn and tunnel and room. I hope Richard will return one day, as he said he might, and then I will be able to show him everything. I very much want to make him proud of me.”

Kahlan could see the longing in Jillian’s eyes to satisfy the man, to do something he would value, to have him recognize her effort and ability.
Kahlan wanted to ask a thousand questions, but she didn’t have the time. She couldn’t resist one, though.

“What’s he like?”

“Master Rahl saved my life. I’ve never met anyone else like him.” Jillian smiled in a distant way. “He was, well, I don’t know…” She sighed, unable to find the words.

“I see,” Kahlan said at the dreamy look in the girl’s copper-colored eyes.

“He saved my life from soldiers sent by Jagang, before. They were looking for these books. I was so afraid the man who had me was going to cut my throat, but Richard killed him. Then, he held me in his arms and quieted my tears.” She looked up from gazing into her memories. “And he saved my grandfather, too. Well, not exactly him, but the woman with him.”

“Woman?”

Jillian nodded. “Nicci. She said that she was a sorceress. She was so beautiful. I couldn’t stop staring at her. I’d never before seen a woman that beautiful. She was like a good spirit standing there before me, with hair like sunlight, and eyes like the sky itself.”