Terry Goodkind - Confessor - Chainfire Trilogy Part 3

“Just one woman, Johnrock.”

The big man leaned back and flicked eggshells off his fingers. “I remember. You said that you saw the woman you want to be your wife.”

Richard didn’t correct him. “I just want for us to play well and win all our games so that we can have the chance to play the emperor’s team.”

Johnrock’s grin returned. “Do you really think we can beat the emperor’s team, Ruben? Do you think we can survive such a game with those men?”

Richard cracked the shell of another egg on the side of his heel. “You’re the one who wants to die to cheers of the crowds for how well you’ve played.”

Johnrock gave Richard a sidelong glance. “Maybe I will do as you say and choose to live free, yes?”

Richard only smiled before biting the egg in half.

Not long after Richard and Johnrock had finished the last of their meal, Commander Karg appeared, his boots splashing as he marched toward them through the mud.

“Get out here! All of you!”

Richard and Johnrock crawled out from under the wagon into the drizzle. Other captives at wagons to either side stood up, waiting to hear what the commander wanted. Soldiers who were on the team gathered closer.

“We’re going to have visitors,” Commander Karg announced.

“What kind of visitors?” one of the soldiers asked.

“The emperor is touring the teams that arrived for the tournament. Emperor Jagang and I go way back. I expect you to show him that I’ve done well in selecting a worthy team. Any man who doesn’t reflect well on me, or who fails to show the proper respect for our emperor, will be of no use to me.”

Without further word, the commander hurried away.

Richard could feel himself swaying on his feet as his heart pounded. He wondered if Kahlan would be with Jagang, as she had been the day before. While he desperately wanted to see her again, he hated to think of her being anywhere near that man. For that matter, he hated to think of her being anywhere near any of these men.

Over the winter, when Nicci had captured Richard and taken him down to the Old World, Kahlan, in his place, had led the D’Haran forces. She was the one responsible for keeping Jagang from having the victory back then that he might otherwise have had. She had been responsible for whittling down the ranks of Order soldiers, even if the endless supplies from the Old World had included reinforcements that more than replenished all the men lost. Kahlan had not only delayed the invaders, but earned their undying hatred for all the pain she had inflicted upon them.

Were it not for Kahlan the Order probably would have caught the D’Haran army and slaughtered them. She had kept them one step ahead of Jagang and just out of his reach.

Trying to look composed, Richard leaned back against the wagon and folded his arms as he waited. Before long he caught sight of an entourage off to the left making their way through the encampment. They were mov­ing down the line of teams in the distance, pausing at regular intervals along the way to take a closer look.

Judging by the types of soldiers Richard could see making up the group, it could be none other than the emperor that they escorted. Richard recognized the royal guard from the day before when he had rolled through the camp and right past Jagang. That was when he had briefly seen Kahlan. The emperor’s guards were intimidating in their mail and leather and with their well-made weapons, but it was the size of the men and their bulging, rain-slicked muscles that was truly daunting.

These were men who even struck fear into the hearts of the regular brutes of the Order. Those regular troops all fell back well clear of the royal guard. Richard didn’t imagine that such men were at all tolerant of anything they believed might potentially be a threat to the emperor. Johnrock stepped forward to join the other men waiting in a line for the emperor to review them.

It was when Richard saw Jagang’s shaved head off in the center of the ranks of muscled guards that the sudden realization hit him. Jagang would recognize him.

Jagang, as a dream walker, had been in the minds of various people and he had seen Richard though their eyes. Richard could hardly believe how careless he had been not to even con­sider that when he played the emperor’s team in order to get close enough to Kahlan, Jagang would be there, and Jagang would recognize him. Dis­tracted by the thought of actually getting to Kahlan, he hadn’t taken such a prospect into consideration.

Richard noticed something else, then—a Sister.

It looked like Sister Ulicia, but if it was, she had aged a great deal since he’d last seen her. She was farther away, back at the tail end of all the guards following Jagang, but Richard could still see the sagging creases in her face. The last time he had seen her she’d been an attractive woman, although Richard had difficulty separating a person’s looks from their personality, and Sister Ulicia was one sinister woman. No matter how superficially attractive a person was, a cruel personality tainted Richard’s image of them. Corrupt character colored his appraisal of a person to such an extent that he could not see them as attractive separate from their vicious nature.

That was also one of the reasons Kahlan was so beautiful to him—she was not simply stunningly attractive, but exemplary in every way. Her intelligence and insight were matched by her passion for life. It was as if her captivating looks perfectly reflected everything else about her.

Sister Ulicia, despite how physically attractive she once had been, now appeared to reflect only the rot at her core.

Richard realized then that not only would Jagang and Sister Ulicia recognize him, but there would be other Sisters in the camp who also knew him.

He suddenly felt very vulnerable. Any of those Sisters could happen by at any time. He had nowhere to hide.

When he got close enough, Jagang would not fail to see that Lord Rahl, the very man he was after, was right there in his midst. Chained as he was, without his ability to use his Han, even as difficult as it had been for him to call forth his gift when he’d had access to it, Richard would be at Jagang’s mercy.

He had a sickening flash of a vision that Shota the witch woman had given him. It had been a vision of being executed. It had been raining in that vision, much as it was raining now. Kahlan had been there. In tearful terror she had watched as his wrists had been bound behind his back and he was made to kneel in the mud. As he knelt there, with Kahlan screaming his name, a big brute of a soldier came up behind him, promising to have Kahlan for himself as he brought a long knife around before Richard’s face, and then with a mighty effort cut deep through his throat. Richard realized that he was touching his throat, as if to comfort the gaping wound. He was panting in a panic.

He felt a hot wave of nausea welling up through him. Was this to be Shota’s vision come to life? Was this what she had been warning him about? Was this to be the day he died?

It was all happening too fast. He hadn’t been ready for this. But what could he have done to get ready?

“Ruben!” Commander Karg yelled. “Get up here!”

Richard struggled to get control of his emotions. He took a deep breath and worked to calm himself as he started moving, knowing that if he didn’t it was only going to get ugly even faster.

Not far away, the clot of men had stopped at the next team up the line. Richard could hear only the murmur of conversation over the sound of rain.

His mind raced, trying to think of what he could do before Jagang recognized him. He knew that he couldn’t hide behind the other men. He was point man. Jagang would want to see the team’s point man.