Terry Goodkind - Naked Empire

Zedd’s jaw dropped. “Captain Zimmer?”

“Of course. I’ve come to get you out of here.”

“But, but, you have black hair.”

The captain flashed one of his infectious smiles. “Soot. Not a good idea to have blond hair in the middle of Jagang’s camp. I’ve come to rescue you.”

Zedd was incredulous. “But you all have to get out of here. Hurry, before the sun sets. Get out!”

“Do you have any more men?” Chase asked the captain.

“A handful. Who are you?”

“An old friend,” Zedd told him. “Now, look here—”

At that, cries and shouts came from outside. Captain Zimmer rushed to the tent’s opening. A man poked his head in.

“It’s not us,” he said in answer to the captain’s unspoken question.

In the distance, Zedd could hear the shouts of “Assassin!”

Captain Zimmer rushed behind Zedd and worked a key in the manacles.

They broke open. Zedd’s arms were suddenly free. The captain hurried to undo Adie’s as she stood and turned her back to him.

“Sounds like our chance,” Rachel said. “Let’s use the commotion to get you out of here.”

“The brains of the group,” Chase said with a grin.

The first thing Zedd did when his arms were free was fall to his knees and hug the girl. He couldn’t bring forth words, but they weren’t needed. To feel her spindly arms around his neck was better than any words.

“I’ve missed you, Zedd,” she whispered in his ear.

Outside the tent, mayhem had broken out. Orders were being shouted, men were running, and in the distance the clash of steel rang out.

The Sister burst back into the tent. She saw Zedd free and immediately released a bolt of power through his collar. The shock sent him sprawling.

Just then, a second, young, blond Sister in a drab brown wool dress charged in behind Sister Tahirah. Sister Tahirah spun around. The second Sister smacked her so hard it nearly knocked the woman from her feet.

Without pause, Sister Tahirah unleashed a bolt of her power that lit the inside of the tent with a blinding flash. Instead of it blasting the second Sister back through the tent’s doorway, as Zedd had expected, Sister Tahirah cried out and crumpled to the ground.

“Got you!” the second Sister growled as she planted a boot on Sister Tahirah’s neck, keeping her on the ground.

Zedd blinked in astonishment. “Rikka?”

Rikka was already turning her Agiel in her fist. She held it toward Chase.

“Rikka?” Captain Zimmer asked from the other side of the tent, sounding startled, not just to see who it was, but perhaps to see the Mord-Sith with her blond hair undone from its single braid and flying free.

“Zimmer?” She frowned at his black hair. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here!” He gestured to her dress. “What are you wearing?”

Rikka grinned that wicked grin she had. “The dress of a Sister.”

“Sister?” Zedd asked. “What Sister?”

Rikka shrugged. “One who didn’t want to give up her dress. She lost her head over the whole affair.” With her finger and thumb Rikka pulled her lower lip out. “See? I borrowed her ring, too. I spread the split and hung it here, so I’d look like a real Sister.”

Rikka pulled Sister Tahirah up by her hair and shoved her toward Adie.

“Get that thing off her neck.”

“I will do no such—”

Rikka drove her Agiel up under the Sister’s chin. Blood gushed out over her lower lip. The Sister started choking on it as she gasped in agony.

“I said, get that thing off Adie’s neck. And don’t you ever question me again.”

Sister Tahirah scrambled to Adie to do as the Mord-Sith had commanded.

Chase planted his fists on his hips as he glared down at Zedd, still on the ground. “So what are we going to do now—draw straws to see who gets to rescue you?”

“Bags! Isn’t anyone listening? You people have to get out of here!”

Rachel shook a finger at Zedd. “Now, Zedd, you know you’re not supposed to say bad words in front of children.”

Sputtering in frustration, Zedd gaped up at Chase.

“I know,” the boundary warden said with a sigh. “She’s been a trial for me, too.”

“The sun’s about to set!” Zedd roared.

“It would be better if we could delay until it did,” Captain Zimmer said. “It would be easier to get out of camp in the dark.”

A humming noise filled the tent, making the very air vibrate, and then there was a sudden metallic pop. Adie cried out with relief as the collar fell away.

“Isn’t anyone listening?” Zedd scrambled to his feet and shook his fists. “I’ve ignited a sunset spell!”

“A what?” Chase asked.

“A sunset spell. It’s a protective device from the Keep. It’s a shield of sorts. When it recognizes that other shields are being violated and protected items are being taken, it insinuates itself among the stolen goods. When a thief opens it to see what it is, it activates the spell. At the first sunset the spell ignites and destroys everything that has been plundered.”

Sister Tahirah shook her fist at him. “You fool!”

Rikka seized his arm. “Then let’s get going.”

Chase grabbed Zedd’s other arm and pulled him back. “Now, hold on.”

Zedd yanked both arms free and pointed out through the slit in the side of the tent at the setting sun. “We’ve got mere moments until this place is a fireball.”

“How big a fireball?” Captain Zimmer asked.

Zedd threw up his hands. “It will kill thousands. It won’t destroy the camp by any means, but this whole area is going to be leveled.”

Everyone started talking, but Chase cut them all off with an angry command for silence. “Now listen to me. If we look like we’re escaping, we’ll be caught. Captain, you and your men come with me. We’ll pretend like Zedd and Adie are our prisoners. Rachel, too—that’s how I got in here; I found out they were holding children.” He flipped a hand toward Rikka and Sister Tahirah. “They will look like Sisters in charge of prisoners, along with us playing as the guards.”

“Do you want that thing off your neck, first?” Rikka asked Zedd.

“No time for that now. Let’s go.”

Adie grabbed Zedd’s arm. “No.”

“What!”

“Listen to me, old man. There be those families and children in these tents around us. They will die. You go. Get to the Keep. I will get the innocent people out of here.”

Zedd didn’t like the idea, but arguing with Adie was a fool’s task, and besides, there was no time.

“We split up, then,” Captain Zimmer said. “Me and my men will play the part of guards and get the men, women, and children out of here, back to our lines, along with Adie.”

Rikka nodded. “Tell Verna that I’m going to go with Zedd to help take back the Keep. He will need a Mord-Sith to keep him out of trouble.”

Everyone looked around to see if there would be any arguments. No one said anything. It suddenly seemed settled.

“Done,” Zedd said.

He threw his arms around Adie and kissed her cheek. “Be careful. Tell Verna I’m going to take the Keep back. Help her defend the passes.”

Adie nodded. “Be careful. Listen to Chase—he be a good man to come all this way for you.”

Zedd smiled and then gasped as Chase grabbed his robes and yanked him out of the tent. “The sun is setting—let’s get out of here. Remember, you’re our prisoner.”

“I know the part,” Zedd grumbled as he was dragged out of the tent like a sack of grain. He smiled as Adie, already rushing away, looked over her shoulder one last time. She smiled back, and then was gone.

“Wait!” Zedd called. He quickly reached into one of the wagons and retrieved something he didn’t want to be destroyed. He slipped it into a pocket. “All right, let’s go.”