The First Confessor (Sword of Truth 0)

“You told me that three of your men died mysteriously since arriving here,” she reminded him.

“There is that,” he said.

“Baraccus left me a note. It was his last words to me. He told me that my destiny is here. He asked me to have the courage to find the truth.”

“The truth? The truth about what?”

Magda let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know.”

“How do you know that the note really meant anything specific? Maybe Baraccus, knowing your nature, simply wanted to let you know that you were in his heart.”

“In that note, he told me to guard my mind.”

Lord Rahl missed a step. “Guard your mind? You mean from the dream walkers?”

She cast him a sidelong glance. “You tell me.”

Some of his long blond hair fell forward over a shoulder as he looked over at her. “So you think he also wanted you to stay here?”

“Yes. He said that my destiny is here. Baraccus was a war wizard. He had the gift for prophecy. I think that he knows that something dark is going on here and he wanted me to find it.”

Lord Rahl thought it over as they walked past soaring marble columns supporting an arched ceiling with scenes of great events painted between the ribs of the vaulting.

“But Baraccus was a war wizard. You’re, well, you’re not. What can you possibly do that he couldn’t?”

“Try and guess how many times I’ve tried to make sense of that very thing.”

Lord Rahl grunted his understanding of her point. “You have no idea what it is you are supposed to look for?” he asked.

“I guess that I’m supposed to look for the truth.”

“But what truth?”

“Maybe the truth of why Baraccus killed himself.”

Lord Rahl considered that for a moment. He finally gestured in frustration. “Perhaps after venturing into the world of the dead, he was simply overwhelmed by the experience and lost all hope.”

Magda again glanced over at the man. “None of the Temple team killed themselves after they returned. None of them seemed overwhelmed. Baraccus was stronger than those men.”

Lord Rahl clasped his hands behind his back as he walked silently beside her, thinking it over.

“Baraccus never did anything without good reason,” he finally said.

“Exactly. I think that he had a purpose in killing himself. I think it must have been the only way he could accomplish something profoundly important. I think that Baraccus sacrificed his life for a calculated, powerful reason. I need to know what that reason was. I think he wanted me to look for the answer to that question.

“I have to stay and find the truth behind all of the things that have happened. I’m the only one who seems to care why he killed himself. I may be the only one who can find the answer. In any event, Baraccus seemed to have faith that I could. In fact, he charged me with that mission as his last request. He said for me to live the life that only I can live.”

As they entered the long gallery Lord Rahl glanced up at the red banners hanging above them. “Where will you start?”

“I’m not sure, yet.”

For a time he walked in silence along the crimson carpet with the names of battles woven into it before finally glancing over and smiling. It was not a happy smile, but rather a sad, grim smile.

“I understand. These people are fortunate to have you fighting for them. But know this. You are not the only one here who is safe from the dream walkers.”

Magda frowned up at the man as they passed immense black pillars. “What do you mean? The council rejected your help.”

He clasped his hands behind his back and waited until they had gone by a knot of onlookers and were out of earshot before answering.

“I expected that they might, so when I first arrived I went to those who do the work of protecting us—the officers and the gifted working here—and laid out the situation. Military men understand threat all too well and grasp the value of an effective defense.”

“You are a devious man, Lord Rahl.”

He grinned, looking happy with himself. “I knew better than to put all our necks in the hands of the council. That’s why I went to a number of important people here at the Keep, first.”

“And they’ve sworn loyalty to you?”

“Not all. But some comprehended the true dimension of the threat and spoke the devotion as you have.” He chuckled softly. “Though none of them had to bleed first.”

She smiled with embarrassment. “Baraccus mentioned a few times that he found me stubborn.”

“Officers Rendall and Morgan are with us,” he said. “They command troops in and around Aydindril. Grundwall too. He leads the Home Guard.”

Magda nodded. “I know them. They’re good men. What of the gifted?”

“Since it involves magic, they tended to understand the true dimensions of the threat and therefore the wisdom of the solution. Some didn’t take to my offer, but many did. That means we have a fair number of allies who can go about their work without worry of dream walkers subverting what they do.”

Magda sighed. “Still, not all have accepted the protection of the bond to you. Maybe I can help convince them.”

When they reached his big, brawny soldiers at the far end of the great gallery, Alric Rahl turned to face her.

“I have to be on my way. Now that I’ve done what I can here, there are pressing matters that I must attend to.”

Magda looked up into his blue eyes. “Before you go, tell me something.”

“If I can.”

“Are the council and prosecutor right? Are you after rule? Is power what you really care about, what drives you? Is that why you created the bond to work in the way it does, so that people must swear loyalty to you? The truth, now.”

He hooked his thumbs in his weapons belt as he gazed down into her eyes for a time. His intent resolve didn’t waver.

“Know this, Lady Searus. I have agents in the Old World as we speak. They seek out the dream walkers. They are there to hunt down and kill every last one of those bastards. I couldn’t tell you before, before you were sworn to me, because I couldn’t risk the dream walkers learning of it. If my purpose was to rule, I would let the dream walkers live so that people would have to swear loyalty to me. If the men I sent succeed in the mission I’ve given them, no one will have any need of swearing loyalty to me.”

Magda smiled. “Thank you, Lord Rahl. In your wisdom I am humbled.”

Chapter 18

Holding up her small tin lantern, Magda tried to see ahead into the blackness. She thought that she knew where she was, but she wasn’t entirely sure. The dank maze of stone passageways beneath the more heavily used portions of the Keep was as black as death, making it all the harder to get her bearings. While up above many of the areas were expansive, elaborately decorated, and comfortable, the little-used passageways Tilly led her through resembled cramped caves. Magda could see the vapor from her every breath lifting into the cool, damp air.

Water seeping from joints in the rough stone blocks of the walls had in places over many years built up spongy, slimy mats across the floor. At times Magda had to hold her breath against the stench of rat carcasses rotting in puddles of stagnant water. The inky pools reflected flickering yellow lantern light in twisting patterns across the low ceiling.

“Tilly, are you sure that you’re not lost?”