Naked Empire (Sword of Truth 8)

“Just keep out of sight,” he said. “If soldiers see a young woman like you they won’t hesitate to snatch you.”

“I’ll keep her out of sight,” Tom said as he came up into the yard. He aimed a thumb over his shoulder. “I have the men spread out so they won’t be so noticeable.”

Kahlan and Cara followed Richard and Owen toward the back of the building. At the stairwell down, Owen paused when Richard instead went to the door into the building.

“This way, Lord Rahl.”

“I know. Wait while I check the hallway inside, make sure it’s clear.”

“It is just empty rooms where people sometimes meet.”

“I want to check it anyway. Cara, wait here with Kahlan.”

Kahlan followed Richard to the door under the balcony. “I’m going with you.”

Cara was right on Kahlan’s heels. “If you want to check the hall,” she told Richard, “then you may come with us.”

After a quick glance at Kahlan’s eyes, he didn’t argue with her. Looking at Cara, he said, “Sometimes…”

Cara flashed him a defiant smile. “You wouldn’t know what to do without me.”

Kahlan saw that as he turned to the door, he couldn’t help but smile. Her heart lifted at seeing Richard’s smile, and then she felt a sudden pang of sorrow for Cara, knowing how she must miss General Meiffert with their army far to the north in D’Hara. It wasn’t often that a Mord-Sith could come to care about someone the way Kahlan knew Cara cared about Benjamin. Cara wouldn’t come out and admit it, though, and had put first her wish to protect Richard and Kahlan.

When she and Cara had been back with that army, Kahlan had promoted the then captain to general after a battle in which they had lost a number of officers. Captain Meiffert had risen to the occasion. Since then, he had held their army together. While she had complete faith in him, she also feared for his well-being, as Cara certainly must. Kahlan wondered if they would ever again see the young general.

Richard opened the door a crack and peered into the dark hallway beyond. It was empty. Cara, Agiel in hand, pushed through and entered ahead of them, wanting to be sure that it was safe. Kahlan followed Richard in. There were two doors to each side. At the far end of the hall stood a door with a small window.

“What’s out there?” Kahlan whispered as Richard looked through the window.

“The street. I see some of our men.”

On the way back, Richard checked rooms on one side while Cara checked the rooms on the other. They were all empty, just as Owen had said.

“This might be a good place to hide our men,” Cara said.

Richard nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. We could make strikes from here, from their midst, rather than risk being spotted coming in from the countryside to attack.”

Before they reached the back door, Richard suddenly stumbled, banging a shoulder against the wall before going to one knee. Kahlan and Cara grabbed for him, keeping him from falling on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Cara whispered.

He paused a moment, apparently waiting for a bout of pain to lift. His fingers squeezing Kahlan’s arm hurt so much that her eyes were watering, but she made herself remain silent.

“I just…just got dizzy for a minute.” He panted, trying to recover his breath. “The dark hall, I guess.” His fingers released their viselike grip on Kahlan’s arm.

“The second state. That’s what Owen called it. He said that the second state of the poison was dizziness.”

Richard looked up at her in the dark. “I’m all right. Let’s go get the antidote.”

Owen, waiting in the shadows in the stairwell, started down when they reached him. At the bottom of the stairs he pushed the door open and looked in.

“They are still here,” he said with relief. “The speakers are still here—I recognize some of their voices. The Wise One must still be here with them. They have not moved to another hiding place as I feared they might.”

Owen was hoping the great speakers would agree to help rid their people of the Imperial Order. After they had refused in the past, Kahlan didn’t think they would agree this time, but then, Owen and his men had not at first agreed to fight. Owen believed that with the commitment of the men they had, and with what had happened in his town, the assembly of speakers would see that there was a chance of being free again and would be more open to hearing what had to be done. Many of the men shared Owen’s confidence that help was at hand.

More important than talking to the speakers, as far as Kahlan was concerned, was that this was where the second bottle of antidote was hidden. That came above all else. They had to secure the antidote. Whenever she thought about the possibility of Richard dying, it made her knees tremble.

Just inside the small vestibule, Owen rapped gently on the door.

Soft candlelight came from inside when the door pulled in a crack. A man peered out for a moment; then his eyes went wide.

“Owen?”

Kahlan didn’t think the man intended to open the door. Before he had a chance to think it over, Richard pushed the door open and moved into the room. The man hastily backed out of Richard’s way.

Richard pulled Cara close. “Guard the door. None of these people comes out unless I say so.”

Cara nodded and took up a position outside the door.

“What is the meaning of this?” the man inside demanded of Owen as he gaped in fear at Richard and Kahlan.

“Great speaker, it is vital that we speak with all of you.”

The place was aglow with candles. A dozen and a half men sitting around on rugs sipping tea or leaning against pillows lining the walls abruptly fell silent.

The stone walls were the outer foundation of the building. Stone piers marched in two lines down the center of the large room, supporting fat beams far above Richard’s head. There was no decoration. It looked like little more than a basement made comfortable with rugs and pillows where the men congregated at one end of the extensive room. Simple wooden tables against the walls at one end held candles.

Some of the men rose to their feet.

“Owen,” one of them said in grave reprimand, “you have been banished. What are you doing here?”

“Honored speaker,

we are well past petty issues of banishment.” Owen held out an introductory hand. “These are friends of mine, from outside our land.”

Kahlan grabbed Owen’s shirt at the shoulder and pulled his ear close as she gritted her teeth. “Antidote.”

Owen nodded apologetically. The men, all older, watched indignantly as Owen went to the corner at the far right. He grasped a stone near chest height, and twisted it side to side. Richard reached in and helped Owen wiggle the stone loose. When he finally pulled the heavy block out far enough to turn it to the side, Owen reached in behind and came out with the bottle. He wasted no time in handing it to Richard.

When Richard pulled the cork, Kahlan detected the slight aroma of cinnamon. Richard downed the contents.

“You must leave,” one of the men growled. “You are not welcome here.”

Owen didn’t back down. “We must see the Wise One.”

“What!”

“The men of the Order have invaded our land. They are torturing and murdering our people. Others they have taken away.”

“Nothing can be done about this,” the red-faced speaker said. “We do as we must so that our people can go on with their lives. We do as we must to avoid violence.”

“We have ended violence,” Owen told the man. “At least, in our town. We killed all the men of the Order who held us in the grip of fear, who raped and tortured and murdered our people. Our people there are now free of these men of the Order. We must fight back and free the rest of our people. It is your duty as speakers to do right by our people and not accommodate their enslavement.”

The great speakers were apoplectic.

“We will hear none of this!”

“We will speak of it with the Wise One and see what he has to say.”

“No! The Wise One will not see you! Never! You are all denied! You must all leave!”

Chapter 52

One of the men came forward and angrily seized a fistful of Richard’s shirt, trying to push him out. “You are the cause of this! You are an outsider! A savage! One of the unenlightened! You have brought profane ideas among our people!” He did his best to shake Richard. “You have seduced our people to violence!”