Chainfire (Sword of Truth 9)

Ishaq deftly handled the team as it raced at a frightening speed, guiding them around obstacles of shacks, fences, walls, and random trees. He called out warnings as he charged across busy roads. Startled people drew back, letting him pass.

The wagon turned up a street Nicci remembered all too well, following beside a short wall that eventually curved it along the entrance road to the warehouse doors of Ishaq’s transport company. The wagon bounced into the rutted yard outside the building and came to a crooked halt in the shade of huge oaks rising above the wall.

Nicci climbed down as she saw one of the double doors opening. Apparently having heard the noise Victor emerged from the building, glowering like he intended to murder the next person he could get his hands on.

“Have you seen the message?” He demanded.

“Yes, I have. Where’s the horse I asked for?”

He pointed a thumb back over his shoulder toward the open door. “Well, what are we going to do now? The attack will probably come at dawn. We can’t allow those soldiers to take you back with them to the army. We can’t let them leave and report that we won’t do as Kronos demands. What are we going to tell them?”

Nicci tilted her head toward the building. “Ishaq, would you go get the horse, please?”

He made a sour face. “You ought to marry Richard. You make a good pair. You are both crazy.”

Startled, Nicci could only stare at the man.

She finally found her voice. “Ishaq, please, we don’t have a lot of time. We don’t want those fellows to go back empty-handed.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” he mocked, “allow me to get your royal mount for you.”

“I’ve never seen Ishaq act like that,” she said to Victor as she watched the man stalking toward the door, muttering curses under his breath.

“He thinks you’re crazy. So do I.” Victor planted his fists on his hips. “Has that ruse back at the stables with the spy gone bad? Or is this what you planned all along?”

In no mood to discuss it with the man, Nicci returned the glare in kind. “My plan,” she said through gritted teeth, “is to get this over with as soon as possible and to keep the people of Altur’Rang from being slaughtered.”

“What’s that got to do with turning you over to Brother Kronos as a gift?”

“If we allow them to attack at dawn, they will have the advantage. We need them to attack today.”

“Today!” Victor glanced west, toward the low sun. “But it will be dark soon.”

“Exactly,” she said as she leaned in the back of the wagon and retrieved a length of rope.

Victor stared off at the heart of the city as he thought about it. “Well, all things considered, I guess it would be better not to face them in the day, on their terms. If we could somehow get them to attack today, they would soon run out of daylight. That would work to our advantage.”

“I will bring them to you,” she said. “You just be ready.”

The creases across Victor’s forehead deepened. “I don’t know how you’re going to get them to attack today, but we’ll be ready if they do.”

Ishaq came out of the warehouse leading a white stallion covered with mottled black spots. The mane, tail, and legs below the hocks were black. The horse looked not only elegant, but had a tough demeanor about him, as if it would have boundless endurance. Still, it wasn’t what she had been expecting.

“He doesn’t look all that big,” she said to Ishaq.

Ishaq gave the horse an affectionate rub on its white face. “You did not say big, you said that you wanted a steady horse that would not spook easily, one that had a fearless spirit.”

Nicci took another look at the horse. “I just assumed that such a horse would be big.”

“She’s a crazy woman,” Ishaq muttered to Victor.

“She’s going to be a dead crazy woman,” Victor said.

Nicci handed Victor the rope. “This will be easier if you stand on the wall, after I’m mounted.”

She stroked the horse under his jaw and then his silky ears. The animal nickered his appreciation and nudged his head against her. Nicci held his head and trickled a thin thread of her Han into the creature, giving him a bit of calming introduction. She ran a hand over his shoulder and then along the side of his belly as she inspected him.

Without comment, Victor climbed up the wall and waited until she boosted herself up and was seated in the saddle. Nicci arranged the skirts of her red dress and then unbuttoned it to the waist. She pulled her arms out of the sleeves one at a time, holding the front of the dress against her chest and then holding it up with her elbows as she lifted her hands toward Victor, her wrists pressed together.

Victor’s face went as red as her dress. “Now what are you doing?”

“These men are experienced Imperial Order troops. Some will be officers. I spent a lot of time in the Order’s camp. I was widely known—to some as the Slave Queen, and to others as Death’s Mistress. It’s possible that certain of these men may have served in Jagang’s army during that time and so they very well may recognize me, especially if I were to wear a black dress. Just in case, I’m wearing a red dress.

“I also need to give these men something to stare at to keep them off guard and hopefully from recognizing me. It will disrupt the usual calculating judgment of soldiers such as these. It will also get Kronos’s attention and make him think that the ‘mayor’ is desperate to appease him. Nothing rouses the blood lust in these kind of men more than weakness.”

“It’s going to get you in trouble before you even get to Kronos.”

“I’m a sorceress. I can take care of myself.”

“Seems to me that Richard is a wizard and carries a sword charged with ancient magic and even he got into trouble when he was greatly outnumbered. He was overpowered and nearly killed.”

Nicci again lifted her hands out toward Victor, wrists together.

“Tie them.”

Victor glared at her a moment before finally giving in. With a growl he set about binding her wrists. Ishaq held the reins just under the horse’s bit as he waited.

“Is this horse fast?” she asked as she watched Victor wrapping rope around her wrists.

“Sa’din is fast,” Ishaq told her.

“Sa’din? Doesn’t that mean ‘the wind’ in the old tongue?”

Ishaq nodded. “You know the old tongue?”

“A little,” she said. “Today, Sa’din will need to be as swift as the wind. Now listen to me, both of you. I don’t intend on getting myself killed.”

“Few people do,” Victor griped.

“You don’t understand; this will be my best chance to get near Kronos. Once the attack begins it would be difficult not only to find him, but, even if we did know where he was, it would be next to impossible to get close to him. He would be dealing death against the innocent in ways you cannot even imagine, spreading fear, panic, and death. That makes him valuable to them. In battle their soldiers will be looking for anyone trying to take out their wizard. I have to do it now. I intend to end it tonight.”

Victor and Ishaq shared a look.

“I want everyone to be ready,” she said. “When I come back I expect there will be some very angry people behind me.”

Victor looked up after yanking the knot tight. “How many angry people?”

“I intend to have their entire force right on my heels.”

Ishaq gently rubbed Sa’din’s face. “What are they going to be angry about? If I may ask.”

“Besides trying to take out their wizard, I intend to give the hornets’ nest a good stiff whack.”

Victor sighed irritably. “We’ll be ready for them when they attack, but once you go in there I’m not so sure you will be able to get away.”

Nicci wasn’t either. She remembered a time when she went about her plans not caring if she lived or died carrying them out. Now she cared.