Chainfire (Sword of Truth 9)

“Yes, Lord Rahl,” General Meiffert said, somewhat taken aback.

“We’re here because of a report you sent about a woman who was stabbed. Is she still alive?”

The young general nodded. “I haven’t checked in the last hour or so, but she was, earlier. My field surgeons attended to her, but there are wounds well beyond their ability. This is one of those. She was stabbed in the gut. It’s a slow and painful way to die. She’s lived longer than I expected.”

“Do you know her name?” Nicci asked.

“She wouldn’t tell us when she was wide awake, but when she was in a fevered state, we asked again and she said her name was Tovi.”

Richard glanced at Nicci before asking, “What does she look like?”

“Heavy set, older woman.”

“Sounds like her,” Richard said as he wiped a hand across his face. “We need to see her. Right away.”

The general nodded. “Follow me, then.”

“Wait,” Nicci said.

Richard turned back to her. “What is it?”

“If you go in to see her, she won’t tell you anything. Tovi hasn’t seen me for ages. The last she knew, I was still a slave to Jagang and she had escaped. I might be able to talk to her in a way that will get the truth out of her.”

Nicci could see how impatient Richard was to get his hands on one of the women that he believed was responsible for taking the woman he loved.

Nicci still didn’t know what she believed. She wondered if she still believed that he was only dreaming up this other woman simply because of her own feelings.

“Richard,” she said as she stepped close to him so that she could talk confidentially, “let me do this. If you go in there it will spoil what I can do. I think I can get her to talk, but if she sees you, the game will be over.”

“And how do you plan to accomplish getting her to talk?”

“Look, do you want to know what happened to Kahlan, or do you want to argue about how I’m going to get that information?”

He pressed his lips tight for a moment. “I don’t care if you pull her intestines out an inch at a time, just get her to talk.”

Nicci briefly put a hand on his shoulder on her way by as she followed after the general. Once they were away, she moved up and walked beside him as they marched through the nearly dark camp. She could see why Cara found the man attractive. He had one of those handsome faces that just didn’t look like it could wear a lie well at all.

“By the way,” he said, glancing over at her, “I’m General Meiffert.”

Nicci nodded. “Benjamin.”

He paused in the dark pathway through the camp. “How do you know that?”

Nicci smiled. “Cara told me about you.” Still, he stared at her. She took his arm and started him moving again. “And for a Mord-Sith to speak so highly of a man is quite unusual.”

“Cara spoke highly of me?”

“Of course. She likes you. But you know that.”

He clasped his hands behind his back as they walked. “I guess, then, that you must know that I think a lot of her.”

“Of course.”

“And who are you, anyway, might I ask? I’m sorry, but Lord Rahl didn’t introduce us.”

Nicci gave him a sidelong glance. “You may have heard of me as Death’s Mistress.”

General Meiffert stumbled to a stop, choking on spit from gasping. He coughed until his face was red.

“Death’s Mistress?” he finally managed. “People are more afraid of you than Jagang himself.”

“For good reason.”

“You’re the one who captured Lord Rahl, and took him to the Old World.”

“That’s right,” she said as she started out again.

He walked along beside her, thinking it over. “Well, I’d guess that you must have changed your ways, or Lord Rahl wouldn’t have you with him.”

She simply smiled at him, a smooth, sly smile. It made him uneasy. He gestured to the right.

“Down here. The tent where we put her is over here.”

Nicci grasped his forearm to hold him in place. She didn’t want Tovi hearing her, yet.

“This is going to take a goodly amount of time. Why don’t you tell Richard that I said he should get some rest. I think Cara ought to get some rest, too. Why don’t you see to that, as well?”

“Ah, I guess I could do that.”

“And General, if my friend Cara doesn’t leave here in the morning with a giddy grin, I’ll gut you alive.”

His eyes widened. Nicci couldn’t help but to smile.

“Figure of speech, Benjamin.” She arched an eyebrow. “You have the night with her. Don’t waste it.”

He smiled at last. “Thank you…”

“Nicci.”

“Thank you, Nicci. I think about her all the time. You don’t know how much I’ve missed her—how much I’ve worried about her.”

“I think I do. But you should tell her that, not me. Now, where is Tovi?”

He lifted an arm and pointed. “Down there, on the right. The last tent in the line.”

Nicci nodded. “Do me a favor. See to it that no one disturbs us. Including the surgeons. I need to be alone with her.”

“I’ll see to it.” He turned back and scratched his head. “Ah, it’s none of my business, but are you”—he gestured between her and back the way they’d come—“you and Lord Rahl, well, you know.”

Nicci couldn’t seem to make herself come up with an answer that she wished to voice.

“Time is short. Don’t keep Cara waiting.”

“Yes, I see what you mean. Thank you Nicci. I hope to see you in the morning.”

She watched him rush off into the darkness, then turned to her task. She hadn’t really wanted to unnerve the general with talk of Death’s Mistress, but she needed to slip back into that part of herself, needed to think that way again, needed to find the icy attitude that was numb to everything.

She pulled the tent flap aside and slipped inside. There was a single candle lit on a holder made of wrought iron that was stuck in the ground beside a cot. The tent was stuffy and warm. It smelled of stale sweat and dried blood.

Tovi’s bulk lay on her back in the cot, laboring to breathe.

Nicci sat lightly on a field stool beside the woman. Tovi hardly noticed someone sitting down. Nicci laid a hand on Tovi’s wrist and began to trickle in a thread of power to help the woman’s suffering.

Tovi recognized such gifted help and immediately looked over. Her eyes went wide and her breathing quickened. She then gasped in pain and clutched at her abdomen. Nicci increased the flow of power until Tovi sagged back with a moan of relief.

“Nicci, where have you come from? What in the world are you doing here?”

“Well, since when do you care? Sister Ulicia and the rest of you left me in Jagang’s clutches, his personal slave, left me a captive of that pig.”

“But you got away.”

“Got away? Sister Tovi, are you out of your mind? No one got away from dream walker—except you five.”

“Four. Sister Merissa is no longer living.”

“What happened?”

“Stupid bitch tried to play her own game with Richard Rahl. You remember how she hated him—wanted to bathe in his blood.”

“I remember.”

“Sister Nicci, what are you doing here?”

“The rest of you left me to Jagang.” Nicci leaned in so that Tovi could see her glare. “You have no idea of the things I’ve had to endure. Since then, I’ve been on a long mission for His Excellency. He needs information and he knows I can get it.”

Tovi smiled. “Makes you whore for him, to find out what he wants to know.”

Nicci didn’t answer the question, instead letting it answer itself. “I just happened to hear about some fool woman who in the process of getting herself robbed or something also managed to get herself stabbed. Something about the description made me decide to come and check myself to see if it co

uld possibly be you.”

Tovi nodded. “I’m afraid it’s not good.”

“I hope it hurts. I came to make sure you’re a long time dying. I want you to suffer for what you did to me—leaving me in the clutches of Jagang while the rest of you escaped without bothering to even tell me how it could be done.”

“We couldn’t help it. We had a chance and we had to take it, that’s all.” A cunning grin came to her. “But you can get free of Jagang, too.”

Nicci pressed forward. “How—how can I get free?”

“Heal me and I’ll tell you.”