Confessor (Sword of Truth 11)

Judging by the types of soldiers Richard could see making up the group, it could be none other than the emperor that they escorted. Richard recognized the royal guard from the day before when he had rolled through the camp and right past Jagang. That was when he had briefly seen Kahlan. The emperor’s guards were intimidating in their mail and leather and with their well-made weapons, but it was the size of the men and their bulging, rain-slicked muscles that was truly daunting.

These were men who even struck fear into the hearts of the regular brutes of the Order. Those regular troops all fell back well clear of the royal guard. Richard didn’t imagine that such men were at all tolerant of anything they believed might potentially be a threat to the emperor.

Johnrock stepped forward to join the other men waiting in a line for the emperor to review them.

It was when Richard saw Jagang’s shaved head off in the center of the ranks of muscled guards that the sudden realization hit him.

Jagang would recognize him.

Jagang, as a dream walker, had been in the minds of various people and he had seen Richard through their eyes.

Richard could hardly believe how careless he had been not to even consider that when he played the emperor’s team in order to get close enough to Kahlan, Jagang would be there, and Jagang would recognize him. Distracted by the thought of actually getting to Kahlan, he hadn’t taken such a prospect into consideration.

Richard noticed something else, then—a Sister.

It looked like Sister Ulicia, but if it was, she had aged a great deal since he’d last seen her. She was farther away, back at the tail end of all the guards following Jagang, but Richard could still see the sagging creases in her face. The last time he had seen her she’d been an attractive woman, although Richard had difficulty separating a person’s looks from their personality and Sister Ulicia was one sinister woman. No matter how superficially attractive a person was, a cruel personality tainted Richard’s image of them. Corrupt character colored his appraisal of a person to such an extent that he could not see them as attractive separate from their vicious nature.

That was also one of the reasons Kahlan was so beautiful to him—she was not simply stunningly attractive, but exemplary in every way. Her intelligence and insight were matched by her passion for life. It was as if her captivating looks perfectly reflected everything else about her.

Sister Ulicia, despite how physically attractive she once had been, now appeared to reflect only the rot at her core.

Richard realized then that not only would Jagang and Sister Ulicia recognize him, but there would be other Sisters in the camp who also knew him.

He suddenly felt very vulnerable. Any of those Sisters could happen by at any time. He had nowhere to hide.

When he got close enough, Jagang would not fail to see that Lord Rahl, the very man he was after, was right there in his midst. Chained as he was, without his ability to use his Han, even as difficult as it had been for him to call forth his gift when’d he’d had access to it, Richard would be at Jagang’s mercy.

He had a sickening flash of a vision that Shota the witch woman had given him. It had been a vision of being executed. It had been raining in that vision, much as it was raining now. Kahlan had been there. In tearful terror she had watched as his wrists had been bound behind his back and he was made to kneel in the mud. As he knelt there, with Kahlan screaming his name, a big brute of a soldier came up behind him, promising to have Kahlan for himself as he brought a long knife around before Richard’s face, and then with a mighty effort cut deep through his throat.

Richard realized that he was touching his throat, as if to comfort the gaping wound. He was panting in a panic.

He felt a hot wave of nausea welling up through him. Was this to be Shota’s vision come to life? Was this what she had been warning him about? Was this to be the day he died?

It was all happening too fast. He hadn’t been ready for this. But what could he have done to get ready?

“Ruben!” Commander Karg yelled. “Get up here!”

Richard struggled to get control of his emotions. He took a deep breath and worked to calm himself as he started moving, knowing that if he didn’t it was only going to get ugly even faster.

Not far away, the clot of men had stopped at the next team up the line. Richard could hear only the murmur of conversation over the sound of rain.

His mind raced, trying to think of what he could do before Jagang recognized him. He knew that he couldn’t hide behind the other men. He was point man. Jagang would want to see the team’s point man.

And then he caught a glimpse of Kahlan.

Richard moved as if in a dream. The whole cluster of men around the emperor and Kahlan had started turning in the direction of Richard and his team.

Knowing that he had to get up with the other men, Richard started to step over the chain attached to Johnrock’s collar. Just then he had an idea. He hurried forward and deliberately let his foot catch the chain. He fell face-first in the mud.

Commander Karg went red with rage. “Ruben—you clumsy idiot! Get on your feet!”

Richard scrambled to his feet as Jagang’s guards began parting for the emperor. Richard stood up tall next to Johnrock. With a finger, he wiped mud from his eyes.

He blinked to clear his vision. It was then that he spotted Kahlan. She was walking just behind Jagang. The hood of her cloak, pulled up to protect her against the rain, partially hid her face. Richard recognized every familiar movement of her body. No one moved quite the way she moved.

Their eyes met. He thought his heart might stop.

He remembered the first time he had seen her. She had looked so noble in that white dress. He remembered the way she had looked directly at him without speaking—a gaze that was questioning and at the same time guarded, a gaze that instantly and clearly conveyed her intelligence. He had never seen anyone before that moment who looked so…valiant.

He thought that he had probably been in love with her from that first instant, from that first look into her beautiful green eyes. He had been sure that in that first look into those eyes he had seen her soul.

Now there was all that, along with a hint of confused concern in her expression. Because of the way his gaze fixed on her, followed her, she was aware that he could see her. Being the object of the Chainfire spell, she wouldn’t remember who he was or, for that matter, who she was. Other than Richard and the Sisters who had taken her prisoner and ignited the Chainfire spell, no one could remember her. Obviously, Jagang was not affected by the spell. Richard surmised that it probably had something to do with a connection to the Sisters. But Kahlan would be invisible to everyone else.

She recognized, though, that Richard could see her. In the isolation imposed by the spell, that had to be something profoundly important and meaningful for her. In fact, by the look on her face, he could see that it was.

Before Jagang could begin to get close enough to inspect the team, a man called out as he ran up to the group. The emperor gestured him forward in a manner that suggested the man was well known. The guards parted for him as he made his way through their inner circle of protection. Since he carried only minimal weapons—a couple of knives—Richard reasoned that he was probably a messenger. He was winded but seemed to be in a great hurry.

When he made it to the emperor, the man bent close, speaking excitedly but in a low voice. At one point in his report, he gestured across the camp toward the area where the construction of the ramp was taking place.

Kahlan, pulling her gaze from Richard, looked over at the man speaking with Jagang.

Richard surveyed a cadre of other guards, closer in, who surrounded her. They weren’t the royal guard, and in fact they were careful to stay out of the way of the imposing royal guards. These men looked more like the regular soldiers of the camp. Their weapons weren’t well made. They had no chain mail or armor. Their clothes seemed to be a collection of what ever they could find that looked the part of the rest of the army. They were

big men, young and strong, but they were not the match of the emperor’s guards. They looked more like common thugs.

Richard realized, then, that they could only be guarding Kahlan.

Unlike Jagang’s guards, who seemed unmindful of her presence, these men frequently glanced at Kahlan, checking on her every move. That could only mean that these men could see her. Jagang’s guards never looked at Kahlan, but these men did. Somehow, they were able to see her. Somehow, Jagang had found men to guard her who were not affected by the spell.

At first questioning if he was really right that they could see her, and confused by how such a thing was possible, Richard finally realized that it actually did make sense. The Chainfire spell, like the world of magic itself, had been contaminated by the chimes. That contamination eroded the ability of magic to function. The whole purpose of the chimes was to destroy magic. Because of the taint left by their presence in the world of life, the Chainfire spell’s very makeup had been impaired. When Zedd and Nicci had run the verification web, Richard had discovered the damage to the structure of the spell itself.

Because of that contamination within the Chainfire spell, it didn’t function as designed. It was flawed. It only made sense that such a flaw might allow a few people to escape its effects.

Richard remembered how the plague, sweeping through the population like a wildfire, didn’t touch everyone. There were a few people—even some who cared for the sick and dying—who never contracted the plague themselves. This must be something like that. There were bound to be a few people who weren’t affected by the Chainfire event and would therefore be able to see Kahlan. It would certainly explain why there were guards who could see her.

As those special guards, distracted by the man speaking to Jagang with such urgency, turned to try to see better what was happening with the emperor, Kahlan made a small move to turn with them. It looked perfectly natural; Richard knew it was anything but. As she turned, Kahlan adjusted the hood of her cloak against the rain, and as her hand came back down it passed close to one of her guards. Richard saw that the sheath at the man’s belt was empty. As Kahlan’s hand disappeared back under her cloak, Richard caught a brief glint of reflection off the blade. He wanted to laugh out loud, to cheer, but he didn’t dare move a muscle.

Kahlan caught him looking at her and realized that he had to have seen what she’d just done. She watched him a moment to see if he might betray her. She was using the hood of her cloak to hide her face from those guarding her, to prevent them from seeing that she was looking obliquely at Richard. When he didn’t move, she turned and along with the guards watched what was going on between the messenger and the emperor.

Jagang suddenly swung around and started away, returning back the way he’d come, the messenger right on his heels. Kahlan briefly glanced back over a shoulder to catch one last glimpse of Richard before the guards could all close in around the emperor and his captive.

As she did so, and the hood of her cloak moved just enough, Richard saw the dark bruise on her left cheek.