Confessor (Sword of Truth 11)

Nathan nodded. “I’ve never heard anything to dispute it.”

“Then how do you know what the crypt staff thinks about anything that might be wrong down here?” General Trimack asked Cara. “After all, they can’t tell you or even write it down.”

“You use hand signals to direct your men when silence is critical, or when in the heat of battle they can’t hear you. These people do similar things. They use signs they’ve made up over the years to communicate with each other. I’ve questioned them and to a certain extent they’ve been able to make themselves understood. As I’m sure you can well imagine, they are very observant.”

“And wait until you hear what they think,” Verna said.

The whole thing seemed preposterous to her, but the implications were serious enough that she wanted to know for sure. Verna had learned since becoming prelate that, despite how she might be inclined to view a matter, it was always a good idea to keep an open mind. In matters so serious it would be foolish not to at least make sure there was no real problem. Still, she didn’t have to be happy about it.

Nathan’s suspicious look returned. “So, what do they think?”

Cara pointed toward an intersection down the corridor. “Back around there they found a place that isn’t right.”

“Isn’t right?” In exasperation, Nathan put his hands on his hips. “Isn’t right in what way?”

“The stone down here all has veining in it.” Cara turned and pointed out various patterns on the wall behind her. “See? All the people on the crypt staff recognize the veining. They keep track of where they are down here by those unique patterns.”

Nathan peered closely at the veining.

“It’s a language of symbols,” Cara added.

Nathan looked away from the veining and back at Cara. “That makes sense. Go on.”

“In that corridor there, down a ways, is a slab of marble wall that belongs somewhere else.”

Nathan’s suspicion returned as he viewed her askance, as if playing along but not liking it one bit. “So, where does it belong, then?”

“That’s just it,” Cara said. “They can’t find the hall where it belongs. Near as I can understand, what they’re trying to tell me is that there is a corridor missing.”

“Missing?” Nathan heaved a deep sigh. He scratched his head as he glanced around. “Where could a corridor be hiding?”

Cara leaned toward him just a little. “Behind that piece of marble.”

He stared at her silently as he looked to be thinking it through.

“So we want you to use your gift and see if you can sense anyone behind that wall,” Verna said.

Concern etched Nathan’s Rahl features as he glanced around at all the faces watching him. “Someone hiding behind the wall?”

Cara nodded. “That’s right. Someone hiding behind the wall.”

Nathan ran his hand over the back of his neck as he looked down the corridor toward the intersection. “Well, as crazy as that theory sounds, at least it’s simple enough to test.” He flicked a hand, indicating General Trimack standing beside him. “And you think the First File might be necessary?”

Cara shrugged. “Depends on if there is anything unpleasant on the other side of the wall.”

The general was looking not just concerned, but alarmed. He was responsible for guarding the palace and everyone in it—especially the Lord Rahl. He was dead serious about his job.

The general waggled a hand in the direction of the suspected trouble. “And you think there is?”

Cara didn’t shy from the general’s formidable stare. “Nicci and Ann disappeared somewhere down here.”

The scar running down the side of the man’s face stood out white. He hooked his thumbs behind his weapon belt as he turned to the side. One of his men rushed forward to take his orders.

“I want all of you to stay close, but be very quiet.”

The officer nodded and then trotted silently back to the other men to relay the orders.

“Just who do you think it is that could be hiding behind the wall?” the general asked as he looked between all the women.

“Don’t look at me,” Verna said. “I’m concerned, but I can’t imagine who or what could be there, if anyone. I don’t know that I believe any of this, but at the Palace of the Prophets I knew people on the staff who would pick up on the strangest things, things that no one else had been aware of. I have no idea what this is about, but I don’t dismiss the worries of people who know this place better than I.”

“That makes sense,” the general said.

Nathan started out. “Let’s go have a look, then.”

As she followed behind, Verna was relieved that she’d been able to convince Nathan of the seriousness of the matter. She didn’t necessarily believe it herself, but she wanted to support Cara. Cara was the sort of person who deserved to be given the benefit of the doubt. The Mord-Sith had been frantic with worry for Nicci. She hadn’t slept much recently. As far as Cara was concerned, Nicci was not just a friend, but a link to finding Richard.

They all moved as silently as possible. Cara led the way, with Nathan following. Verna stayed back a little with Berdine and Nyda. General Trimack, with his large force of men, brought up the rear.

Around the corner and down the suspect corridor, a few torches farther down hissed and sputtered. One of them appeared to be about spent. The staff, though, had been kept away. The general signaled his men. Half a dozen of them collected torches from back up the hall and brought them along.

Cara snapped her fingers to get the general’s attention. She motioned for half the men to go past and guard the corridor from the other side. She apparently wanted the place sealed off. Cara sent some of the other Mord-Sith with the soldiers.

At the marble wall Cara traced a finger along the lines of the face in the stone. By now, even Verna recognized that particular face.

“They say that this face doesn’t belong here,” Cara whispered when Nathan leaned close to her.

Nathan nodded and then stood up straight. He waved a hand, urging Cara to stay back out of his way.

Cara frowned and gave Verna a puzzled look. She didn’t know quite what the old wizard was doing. Verna knew. He was using his ability to sense beyond the stone. He was using his gift to search for life. Verna could do a similar thing, although not with the same level of success as a wizard, but she couldn’t do it at all in the palace. In the People’s Palace any gift but a Rahl’s was suppressed. Verna had tried to sense beyond the wall when they had first been told of the place by the crypt staff, but she hadn’t been at all successful.

Cara returned to stand beside Verna. She leaned close, speaking in little more than a whisper.

“What do you think?”

“I think Nathan will tell us when he knows anything.”

General

Trimack leaned in. “How long?”

“Not long,” Verna told him.

As Verna watched, Nathan’s face suddenly went white. He staggered back a step.

Seeing his reaction brought Cara’s Agiel up into her fist. Berdine and Nyda spun their weapons up to hand as well.

Nathan staggered back another step. His hand went to his face in shock. He turned to them, his mouth agape.

In a rush of movement, being as quiet as possible, he raced back to them.

“Dear spirits.” He ran his fingers back through his hair as he looked back at the face on the wall.

“Dear spirits, what?” Cara growled.

Nathan, his face nearly as white as his hair, turned his azure eyes on the Mord-Sith.

“There are hundreds of people on the other side of that wall.”

Cara was speechless for only an instant. “Hundreds? Are you sure?”

He nodded vigorously. “Maybe thousands.”

Verna finally recovered her own voice. “What people? Who are they?”

“Don’t know,” Nathan said, his head swiveling back and forth between their faces and the face in the marble wall. “I can’t begin to imagine. But I can tell you that they have a lot of steel with them.”

General Trimack leaned in. “Steel?”

“Weapons,” Verna said.

Nathan’s expression was grave. “That’s right. Down here there isn’t much steel, so it stands out when I use the gift to sense what is beyond the wall. There are a lot of people and they have a lot of steel with them.”

“They can only be armed men,” the general said as he quietly drew his sword. He signaled to his men. They all did the same. In a heartbeat they all had weapons to hand.

“Any idea who they could be?” Berdine asked in a whisper.

Nathan, looking as worried as Verna had ever seen him, shook his head. “None. I can’t tell who they are, only that they are back there.”

Cara started across the corridor. “I say we find out.”

The general gave quick hand signals to all his men. They quietly started moving in from both sides.

“Just how do you think you can find out?” Verna asked, following on Cara’s heels.