Richard looked to the general's waiting eyes. "Not yet, I'm afraid. We're still looking for her, but thank you for your concern."

No one but Richard even remembered her, remembered her smile, the shadow of her soul showing in her green eyes. At times Kahlan didn't even seem real to him, either. She seemed impossible, like no one who could be all that he remembered, like she could only be an invention of his deepest desires in life. He could understand the difficulty those closest to him had in dealing with the situation.

"Sorry to hear that, Lord Rahl." The general scanned the throngs moving down the hallway. "I trust that at least you are not here this time in the middle of a mess of trouble?"

It was Richard's turn to sigh. How to begin?

"In a way, I am."

"The Imperial Order army is continuing to advance on D'Hara?" the general guessed.

Richard nodded. "I'm afraid so. The long and the short of it is, General, I've given our forces orders that they are not to engage Emperor Jagang's army in battle because they don't have the numbers to stand a chance. It would be a slaughter for no purpose and Jagang would still end up having the New World all to himself."

General Trimack scratched a scar that stood out white against the ruddy skin at the back of his jaw. "What other option is there, Lord Rahl, but to meet the enemy in battle?"

His quiet, simple words had the sound of advice, of caution born of experience, of hope balanced on a razor's edge of despair. For a moment, Richard listened to the cathedral whisper of feet against stone as the crowds moved steadily through the hallway.

"I've ordered our forces to set out at once to lay waste to the Old World." Richard turned his glare back to the general. "They wanted war; I intend to jam their wish down their throats and see them choke to death on it."

At the startling news, the mouths of some of the men dropped open. Commander General Trimack stared in surprise for a moment, then he thoughtfully stroked the scar with a single finger. A sly look finally showed that, despite his initial surprise, he was beginning to like the idea.

"I guess this means that the First File will be called upon to keep the bastards out of the palace."

Richard marked the man's steady gaze. "Do you think you can do it?"

A crooked smile curled across the general's mouth. "Lord Rahl, my humble talent will hardly be the margin of safety for the palace. Your ancestors built this place as they did specifically to prevent anyone from taking it." He gestured at the soaring columns, walls, and balconies all around them. "Besides the natural defenses, this place is invested with powers that weaken any of the enemy gifted."

Richard knew that the palace was built in the shape of a spell that strengthened the power of any Rahl within the palace, and sapped the strength of any other gifted person. The whole palace itself was constructed in the form of an emblem. To an extent, Richard understood its shape and the general nature of its meaning. He could read the motif of strength inherent in the pattern.

Unfortunately, that spell would weaken even those with the gift who were on his side, such as Verna. He needed Verna to be able to help protect the palace, but if she and the Sisters with her were weakened by that spell, then she would have a harder time defending the palace. The balance to that, he supposed, was that anyone attacking would have the same problem, so they would not have an advantage over Verna and her Sisters. There was no alternative but to count on Verna to do her best.

"Besides reinforcements, I'm sending some Sisters here, along with Verna, their prelate."

General Trimack nodded. "I know the woman. She's a stubborn one when she's happy and impossible when she's not. I'll be glad she'll be on our side, Lord Rahl, and not the other way round."

Richard had to smile. The man did indeed know Verna.

"I'll return when I can, General. In the meantime, I'll count on you to safeguard the People's Palace."

"The great inner doors will have to be sealed."

"Do what you think best, General."

"The great doors are invested with the same power as the rest of the palace, so they are not a weak link that will provide any opportunity for attack. The only problem with closing the doors is that it puts an end to commerce, which is the lifeblood of the palace… in peacetime, anyway."

Richard watched the throngs of people making their way through the passageway and along the balconies above. "With what's coming, commerce is not going to be possible at the palace anyway. No one is going to be able to travel the Azrith Plain — or anywhere else in the New World, for that matter. Trade everywhere is being disrupted. Prepare for a long siege."

The man shrugged. "That's what enemy armies historically do, sit out there and hope to starve us out. Can't be done; out on the Azrith Plain they'll starve first. Will you be coming back, Lord Rahl, to help in the protection of the palace?"

Richard swiped a hand across his mouth. "I don't know when I'll be able to return. But I will if I can, I promise. For now, I have to put my mind to this new effort.

"We're going to try to kill the Order by cutting out its heart, rather than trying to fight its muscle."

"And if they lay siege to the palace in the meantime and you need to return? How will you be able to get back in?"

"Well, I don't have a dragon, so I can't fly in." When the man only stared blankly at him, Richard cleared his throat and said, "If need be I can come back the way I came today, with the aid of magic — through the sliph."

The general didn't look like he understood, but he accepted Richard's word without question.

"I'm on my way back there now, General. If you want, you can escort us and see it for yourself."

He looked somewhat relieved to be invited to be allowed to do his job of protecting the Lord Rahl. Richard took Berdine's arm and started walking her down the hall as all the soldiers fanned out to form a protective perimeter.

Berdine was considerably shorter than Richard, so he leaned down a bit to speak without raising his voice. "I need to know some things. Have you been translating any more of Kolo's journal?"

She grinned like a maid full of gossip. "I'll say I have. Because of some of the things Kolo had to say, though, I've had to start researching other books as well — so that I could better understand how it all fits together." She leaned closer. "There were things going on that we didn't even realize, before, when we worked on it together. We had only scratched the surface."

Richard didn't think that she knew the half of it. "Do any of those things have to do with First Wizard Baraccus?"

Berdine abruptly halted and stared at him. "How did you know that?"

CHAPTER 28

Richard reached back, took Berdine by the arm, and pulled her along with him. "I'll explain it later, when I have more time. What did Kolo write about Baraccus in his journal?"

"Well, what Kolo wrote is only part of the story. Kolo just hinted at some of what was going on so, to fill in the blanks, I started reading the books in your restricted, private libraries."

It never failed to amaze Richard that, being the Lord Rahl, he now had access to such restricted libraries. He could not begin to imagine the wealth of knowledge contained in all those volumes.

"What kinds of books?"

Berdine pointed. "One of them is on the way, not in the common areas but deeper in the private sections of the palace — places where almost no one is ever allowed. I'll show you. Part of it has to do with something called central sites."

Keeping pace on the other side of him, Nicci leaned in. "Nathan told me that he read some things about places called central sites."