Jagang looked up at the other Sister. "What's she gibbering about?"

Sister Armina spread her hands. "I'm not sure, Excellency."

His glare darkened. "That's a lie, Armina."

Sister Armina, a little of the color draining from her face, licked her lips. "What I meant by that, Excellency, is that the only thing I can imagine is that she must be referring to the boxes. She is the player, after all."

Jagang's mouth twisted with impatience. "But we already know that we have a year from back when Ulicia put them in play"-he flicked a hand in the direction of the towering plateau-"right after Kahlan took them from the palace up there."

"New player!" Sister Ulicia shouted, eyes closed, as if to correct him. "New player! The year starts over!"

Jagang looked genuinely surprised at her words.

Kahlan wondered how it was that the dream walker could be surprised by such a thing. For some reason, though, he seemed to be unable, at the moment anyway, to use his ability on Sister Ulicia. Unless he was simply playing a trick. Jagang didn't always reveal exactly what he knew and what he didn't know. Kahlan had never felt that he could read her mind, but she always remained cautious that he might want her to think just that. What if all the time he was reading her every thought?

Still, she just didn't believe it was so. She couldn't put her finger on any one thing that made her think that he was unable to use his ability as a dream walker on her, but rather it was an impression based on the cumulative evidence of many small little things.

"How is it possible for there to be a new player?" Jagang asked in a tone that made Sister Armina begin to tremble just the slightest bit.

She had to swallow twice before she was able to speak. "Excellency, we don't have ... all three boxes. We have but two. There is the the third box, after all, the one that Tovi had."

"You mean the box that was stolen because you stupid bitches sent Tovi off by herself rather than having her stay with the rest of you." It was an angry charge, not a question.

Sister Armina, on the verge of panic, thrust a finger out at Kahlan. "It was her fault! If she had done as we instructed and brought all three boxes out together, we would all have been together and we would have the three boxes. But she failed to bring them all out together. It's her fault!"

Sister Ulicia had told Kahlan to hide all three boxes in her pack and bring them out. All three wouldn't fit, so she brought one out first, intending to go back for the others. Sister Ulicia had not been pleased, to say the least. She had beaten Kahlan nearly to a bloody death for failing to somehow do the impossible and fit all three in a pack that was not big enough.

Kahlan didn't bother to speak up in her own defense. She refused to lower herself to trying to reason with people who didn't abide by reason.

Jagang looked back over his shoulder at Kahlan. She met his gaze with nothing but her blank countenance. He turned back to Sister Armina.

"So what? Sister Ulicia put the boxes in play. That makes her the player."

"Another player!" Sister Ulicia shouted up from the floor between them. "Two players now! The year starts over! It's impossible!" Sister Ulicia lunged. "Impossible!"

There was nothing there and her arms caught only air.

She sat back heavily on the floor, breathing rapidly. Trembling hands covered her face, as if she was overwhelmed by what had just taken place.

Jagang turned away, lost in thought as he considered. "Can there be two people who both have the boxes in play at the same time?" he asked himself.

Sister Armina's eyes darted about. She seemed unsure if she was supposed to attempt an answer. In the end she remained silent.

Sister Ulicia rubbed her eyes. "He vanished."

Jagang frowned down at her. "Who vanished?"

"I couldn't see his face." She gestured vaguely. "He was just there, telling me, but he vanished. I don't know who it was, Excellency."

The woman looked shaken to her core.

"What did you see?" Jagang asked.

As if jolted by an unexpected sudden shock, she shot to her feet. Her eyes had gone wide with pain. Blood trickled from one ear.

"What did you see?" Jagang repeated.

Kahlan had seen him give the Sisters pain in the past. Whether or not he was able to be in Sister Ulicia's mind before, it was clear that he now had no difficulty making his presence felt.

"It was someone-" Sister Ulicia said with a gasp. "Someone who was just here, in the tent, Excellency. He told me that there was a new player, and because of that the year must start anew."

Jagang's brow was drawn down in a tight knot. "A new player for the power of Orden?"

Sister Ulicia nodded, as if fearing to admit it. "Yes, Excellency. Someone else has also put the boxes of Orden in play. We are warned that the year must start over. We now have one year from today, the first day of winter."

Looking to be deep in thought, Jagang started toward the doorway. Two of the elite guards pulled open the double hanging, allowing their emperor to walk through the opening without pause. Kahlan, knowing that if she didn't stay close at hand the pain of the collar was only an instant away, followed him out before he gave her that reminder. Behind her, Sisters Ulicia and Armina hurried to keep up.

The big men of the elite guard outside the tent casually stepped away to each side, making way for the emperor. The other soldiers-Kahlan's special guards-marched back and forth just beyond them.

Standing close behind Jagang in the cold dawn, Kahlan rubbed her arms, trying to work up some warmth. A wall of dark clouds towered to the west. Even through the stink of the encampment, she could smell the rain carried on the damp air. The thin clouds fleeing to the east were stained bloodred in the sunrise of the first day of winter.

Jagang stood silently considering the immense plateau in the distance. Atop that towering tableland was the People's Palace. While certainly a palace, it was vast almost beyond belief. It was also a city, really, a city that was the seat of power for all of D'Hara. That city stood as the last vestige of resistance to the Imperial Order's lust to rule the world and enforce their beliefs on mankind. The army of the Order spread like a poisonous black sea across the Azrith Plain around the plateau, leaving it isolated from any hope of rescue or salvation.

The first rays of light were just touching the distant palace, making the marble walls, columns, and towers glow golden in the sunrise. It was a breathtakingly beautiful sight. To all these people of the Order, though, the sight of the palace, of such beauty yet untouched by their lecherous hands, only inspired jealousy and hate. They lusted to destroy the place, to blot such majesty out of existence, to insure that man never again aspired to such merit.

Kahlan had been up in that palace-Lord Rahl's palace-when the four Sisters had taken her there to have her steal the boxes out of the Garden of Life. The splendor of the place was awe-inspiring. Kahlan had hated to take those boxes from Lord Rahl's garden. They didn't belong to the Sisters, and, worse, the Sisters were driven by evil intent.

On that altar where the boxes had sat, Kahlan left in their place her most precious possession. It was a small carving of a woman, her head thrown back, her fists at her sides, her back arched as if opposition to a force trying to subdue her. Kahlan could not imagine where she would have gotten such a beautiful thing.

She was heartbroken to have to leave that carving behind, but she had to in order to fit the last two boxes in her pack. Had she not, Sister Ulicia would have killed her. As much as she loved that small statue, she loved her life more. She hoped that Lord Rahl, when he saw it, would somehow understand that she was sorry for taking what was his.