Phantom: Chainfire Trilogy Part 2

For some reason, that lifted Kahlan's heart and made her smile. The smile quickly vanished, though, as she put her mind back to the task at hand. She didn't know if Jagang and the Sisters would be finished soon, or if they would be at it for the rest of the night, but she couldn't afford to miss the opportunity.

"We have to do this now, before I lose my nerve. I want you to do exactly as I say."

"I will" Jillian said.

"Here's what we're going to do. You will stay right here. I'm going to go over there and kill these two men."

Jillian's eyes went wide. "You're going to do what?"

"Kill them."

"How? You're just a woman, and they're big. And there's two of them."

"It's not impossible if you know how."

"You're going to cut their throats?" Jillian guessed.

"No. They would make noise if I did that. Besides, I couldn't do that to both of them at the same time. So, I'm going to take two more of their knives and then I'm going to slip up behind them and I'm going to stab them right… here."

Kahlan jabbed a finger in Jillian's back, a little to the side, right in the soft spot of her kidney. Even the small jab made the girl grunt with the pain of how sensitive that place was.

"Stabbing a man right there, in his kidney, is so painful that it makes it impossible for him to cry out."

"You can't be serious. Surely they will scream."

Kahlan shook her head. "The pain is so great when you're stabbed in the kidney that your throat clamps shut. Your scream is locked in your lungs. That will be our chance. Before they collapse and hit the floor as they're dying, we have to get through that door behind them. We have to slip through as quietly as possible to buy as much time as we can. We'll probably only have a brief moment before we're discovered, but that moment is all we need for you to get away.

"You stand right here. As soon as I drive the knives in their backs, you head for the door — fast as you can. But don't make any noise. I'll be there with you at the doors."

Jillian was panting in fear of such a task. Her eyes were brimming with tears. "But I want you to go with me."

Kahlan squatted down and hugged the girl.

"I know. This is all I can do to protect you, Jillian. But I think it will be enough to get away."

She wiped at her eyes. "But what will they do to you?"

"You just worry about getting away. If I get a chance to escape, I promise you I will. Tell Lokey to watch for me in case I ever do get away."

"All right."

Kahlan knew that it was a false hope. She squeezed Jillian's shoulder and stood. She checked the four at the table one last time. She did so just in time.

Jagang glanced over his shoulder to see what Kahlan was doing. She stood silently beside Jillian, watching him and the Sisters working, as if she had been there the whole time, doing nothing but awaiting her fate. He turned his attention to the heated words between Sister Ulicia and Sister Cecilia. Sister Ulicia was being her obstinate self, while Sister Cecilia was trying to find a way to appease Jagang by telling him whatever he wanted to hear.

Once she was sure that Jagang's attention was back on the book, Kahlan immediately started for the guards. As one was again eyeing Jillian with increasingly open lust, Kahlan carefully pulled a long knife from his weapons belt. Without delay, she moved to the far guard and did the same, taking his long knife as well.

Standing behind them, she glanced to the Sisters and Jagang and, seeing them still busy, she looked over at Jillian. The girl, wiping her palms on her hips, nodded that she was ready.

Kahlan reached to the man on the right and drew a knife he carried in a sheath hanging from a strap on his side. She placed the blade sideways between her teeth.

Without lingering any longer, she scrutinized the lower backs of the guards, selecting the precise spots she needed to hit. She chose the right side of the man on her left, and the left side of the man on her right, so that she would have targets closest together and she would be able to put her full strength into the thrust.

She looked back and forth between the men, making sure that she would hit the right spot with each knife. If she missed, it would be fatal, but not necessarily for the men. It would be Jillian who paid the price of an error. It had to be right, and it had to be right the first time.

Kahlan took a deep breath, holding it only briefly, then she exhaled hard, adding that power to the force she put into her thrust. With all her strength, she plunged both knives into the men's backs. The blades went in up to the hilts.

Both men stiffened at the jolting shock.

Kahlan had already drawn another breath. This time, as quickly as she could, she forced out the breath and used all her considerable strength to pull the handles together toward one another so that the blades would pivot and rip through the men's kidneys.