The pillars of creation

"I am Jennsen Rahl," she repeated, "Richard Rahl's sister. I intend to kill him. Sebastian told me that you may be able to provide me some help to that end. If you can, I would be eternally in your debt. If you cannot, then tell me now, for I still intend to kill him and will need to be on my way.»

Elbows on the arms of his red-silk-draped throne, he leaned toward her, holding her in his nightmare gaze.

"My dear Jennsen Rahl, sister to Richard Rahl, for a task such as this, I would lay the world at your feet. You have but to ask, and anything within my power shall be yours."

CHAPTER 45

jennsen sat close to Sebastian, drawing comfort from his familiar presence, yet wishing they could instead be alone by a campfire frying up fish or cooking beans. She felt more alone at the emperor's table, with servants hovering all about, than she'd ever felt by herself in the silence of a forest. Without Sebastian there, laughing and talking, she didn't know what she would have done, how she would have behaved. She was uncomfortable enough around regular people; this was far more unnerving.

Emperor Jagang was a man who, without effort, fluidly dominated the room. Although he never broke his gracious, courtly manner with her, in some inscrutable way, he made her feel that every breath she took had been granted her only by his grace. He referenced momentous matters offhandedly, without realizing he was doing it, so common were such responsibilities, so sure his unflinching rule. He was a mountain lion at rest, sleek and poised, tail swishing lazily, licking his chops.

This was not an emperor who was content to sit safely by, back in some remote palace, and receive reports; this was an emperor who led his men into the thick of battle. This was an emperor who dug his hands down into the bloody muck of life and death and pulled out what he wanted.

Though it seemed an extravagant dinner for what was, after all, an army on the march, it was still the emperor's tent and table, and reflected that fact. There was food and drink in abundance, everything from fowl to fish, beef to lamb, wine to water.

As servants, focused on their tasks, rushed in and out with steaming platters of beautifully prepared food, treating her like royalty, Jennsen was struck with a sudden gut-wrenching glimpse of how her mother, as a lowly, obscure, humble young woman, must have felt as she sat at Lord Rahl's table, as she saw such tempting variety and abundance as she had never imagined, while at the same time trembling at being in the presence of a man with the power to sentence death, without pausing his meal.

Jennsen had little appetite. She pulled dainty strips of meat off of the succulent piece of pork sitting before her on a thick slab of bread, and nibbled as she listened to the two men talk. Their conversation was trivial. Jennsen sensed that when she was not around, the two men would have much more to say to each another. As it was, they spoke of acquaintances and caught up on inconsequential matters that had taken place since Sebastian had left the army the previous summer.

"What of Aydindril?" Sebastian asked at last as he stabbed a slice of meat on the point of his knife.

The emperor twisted a leg off a crispy goose. He planted his elbows on the edge of the table as he leaned forward and gestured vaguely with his prize. "I don't know."

Sebastian lowered his knife. "What do you mean? I remember the lay of the land. You are but a day or two away." His voice was respectful, but clearly concerned. "How can you march in without knowing what awaits in Aydindril?"

Jagang tore a big bite off the fat end of the goose leg, the bone spanning the fingers of both hands. Grease dripped from the meat, and from his fingers.

"Well," he said at last, waving the bone over his shoulder before casting it aside on a plate, "we sent scouts and patrols to have a look, but none returned.»

"None of them?" Concern put an edge on Sebastian's voice.

Jagang picked up a knife and sliced off a chunk of lamb from a platter to the side. "None," he said as he stabbed the piece of meat.

With his teeth, Sebastian eased the bite off his knife and then set the blade down. He rested his elbows on the edge of the table and folded his fingers together as he considered.

"The Wizard's Keep is in Aydindril," Sebastian said at last in a quiet voice. "I saw it, when I scouted the city last year. It sits on the side of a mountain, overlooking the city."

"I remember your report," Jagang answered.

Jennsen wanted to ask what a "Wizard's Keep" was, but not enough to break her silence while the men talked. Besides, it seemed somewhat selfevident, especially by the ominous tone in Sebastian's voice when he said it.

Sebastian rubbed his palms together. "Then may I ask your plan?"