The pillars of creation

Sebastian stabbed a portion of meat. "It sounds too simple."

"Of course it does," Jagang said, "that's why I must consider that she may have decided to do it."

Sebastian gestured north with the red piece of meat on the point of his blade. "She may have pulled back into the mountains, and left only enough men to take out scouts and patrols, to keep you blind, as Jennsen suggested."

Jagang shrugged. "Possibly. She is a woman who is impossible to predict. But she's running out of places to pull back to. Sooner or later there will be no ground left. This may not be her plan, but, then again, it might be so."

Jennsen hadn't realized that the Old World had made such progress at throwing back the enemy. Sebastian, too, had been away a long time. Matters, for the Old World, were not nearly so bleak as she had thought. Still, it sounded a great risk to take based on such thin conjecture.

"And so you're willing to gamble your men on such a battle, hoping she will be there?"

"Gamble?" Jagang sounded amused by the suggestion. "Don't you see? It isn't really a gamble at all. Either way, we have nothing to lose. Either way, we will have Aydindril. In so doing, we finally cleave the Midlands, thus cleaving the entire New World in two. Cleave and conquer is the path to victory."

Sebastian licked the blood from his knife. "You know her tactics better than I and are better able to predict what her next will be. But, as you say, whether she decides to stand with her people, or leaves them to their fate, we will have the city of Aydindril and the seat of power in the Midlands."

The emperor stared off. "That bitch has killed hundreds of thousands of my men. She has always managed to stay one step ahead of me, to stay out of my grip, but all the while she was backing toward the wall-this wall." He looked up in cold rage. "May the Creator grant that I have her at last." His knuckles were white around the handle of his knife, his voice a deadly oath. "I will have her, and I will settle the score. Personally."

Sebastian measured the look in the emperor's dark eyes. "Then perhaps we are near to the final victory-in the Midlands, at least. With the Midlands won, the fate of D'Hara will be sealed." He held his knife up. "And if the Mother Confessor is there, then Lord Rahl very well might be, too."

Jennsen, thoughts tumbling through her mind, looked from Sebastian to the emperor. "You mean, you think that her husband, Lord Rahl, is there, too?"

Jagang's nightmare gaze turned toward her as he grinned wickedly. "Exactly, darling."

Jennsen felt a chill run up her spine at the murderous look in his eyes. She was grateful to the good spirits that she was on this man's side, and not his enemy. Still, she had to voice the vital information Tom had told her. She felt a stab of anguish, wishing it had been someone other than Tom who had confirmed it for her, but it was Sebastian who was really the first one to have told her about it.

"Lord Rahl can't be there, in Aydindril." Both men stared at her. "Lord Rahl is far to the south."

Jagang frowned. "To the south? What do you mean?"

"He's in the Old World."

"Are you sure?" Sebastian asked.

Jennsen puzzled at him. "You told me so yourself. That he led his army of invasion into the Old World."

A look of recollection came over Sebastian's face. "Yes, of course, Jenn, but that was long before I even met you-way back before I left our troops-that I had heard those reports. That was a long time ago."

"But I know he was in the Old World after that."

"What do you mean?" Jagang asked in a gravely growl.

Jennsen cleared her throat. "The bond. The D'Haran people feel a bond to the Lord Rahl-"

"And do you feel the bond?" Jagang asked.

"Well, no. It just isn't strong enough in me. But when Sebastian and I were at the People's Palace, I met people there who said that Lord Rahl was far to the south, in the Old World."

The emperor considered her words as he glanced over at a woman who had come in with platters of dried fruits, sweetmeats, and nuts. She worked at a distant side table, apparently not wanting to come any closer and disturb the emperor and his guests.

"But Jenn, you heard that last winter when we were at the palace. Have you heard anyone with the bond confirm it since then?"

Jennsen shook her head. "I guess not."

"If the Mother Confessor intends to make her stand in Aydindril," Sebastian said, thoughtfully, "then it's possible, since we last had this report of him to the south, that he's come north to stand by the Mother Confessor."

Jagang leaned in low over the bloody meat before him. "Those two are like that. Evil to the end. I've dealt with them both for a long time, now. I know from experience that if there's any way for them to be together, they will be-even if it's in death."

The implications were staggering. "Then. . we might have him," Jennsen whispered, almost to herself. "We might have Richard Rahl, too. The nightmare might be close to over. We could be on the eve of victory for all of us."