The pillars of creation

Jagang leaned back, drumming his fingers on the table, looking from one to the other. "While I find it hard to believe Richard Rahl would also be there, from what I know about him, he could well decide to stand and lose with her, rather than live to see it all slip away from him bit by bloody bit."

Jennsen felt an unexpected pang at the thought of the two of them standing together as the end came. It was completely out of character for a Lord Rahl to care for any woman, much less to stand by one as she was about to lose the war for her homeland, and her life as well. Lord Rahl would be more concerned about preserving his own life and land.

Still, the thought of him being this close was too tantalizing to dismiss, and had her pulse racing. "If he is this close, then I wouldn't need the help of the Sisters of the Light. I wouldn't need a spell. I would only have to get a little closer, to be with you when you make your drive into the city."

Jagang's grim, humorless smile was back. "You will ride with me; I will deliver you to the Confessors' Palace." His knuckles were white around his knife again. "I want them both dead. I will see to the Mother Confessor, personally. I grant you permission to be the one to plunge your knife into Richard Rahl."

Jennsen felt a wild swing of emotion, from giddy elation that the deed was close at hand, to sickening horror. For an instant, she doubted that she could really carry out such a grisly, cold-blooded act.

Jennsen.

But then she remembered her mother lying in a pool of blood on the floor of their home, bleeding to death from those awful ripping stab wounds, her severed arm not far away, a house full of Lord Rahl's brutes standing over her. Jennsen remembered her mother's eyes, as she lay dying. She remembered how helpless she felt as her mother's life slipped away. The horror of it was as fresh as ever. The rage was as white-hot as ever. Jennsen lusted to plunge her knife into her bastard brother's heart.

That was all she wanted.

In the searing haze of righteous anger, as she saw herself slamming the knife into Richard Rahl's chest, she only distantly heard Jagang speak.

"But why is it you wish to kill your brother? What is your reason, your purpose?"

«Grushdeva,» she hissed.

Behind her, Jennsen heard a glass vase hit the floor and shatter. The sound startled her back to where she was.

The emperor frowned at the woman off in the shadows. Her brown eyes were fixed on Jennsen.

"I apologize for Sister Perdita's clumsiness," Jagang said as he glared at the woman.

"Forgive me, Excellency," the woman in the dark gray dress said as she backed out between the hangings, bowing all the way.

The emperor's frown turned back to Jennsen.

"Now, what was it you said?"

Jennsen hadn't the slightest idea. She knew she'd said something, but she wasn't sure what. She thought that maybe her grief had tied her tongue in knots right when she went to answer. Her sorrow returned, like a great, grim weight on her shoulders.

"You see, Excellency," Jennsen said as she stared down at her uneaten dinner, "all my life, my father, Darken Rahl, has been trying to murder me because I was his ungifted offspring. When Richard Rahl killed him and assumed rule over D'Hara, he took up in his father's place, and part of that place was to murder his ungifted siblings. But in this duty, he was even more vicious than his father had been."

Jennsen looked up through watery vision. "Just after I met Sebastian, my brother's men finally caught up with us. They brutally murdered my mother. If not for Sebastian being there, they would have had me, too. Sebastian saved my life. I intend to kill Richard, because, if I don't, I can't ever be free. He will always send men to hunt me. Besides saving my life, Sebastian helped me to see that.

"Perhaps even more importantly, I must avenge the murder of my mother if I am ever to be at peace."

"Our purpose is the welfare of our fellow man. Your story saddens me, and is the very reason we fight to eradicate the blight of magic." The emperor finally shifted his gaze to Sebastian. "I am proud of you for helping this fine young woman."

Sebastian had turned moody. She knew how ill at ease he felt under the weight of praise. She wished he could feel proud about his accomplishments, his importance, his stature with the emperor.

He laid his knife down across the scraps of his meal. "Just doing my job, Excellency."

"Well," Jagang said with an encouraging smile, "I'm glad you've returned in time to see the culmination of your strategy."

Sebastian leaned back, nursing a mug of ale. "Don't you want to wait for Brother Narev? Shouldn't he be here to witness it, if this turns out to be the blow that ends it?"

With a thick finger, Jagang pushed an olive around in a little circle on the table. It was a time before he spoke quietly without looking up.

"I've not heard from Brother Narev since Altur'Rang fell."

Sebastian came up against the table. "What! Altur'Rang fell? What do you mean? How? When?"