CHAPTER 47

Richard, elbows resting on the mahogany tabletop, ran his fingers back into his hair. He was so tired that the book in front of him was starting to swim in his vision. He had read so many books recently that he had long ago lost track of how many days it had been since returning to the People's Palace.

The Ja'La match, the riots, Kahlan escaping with Samuel, getting back into the palace, and the ensuing battle already seemed a lifetime ago. With the help of Verna and several other Sisters, Nathan had been able to heal Adie. After she had rested, though, she insisted on once again setting out on her solitary journey. Because the place diminished her power, she was virtually blind inside the palace.

Richard could understand why she would want to leave, but he wondered if, through her powers as a sorceress, she saw no future in staying in the palace. Richard wasn't sure that there would be a future anywhere to worry about.

After what General Meiffert had told him about a witch woman on a huge red dragon hunting down D'Haran troops in the Old World, things were suddenly looking very grim. With men who had been sent to destroy the ability of the Order to support their army in the New World now themselves under such withering attack, Richard didn't know how much time they had left before the Order was finally going to be able to crush all resistance to their new vision for mankind.

The general had been confident in the plan to hit the strength of the Order at its source, and for a time it had been working to great effect. They had hunted down and destroyed supply trains before they could even get out of the Old World. They had turned recruiting areas and training facilities into desolate forests of stakes with soldiers' heads. Along the way they'd demolished supply depots, ruined crops, and hunted down and killed the men who preached the Order's vile beliefs.

The people of the Old World had begun to understand the bitter reality of the war they had been eager to set loose on others. Their smug gloating over the way their troops were bringing the heathens to the north to heel had turned to sleepless fear that those heathens might be about to visit vengeance on them. Crowds for those who preached the teachings of the Order were thinner. There were even places where revolts against the rule of the Order had broken out.

Jagang, however, did several things to counter that effort. First, he had authorities clamp down swiftly on any hint of insurrection. Towns that were suspected of sympathizing with the cause of freedom were torched, all the people were tortured to extract confessions, and executions by the thousands were ordered. Questioning the rule of the Order brought terrible consequences. Actual guilt was only a minor consideration. Punishment and the exertion of authority were the objectives, so suspicion was enough to bring brutal treatment. People had quickly shrunk into fearful obedience, only too eager to provide anything demanded by the new dictates for supplies.

That widespread fear of being suspected of treason to the cause of the Order had dramatically increased the amount of supplies available to be sent north, so the additional supply trains had no difficulty collecting what was needed. Since the Old World was so vast, that massive effort insured that, despite the efforts of the D'Haran troops, enough supplies were still getting through. Richard remembered the sudden new stocks of food, like the ham, so he knew that the tactic was working, at least for the time being.

All of those issues were obstacles that the D'Haran troops sent south understood and were addressing. Given time, they would have adjusted their methods to address the new problems. That's what warriors did; they adjusted their plans to fit the circumstances they encountered. The enemy made adjustments, you had to counter.

The last thing Jagang had done, however, was a different matter. He sent a dragon and a witch woman-from the descriptions it sounded like Six-to hunt the D'Harans as they went after the supply trains and other facilities. Richard knew from personal experience that from high in the air it was much easier to locate and spot troops. It was an effective hunting technique. With a witch woman's talent, it was all the more deadly.

The tactic had not only reduced the effectiveness of the attacks in the Old World, it had been killing a great many D'Haran troops for nothing gained, making the work for the ones still fighting all that much more difficult. With the increased supplies and the attacks from above, Jagang appeared, despite the greater cost in lives and supplies, to be getting what he needed to continue the siege of the People's Palace. That was all that mattered to him.

It now appeared that it would be those in the palace who would not be able to hold out. Once the ramp was completed, and if they discovered other catacombs to also get through, then the Order's legions could attack the palace from both the top and bottom. Even the ramp alone, though, would prove enough in the end. Such an attack would be costly to the Imperial Order, but Jagang didn't care about the cost in lives to his army, he only cared about his objective. Sooner or later he would take his objective.

When that happened, and Richard knew that it was inevitable, the cause of freedom would be ended. They would be finished.

Richard's only hope now was to find a way to use the boxes of Orden. Of course, he didn't have any of the boxes, but even if he did he didn't yet know how to use them. He needed to learn how to do that, first. Knowledge was now his best weapon. He was determined to arm himself well.

The room he and Nicci were in was a private library that, according to Berdine, was filled with forbidden volumes-books meant for the Lord Rahl alone. Powerful shields protected the mahogany double doors of the arched entrance. Darken Rahl had sometimes asked Berdine to help him translate High D'Haran, but she said that this room was one she rarely visited. She said that he usually came here alone. Richard and Nicci had decided that this was a good place for them to start.

Berdine was searching other libraries, along with Verna and nearly all of her Sisters. Anything deemed to be of possible help was brought to Nicci. She personally checked everything brought in to see if it was something Richard needed to concern himself with. Some of the more experienced Sisters were proving quite valuable at ferreting out important sources of relevant information.

Nicci also kept people away from Richard so he could concentrate on reading and on the wide array of things she was teaching him. In some ways he felt like a recluse. But it also left the mood in the quiet retreat focused, which was just what Richard needed.

Low bookshelves in the private sanctuary were placed near the richly paneled walls, leaving the center open for couches and chairs. It made the room look more like a quiet study than a library. Small statues decorated the tops of some of the shelves, helping them to appear to be display stands rather than bookshelves.

Richard hadn't yet ventured up the narrow, iron spiral stairs to the small balcony on the opposite wall, but Nicci had. As he read, she'd brought books that she thought were important down to add to the stacks awaiting his attention. Although the room didn't have the look of one of the typical libraries filled with row upon row of books, the discreet shelves in the room still had to contain thousands of volumes. The ones they were interested in, though, were somewhat rare, even for this place.

Still, the heavy mahogany table he sat before was piled high with books Nicci had laid out. From within the library there was no way to tell if it was day or night. The heavy, dark blue velvet draperies were closed. Opening them wouldn't have helped since there was only wood paneling behind. The curtains were only meant to give the illusion of windows and to quiet the room. There were ample lamps, though, along with a fireplace. They gave the place a warm glow, making it look cozy and inviting. Richard felt neither.