"Well, if you aren't interested in them, then that leaves the captive women, the women taken from their homes, their families, their husbands, their children, everything they ever loved. The ones forced to serve as whores for soldiers who very likely were the same ones who slaughtered those fathers, husbands, and children."

"Well, I. .."

"The women we often hear crying out at night. The ones we hear weeping."

Johnrock's gaze fell away. He picked at his piece of ham. "It keeps me awake, sometimes, listening to the sounds of those women sobbing."

Richard looked out between the wagons and guards at the camp beyond. In the distance the work on the ramp continued. He imagined that the people up in the People's Palace, the last holdout against the Imperial Order, could do nothing but wait for the horde to come. There was nothing they could do. There was nowhere safe left for them to go. The beliefs driving the Imperial Order were swallowing all of mankind.

Down in the encampment knots of men were gathering around cook fires. Among the shadows and gloom Richard could see a woman being dragged to a tent. She'd once had her own dreams and hope for her future; now that the Order was prescribing their vision for mankind, she was merely chattel. Already men were lining up outside, the victors waiting for their reward in return for serving the Imperial Order. Ultimately, despite all the grand pretensions, this was all that it was really about: the lust of some to rule over all others, to impose their will, the pretension of a moral licence that they believed gave them the right to take, by any means, what they wanted.

In other places Richard could see men were gathered around drinking and gambling. The supply train must have brought liquor. It was going to be a noisy night.

Kahlan was somewhere out in that sea of men.

"Well then," Richard said, "unless you want to be a party to the abuse of those women, that leaves the camp followers, who are willing."

Johnrock thought in silence for a time as he nibbled at his ham. If quiet anger could cut steel, Richard would have his collar off and he would be doing something to get Kahlan out of this place and to safety-to what safety there was left in a world gone mad over a cause.

"You know, Ruben, you have a way of spoiling things."

Richard glanced over at the man. "Would you rather I lie? Make up something just to soothe your conscience?"

Johnrock sighed. "No. But still..."

Richard realized then that he had better not discourage his right wing man or the man might very well not play his best. If they lost the next game there would be no chance to play the emperor's team and then Richard might not get a chance to see Kahlan again.

"Well, you are getting pretty famous, Johnrock. Men are beginning to cheer when they see you come on the field. It could be that there will be a lot of pretty women who will be eager to be with the big, handsome wing man on the champion team."

Johnrock finally grinned. "That's true. We are winning a lot of soldiers over to our side. Men are beginning to cheer for us." He waved his ham at Richard. "You are the point man. You will have a lot of pretty women who will want to be with you."

"There is only one I want."

"And you think she will be willing? What if she wants nothing to do with you?"

Richard opened his mouth, but then closed it. Kahlan didn't know him. If he did get a chance to try to get her away from Jagang, what was he going to do if she thought he was just another stranger trying to capture her? After all, why wouldn't she? What if she wasn't willing to go along with him? What if she resisted? There would certainly be no time to try to explain things to her.

Richard sighed. Now he had another thing to keep him awake with worry.

CHAPTER 28

Kahlan sat quietly in the shadows to the side of the outer room in a low, leather chair, her hands nested in her lap. Jillian sat cross-legged on the floor nearby. From time to time Kahlan glanced at Sisters Ulicia and Armina as they worked at their assigned task of comparing the books that were the key to opening the boxes of Orden. They were going through each volume word by word, searching for any variance.

Some of Jagang's other captive Sisters had found a third book down in the catacombs below the Palace of the Prophets, so Sisters Ulicia and Armina now had an additional copy they could check against the two books they already had-the one from the Palace of the Prophets, which Jagang had long had in his possession, and the one he'd found in the catacombs in Caska, where he had captured Sisters Ulicia, Armina, and Cecilia, as well as Kahlan.

The books were supposed to be The Book of Counted Shadows. The titles on the spines of the latter two, however, didn't say Shadows, but instead said Shadow. There was disagreement between Sisters Ulicia and Armina if that was meaningful or not.

From what Kahlan had pieced together from bits and pieces she'd overheard, there was the original of The Book of Counted Shadows, one true copy, and four false copies. Jagang now had in his possession three of those five copies. Getting their hands on all the copies was a top priority. From what Kahlan could gather, there were people whose lives were devoted solely to that task.

The mystery had deepened when the book found in the recently discovered catacombs under the People's Palace had turned out to say Shadows in the title on the spine, as it was supposed to say. The titles alone would suggest that the first two were false copies-as Kahlan had said they were-and the latest one was possibly the true copy. As of yet, though, there was no way for them to prove any of it.

Kahlan worried about what she would do if Jagang demanded that she rule on whether the latest find was a true copy or not.

From what the Sisters had pointed out to Jagang, the books themselves said that a Confessor was needed to verify if the book was a true version or not. Kahlan had overheard that she was this person, a Confessor, but. along with the rest of her forgotten past, she didn't know what a Confessor was. She had no idea how she was supposed to be able to identify the true copy. Jagang hadn't cared if she knew the way or not; he simply expected her to do it.

With the first two the title being wrong had given her a plausible reason to proclaim them false. With the latest edition, though, she would have nothing to go on, since the title was correct and the text itself could offer her no help because magic prevented her from being able to see it. With his attention focused on Nicci, Jagang hadn't asked for Kahlan's determination on the latest volume's validity.

If he did, and Kahlan couldn't give him an answer that satisfied him, Jillian would be the one to pay the price.

So far the Sisters had not been able to find any dissimilarities between the three copies. Of course, as they had hesitantly pointed out to the emperor, dissimilarities would prove nothing. All three could be different and still be false copies. How were they to know? There was nothing to say that the newest book, even if it turned out to be different from the other two, was a true copy. Being different, in and of itself, didn't prove anything.

As far as Kahlan could see, the only real way to identify the one true copy would be if they had the original and all five copies. Despite his bluster and demands, Jagang had to know that as well. That was undoubtedly why he had people dedicated to locating the other books.

Be that as it may, Jagang still wanted the books checked for any discrepancy, so the Sisters were checking-one word at a time.

Jagang had given them ample time to go over the books. While he was greatly interested in discovering the truth of The Book of Counted Shadows, for the time being he was more interested in Nicci.