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Richard skirted the worst of the throngs and made his way up the road toward the blacksmith's shop. He wanted to get Victor and go down with him to the site to see the statue before the Order came out to begin the dedication. Victor would no doubt be eagerly waiting.
The road was crowded with people. They seemed excited, happy, and expectant. It was a far cry from the way most people in the Old World usually appeared or behaved. Maybe a celebration, even one such as this, was better than the rest of their dreary days.
A half mile from Victor's place, a wild-looking Brother Neal leaped into the road and thrust an arm in Richard's direction.
"There he is! Grab him!"
Guards combing throughout the surrounding crowds drew weapons at Neal's command. As they swept in around him, Richard's first instinct was to fight.
In an instant, he had assessed the enemy and calculated his attack. He had only to grab one sword from a clumsy guard and he would have them all. In his own mind, the grisly deed was already done. He had only to bring it to reality.
The guards came at him in a dead run. People scattered out of the way, some screaming in fright.
There was the matter of Neal, though. Neal was a wizard. But Richard could deal with that threat, too-need powered his ability. Need, and anger.
He certainly had enough anger for the task. That part of him that the Sword of Truth used, that rage of dark violence, already thundered through him.
Except that Nicci had told him that if he used his magic, Kahlan would die. Would she know?
Sooner or later, she would.
Richard stood submissively still as the guards roughly seized him by his arms to subdue him. Others snatched his shirt from behind.
What did it really matter? If he resisted, it would only hurt Kahlan.
If they executed him, Nicci would let Kahlan live her life.
But he didn't want to go back into that dark hole.
Neal raced up, shaking a finger in Richard's face. "What is the meaning of this, Cypher! What did you think you were going to accomplish!"
"May I ask what are you talking about, Brother Neal?"
Neal's face was crimson. "The statue!"
"What, you don't like it?"
With all his might, Neal slammed his fist into Richard's middle. The guards holding him laughed. Richard had seen it coming and had tightened his muscles, but it still drove the wind from him. He finally managed to draw his breath.
Neal found that he enjoyed administering punishment, and did it again.
"Oh, you're going to pay for your blasphemy, Cypher. You're going to pay the price, this time. You'll confess to it all, before we're done. But first, you'll watch your wicked perversion destroyed." Neal, his face twisted with superior, selfrighteous indignation, gestured to the burly guards. "Let's get him down there. And don't be shy about making way through the crowd."
By midmorning, Kahlan's hopes of the blacksmith showing up had all but vanished.
"I'm sorry," Kamil said, looking glum as he watched her pace. "I don't know why Victor isn't here. I thought he would be, I really did."
Kahlan finally halted and gave the worried lad a pat on the shoulder.
"I know you did, Kamil. With the celebration today, and with what's going on down there with the statue, this is hardly a normal day around here, I'm sure."
"Look," Cara said. Kahlan saw she was peering down toward the palace.
"Guards with spears are moving the crowd off the plaza."
Kahlan squinted off down at the hill. "Your eyes are better than mine.
I can't tell." She cast a frustrated glare at the closed blacksmith's shop.
"But it's doing us no good waiting up here. Let's see if we can make it down there and get a better look." Kahlan put a restraining hand on Cara's arm.
"But let's not start a war with this crowd?"
Cara's mouth twisted in exasperation. Kahlan turned to the young man kicking a toe at the dirt, looking shamed by his failed plan to help them find Richard.
"Kamil, will you do something for me?"
"Sure. What?"
"Will you wait up here, in case Richard comes here, or even the blacksmith? If the blacksmith comes to his shop, he might know something."
Kamil stretched his neck and gazed down at the palace. "Well, all right. If Richard does come here, I wouldn't want him to miss you. What shall I tell him, if I see him.
Kahlan smiled. That I love him, she thought, but said instead, "Tell him I'm here, with Cara, and we've gone down there looking for him. If he does show up, I don't want to miss him. Have him wait here-we'll come back."
Kahlan thought they could make it down to the plaza to have a look, but everyone else seemed to have the same idea. It took forever just to make it down the hill to the grounds. The closer they got, the tighter the people were jammed together. Kahlan's progress ground to a halt. It was a struggle just to keep contact with Cara. Everyone in the crowd seemed intent on squeezing forward toward the plaza. More people crushed in all the time.
Kahlan soon realized that she and Cara were trapped in the press of people.
The conversation on everyone's lips was about only one thing: the statue.
-]--
It was late in the day by the time Nicci had worked herself partway toward the plaza. Every inch gained had been a struggle. She was close enough to see the people up around the statue, but she could get no closer.
Try as she might, she could not make any more headway. Just like her, everyone else wanted to get closer, too. They were pressed up against her, pi
If only she had her power.
Her own arrogance had driven her to trading it away. What she had gotten in return, though, was life. But it had cost Richard and Kahlan their freedom. Nicci couldn't simply withdraw her power from the link, in order to have use of her gift again, or Kahlan would die. Nicci didn't want her life at the cost of another's-that was what she had come to understand was true evil.
Nicci had searched for Richard. She hadn't found him. She hadn't been able to find the blacksmith, Mr. Cascella, or Ishaq, either. As soon as she could find Richard, she could tell him that she had been wrong, and then they could leave Altur'Rang. She wanted so much to see his face when she told him she was taking him back to Kahlan and that she was going to reverse the spell. Of all people, they were the last who should have to suffer for what Nicci had learned.
The only place left that she could think to look for him was at the statue. He might be there. Try as she might, though, she couldn't get any closer. Now, she realized that she probably couldn't even extract herself from the crush of hundreds of thousands of people around her. There had to be well over a half million people in the huge throng around the palace.
And then, Nicci saw Brother Narev and his disciples appear up on the plaza, all in their dark brown robes, Brother Narev in his creased cap, the rest with their faces hidden in deeply cowled hoods. Crowding the rear of the plaza were a few hundred officials of the Order who had traveled in to attend the palace dedication-important men, all.
If only she had her power, she could have killed them where they stood.
It was then that she caught a fleeting glimpse of Richard behind the. officials, with guards surrounding him. The whole central area around the plaza was thick with the surly guards.
Brother Narev stepped out to the edge of the plaza, all angles under dark robes. Beneath his creased cap, beneath his hooded brow, his dark gaze swept the assembly. The people were in a noisy, emotional state. Brother Narev did not look pleased, but then, Brother Narev never looked pleased.