Naked Empire

The men started out after her, pulling A

They turned into a small hall to the side going back between columns holding a projecting balcony. One of the men rushed forward to unlock the door. Before she knew it, they'd all swept through the little door like wine through a fu

The corridor beyond was dark and cramped-nothing like the marble-lined hallways most people saw. Not far down the hall, they turned down a stairway. The oak treads creaked underfoot. Some of the men handed lanterns forward so Nyda could light her way. The sound of all the footsteps echoed back from the darkness below.

At the bottom of the steps, Nyda led them through a maze of dirty stone passageways. The seldom-used halls smelled musty, and in places damp. When they reached another stairwell, they continued down a square shaft with landings at each turn, descending into the dark recesses of the People's Palace. A

Richard had changed all that.

But Richard wasn't at the palace, now. Nathan was.

A

For most of that time, as Prelate, she had kept him locked in his apartments. Prophets could not be allowed to roam free. Now, though, this one was free. And, worse, he had managed to establish his authority in the palace-the ancestral home of the House of Rahl. He was an ancestor to Richard. He was a Rahl. He was a wizard.

A

It had seemed to make sense at the time.

At the bottom of the long descent, Nyda swept to the right, following a narrow walk with a stone wall soaring up on the right and an iron railing on the left. A

Nathan had sent them, though. Nathan, as irascible as he could sometimes be, wouldn't order such a thing. A

"Will Nathan be waiting for us?" she asked, trying to sound cheerful.

"I'd really like to talk to him. We have business we must discuss."

Nyda shot a dark look back over her shoulder. "Nathan has nothing to talk to you about."

At an uncomfortably narrow passageway tu

A

In the passageway at the bottom of the stairs, Nyda, A

She heard a hacking cough echoing from a dim corridor to the right. She peered into that dark hall and saw doors to either side. In some of the doors fingers gripped iron bars in small openings. Other than the coughing, no sound came from the cells holding hopeless men.

A big man in uniform waited before an iron-bound door to the left. He looked as if he might have been hewn from the same stone as the walls. Under different circumstances, A

"Nyda," the man said by way of greeting. When his eyes turned back up after a polite bow of his head, he asked in his deep voice, "What have we here?"

"A prisoner for you, Captain Lerner." Nyda seized the empty shoulder of A

The captain's appraising gaze glided briefly over A

Nyda nodded her approval. "Wizard Rahl doesn't want her getting out. He said she's no end of trouble."

At least half a dozen curt responses sprang to mind, but A

"You had better come with us, then," Captain Lerner said, "and see to her being locked in behind the shields."

Nyda tilted her head. Two of her men dashed forward and pulled torches from stands. The captain finally found the right key from a dozen or so he had on a ring. The lock sprang open with a strident clang that filled the surrounding low corridors. It sounded to A

With a grunt of effort, the captain tugged the heavy door, urging it to slowly swing open. In the long hallway beyond, A

Men began hooting and howling, like animals, calling vile curses at who might be entering their world. Arms reached out, clawing the air, hoping to net a touch of a passing person.

The two men with torches swept into the hall right behind Nyda, the firelight illuminating her in her red leather so all those faces pressed up against the openings in their doors could see her. Her Agiel, hanging on a fine chain at her wrist, spun up into her fist. She glared at the openings in the doors to each side. Filthy arms drew back in. Voices fell silent. A

Nyda, once certain there would be no misbehavior, started out again.

Big hands shoved A

A

The captain took a small lamp from a recess, lit it from a candle to the side, and then stepped forward to unlock another door. In the low passageway beyond, the doors were spaced closer together. A hand covered with infected lesions hung limp out of one of the tiny openings to the side.

The hall beyond the next door was lower, and no wider than A

"Here," Captain Lerner said as he came to a halt.

He held up his lantern and peered into the small opening in the door.

On the second try, he found the right key and unlocked the door. He handed his small lamp to Nyda and then used both hands to pull the lever. He grunted and tugged with all his weight until the door grated partway open.