The pillars of creation

"I'll tend to this," she whispered, waving him back to the questioning of the small fellow in black.

Sebastian leaned against the heavy, ancient-looking plank table and folded his arms. "So, did your men have a chance to talk to these two people?"

"No, sir. The men were not close enough, but stood at the rim and watched the horse pass below."

Je

"What did these two people on horseback look like, then?" Sebastian was asking as he tapped a finger on the table.

As she reached under the shelf, Je

"It was a man and a woman. But they came on only one horse."

Je

"The woman, she. . " The man made a face, uncomfortable with what he had to say. "She was not upright, but lying flat"-he gestured as if draping something over the horse-"across the back. She was tied up with rope."

As Je

"What did the man look like?" Sebastian asked.

A short piece of wood wound with twine and fastened down with fishing hooks had fallen out of the top of the tin. Je

"The man was big, and young. He had a very grand sword, my men say, its shining scabbard held on with a baldric across his shoulder.

"That sounds like Richard Rahl, " Sister Perdita said from the doorway, startling Je

"Other men use a baldric for their sword," Sebastian said.

While she couldn't fathom a reason for him to have his wife tied across his horse, at the heady thought of Richard Rahl being spotted, Je

She checked her knife in its sheath at her belt as she hastily stood next to Sebastian, waiting to hear what else the wiry man in black might have to say. Sister Perdita had stepped outside and was wrapping herself in the protective black clothes.

"Come on," the Sister called. "We have to get down there."

Je

From outside, on the other side of the buildings, came the sound of the traders jabbering excitedly. Je

"What is it?" Sebastian asked as he followed the man out the door.

"Someone approaches," the man said.

"Who could it be?" Je

"I don't know. Could just be another trader arriving at the post."

The wiry little man, having answered the questions, bowed and wanted to depart to be with his men where they huddled together in the shade beside another building. Sebastian made him wait as he went back in and pulled a black bundle off the shelf.

"We best catch up with Sister Perdita," he said as he watched the woman vanish over the rim of the trail down into the wavering landscape of the Pillars of Creation. "She'll protect you from Richard Rahl's magic and help you do what you need to do."

Je

Together, the two of them stood in the sweltering sun, watching the tiny speck racing across the endless flat landscape. In the withering heat, the distant ground undulated like the rippling surface of a faraway lake. A thin plume of dust rose behind the lone rider. Their escort of a thousand men restlessly checked their weapons.

"Is it one of your men?" Sebastian asked the wiry leader of the blackrobed figures.

"The ground here plays tricks with your eyes," he said. "He is still far off; the heat only makes him look closer. It will be some time before the rider reaches us and we can tell who it is." He smiled at Je

Rather than argue, Je

The man's eyes smiled at seeing the look on her face. "Good, yes?" he asked through his own thin black mask.

"Yes," Je

With a twinkle in his eye, he said, "You already have."

The man turned to Sebastian, still pulling his black scarf over his head. "I have told you all I can, all we know. My men and I go, now."

Before Sebastian could answer, the man was already hurrying across the parched ground toward the dark knot of men waiting with their dusty mules. The men started away, pulling their mules after on lead lines, eager to be away from the soldiers.

They were headed south, in the opposite direction of the approaching rider.

"If it might be one of their men," Sebastian said, almost to himself, "then why are they leaving?"

He looked impatiently to the small trail where Sister Perdita had disappeared, and then signaled to his column of men still waiting on horseback. The grim-looking force of men advanced across the hard ground, raising a lazy fog of dust.

"We have to go down there," Sebastian said as he gestured toward the valley that held the Pillars of Creation. "Wait up here until we get back."

The officer at the head of the column folded his wrists across the horn of his saddle. "What do you want us to do about that?" he asked. His greasy strings of hair fell forward over his shoulder as he pointed with his chin toward the yet distant rider.

Sebastian turned and watched the far-off horse galloping toward them. "If he turns out to be suspicious for any reason at all, kill him. This is too important to risk trouble, now."

The officer gave Sebastian a single nod. Je

"Let's go," Sebastian said. "I want to catch up with Sister Perdita before she gets too far ahead of us."

"Don't worry," Je