"I bet they were," Nicci said.

"Like just about everyone else, Jagang's guards couldn't see me, so while the dream walker was busy with the Sisters, arguing over a book, I pulled the guards' knives out of their sheaths. Since they couldn't see me, they had no idea the danger they were in. As they stood silently watching over their emperor I used their own weapons to run them through.

"Before they even hit the floor I pushed Jillian out ahead of me into the maze of tunnels. As everyone came rushing out the doorway behind us I threw a knife. I'd been hoping to get Jagang with the knife but it was Sister Cecilia who came through the doorway first. They caught me after that, but it had been enough to help Jillian escape."

Kahlan let out a heavy sigh. "In the end it didn't do any good. Jagang returned to the encampment with the other two Sisters and me, but he sent men to search for Jillian. They finally found her and brought her back.

"She is Jagang's way of making me comply with his wishes. He promised me that if I make him angry by not doing as I'm told he will do terrible things to her."

"He is a ruthless man."

Kahlan nodded. "After what I did, though, Jagang realized that he needed some guards who could see me, so he searched the camp looking for men who could. He found a number of them. There are thirty-eight left."

Nicci glanced over at Kahlan. "You mean there were more at first?"

"Yes."

"Then what happened to the rest?"

Kahlan stared resolutely into Nicci's eyes. "Whenever I get the chance I kill them."

Nicci smiled broadly. "Good girl."

Kahlan smiled with her, but then the smile faded. "Now, if I kill any more, it will mean torture for Jillian."

Nicci's expression reflected her concern for Jillian. "Don't ever doubt him. He will do it without hesitation."

"I know. Do you have any idea why there are a few people who can see me when almost no one can? Do you know if it's really an anomaly, as Sister Ulicia says?"

"The Sisters used a Chainfire spell on you. It made everyone forget you. Richard discovered that there is a defect in the spell and it-"

"See what I mean? Richard again, tied up in my life." She shook her head. "Sometimes I don't know if it's a good thing or not." When Nicci said nothing, she urged her to go on. "So, how did he ever discover the defect?"

"It's a long story. Basically, we were trying to find a way to undo the Chainfire spell."

"You were trying to help me? But you said you don't remember me. Why would you be doing such a thing if no one remembers me?"

When Nicci had to lie back, laboring to breathe, Kahlan said, "Sorry. I know I ask a lot of questions, it's just that. . ."

"We're trying to stop the damage being done to everyone," Nicci finally managed after enduring a shiver of pain. "The whole problem is broader than people only forgetting you. The Chainfire spell has tangled us all up in it. If it runs free it could even end life itself."

Kahlan silently reprimanded herself for even fantasizing that Richard Rahl had actually been trying to save her, that maybe he knew her and she meant something to him.

"I was running a verification web," Nicci said. "Richard saw indications in the spell-unique designs-that told him that it was contaminated. It explained a lot. We need to undo the Chainfire spell because, while it does make everyone forget you, it causes larger problems."

"What kind of larger problems?"

Nicci paused to draw a few rattling breaths, wincing in pain, before going on. "Since it's contaminated, the damaging effects of the spell expanded in unexpected ways. We fear that, unchecked, it will destroy the minds of those it has infected. I think that the contamination may be responsible for the spell not working as intended. As a result, there are a few isolated instances of people who apparently aren't affected."

"Why am I at the center of all of this?"

In the silence Kahlan could hear an oil lamp hissing softly. The sounds of the camp outside the tent seemed like they were in another world altogether.

"The Sisters used the spell on you so they could send you into the palace, unseen, to steal the boxes of Orden for them. The key to the boxes is a book called The Book of Counted Shadows. They need a Confessor to confirm if the book they are using is the true key to the boxes."

"I've seen the book," Kahlan said. She knew that Nicci was telling the truth about that much of it, because Jagang had already demanded that Kahlan confirm if the book was a true copy or a fake. She had proclaimed it a false copy.

She knew that there also had to be more to it, but for some reason Nicci was carefully dancing around secrets.

Kahlan pulled at a string on the bedcover. "I wish I could talk to Richard Rahl. I wonder if he might have answers for me."

"I wish you could meet him. But that now seems unlikely to ever happen."

Kahlan wanted to ask if it had actually been likely until recent events. She thought that maybe Nicci had just revealed more than she thought she had, or had intended.

"I hate to say it, but I think that you and I are not ever going to be able to see the outcome of this struggle, but do you really think that Richard Rahl is going to be able to stop this madness? For other people, I mean."

"I don't know, Kahlan. But I can tell you that he's the only one who can."

Kahlan took up Nicci's hand again. "Well, if he can, I hope he can rescue you. You should be with him. You love him."

Nicci squeezed her eyes closed. She turned her face away as a tear leaked out, tracing a slow path through the splotches of dried blood.

"I'm sorry," Kahlan said. "I shouldn't have said anything. You must miss him beyond endurance."

"No," Nicci managed as she rocked her head, "it isn't that. It's just that what Jagang did hurts, that's all. I'm having trouble breathing. I think my ribs are broken."

"They are," Kahlan said. "Some of the ones on this side, anyway. I heard them crack when he punched you there. If I'd had a knife I'd have castrated the bastard."

Nicci smiled. "I believe you could do it, Kahlan Amnell. It's too late for me, but if you get the chance, do it before he starts in on you."

"Nicci, don't give up hope."

"There's not much cause for hope."

"Yes, there is. As long as there's life, there's the potential that we can change things for the better. After all, didn't you or Richard put the boxes of Orden in play?"

"I did," Nicci said. "In Richard's name."

"What are these boxes, anyway? Why is there a magic power that is just meant to be able to, to, I don't know, vanquish all opposition and rule the world?"

"That's not their intended purpose. They were created as a counter to the Chainfire spell."

Kahlan realized, then, that Richard Rahl must have been trying to help her. Even if he was now trying to save others from the effects of the spell, he hadn't discovered the defect that was causing that damage to other people until after he was already trying to figure out how he could restore Kahlan's memory.

Having difficulty breathing, Nicci fell to a fit of coughing that was obviously agonizingly painful. She started gasping for air. Kahlan could hear the rattle of fluid in her lungs. Nicci was beginning to panic with the unsuccessful effort to breathe. She gripped the bedcover in her fists and her back arched as she tried desperately to pull a breath.

Kahlan quickly pulled the bedcover down a ways and placed a hand directly on Nicci's upper abdomen. "Nicci, listen to me. Breathe to my hand. Slowly."

Nicci's confused eyes sought Kahlan's but she couldn't speak through her gasping attempts to get a breath. Tears began to flow.

Kahlan gently rubbed her hand around in a small circle, speaking as calmly as she could. "Slow down, Nicci. Focus your mind on my hand. Feel where it is. Pull your breath slowly and evenly toward it. You're going to be fine. You're trying to breathe too fast, that's all.