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  　"He's going to spell the new palace," she whispered in astonishment to herself.

  　Jagang only 【创建和谐家园】iled as he watched her, clearly pleased with her reaction.

  　Brother Narev had been at the Palace of the Prophets almost as long as she, nearly one hundred and seventy years, but in all that time he seemed to have aged only ten or fifteen years - the same as she. No one but Nicci ever knew he was anything but a stablehand - they didn't know he was gifted.

  　In all that time, with her, along with everyone else, paying him little heed, he must have been studying the spell around the palace. From what she knew, most of Brother Narev's disciples had been young wizards from the Palace of the Prophets; they had access to the vaults. They, too, could have added information that helped him. But could he really do such a thing?

  　"Tell me about the palace," she said, preferring his voice to the silent scrutiny of nightmare eyes.

  　He kissed her first, the way a man kisses a woman, not the way a brute kisses a victim. She endured it with no more favor than any of the rest of it. He seemed not to notice, this time, and by the 【创建和谐家园】ile of his face, appeared to have enjoyed it.

  　"It will be a walk of nearly fifteen miles to walk all the halls." He swept a hand out and began to give shape to the grand palace in the air before them. As he went on, he stared off at his imaginary outline, hanging there in space.

  　"The world has never seen anything to match it. While I carry on with our work of bringing the hope of the Order to the New World, of bringing the true word of the Creator to the wicked and the greedy, of banishing the selfish ideals of the ancient religion of magic, back in my homeland the work of building the palace will go on.

  　"Quarries will be busy for years extracting all the rock that will go into the construction. The variety of stone will leave no doubt about the glory of the place. The marble will be the finest. The woods will be only the best. Every material going into the palace will be exceptional. The best craft【创建和谐家园】en will shape it all into a grand structure."

  　"Yes, but, despite the fact that others may live there," she mocked in cool disdain, "it will be but a pompous monument to only one man: the great and powerful Emperor Jagang."

  　"No, it will be devoted to the glory of the Creator."

  　"Oh? And will the Creator be taking up residence there, too, then'?"

  　Jagang scowled at her blasphemy. "Brother Narev wishes the palace to be instructional to the people. He is contributing his spiritual guidance to the undertaking, and will personally oversee the construction while I cleanse the way for the Order."

  　That was what she wanted to know.

  　He stared off at the invisible shape still hanging in the air before them. His voice took on a reverent tone.

  　"Brother Narev shares my vision in this. He has always been like a father to me. He put the fire in my belly. His spiritual direction has been a lifelong inspiration. He allows me to stand at the fore, and take the glory of our victories, but I would be nothing without his moral teachings. What I win is only as the fist of the Order, and a fist is but one part of the whole, as we are all but insignificant fragments of society as a whole. You are right: many others could stand in my place for the Order. But it is my part to be the one to lead us. I would never do anything to betray the trust Brother Narev has placed in me - that would be like betraying the Creator Himself. He guides the way for all of us.

  　"I only thought to build a fitting palace for us all, a place from which to govern for the benefit of the people. It was Brother Narev who took up the dream and gave it moral meaning by envisioning everyone, when they see the vast structure, as seeing man's place in the new order - seeing that man can never live up to the glory of the Creator, and that, individually, he is but a meaningless member of the greater brotherhood of man and thus can have no greater part to play than to uplift all his brothers in need so all will thrive together. Yet, it will also be a place that will humble every man before it, by showing him his utter insignificance before the glory of his Creator, by showing man's depravity, his tortured, contorted, inferior nature, for all men in this world are such as this."

  　Nicci could almost see such a place when he spoke of it. It would indeed be a humbling inspiration to the people. He, came near to inspiring her with such talk, as Brother Narev had at one time inspired her.

  　"This is why I have stayed," she whispered, "because the cause of the Order is righteous."

  　The piece that had been missing was now found.

  　In the quiet, Jagang kissed her again. She allowed him to finish it, and then pushed away from his embrace. With a distant 【创建和谐家园】ile, he watched as she rose and began dressing.

  　"You're going to love it there, Nicci. It will be a place befitting you."

  　"Oh? As the Slave Queen?"

  　"As a queen, if you wish it. I plan to give you the kind of authority you've never before had. We'll be happy there, you and I, truly happy. For a long, long time, we'll be happy there."

  　She drew a stocking up her leg. "When Sister Ulicia and the four with her found away to leave you, I chose to ignore their discovery and stay, because I know the Order is the only moral course for mankind. But now I - "

  　"You stayed because you would be nothing without the Order."

  　She looked away from his eyes. She tugged her dress down over her head, poked her arms through the sleeves, and worked the skirt over her hips. "I am nothing without the Order, and I am nothing with it. No one is. We are all inadequate, miserable creatures; that is the nature of man; that is what the Creator teaches. But the Order shows man his duty to make a better life for the good of all."

  　"And I am the emperor of the Imperial Order!" His red face cooled more slowly than it had heated. He gestured vaguely in the hollow silence and he went on in a more mellow tone. `The world will be one under the Order. We'll be happy at the palace when it's finished, Nicci. You and I, under the spiritual guidance of our priests. You'll see. In time, when - '

  　"I'm leaving." She drew on a boot.

  　"I will not permit it."

  　Nicci paused at pulling on her other boot and glanced up into his dark eyes. She flicked a finger toward a stone vase on a table against the far wall. Light flashed. The vase exploded in a cloud of dust and chips with a sound that rocked the room. The draperies shuddered. The panes in the windows chattered.

  　When the dust had settled, she said, "You will not permit it?" She bent forward and began doing up the laces on her boots.

  　Jagang strolled over to the table and dragged his fingers through the dust that was all that remained of the stone vase. He turned back to her in all his naked, hairy, imperial glory.

  　"Are you threatening me? Do you actually think you could use your power against me?"

  　"I do not think it" - she yanked the laces tight - "I know it. The truth is I choose not to."

  　He struck a defiant pose. "And why is that?"

  　Nicci stood and faced him. "Because, as you said, the Order needs you, or rather, a brute like you. You serve the ends of the Order - you are their fist. You bring that cleansing fire. You perform that function very well. It could even be said that you perform that service with extraordinary talent.

  　"You are Jagang the Just. You see the wisdom in the title I have given you, and will use it to further the cause of the. Order. That is why I choose not to use any power against you. It would be like using my power against the Order, against my own duty to the future of mankind."

  　"Then why do you want to leave?"

  　"Because I must." She gave him a look of icy determination, and deadly threat. "Before I go, 1 will be spending some time with Sister Lidmila. You are to immediately and completely withdraw from her mind and remain out of it the entire time I am with her. We will use your tents, since you are not using them. You will see to it that everyone leaves us entirely alone for however long it takes us. Anyone who enters, without my express permission, will die. That includes you. You have my oath, as a Sister of the Dark, on that. When I'm finished, and after I leave, you may do what you will with Sister Lidmilakill her if that is your wish, although I don't see why you would want to bother, since she is going to be doing you a great service."

  　"I see." His huge chest rose. He let the deep breath out slowly. "And how long will you be gone, this time, Nicci?"

  　"This is not like the other times. This is different."

  　"How long?"

  　"Perhaps only a short time. Perhaps a very long time. I don't yet know. Leave me alone to do as I must, and, if I can, I will one day return to you."

  　He gazed into her eyes, but he could not look into her mind. Another man protected her mind, and kept her thoughts her own.

  　In all the time she had spent with Richard, Nicci had never learned that which she hungered most to know, but in one way, she had learned too much. Most of the time she was able to entomb that unwanted knowledge under the numb weight of indifference. Occasionally, though, it would, like now, unexpectedly rise up out of its tomb to seize her. When it did, she was helpless in its grip, and could do nothing but wait for the oblivion of numb detachment to bury it yet again.

  　Staring into the long dark night of Jagang's inhuman eyes, eyes that revealed nothing but the bleakness of his soul, Nicci touched her finger to the gold ring Jagang had ordered pierced through her lower lip to mark her as his personal slave. She released a thread - thin channel of Subtractive Magic, and the ring ceased to exist.

  　"And where are you going, Nicci?"

  　"I am going to destroy Richard Rahl for you."