Severed Souls(161)

Mohler held up the big ring of keys he carried. “Not a problem.”

“He has soldiers guarding his bedroom,” Laurin said. “Tonight he has Erika entertaining him, rather than one of us. He was eager to get to bed, so I doubt he will be asleep.”

“That means he will be distracted,” Richard said. “But this is still going to require stealth. All of you will need to do exactly as I say. Along the way I’m going to need some of you to stay behind to guard our backs. I don’t want any questioning or second-guessing. There won’t be time to explain or argue. We can’t have that if we are going to succeed and then get the others out of the dungeon. You will all need to do exactly as I say, when I say it, if this is going to work.”

He was directing his comments mostly at Samantha without looking at her because he didn’t want to sound like he was accusing her of something before she was guilty of it. But he also knew how she could be. He knew that he could count on the rest of them to follow instructions.

“If any of you have a problem with that, then you need to wait down here, otherwise you can come with me. Agreed?”

Everyone nodded.





CHAPTER

80

At an intersection of corridors, Richard took a quick look around the corner. He didn’t see anyone before quickly pulling back behind cover. The corridors, dimly lit by reflector lamps hung at regular intervals, were interior passageways, so there weren’t any windows.

Cassia had told him that the bedroom had windows. Since it was still night, they wouldn’t provide any light, but they were a possible escape route. Richard doubted, though, that if things went bad, Dreier would jump from the third floor.

“How much farther?” he asked.

Cassia took a careful look. “At the end of the corridor, the halls go to either the right or the left. The bedroom is to the right, at the end, but it’s not far. Like I explained, at the end of the hall that corridor opens up into a small rotunda right outside the bedroom. He keeps at least two soldiers there all the time. Sometimes more. Sometimes he stations eight or ten in the rotunda to stand guard. We won’t know for sure until we make the final turn toward the bedroom.”

“With Erika in the room with him,” Nicci said, “he might not feel the need for more.”

Mohler shook his head. “They aren’t for protection. The abbot is sufficiently powerful to handle any threat himself. I think he likes to have the men there for show—as a display of his importance.”

Cassia made a sour face. “He has them there because they can overhear what is going on in the bedroom. Dreier commands the women he takes in there to be noisy so that the soldiers outside the door will hear. He knows they will gossip about what they heard. He thinks it makes for an impressive image among the soldiers.”

Vale was nodding. “He’s a pig.”

“All right, Mohler, Samantha, Laurin, Vale, and Kahlan, you five wait here.” Richard pointed at the two Mord-Sith and Samantha. “You three protect the Mother Confessor. I’m counting on you. If for some reason Dreier gets past us, this is his likely way out. You will have to stop him and protect Kahlan if he comes this way. Mohler, do you have the collar ready?”

They all nodded. The scribe held up the collar by the chain, as if he were holding up a dead varmint by its tail. Richard took the collar in his left hand, balling up most of the chain in his fist to keep it from making any noise.

“You ready for this, Cassia?”

She flashed him a cunning smile. “You have no idea.”

Kahlan caught his arm. “Richard, are you sure about this? It seems too simple.”

“Sometimes simple is the best approach to a fight. Complicated plans have more to go wrong. We will only have one chance before he uses his powers. Simplicity, speed, and violence of action is our best chance.”

Kahlan leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “If anyone can do it, you three can.”

“All right, let’s go,” Richard said to Nicci and Cassia. “Keep it quiet. You both know what to do.”

Richard already had his sword out so that he wouldn’t have to draw it anywhere near the bedroom. He knew that the ringing sound of pulling the blade would carry in the confines of the corridors. He didn’t know how good the guards were, if they were really listening for the sound of any threat in the halls, or if they were instead listening to the sounds from the bedroom, but he didn’t want to take any chances with making an unnecessary noise. They had to remain undetected until the last instant.

Around the corner, the hallway was empty. The long, dark blue carpet running down the length of the hall muffled the sounds of their footsteps as they moved swiftly along the hall. The three of them slipped carefully around a long table against the wall that held two empty glass bowls. Small tapestries hung in several places, further helping to quiet any sound they made.