Heart of Black Ice

CHAPTER 57

Because she would stay in Tanimura to help build the city’s defenses, Nicci found temporary quarters in the main barracks at the garrison. It was only a small room with a narrow bunk and a writing desk, but it was sufficient for her needs.

General Linden stood at the door after escorting her to the room, still nervous after having seen her work with the Grace and the verification web. “I wish I had more appropriate accommodations, but the garrison has swelled with new arrivals, visiting commanders, and volunteers from the city guard.” He fidgeted at the door. “Tomorrow, I will have my adjutant secure a more spacious room for you in one of the boardinghouses.”

“I don’t require extravagance, General. I just spent several days aboard a kraken-hunter ship.” She inhaled deeply, smelled the fresh wood, the clean bedding. “This is a great improvement.”

Linden wrinkled his nose. “I thought I smelled something a little off. Now I know what it was.”

“I’ve had little rest since I first arrived in Serrimundi, and I will sleep well here.” She felt disappointingly washed out, her strength diluted. Nicci’s gift was her greatest weapon, and just as a soldier needed to sharpen his sword before going into battle, she needed to recover her strength.

General Linden gave a quick bow and closed the door, leaving her in the room. Alone and calm, Nicci allowed herself to relax, if only a little. She could never relax entirely, but she needed the rest and the strength.

Before attempting to sleep, knowing the questions would worry her throughout the night, Nicci again took out the small bone box from Richard. She opened the lid, probed it with her gift, but the answers still eluded her. Her sense of frustration increased. Why would Richard send such a cryptic message? Why not just a straightforward answer? This was not a time for games! She had been clear about the incredible threat they faced. If Utros and the Norukai raiders conquered the Old World, they would surely push northward into D’Hara.

Yet Richard’s response had been … this?

She set the open bone box on the wool blanket and bent close to the rotating pearl of energy. She could smell the faint metallic crackle in the air. What did Richard want her to do with it? Why would he assume she could understand the message, even if she did read the language of Creation? After so many years of her being close to him, she and Richard were so tightly connected that Nicci knew his thoughts, his heart. She had been in love with him for a long time, but when she accepted his undying devotion to Kahlan, she resolved to become the second-most-important person in his life. Nicci believed she had achieved that.

Her powers were greater than those of any other sorceress. Along with Nathan, her vital mission was to tame the Old World in the name of the D’Haran Empire. But she knew Richard. She understood how his mind worked. She could often anticipate his thoughts and actions, and he understood Nicci with equal alacrity.

By sending this strange message, Richard knew that this was something she, and only she, would understand. It was a solution, if she could decipher it. “This object is all I need,” she reminded herself, still perplexed. “It holds the key somehow.” He was counting on her. She stared at the bone box, trying to find the missing piece, to understand how she could use this enigmatic constructed spell.

After about an hour, she gave up. Too exhausted to think about it anymore, Nicci knew her thoughts would be clearer after a good rest. She closed the box and pocketed it, then lay back on her bed, worried that her churning thoughts would keep her awake. But moments after closing her blue eyes, she fell into a deep slumber.

In the calm emptiness of a dream state, Nicci’s thoughts stretched over vast distances, and she was surprised to connect with her sister panther again! She looked through Mrra’s sharp feline eyes. Nicci had unwillingly been whisked away from the battle in Orogang, and now she was overjoyed to know the big cat was still alive. Considering the bloodthirsty ancient army in the abandoned capital, she feared that Mrra and the Hidden People had been massacred, though she knew they would have fought to the last. But her sand panther had escaped somehow.

Now, through her dream connection, Nicci knew that Mrra was running overland, loping along the hills and forests to get back to her. Because of the sliph, they were separated by a great distance. She could feel her sister panther’s weariness, the sore pads of her enormous paws, but Mrra kept coming.

Through the animal’s predatory senses, she realized that the big cat was not alone. Other panthers from her new pride accompanied her, and Nicci was overjoyed to know that some of the big cats had survived the battle at Orogang.

Even as Nicci slept in the Tanimura barracks, she and her sister panther ran along, linked together. Their bond was strong, and Mrra followed it like an implacable summons. Yes, the panthers were coming! No matter how long or arduous the journey, across the wilderness, over the mountains, Mrra would find her.

With her panther senses, though, Nicci detected something else, and she realized that the big cats were not alone. There were other fighters coming to Tanimura, moving at their best speed. Mrra’s focus was not on them, so Nicci could not tell who or what they were, but she knew they were coming.

Armies were gathering.…

When Nicci awoke the next morning, not only was she well rested but she also felt a spark of hope, which refreshed her as much as the long rest had.