Wasteland

14

“Chaos,” Kahlan repeated. “In what way?”

Richard lifted a hand as if to say that it was unknowable. “It adds its power to the main spell to which it is attached in chaotic ways, meaning there is no way to predict what it will do. That makes the primary spell-form of the palace more dangerous to enemies of the House of Rahl.”

Kahlan wasn’t at all sure how such a spell would work. “Why would a chaotic element make the main spell-form more dangerous?”

“Because if a wizard—a Rahl here at the palace—uses his magic against a gifted enemy, the palace spell-form amplifies the power of the web he casts.”

“All right,” Kahlan said. “That makes sense.”

Richard held up a finger. “But a dangerously gifted enemy will know how to counter magic. See the problem?”

Kahlan, trying to follow, frowned in concentration. “No.”

“The spell-form of the palace is a known, specific spell-form and for someone powerfully gifted and experienced, it is therefore predictable in how it amplifies a Rahl’s power. Predictability means it can be anticipated and if it can be anticipated it can be countered. If a Rahl’s magic is countered, then it is rendered ineffective against the enemy, right?

“To solve that predictability problem, what the creators of the People’s Palace did was to add in this chaotic complication.”

“You mean it’s like gravy on a meat pie?” Shale asked.

Richard smiled at her sarcasm. “Sort of. Lumpy gravy, and you don’t know what’s in the lumps.”

He held out a hand toward the plan on the table. “In this case, this complication’s function is to make the web cast by the Lord Rahl and amplified by the primary palace spell chaotically unpredictable. That makes it nearly impossible for a gifted enemy to defend against. See? It’s hard if not impossible to put up a defense if you don’t know what’s coming.”

“That’s incredibly devious,” Kahlan said as she thought about it.

“Indeed it is,” Richard said with a nod.

“Then having it here within the palace must not be so dangerous,” Shale said as she paced off a short distance, considering, and then returned. “After all, it’s been here for millennia, hasn’t it? And it was meant to help a Rahl. So why do you all of a sudden think it’s such a problem?”

Richard wiped a hand back across his face. “Well, because it’s not simply a complication drawn in sand or blood meant to attach to another spell-form drawn in sand or blood to cast a web. This one is huge, and it exists in stone and mortar, not in the dirt drawn with a stick. That means we’re going to need to actually go inside the complication.” He leaned closer to her. “Inside it.”

“We’re inside the palace spell-form right now,” Shale said with a shrug.

“Hens and hawks. Both birds, not the same animal.”

Kahlan was beginning to grasp his concern. “So that’s why Moravaska Michec would hide in there? Because it’s like he’s hiding in a giant thorn hedge?”

Richard nodded. He turned to Edward Harris. “Could you please get me the plans for this region of the palace—the surrounding areas? And the levels above and below?”

After consulting the palace map, the man went around the room, pulling rolls of the appropriate plans out of their cubbyholes, holding them under an arm as he collected all the ones needed. Once he had them all, he spread them out on the adjacent tables, putting weights on the sides to hold them open. Following along behind him, Richard reviewed each one, looking increasingly upset with everything he saw.

“What?” Kahlan finally asked as he silently studied one, then another, then went back to the first, then to the last. “What do you see?”

His brow lowered as he leaned in over the plans laid out on all the tables. “This thing is even more extensive than I thought at first. This complication spell isn’t technically two-dimensional, so it’s not a single floor, but actually a number of floors that are involved, all of it self-contained in its own compartmentalized, separate location. Look here,” he said, pointing, “this is the whole restricted wing of the palace where the complication is located, and all of this is the complication. It’s enormous. I mean, really enormous. Not simply in terms of length and width, but on multiple levels.

“It’s one gigantic, three-dimensional labyrinth. I can easily see why people who went in there became lost and were never seen again. If you became disoriented, and didn’t understand the nature of the layout, it would be easy to get lost and never find your way out. That’s why I needed the plans. I need to understand them so that we’ll know where we are once in there.

“This kind of spell-form, being chaotic, is naturally unpredictable, so the builders deliberately kept it totally isolated. When the palace spell uses it, it becomes involved and has purpose.”

He gave both Shale and Kahlan a deadly serious look. “But when it’s idle and left to its own devices, since it’s a chaotic element, it’s unpredictable.”

“Unpredictable,” Kahlan repeated, folding her arms as she looked from his raptor gaze down at the plans, seeing the maze of halls and rooms and staircases in a new light. “We get the concept. It adds chaos to the palace spell.”

Richard was shaking his head. “No, I mean it’s unpredictable in and of itself.”

Kahlan frowned her skepticism. “Are you saying this place made up of confusing halls and rooms can do things on its own, independent of the palace spell?”

Richard nodded. “Exactly. In the right circumstances, this kind of spell-form would be semi-sentient.”

Shale’s jaw dropped. “What! Are you actually suggesting that it’s alive?”

Richard waved a hand, dismissing the notion. “No, no, it’s not alive. I oversimplified what I meant. Its specific purpose is to decide on its own, because it’s a chaos spell-form, how to add power to the primary spell-form. See what I mean? Because it has the power to decide what to do and when, that process makes it seem to mimic life. When I used my power, and the palace’s spell added power, this complication likely added some unpredictable, violent element, making what I did to the Glee functionally more lethal. That makes it virtually impossible to defend against.”

Richard leaned in, giving them both a serious look again. “But when idle and left to its own devices, a spell-form of this nature doesn’t simply sit there. It’s always active, a pot always on the boil, so it can do dangerously unpredictable things, such as entice people in.”

Shale made a face. “Why? Why would it entice people in?”

Richard stared at her for a long moment. “As a self-generated activity—as entertainment, you might say. Not exactly, but that’s the best way I can explain how its function appears to us. Absent direction from the primary spell-form, it boils up and acts on its own, kind of like a curious child when left alone. It starts doing things as a way to fulfill its primary purpose. It’s a hammer, and pretty soon, if not used, it starts to think everything is a nail. When we go in there, we are the nail.”

“Dear spirits.” Kahlan put a hand to her forehead. “Why in the world would they build something that dangerous into the palace?”

“Because it has a valid purpose,” Richard said. “If left entirely isolated, it’s not an issue, and that is what was intended. See here? The complication is not only off-limits, but completely isolated. The builders put it on dedicated levels off to the side, diagonally, under the tombs. To further isolate it, they built in locked doors preventing people from even getting to the stairs down to the complication. It can’t hurt you if you don’t go near it.”

“How can it hurt us?” Kahlan asked. “What can it do to us if we go in there?”

Richard shook his head. “I don’t know. All I can tell you is that whatever it does will be unpredictable.”

“Then we should leave,” Shale announced. “You’ve just done a thorough job of explaining why this complication spell is incredibly dangerous.

“This isn’t your primary objective,” she reminded him with a shake of her finger. “Your duty is to get yourself and the Mother Confessor to the safety of the Wizard’s Keep. The future of magic and the lives of everyone in our world depend on it. The safety of children yet unborn depends on it. Your gift, the Mother Confessor’s gift, your unborn children, are more important than getting Vika out of there.”

“I hate to say it,” Rikka said, “but the sorceress has a point. Like all of us, Vika knows the risks of protecting you. As terrified as she rightfully is of Michec, she would want to die at his hands rather than have you put your life and the life of the Mother Confessor at risk to come in there after her.”

“I agree,” Vale said. “Your safety and the Mother Confessor’s safety are what matters. We should avoid this danger and get to the Keep.”

Nyda nodded her agreement. Cassia did so next. Berdine turned her face away and nodded.

“You don’t understand,” Richard said. “Yes, I want to get Vika out of that man’s clutches, but this is about something more important. If Moravaska Michec is what you all say he is, then once we leave, he will undoubtedly strike at our backs when we least expect it. He could sabotage our cause just as effectively as the Glee in ways we can’t even imagine. He doesn’t want me to rule as the Lord Rahl. If we leave and he takes over the palace …”

“Richard is right,” Kahlan said. “You don’t leave a powerful enemy hiding in your home to come at you when you’re asleep.”

“Why would Michec be hiding in this complication thing?” Shale asked. “Wouldn’t it be dangerous to him as well?”

“Not if he understands it,” Richard said.

“He did,” Nyda confirmed. “He often took captives in there.”

“He’s hiding in there, waiting for the right time to kill you,” Berdine said. “Taking Vika proves it.”

“Well, that place down there isn’t called the Wasteland for nothing,” Harris said. “We always did our best to keep people away from the section. Somehow people still got in.”

Richard nodded. “The spell-form self-generates things to act on as a way to carry out its destructive, defensive function. I guess you could say it practices killing by enticing unsuspecting people in there and killing them. Moravaska Michec isn’t unsuspecting, so the spell-form is in a way his protection.”

Harris shook his head. “I just don’t see how, with it being behind all kinds of locked doors and guard posts, people still manage to wander in there.”

“The complication has the ability to undo locks,” Richard said. When they all stared at him, he added, “Because locks are part of the palace, and so is the complication, it’s very possible it can unlock the doors.”

“If people die in there,” Shale asked Harris, “then how do you really know that people find their way out there? I thought that people never returned from that place.”

“Well, over the years a few people have wandered out,” he said. “They all died, however, shortly after escaping. But before dying they reported seeing corpses in there, or human bones. I’m not sure what they died of because the First File was responsible for such things, but I know that since it’s their responsibility to keep everyone away, the soldiers were quite alarmed to discover people coming out.”

Shale finally let out a deep sigh. “I can see that I’m not going to be able to talk you out of going in there, and probably for good reason. But if it’s that dangerous, then I think the Mother Confessor shouldn’t go in. I will protect her while you go in and deal with Michec.”

Richard shook his head. “I appreciate the thought, but that’s not a good idea. For all we know, he could be expecting that and while I’m in there trying to find him, he could actually be lurking out here in order to strike at Kahlan. Besides, as you said, he’s a witch man. You’re a witch woman.”

Shale arched an eyebrow. “You seem to know everything, so now you need me?”

“I hardly know everything, Shale. I do know I need your ability. We’re stronger together. In our own way, we each help fill in the blanks. I agree that it’s dangerous for all of us to go in there, but the situation we have on our hands now is that it’s more dangerous for us to split up and more dangerous yet to simply leave this witch man lurking in the maze down there. Taking Vika was his first act of war against us. He very well might have done it to get us to run.”

Shale folded her arms as she looked away in thought. “I hate to admit it, but I think you may be right.”

“So how are we going to deal with him?” Kahlan asked. “He is a witch man. We know all too well how dangerous witch women, like Shota, can be. For all we know, he could be much more powerful. Plus he has us at a disadvantage because he has been living and hiding in there for a very long time. He knows the layout and how to use the complication to his advantage. He’s had time to plot his revenge. How are we going to be able to deal with someone like that?”

Richard gazed into her eyes. “If I have to, I will strangle him to death with my bare hands.”