“—and he in turn needs the skrin. If he has the skrin bone you told me of, he can invoke the guardian, and destroy it. If the guardian is destroyed, the Keeper can come through the gateway.”
“Warren, that sounds pretty frightening to me.”lifted his hand with a dismissive wave. “No, no. Many prophecies sound ominous, like this one. But the elements are rarely all in place, so they turn out to be false forks, as most do. The books are clogged with false forks, because—”
“Warren, get to the point.”
“Oh, yes. Well, you see, you told me that your friend has the bone that can invoke the skrin. And the Keeper would need an agent, but he doesn’t have one. Without the skrin bone, and with the upcoming fork which we know must be passed correctly, and we think it will, this is just another false fork, so we’re safe!”felt a distant tingling of apprehension, but Warren’s bubbly confidence overwhelmed it. He was caught up in Warren’s enthusiasm. He gave the young man a clap on the back.
“Good work, Warren. Now I can concentrate on learning to use my Han.”beamed. Thank you, Richard. I’m so glad you’ve been able to help me. I’ve made more progress than I ever thought I would before I met you.”grinning, Richard shook his head in wonder. “Warren, I’ve never met anyone that was so smart, yet so young.”laughed as if that was the funniest thing he had ever heard.
“What’s so funny?”
“Your joke,” Warren said, wiping tears from his eyes.
“What joke?”’s laughter slowed to a frowning chuckle. “About me being young. It was funny.”held his polite smile. “Warren, why is that funny?”’s chuckle died down to a grin. “Because I’m one hundred and fifty-seven years old.”’s flesh prickled. “Now you’re making a joke. That’s a joke. It is a joke, Warren, isn’t it?”’s good humor evaporated. He blinked. “Richard… you do know, don’t you. They must have told you. I was sure they would have told you by now…”’s arm swept the books aside. He scooted his chair closer. Told me what? Warren, don’t you say something like that and then go silent on me. You’re my friend, you tell me.”cleared his throat and then wet his lips with his tongue. He leaned in a little. “Richard, I’m sorry. I thought you knew, or I would have told you myself a long time ago. I would have.”
“Told me what!”
“The magic. The magic of the Palace of the Prophets. It has Additive and Subtractive elements to it that are tied to the other worlds. That makes time move differently here.”
“Warren,” Richard said hoarsely, “do you mean it affects all of us? All those wearing the collar?”
“No… everyone at the palace. The Sisters, too. This place is spelled. As long as the Sisters live at the palace, they age the same as we do. The spell makes us age more slowly; makes time seem different to us.”
“What do you mean, “different’?”spell slows our aging process. For every year we age, those outside age between ten and fifteen years.”’s head was spinning. “Warren, that can’t be true. It can’t.” He tried desperately to think of proof. “Pasha. Pasha could only be…”
“Richard, I’ve known Pasha for over a hundred years.”slid the chair back and stood. He raked his fingers through his hair. That doesn’t make any sense. It has to be some kind of… Why would it work like that?”took Richard’s arm and sat him down. He pulled his own chair close. He spoke in a soft, concerned voice, as one would when breaking calamitous news to a someone.
“It takes a long time to train a wizard. Outside, in the rest of the world, over twenty years had gone by before I was even able to touch my Han. But because I live here, I had aged less than two years. Twenty years had passed here, too, but I aged only two. If the palace did not slow our aging, we would all die of old age before we could even light a lamp with our Han.
“I have never heard of it taking less than two hundred years to train a wizard. Commonly, it takes near to three hundred, and sometimes even as much as four hundred.
“The wizards who created this place knew that, and so they tied the magic here to the worlds beyond, where time is meaningless. I don’t know how it works, just that it does.”’s hands shook. “But… I have to get this collar off. I have to get to Kahlan. I can’t wait that long. Warren, help me. I can’t wait that long.”glanced to the floor. “I’m sorry, Richard. I don’t know how to get our collars off, and I don’t know how to get by the barrier that keeps us here. I know how you feel, though. It drove me into the vaults for the last fifty years. Some of the others don’t seem to care, and say that it just gives them more time with women.”slowly rose. “I can’t believe it.”turned his face up. “Richard, please forgive me for telling you. I’m sorry I was the one to hurt you. You’ve always been…”put a hand to Warren’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t do it. You simply told me the truth.” His voice felt as if it were coming from the bottom of a well. Thank you for the truth, my friend.”he could think, as his feet shuffled toward the door, was that his dreams were all dying. If he couldn’t get the collar off, everything would be lost.Ulicia and Finella both stood in warning as he came through the doors. They backed away, the same as the guards had, when they saw the look on his face. A sparkling shield went up before the door. He went through it without slowing. The door beyond burst open for him, without him touching it, part of the frame splintering. It somehow never occurred to him to use the knob.Prelate was sitting with her hands folded on the heavy walnut table. Her solemn eyes watched him come. Richard pressed up against the table, towering over her.
“I must admit, Richard,” she said in a somber tone, “that I have not been looking forward to this visit.”straining voice broke. “Why didn’t Sister Verna tell me?”
“I ordered her not to.”why did you not tell me?”
“Because I wanted you first to learn some significant things about yourself, so you would be better able to understand your importance. The burden of a wizard, and of a Prelate, too.”sank to his knees before her desk. Ann,” he whispered, “please, help me. I must have the Rada’Han off. I love Kahlan. I need her. I need to get back to her. I’ve been gone a long time. Please, Ann, help me. Take the collar off.”closed her eyes for a long moment. When they opened, they were heavy with regret.
“I spoke the truth, Richard. We cannot get the Rada’Han off until you learn enough to help us. That will take time.”
“Please, Ann, help me. Isn’t there any other way?”, her eyes staying on his, she shook her head. “No, Richard. Over time, you will come to accept it. They all do. It is easier for the rest, because they come here as boys, not understanding, and grasp it only over time. We have never had to tell one grown, like you, who could understand the significance.”couldn’t make himself think clearly. It felt as if he were stumbling in a dark dream. “But, we’ll lose so much time together. She will be old. Everyone I know will be old.”smoothed her hair back as she averted her eyes. “Richard, by the time you are trained and leave here, the great-great-great grandchildren of everyone you know will have died of old age and been buried in the ground for over a hundred years.”blinked at her, trying to comprehend the math of the generations involved, but it all turned to mush in his mind. He suddenly remembered what Shota had warned him of—a trap in time. This was that trap.had been stripped of everything by these people. Everything he loved was gone. He would never see Zedd again, or Chase, or anyone he knew. He would never hold Kahlan again. He would never be able to tell her that he loved her, that he understood the sacrifice she had made for him.63looked up from where he sat on the floor to see Warren in the doorway. He hadn’t heard the knock. When he said nothing, Warren rushed over and squatted down beside him.
“Listen, Richard, something you said made me think. You said that you were going to wed the Mother Confessor.”’s mind came out of the daze and his eyes suddenly came up. The prophecy is about her, isn’t it. The prophecy you said would come on winter solstice.”
“I think it might be. But I don’t know enough about her, about Confessors, to tell. Does the Mother Confessor wear white?”
“Yes. The Confessors are born to find the truth. She is the last one.”
“Richard, I think that is good news. I think she is to find happiness, and bring it to her people, on winter solstice.”remembered the vision he had had in the Tower of Perdition. He remembered the horror of what he had seen. The words Kahlan had spoken were burned into his memory. He quoted it to Warren.
“Of all there were, but a single one born of the magic to bring forth truth will remain alive when the shadow’s threat is lifted. Therefore comes the greater darkness of the dead. For there to be a chance at life’s bond, this one in white must be offered to her people, to bring their joy and good cheer.”
“Yes! That’s it! I believe that the “greater darkness” means both the Keeper, and winter solstice. I think that means… Richard, where did you read that prophecy?”
“I didn’t read it. It was brought to me in a vision of her.”’s eyes grew big, the way they tended to do when he was astonished. “You had a vision of prophecy?”
“Yes, she brought me the words, and also brought a vision of what it means.”
“What does it mean?”brushed at his pant leg. “I can’t tell you. She said that I could speak the words, but not of the vision. I’m sorry, Warren, but I dare not violate that warning without knowing the consequences. But I can tell you that the results of this prophecy coming true would not be joyful for her, or for me.”considered a moment. “Yes. You are right.” He looked over out of the corner of his eye. “Richard, there is something about prophecy I think I should tell you. Hardly anyone knows this, but the words don’t always reflect the true intent.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, a few times when I have read prophecies, I’ve had a vision. The vision turns out to be true, and so does the prophecy, but not in the way you would think from reading it. I believe that the true way prophecy is meant to be understood is through the gift, through the visions.”
“Do the Sisters know this?”
“No. I think this is what it means to be a prophet. Richard, if you had this vision, and heard the words, and saw the meaning, maybe that means you are a prophet.”to the Prelate, I have a different talent. If she is right, then having the vision might just be part of my ability for what I truly am.”
“Which is?”
“The Prelate said I’m a war wizard.”eyes widened again. “Richard, war wizards have the gift for both Magics. None with the gift for Subtractive, too, has been born in… in thousands of years. Maybe the Prelate is wrong.”
“I hope she is, but it would explain some things. From what a friend of mine told me, Additive Magic is using what is, adding to it, multiplying it, altering it; the doing of things. Subtractive Magic is the counter, the undoing of things.the shields are put up by the Sisters. They have only Additive. Even those with the gift cannot easily go through them, or break them, because they also have only Additive. Power against power. But somehow I’m able to walk right through the shields around here without even trying.
“Subtractive Magic would explain that. Subtractive would counter the Additive of the shields; undo it.”
“But you said you tried to go through the barrier that keeps us from leaving. That’s a shield, too. Why can’t you go through that shield, then, if you really have the Subtractive?”lifted an eyebrow and leaned in. “Warren, who put those shields in place?”
“Well, the ones who placed the rest of the magic of the palace, the wizards of old…”
“Who you said had Subtractive Magic. That shield is the only one placed by them. It’s the only one I can’t go through. It’s the only one my Subtractive Magic, if I truly have it, wouldn’t counter. See what I mean?”sat back on his heels. “Yes…” He rubbed his chin as he thought. “Well, that would make sense. It might fit with some of the prophecies about you. If you really are a war wizard, and are the one born true.”
“And do these prophecies say I will prevail?”hesitated. He glanced over at the Sword of Truth lying on the floor nearby. “If I said “white blade,” would that mean anything to you?”let out a heavy breath at the memory. “I can turn the blade of my sword white, through magic.”wiped his hand over his face. Then I think we might be in trouble. There is a prophecy that says, “should the forces of forfeit be loosed, the world will be shadowed yet by darker lust through what has been rent. Salvations hope, then, will be as slim as the white blade of the one born true.’”what has been rent. The open gateway,” Richard said.would make “the darker lust” be the Keeper.”
“Warren, I have to do something about the prophecy. The one about the one in white. It’s important. Do you have any ideas?”watched him, as if trying to decide something. “I do. I don’t know if it will help.” He put weight on his hands as he rubbed them on his thighs. They have a prophet here, at the palace. I’ve never seen him. I want to, but they won’t let me. They say it’s too dangerous for me to talk to him until I learn more. They promised that when I learn enough, they will let me talk with him.”
“Here in the palace? Where?”pulled a fold of his robes from under his knees. “I don’t know. It would have to be one of the restricted areas, but I don’t know which one, and I don’t know how we can find out.”stood. “I do.”knew he had gone to the right guard when Swordsman Kevin Andellmere turned white as a spirit at the mention of the Prophet. He was reluctant, feigning ignorance at first, but when Richard gently reminded him of all the favors, Kevin whispered the location.compound Kevin had divulged was one of the most heavily guarded. Richard knew where all the guards were stationed because he had gathered white roses there, and had been up on the wall, to “look out at the sea.” He also knew all the guards. They were frequent visitors to the prostitutes he provided.didn’t slow at the outer gate, but simply gave a nod to the wink the guards gave him. The guards at the rampart were considerably more reticent, stammering and holding out a hand to halt him. He shook the hand, pretending that he thought that was what was meant by it. They finally sighed and resumed their post as he marched away, his mris-with cape billowing open.the end of the rampart was a small colonnade, and at the end of that, winding stairs that led down to the Prophet’s quarters. The guards at the door he wanted were the two he had had trouble winning over at first, and the first to receive his gift of female company. They stiffened when they saw him.casually made for the door between them. “Walsh, Bollesdun, how you doing?”crossed their pikes over the door. “Richard, what are you doing down here? The roses grow up top.”
“Look, Walsh, I have to go see the Prophet.”
“Richard, don’t put us in this spot. You know we can’t let you in. The Sisters would skin us alive.”shrugged. “I won’t tell them you let me in. I’ll say I tricked you. If anyone finds out, which they won’t, just tell them I snuck by, and you didn’t know until I was on my way out. I’ll back your story.”
“Richard, you’re really…”
“Have I ever done anything to cause trouble? Have I ever done anything but help all you men? I buy you drinks, I loan you money when you need it, I let you have free access to the girls, and it never costs you a copper. Have I ever asked for anything in return?”had his hand on the hilt of the sword. One way, or another, he was going through that door.pushed a stone chip with his boot. With a heavy sigh, first one, and then the other, pulled their pikes up. “Bollesdun, go make your rounds. I’m going to the privy for a sit.”took his hand from his sword and gave the man a pat on the shoulder. “Thanks, Walsh. I appreciate it.”down the inner hall, Richard felt layers of resistance, shields, like the ones that were outside the Prelate’s door, but they only slowed him a bit. The room inside was as spacious as his own, but perhaps more elegantly appointed. One wall held large tapestries, and another expansive bookshelves. Most of the books, though, seemed to be scattered about the room, on chairs and couches and covering the blue-and-yellow carpets on the floor.could see the back of a man in the chair beside the cold hearth.
“You must tell me how you do that,” the man said in a deep, powerful voice. “I would be most interested in learning the trick.”
“Do what?” Richard asked.
“Walk through shields as if they weren’t there. Burns the flesh right off me if I try.”
“If I ever figure it out myself, I’ll let you know. My name is Richard. If you’re not busy, I would like to speak with you.”
“Busy!” The man’s shoulders shook with his hearty laugh. When he stood, Richard was a little surprised at how big he was. His long white hair had made Richard think he might be old and shriveled. Old, he was, shriveled he was not. He looked strong and full of vitality. His smile was welcoming and threatening at the same time. He wore a Rada’Han, the same as Richard.
“My name is Nathan, Richard. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. I didn’t expect you would find your way in alone.”
“I wanted to come alone so we could talk freely.”
“And do you know that I am a prophet?”
“I didn’t come here to learn to bake bread.”’s smile widened, but he didn’t laugh. His brows pulled together like a hawk’s. His voice took on a hiss. “Would you like me to tell you of your death, Richard? How you are to die?”flopped down on the couch and plunked his feet up on a table. He returned the hawklike glare and threatening smile in kind. “sure. I’d love to hear all about it. And then when you’re done, I will tell you how you are to die.”lifted an eyebrow. “And are you a prophet?”
“Enough of one to tell you how you are to die.”frown turned curious. “really. Tell me then.”took a pear from a bowl on the table, polished it on his pant leg, and took a bite. He spoke as he chewed. “You are going to die right here, in these rooms, of old age, without ever seeing the outside world again.”creases in Nathan’s face deepened as his expression sagged. “seems you are a prophet, my boy.”
“Unless you help me. Maybe if you help me, I’ll be able to come back here and help you get out, too.”
“And what is it you want?”
“I want this collar off.”sly grin spread on Nathan’s face. “seems we share a common interest, Richard.”
“But the Sisters say I will die without it.”sly grin widened. They demand truthfulness from others, but rarely inconvenience themselves with it. The Sisters have their own agenda, Richard. There is more than one path through the woods.”
“The Sisters say I must learn to use my Han, in order to get it off. They don’t seem to be helping much in that.”
“It would be easier to teach a stump to sing than for a mere Sister to teach you to use your Han. You have Subtractive Magic. They can’t help you.”
“Can you help me, Nathan?”
“Perhaps.” Nathan sat down in his chair, leaning forward intently. “Tell me, Richard, have you ever read The Adventures of Bonnie Day?”
“Read it? It’s my favorite book. I read it until my eyes nearly wore the words off the pages. I’d love to meet the person who wrote it, and tell him how much I liked the book.”broad, childlike grin stole onto Nathan’s face. “You just have, my boy. You just have.”came forward from the back of the couch. “You! You wrote The Adventures of Bonnie Day?”quoted a few passages, to prove his intimate knowledge. “I gave the book to your father, to give to you when you were old enough to read. You were just born, at the time.”
“You were there with the Prelate? She didn’t tell me that.”
“I doubt the truth occurred to her. You see, Ann doesn’t have the power to get into the Wizard’s Keep in Aydindril. I helped George get in, so he could get the Book of Counted Shadows. They have some very interesting books of prophecy there.”stared in astonishment. “seems we are old acquaintances, then.”
“More than acquaintances, Richard Rahl.” Nathan gave him a meaningful look. “My name is Nathan Rahl.”’s mouth dropped open. “You are my… great-great-something-or-other?”many “greats” to count. I am nearly a thousand years old, my boy.” He waggled a finger in the air. “I have had an interest in you for a long time. You are in the prophecies.
“I wrote The Adventures of Bonnie Day for some of those who had potential. It is a book of prophecy, of sorts. A primer of prophecy, one you would be able to understand, so it would help you. It did help you, didn’t it?”
“More than once,” Richard said, still having trouble keeping his jaw up.
“Good. I’m pleased then. We gave the book to a few, special boys. You are the only one still alive. The rest died in “inexplicable” accidents.”finished the pear while he thought. He definitely didn’t like the part about Subtractive Magic. “so can you help me with using my power?”, Richard. The Sisters have not given you pain with the collar, have they.”
“No. But they will.”
“Fighting the last war, Richard. What did Bonnie Day tell the Warwick troops guarding the moors? That the enemy would not come the same way as they had before. That they were foolishly wasting their energy trying to fight the last war.” Nathan lifted an eyebrow. “You seem to have missed the lesson. Just because something happened to you before, that does not mean it will happen again. Think ahead, Richard, not behind.”hesitated. “I… had a vision in one of the towers. A vision that Sister Verna used the collar to hurt me.”
“And it brought the anger forth.”nodded. “I called the magic and killed her.”gave a small, disappointed shake of his head. The vision was your own mind trying to tell you something, trying to show you that you could defend yourself if they did that, that you could defeat them. It was your gift and your mind working together, trying to help you. You were too busy fighting the last war to heed the message.”, Richard kept his mouth shut. He had worried about them hurting him, to the exclusion of everything else. He had ignored the true meaning of what Kahlan had done, because he had been so afraid of the past coming to life again. Think of the solution, not the problem; that was what Zedd had taught him. He had been blinded to the future by the past.
“I see what you mean, Nathan,” he admitted. “What did you mean about the Sisters not giving me pain with the collar?”
“Ann knows you are a war wizard, I told her before you were born. I told her near to five hundred years ago. She would have given orders to the Sisters. Giving pain to a war wizard is like kicking a badger on his rump.”
“You mean that pain is somehow the secret to my power?”
“No. The result of pain. Anger.” He gestured to the sword at Richard’s hip. “You use the sword in that way. Anger calls forth the magic. Actually, you call the magic, it brings you anger, and so the magic works. Would you like me to show you how to touch your Han?”scooted forward. “Yes. I never thought I would say that, but yes. I need to be able to get out of here.”
“Hold up your palm. Good.” He seemed to pull an aura of authority around himself. “Now, lose yourself in my eyes.”stared into the hooded, deep, dark, azure eyes. The gaze drew him in. Richard felt as if he were falling up into the clear, blue sky. His breath came in ragged pulls, not of his own will. He felt Nathan’s commanding words more than heard them.
“Call forth the anger, Richard. Call forth the rage. Call forth the hate and fury.” Richard felt it, just as when he drew the sword; as he felt his breath being drawn for him, he felt the anger being drawn. “Now, feel the heat of that rage. Feel the flames of it. Good. Now focus those feelings in the palm of your hand.”funneled the rage of the magic to his hand, directed its flow, feeling its force. His teeth gritted with the power of it.
“Look in your hand, Richard. See it there. See what you are feeling.”’s eyes moved slowly to his hand. A ball of blue and yellow fire tumbled slowly above his outstretched palm. He could feel the energy flowing from himself, into the fire. He increased the flow of rage, and the angry ball of flame grew.
“Now, cast the rage, the hate, the anger, the fire, at the hearth.”threw his hand out. The slowly tumbling sphere of flame stayed with his hand. He looked to the hearth, focusing the rage outward, casting it away from himself.liquid light howled as it streaked to the hearth, exploding there with a crack, like lightning.smiled with pride. That is how it’s done, my boy. I doubt the Sisters could teach you that in a hundred years. You’re a natural. No doubt about it. You are a war wizard.”
“But Nathan, I didn’t feel my Han. I didn’t sense anything different. All I felt was angry, like when I use the sword. For that matter, like when I shut my finger in a door.”nodded knowingly. “Of course not. You are a war wizard. Others have only one side of the gift. They use what is around them; the air, heat, cold, fire, water, whatever they need.
“War wizards aren’t like others. They instead tap the core of power within themselves. You don’t direct your Han, you direct your feelings. The Sisters teach the “how” of how everything is done. That is irrelevant to your power. For you, results are all that are important, because you draw power from within. That is why the Sisters cannot teach you.”
“What do you mean that’s why they cannot teach me?”
“Have you ever seen a seamstress miss a pincushion? The Sisters want you to watch your hand, the pin, and the pincushion. That’s the way other wizards use their magic. War wizards don’t watch, they just do. Their Han acts instinctively.”
“Was that… wizard’s fire?”chuckled. “That was to wizard’s fire what an annoyed moth is to an enraged bull.”tried again, but the fire wouldn’t come. The anger wouldn’t come. He could draw the sword’s anger, but it wasn’t the same kind he had done with Nathan, from within himself.
“It won’t work. Why can’t I do it again?”
“Because I was helping you, showing you with my own power what it’s like. You are not yet able to do it on your own.”
“Why?”reached over and tapped Richard’s head. “Because it must come from in here. You have yet to accept yourself, who you are. You don’t believe. You still fight who you are. Until you accept yourself, until you believe, you won’t be able to call forth your Han, your power, except in great anger.”
“What of the headaches that came from my gift? The Sisters said they would kill me without the collar.”
“The Sisters nibble around the truth as if it were gristle in a piece of meat. They only eat it if they’re starving. They want us prisoners so they can bring us to their ways.
“What they attempt to do when they train with you is what I have just done. The headaches are dangerous, but only if a young wizard is left alone with his power. When you had the headaches, were you ever able to make them go away?”
“Yes. Sometimes when I concentrated on shooting arrows, or when something inside warned me of danger, or when I was angry and used the magic of the sword, then they went away for a time.”’s because you were bringing the gift into harmony with your mind. The only thing required to keep the gift from harming you is a bit of instruction—like I just gave you.wizards should be a wizard’s business. For a wizard, bringing your mind into harmony with your gift is a simple matter, because it’s the male gift teaching the male gift. What I have just done with you is enough to keep the gift from harming you for a good long time—without the Rada’Han.
“In the future, joining with a wizard will take you the next step, and protect you until you reach the following plain. It’s only important to have help available when you need it. The Sisters need a hundred years to show you what I have just done.use the collar as an excuse to take us prisoner for their own purposes. They have their own ideas about the training of wizards. Their idea is to control wizards.”
“Why?”think wizards are responsible for all the evil that has befallen mankind, and if they collar the power, control it, and indoctrinate it, they will bring the light of their theology to the people. They are zealots who believe they are the only ones who know the true way to eternal reward in the Creator’s light. They feel justified in using any means to gain that end.”
“You mean that what you have just showed me, with my power, is enough to keep the gift from killing me, without the collar?”
“It’s enough to keep the gift from killing you, but it would take many more lessons to teach you to be a real wizard. All I have done is to hold the stallion’s bit, so he won’t buck you off. It would take much more work to teach you to ride with grace.”could feel the muscles in his face draw tight. “If this is true, then they are kicking the rump of a badger. Thank you, for helping me.” Richard rubbed his fingers together. “Nathan, there is great trouble coming. Coming very soon. I need to know a few things. Do you know the Wizard’s Second Rule?”
“Of course. But you must learn the first, before you have the second.”
“I already know the first. I killed Darken Rahl with the first. It states that people can be made to believe any lie, either because they want to believe it’s true, or because they are afraid it’s true.”
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