“I don’t want it. Put it back where it belongs.”gar reached over Richard’s shoulder and slid the arrow back into the quiver that leaned against a stump. It contorted its features, seemingly to question if it had done it correctly. Richard smiled as he patted its full belly.
“Good boy. You did it right.”gar flopped happily on the ground at his feet, contenting itself with licking blood from its claws and coarse fur. When it finished, it laid its long arms over Richard’s lap, and rested its head on them.
“You need a name.” The gar looked up, cocking its head to the side. Its tufted ears turned toward him. “Name.” He tapped his chest. “My name is Richard.” The gar reached out and tapped Richard’s chest in imitation. “Richard. Richard.”cocked its head to the other side. “Raaaa,” it growled through sharp fangs, its ears twitching.nodded. “Rich… ard.”tapped Richard’s chest again. “Raaaa gurrrr,” it said in its throaty growl, this time showing less teeth.
“Rich… ard.”
“Raaaach aaarg.”laughed. That’s close. Now, what are we going to call you?” Richard thought about it, trying to think of something appropriate. The gar sat, its brow bunched into deep furrows, watching him intently. After a moment, it took Richard’s hand and tapped it against his chest.
“Raaaach aaarg,” it said. It pulled Richard’s hand to its own chest, tapping it against the fur. “Grrratch.”
“Gratch?” Richard sat up straighter in surprise. “Your name is Gratch?” He tapped the gar again. “Gratch?”gar nodded and grinned as it tapped its own chest. “Grrratch. Grrratch.”was a little taken aback; it had never occurred to him that the gar might have a name. “Gratch it is, then.” He tapped his own chest again. “Richard.” He smiled and patted the gar’s shoulder. “Gratch.”gar spread its wings and thumped its chest with open claws. “Grrrratch!”laughed and the gar leapt on him, letting out its throaty giggle as it wrestled him to the ground. Gratch’s love of wrestling was second only to its love of food. The two of them tumbled across the ground, laughing and struggling to gently get the best of each other.was gentler about it than Gratch. The gar would put its mouth around Richard’s arm, though, thankfully, at least it never bit. Its needle-sharp fangs were long enough to easily go all the way through his arm, and he had seen the gar splinter bone with those teeth.brought the wrestling match to an end by sitting up on the stump. Gratch sat straddling him, arms, legs, and wings wrapped around him. It nuzzled against Richard’s shoulder. Gratch knew that at dawn Richard left.spied a rabbit in the underbrush, some distance off, and thought that perhaps Sister Verna would appreciate some meat for breakfast. “Gratch, I need a rabbit.”climbed off his lap as Richard took up his bow. After the arrow was off, he told the gar to bring him the rabbit, but not to eat it. Gratch had learned to retrieve, and was happy to do it; he always got what was left of the skinning and gutting.Richard was done and had bid Gratch good-bye, he hiked back to camp. His mind wandered back to the vision of Kahlan he had had in the tower, and the things she had told him. The sight of her being beheaded haunted him. He recalled her words:
“Speak if you must these words, but not of this vision. “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.’”knew who the “this one in white” was. He knew what “bring their joy and good cheer” meant.thought, too, about the prophecy that Sister Verna had told him of, the one that said, “He is the bringer of death, and he shall so name himself.” She claimed the prophecy said that the holder of the sword is able to call the dead forth, call the past into the present. He wondered, and worried, what that could mean.the camp, he found Sister Verna squatted at the fire, cooking bannock. The aroma made his stomach grumble. The sparsely wooded country was coming to life with sounds of animals and bugs heralding the dawn. Clusters of small, dark birds sang from the tall, thinly foliated trees, and gray squirrels chased each other up and down their branches. Richard hung the the skewer with the rabbit over the fire as Sister Verna continued to mind the bannock.
“I brought you some breakfast. I thought you might like some meat.”gave only a grunt of acknowledgment.
“You still angry with me for saving your life yesterday?”carefully laid another small stick on the fire. “I am not angry with you for saving my life, Richard.”
“I thought you said your Creator hated lies. Do you think he believes you? I don’t.”face turned so red Richard thought her curly hair might catch fire. “You will not speak blasphemy.”
“And lying is not?”
“You do not understand, Richard, why I’m angry.”sat on the ground and, grasping his ankles, folded his legs in. “Maybe I do. You’re supposed to be my protector. Not the other way around. Maybe you feel that you have failed. But I don’t feel that you failed. We both just did what we had to, to survive.”
“Did what we must?” Fine wrinkles radiated around her eyes as they narrowed. “As I recall from the book, when Bonnie, Geraldine, and Jessup led the people across the poison river, some of those people died.”smiled to himself. “so you really did read it.”
“I told you I did! That was foolhardy. We could have been killed taking that risk.”
“We didn’t have any choice.”
“You always have a choice, Richard. That is what I am trying to teach you.” She sat back on her heels. “The wizards who created that place thought they had no choice, but they made things worse. You were using your Han back there, and you were doing it without understanding the consequences.”
“What choice did we have?”on her knees, she leaned forward. “We always have a choice, Richard. You were lucky, this time, that your use of magic didn’t get you killed.”
“What are you talking about?”Verna drew a saddlebag close and started rummaging through it, finally pulling out a green cloth bag. “You got some blood from that beast on your arm. Did any of the bugs bite you?”
“On my legs.”
“Show me.”pulled up his pant legs and showed her the swollen, red bites. She shook her head and, whispering to herself, pulled first one and then a second bottle from the bag.a stick found on the ground nearby, she dipped a white paste from one bottle and wiped it onto the flat of a knife blade. She threw the stick in the fire. Taking up another stick, she dipped a dark paste from the other bottle and mixed it with the light on the flat of the blade, then spread it along the edge. She threw the second stick, with some of the mixed paste on it, into the fire. Richard flinched when it exploded in a white-hot ball of fire that lifted skyward, dissipating as it rose, turning to a boiling cloud of black smoke.held up the knife to reveal a gray paste spread on the blade. “Light and dark, earth and sky. Magic, to heal what would otherwise kill you by tonight. You have a way of getting yourself out onto thin limbs, Richard. Each step you take only makes your predicament worse. Now, come over here, closer.”dug his heels in and scooted around the fire. “Were you trying to decide whether or not you were going to help me?”
“Of course not. This is made from powerful magic, constructed magic, to smother the venom injected into you by the conjured creatures. Too soon, and the cure would kill you. Too late, the bites would kill you. It must be the right kind of magic, at the right time. I was simply waiting for the proper time.”wanted to argue with her, but instead said, “Thank you for helping me.” She frowned at him before leaning over his bites. “sister, how was I making things worse?”
“You were being reckless. Using magic is dangerous, not only to others, but to the one who calls it forth as well.”winced as she drew the edge across one of the bites, first one way, then the other, cutting an X on it. The sting made his eyes water.
“How can it be dangerous to me?”concentrated as she leaned over his leg, whispering an incantation while stroking the knife across his swollen flesh. He tried not to jump when she cut the next bite. She was only making light cuts, but they stung fiercely.
“It is like starting a fire in the center of a tinder dry wood. You find yourself in the center of the fire, in the center of what you have started. What you did was foolish and dangerous.”
“Sister Verna, I was trying to stay alive.”jabbed a finger at one of the painful bites. “And look what happened! If I don’t heal you, you’ll die.” She finished with his legs and turned her attention to his arm. “When we were being attacked by those beasts, you thought to save us, but everything you did only increased the danger.”she finished, she held the knife blade over the fire. A thin stream of white flame roared up from the steel, consuming the remaining paste. She held the blade to the fire until the paste, and the white flame, were gone.
“If I hadn’t acted, Sister, we would be dead.”shook the hot blade at him. “I did not say you were wrong to act! I said you acted in the wrong way! You used the wrong kind of magic!”
“I used the only thing I had! The sword!”pitched the knife. With a thunk, it stuck solidly in a piece of firewood. “Acting without knowing the consequences of the magic you call forth is perilous behavior!”
“Well, nothing you were doing was helping!”Verna rocked back on her heels, stared at him for a moment, and then turned to busy herself with replacing the bottles in the green bag.
“I’m sorry, Sister. I didn’t really mean that. It didn’t come out the way I intended. I only meant that you weren’t able to sense the way, and I knew if we stayed, we would be killed.”bottles clinked together as she moved them around in the bag. She seemed to be having difficulty getting them packed the way she wanted. “Richard, you think that controlling the gift, using magic, is what you are to learn with us… That is the easy part. Knowing what kind of magic to use, how much to use, when to use it, and the consequences of using it, that is the hard part. That is the meaning of everything. How, how much, when, and what if—just like the magic I have put on your bites.”fixed him with a deadly serious expression. “Without that knowledge, you are a blind man swinging an axe in a crowd of children. You have no idea of the danger you invoke when you use magic. We try to give you sight, and some sense, before you swing that axe.”picked at a clump of grass at his feet. “I never thought about it that way.”
“Perhaps, if anything, I should be angry with myself for being foolish. I didn’t think there was anything powerful enough to tempt me into a trap. I was wrong. Thank you, Richard, for saving me.”wrapped a long stalk of grass around his finger. “I was so relieved to find you… I thought you were dead. I’m glad you’re not.”had pulled all the little bottles out of the bag and set them on the ground. “I could have been lost in that spell for all time. I should have been.”
“What do you mean?”seemed to him to be more bottles than would fit into the bag, but then, he had seen them all come out. “We have tried to rescue Sisters before. We have seen some, and their charges, lost in those enchantment spells. I saw one, the first time I went through. We have never been able to get them out. Sisters have died trying.” She started replacing the bottles. “You used magic.”
“I used the sword. The sword has magic, you know.”
“No. You didn’t use the sword’s magic. You used your Han, even though you didn’t realize it. Using your Han through desire, without wisdom, is the most dangerous thing you can do.”
“Sister, I think it was just the sword’s magic.”
“When you called to me, I heard you. We have tried to call to others, and they have never heard us. Not once.”
“You just didn’t know how. You couldn’t hear me either, until I stepped through some sort of sparkling wall around you. Then you could hear me. You just have to step through that wall first.”pushed bottles to each side to make more room as she spoke softly. “We know that, Richard. We have tried every sort of magic, and have never been able to pass through or break the wall of one of these spells, or been able to get the attention of one captured by it. No one has ever been brought out of an enchantment spell before.” She replaced the last bottle and finally turned to face him. “Thank you, Richard.”shrugged as he pulled the grass off his finger. “Well, it was the least I could do to make up for what I did.”
“For what you did?”occupied himself with carefully rolling his pants back down. “Well, before I saved you, I kind of killed you.”leaned closer. “You did what?”
“You were hurting me. With your magic. With the collar.”sorry, Richard. I was in the spell and didn’t realize what I was doing. I didn’t intend to hurt you.”shook his head. “Not then. Before. In the white tower.”leaned even closer and gritted her teeth. “You went into a tower? Are you mad? I told you what those towers are! How could you be so…”
“Sister. I had no choice.”
“We have already discussed choice. I told you how dangerous those towers are. I told you to stay away from them!”
“Look, there was lightning all around. It was trying to strike me. I… well, I didn’t know what else to do. So I dove through an archway, into the tower, for protection.”
“Can’t you follow the simplest instructions? Must you always act a child?”looked up from under his eyebrows. “Those were your exact words. You came into the tower. I was sure it was you. You were angry with me, much as you are now, and you used those exact words.”gritted his teeth as he put a finger to the collar at his neck. “You used this. You used it to throw me against the wall, and pin me there with it. Can this collar do that, Sister?”sat much quieter. “Yes. We don’t have the power of a wizard, the male Han. The collar amplifies our power, so we may be stronger than the one wearing it. So we can teach them.”voice was deep with anger. “Then you used it to give me pain, like the pain you did for real, when you were in the spell. Only it was stronger, and went on and on. Can the collar do that, too, Sister?”pulled a clump of grass to her side and began cleaning her hands with it, avoiding his glare. “Yes. But that was a vision, Richard. I wasn’t really doing it.”
“I told you to stop hurting me or I would put a stop to it. You wouldn’t stop, so I called the sword’s magic and broke the bond of the power holding me. You were furious. You said that I had made my last mistake. You said you were going to kill me for fighting you. You were going to kill me, Sister.”
“I’m sorry, Richard,” she whispered as she looked up, “that you had to suffer that.” Her voice regained some of its strength. “so, what did you do to me… to the vision of me?” He leaned over and touched the edge of his first finger to the side of her shoulder. “I cut you in half with the sword. Right here.”hands stopped; she was stone still. Some of the color had left her face. Finally, she regained her composure.picked at the clump of grass by his foot again. “I didn’t want to do it, but I was positive you were going to kill me.”tossed the grass aside. “I’m sure you were, Richard. But that was only a vision. If it were real, it wouldn’t have turned out that way. You would not have been able to do what you did.”
“Who are you trying to convince, Sister? Me, or yourself?”met his glare. The things you saw were not as they are in the real world. They were simply illusions.”let it drop. He turned the stick with the rabbit to cook the other side, and slid the iron plate with the bannock to the side of the fire to let it cool.
“Anyway, when I saw you again, I didn’t know if you were a vision, or real, but I truly hoped you were alive. I didn’t want to kill you.” He looked up and smiled. “Besides, I promised you that you would get through the Valley of the Lost.”nodded. “Yes, you did. More desire than wisdom indeed.”
“Sister, I was only doing what I could think of to survive. To help you survive, too.”sighed and shook her head. “Richard, I know you’re trying to do your best, but you must understand that what you think is best is not necessarily right. You’re calling your Han without knowing what you’re doing, or even realizing you’re doing it. In so doing, you tempt danger you can’t fathom.”
“How was I using my Han?”
“Wizards make promises that their Han strives to keep. You promised me you would help me through the valley—save me. But in so doing, you have invoked prophecy.”frowned. “I’ve given no prophecy.”
“Not only given it, but used your Han without realizing it, used prophecy without knowing its form, to do something in the past to aid you in the future.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You destroyed the horses” bits.”
“I told you at the time why I did that. They’re cruel.”shook her head. That’s what I’m talking about. You think you did it for one reason, but it served another purpose. Your conscious mind is simply seeking to rationalize what your Han is doing. When we were running from the valley, I didn’t believe in what you were doing, and I tried to turn my horse. Because he didn’t have a bit, I was unable to.”
“So what?”leaned closer. “destroying the bits in the past satisfied a need of a promise in the future. That was using prophecy. You’re swinging the axe blindly.”gave her a skeptical expression. “That’s a stretch, Sister. Even for you.”
“I know how the gift works, Richard.”thought about it, and finally decided he didn’t believe her, but decided, too, that he didn’t want to argue with her about it. There were other things he wanted to know.
“Is your little book full? I haven’t seen you writing in it.”
“I sent a message yesterday, that we have come through the valley. I have nothing else to write, that’s all. The book is magic. With magic, we erase old messages. I erased all but two pages, but with what I added yesterday, there are now three pages full.”tore off a corner of the hot bannock. “Who is the Prelate?”
“She charges the Sisters of the Light. She is…” Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve never mentioned her. How do you know of her?”licked the crumbs from his fingers. “I read it in your book.”hand flew to her belt, groping for the book. It was there, where it always was. “You’ve read my private writing! You have no right! I will…”
“You were dead at the time.” Her mouth snapped shut, and he went on. “When I killed you, or the illusion of you, the book fell on the ground. I read it.”tension left her muscles. “Oh. Well, that’s simply part of the illusion. I told you, it’s not as things are in life.”tore off another corner of bannock. “There were only two pages with writing, just as the real book. Not until after we were through the valley did you add the third. Back then, there were only two.”watched him eating the bannock. “Illusion, Richard.”looked up. “One page said: “I am the Sister in charge of this boy. These directives are beyond reason if not absurd. I demand to know the meaning of these instructions. I demand to know upon whose authority they are given.—Yours in the service of the Light, Sister Verna Sauventreen.” The second page said: “You will do as you are instructed, or suffer the consequences. Do not presume to question the orders of the palace again.—In my own hand, The Prelate.’”Sister’s face had drained of color. “You had no business reading something belonging to another.”
“As I said, you were dead at the time. What instructions did they give you about me that made you so angry?”color came back to her face in a rush. “It has to do with a technicality. It’s nothing you would understand, and anyway, it is not your business.”lifted an eyebrow. “Not my business? You claim you are only trying to help me, yet you’ve taken me prisoner, and you say it’s not my business? I have this collar around my neck, and with it you can hurt me, perhaps kill me, and you say it is not my business? You tell me I must do the things you say, that I must take them on faith, even though that faith is shaken with every new thing I discover, yet it’s not my business? You tell me that the illusion I saw was not as things are in the real world, yet I find it was, and you tell me it’s not my business?”Verna was silent. She watched him without emotion. Watched him, he thought, as if he were a bug in a box.
“Sister Verna, will you tell me one thing I’ve been wondering about?”
“If I can.”pulled his legs up tighter under himself. He tried to keep any hostility out of his tone. “When you first saw me, you were surprised that I was grown. You thought that I would be young.”’s right. We have ones at the palace who can sense one born with the gift. But you were hidden from us, so it took us a very long time to find you.”
“But you told me just the other day that you had spent over half your life away from the palace, searching for me. If you’ve spent twenty-odd years looking for me, how could you expect me to be young? You would have expected me to be grown, unless you didn’t know I had been born, and started searching for me long before anyone at the palace sensed me.”answer came in a cautious, quiet voice. “It is as you say. It has never happened this way before.”
“So why would you come looking for me before any of you sensed that one with the gift had been born?”chose her words carefully. “We didn’t know precisely when you would be born, but we knew you would be, so we were sent in search.”
“How did you know I would be born?”
“You are spoken of in prophecy.”nodded. He wanted to know about this prophecy and why they thought he was so important, but he didn’t want to stray from the trail he was following at the moment. “so you knew it might be many years before you found me?”
“Yes. We didn’t know when you would be born. We were only able to narrow it to a range of decades.”
“How are the Sisters who are to be sent chosen?”
“We’re selected by the Prelate.”
“You have no say in the matter?”tensed, as if suspicious she might accidentally be slipping her neck through a noose, yet was unable to keep from voicing her faith. “We work in the service of the Creator. We would have no reason to object. The whole purpose of the palace is to help those with the gift. To be selected to save one with the gift is one of the greatest honors a Sister may receive.”
“So, none of the others sent have ever had to give up so many years of their lives to rescue one with the gift?”
“No. I’ve never heard of it taking more than a year. But I knew this assignment could last for decades.”smiled to himself in triumph. He leaned back, stretching his muscles. He took a deep breath. “Now I understand.”eyes narrowed. “What do you understand?”
“I understand, Sister Verna, why you treat me the way you do. I understand why we’re always fighting, why we’re always at each other’s throats. I understand why you resent me. Why you hate me.”looked like someone waiting for the trapdoor to fall put from under her. “I don’t hate you, Richard.”nodded, and pulled the catch on that trapdoor. “Yes, you do. You hate me. And I don’t blame you. I understand. You had to give up Jedidiah because of me.”flinched as if a noose had just tightened around her neck. “Richard! You will not speak to me in…”
“You resent me because of that. Not because of what happened to the other two Sisters. It’s because of Jedidiah. If it weren’t for me, you would be with him. You would have been with him for the last twenty years. You had to give up the love of your life to go on this accursed quest to find me. They sent you. You had no choice; you had to go. It’s your duty, and it cost you your love, and the children you might have had. That’s what I’ve cost you; why you hate me.”Verna sat and stared; she neither spoke nor moved. Finally, she said, The Seeker, indeed.”
“I’m sorry, Sister Verna.”
“No need to be, Richard. You don’t know what you are talking about.” She slowly lifted the rabbit from the fire, setting it on the iron plate with the bannock. For a moment she stared off into nothing. “We had better finish eating. We must be on our way.”
“Fine. But I just want you to consider, Sister, that it’s not by my choice. I didn’t do this to you. The Prelate did. You should either be angry with her, or if you’re so devoted to your duty, to your Creator, as you claim, then you should have joy in His service. Either way, please stop blaming me.”opened her mouth to speak, but then instead fumbled with the stopper on the waterskin, finally getting it off, and took a long drink. Drawing deep breaths when she finished, she dabbed her sleeve to her wet lips.unwavering gaze locked on his. “soon, Richard, we will be to the palace, but first we have to pass through the land of a very dangerous people. The Sisters have an arrangement with them, to be allowed to pass. You will have to do a task for them. You will do it, or there will be great trouble.”
“What will I have to do?”
“You will have to kill someone for them.”
“Sister Verna, I promise you, I’m not going to…”index finger rose from her fist, commanding silence. “don’t you dare swing the axe this time, Richard,” she whispered. “You have no idea of the consequences.”rose to her feet. “Get the horses ready. We must be leaving.”stood. “Aren’t you going to have your breakfast?”ignored his question and stepped close to him.
“It takes two to argue, Richard. You’re always angry with me, with everything I tell you. You resent me. You hate me, because you think I made you put on that collar. But I didn’t, and you know it. Kahlan made you put it on. It’s because of her you wear the Rada’Han. If it weren’t for her, you wouldn’t be with me. That’s what I’ve cost you, and why you hate me.
“But I think you should consider, Richard, that it’s not by “my choice. I didn’t do this to you. Kahlan did. You should either be angry with her, or if you’re so devoted to her, as you claim, then have joy in carrying out her wishes. Perhaps she has valid reasons for them. Maybe she has your interests at heart. Either way, please stop blaming me.”tried to swallow, but couldn’t.37bloodred light of day’s death oozed through the bones of trees lining the spine of the next ridge. Her green-eyed gaze left the well-hidden places where outposts of sentries were stationed. They were too far apart, she noted, or she would not be standing unnoticed where she was. She tallied the men in rank upon rank of tents marching up the valley floor below. Five thousand would be generous, she concluded.were picketed to her left, near supply wagons all neatly lined up. To the far side of the valley, latrines had been dug in the snow. Cook wagons stationed between the men and the supply wagons were packing up for the night. Colorful battle flags flew over the command tents. It was probably the most orderly army she had ever seen afield. Galeans did have a penchant for order.
“They look very nice,” Chandalen said in a quiet voice, “for men about to be slaughtered.” The two brothers gave nervous chuckles of agreement.nodded absently. That morning, they had seen the army these men were chasing. They were not neat. They were not orderly. They were not pretty. And their sentries were not stationed too far apart. Still, Chandalen and the two brothers had managed to get her close enough to see what she had wanted to see, and to take a tally.had guessed their numbers at fifty thousand. And that was not being generous.let out a long breath, its thin, white cloud drifting away in the cold air. “I have to stop this.” She hiked her pack and bow up on her back. “Let’s get down there.”, Prindin, and Tossidin followed behind as she slogged down the hillside of fluffy snow. It had taken her longer than she had hoped to catch these men. A blizzard high in Jara Pass had left the four of them holed up in the shelter of a wayward pine for two days. Wayward pines always reminded Kahlan of Richard, and as she had lain in her fur mantle, listening to the howl of the wind, she had dreamed of him while she slept, and while she was awake.was furious that she had to lose valuable time on the way to Aydindril to stop this army from their suicide pursuit—of the forces that had destroyed Ebinissia, but as the Mother Confessor she couldn’t allow nearly five thousand men to die to no purpose. She had to stop them before they got close to the army that had plundered Ebinissia. They were too close now. They would surely make contact by the next day.army sprang to alert as the four figures in white wolf-pelt mantles marched toward them. Shouts erupted, and were repeated back through the ranks. Tent flaps were flung open and men poured out. Swords were drawn, sending the ring of steel into the cold, twilight air. Men with spears came running through the snow. Men with bows took up positions, nocking arrows. A wall of several hundred men put themselves between her and the command tents. More were coming at a run, pulling on clothes, shouting to others still in their tents.and the three men with her came to a halt. She stood tall and still. Behind her, Chandalen, Prindin, and Tossidin leaned lazily on their spears.man of rank tumbled out of the largest tent as he pulled on a heavy, brown coat. He made his way through the wall of men, shouting at the archers to hold their arrows. He was joined by two others of rank as he stumbled through the line of defenders. She recognized his rank as he approached. He was the captain. The two men with him, one to each side, were lieutenants.he drew himself to a panting halt before her, she let the hood of her mantle drop back. Her long hair fell across the white fur.
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