“Why?”
Nathan 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.”
“That’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.
“Teaching 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.
“They 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?”
“They 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.”
Richard 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.”
“And the counter to it?”
“The secret is that there is no counter. I must be always vigilant, knowing that I, too, am vulnerable, and never arrogantly believe I am immune. I must always be alert that I can fall prey.”
“Very good.”
“And the Second Rule?”
Nathan’s white eyebrows hooded his azure eyes. “The Second Rule involves unintended results.”
“So, what is it?”
“The Second Rule is that the greatest harm can result from the best intentions. It sounds a paradox, but kindness and good intentions can be an insidious path to destruction. Sometimes doing what seems right is wrong, and can cause harm. The only counter to it is knowledge, wisdom, forethought, and understanding the First Rule. Even then, that is not always enough.”
“Good intentions, or doing right, can cause harm? Such as?”
Nathan shrugged. “It would seem kind to give candy to a small child, because they like it so. Knowledge, wisdom, and forethought tell us that it would make the child sick if we continued this ‘kindness’ at the expense of good food.”
“That’s obvious. Anyone would know that.”
“Say a person hurts their leg, and you bring them food while they heal, but after time they still don’t wish to get up, because it hurts at first. So, you continue to be kind and bring them food. Over time, their legs will shrivel, and it will be even more painful to get up, so you are kind and continue bringing food. In the end, they will be bedridden, unable to ever walk again, because of your kindness. Your good intentions have brought harm.”
“I don’t think that happens often enough to be a problem.”
“I’m trying to give you obvious examples, Richard, so you will be better able to extrapolate to more difficult problems, and understand an obscure principle.
“Good intentions, being kind, can encourage the lazy, and motivate sound minds to become indolent. The more help you give them, the more help they need. As long as your kindness is open-ended, they never gain discipline, dignity, or self-reliance. Your kindness impoverishes their humanity.
“If you give a coin to a begger because he says his family is hungry, and he uses it to get drunk, and then kills someone, is it your fault? No. He did the killing, but had you given him food instead, or gone and given his family food, the killing would not have happened. It was a good intention that resulted in harm.
“Wizard’s Second Rule: the greatest harm can result from the best intentions. Violation can cause anything from discomfort, to disaster, to death.
“Some leaders have preached peace, saying that even self-defense is wrong. It seems the best of intentions to shun violence. In the end, it often leads to a slaughter, where their threat of violence in the beginning would have prevented attack, and resulted in no violence. They put their good intentions above the realities of life. They accuse warriors of being bloodthirsty, when the warriors would have actually prevented bloodshed.”
“Are you trying to say I should feel no shame at being a war wizard?”
“It does the sheep no good to preach the goodness of a diet of grass, if the wolves are of a different mind.”
Richard felt as though he were having a conversation with Zedd. “But kindness can’t always be wrong.”
“Of course not. That’s where wisdom comes in. You must be wise enough to foresee the consequences of your actions.
“But the problem with the Second Rule is that you can’t always tell for sure whether you are violating it, or simply doing right. Worse, magic is dangerous. When you add magic to the good intentions, violation of the Second Rule can lead to catastrophe.
“Using magic is easy. Knowing when to use magic is the hard part. Every time you use it, you can bring unexpected ruin.
“Do you know, Richard, that it’s the weight of one flake of snow that is one too many, and causes an avalanche? Without that one, last flake, the catastrophe would not happen. When using magic, you must know which is the one snowflake too many before you add its weight. The avalanche will be out of all proportion to what you think the weight of that flake could invoke.”
Richard rubbed his thumb on the hilt of his sword. “Nathan, I think I may have torn the veil because I violated the Wizard’s Second Rule.”
“You did.”
“What did I do?”
“You used your magic, through the Wizard’s First Rule, to win. In so doing, you fed magic to the boxes, the gateway, tearing the veil. You did it through ignorance. You didn’t know that the unintended results of doing what seemed right could be the destruction of all life. One snowflake indeed. Magic is dangerous.”
“How can I fix it?”
“The Stone of Tears must be put back on the K
eeper. The lock, the seal, must be restored. The Stone of Tears must be sent back to its rightful place, in the underworld, where it will serve to restrain the Keeper’s power in this world. To do that requires both powers.
“The key must then be turned in the lock, so to speak, by closing the gateway. This also requires both Magics. Doing any of this with only one side of the magic would rip the veil, so a wizard with the gift for only the Additive, such as myself, would be of no help. Only one such as you can accomplish the task.
“Until it is done, we are in terrible danger. If you act wrongly, use the stone for your own reasons, you have the power to destroy the balance and tear the veil the rest of the way, sending us all into eternal night.”
Richard stared at the table while he thought. “Do you know what an ‘agent’ is?”
“Ah. You must be talking about the trouble with the upcoming winter solstice. An agent is one who trades favors with the Keeper, favors such as the innocent souls of children, in return for knowledge of the use of Subtractive Magic.”
He gave Richard a dark look. “But that would not be a problem, because you sent Darken Rahl to the underworld, where he has no power here. Darken Rahl is in the underworld, is he not?”
Richard felt a gnawing pain in the pit of his stomach. He had not only torn the veil, but in violating the Second Rule again, by trying to help with a gathering, he had brought an agent, Darken Rahl, back to this world where he could act to tear the veil. It was all Richard’s fault. He felt hot and dizzy. He thought he might be sick at any moment.
“Nathan, I have to get this collar off.”
Nathan shrugged. “I can’t help with that.”
Richard had come here for a specific reason. He decided he had to try to get the answer. He cleared his throat.
“Nathan, there is someone very important to me. She is in danger, and I must help. There is a prophecy about her that is written down, but it also came to me in a vision.”
“Which prophecy?”
“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 . . .”
In his deep, powerful voice, Nathan finished the prophecy. “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.”
“Then you know of it. Nathan, I saw the meaning of the prophecy. I was told not to speak of the vision, but it’s not a joyful outcome as far as I’m concerned.”
“She is beheaded,” Nathan said in a quiet voice. “That is the true meaning of that prophecy.”
Richard put his arm across his churning stomach. That was what he had seen in the vision. His world started spinning again.
“Nathan, I have to get away from here. I have to stop that from happening.”
“Richard, look at me.” Richard looked up, managing to hold the tears back. “Richard, I must tell you the truth. If this prophecy does not happen, there is nothing beyond. We all die. It will be the end of all life. The Keeper will have us.
“If you use your power to stop it, you will rip the veil asunder and allow the Keeper to swallow the word of the living.”
Richard shot to his feet. “Why! Why would she have to die to save the living! It makes no sense!” His fist tightened around the hilt of the sword. “I have to stop it! It’s just a stupid riddle! I won’t let her die for a riddle!”
“Richard, a time will come when you have to make a choice. I have been hoping for a very long time now that when that time comes, you will be wise enough to make the right choice. You have the power to destroy us all if you choose wrongly.”
“I will not stand here while you tell me I must let her die. The good spirits have done nothing to help. I must. I will.”
Richard stormed from the room. Cracks ran along the walls beside him as he marched down the hall. Chunks of plaster rained down behind as he went. Richard only dimly noticed, but it pleased his temper. When he went through the shield, the paint on the walls to the side charred and curled.
Richard’s thoughts ran wildly in all directions at once. He knew now that his vision had been of what was going to happen if he didn’t stop it. It was going to come true if he couldn’t get away from the palace. Maybe that was what the prophecy meant, that he would be held prisoner there, and he wouldn’t be able to help, and Kahlan would die.
In the courtyard below, Richard saw a commotion. Guards were running from everywhere. When he got closer, he saw one of the Baka Ban Mana blade masters. There had to be close to a hundred worried-looking guards surrounding him in a ring, holding their distance. The man in loose-fitting clothes, in the center of the ring, looked unconcerned.
Richard pushed through the throng. “What’s going on?”
The man bowed to Richard. “Caharin. I am Jiaan. Your wife, Du Chaillu, has sent me to give you a message.”
Richard decided not to contest the wife part. “What is it?”
“I am to tell you that she has followed her husband’s instructions. We have brought the Majendie to a peace with us. We no longer make war with them, or the people here.”
“That’s wonderful news, Jiaan. Tell her I am proud of her, and her people.”
“Your people,” Jiaan corrected. “She wants you to know she has decided to bear the child. And she also sends message that we are ready to return to our homeland. She wishes to know when you will come to take us there.”
Richard glanced around at the people. Not only guards were gathered, but Sisters, too. He recognized a few of his teachers watching: Sisters Tovi, Nicci, and Armina. Pasha stood nearby. At the far edge of the crowd he saw Sister Verna. On a balcony in the distance, beyond the walls, he saw the squat figure of the Prelate.
Richard turned back to Jiaan. “Tell her to be ready, that it will be soon.”
Jiaan bowed. “Thank you, Caharin. We will be ready.”
Richard spoke to the guards in a circle around them. “This man has come in peace. He is to be left in peace.”
Jiaan strode away, unconcerned, as if he were alone on a walk, but the ring of guards moved with him, as Richard knew they would until he was well clear of the city. The crowd started drifting away.
Richard’s head was pounding. He had brought his father back from the underworld by violating the Wizard’s Second Rule a second time in the spirit house; he had tried to do the right thing and instead had brought harm. Warren had told him that the Keeper needed an agent to escape, and Richard had provided one.
His mind reeled. He had just found out that Kahlan loved him and life seemed good again, only to discover that he was to be trapped here for hundreds of years, and if he couldn’t escape, Kahlan would die on winter solstice. His thoughts went around and around in a desperate tangle.
He had to do something. Time was running out. He decided to find the one person who might be able to help him.
Chapter 64
She heard the voices in the outer office, and hoped it was who she thought it would be. She was not looking forward to this, but she was running out of time. Richard would have surely found a way to see Nathan by now, and Nathan would have done his part. Now it was time to do hers.
She couldn’t completely trust Nathan, but in this, he would have done what was required. He knew the consequences of failure. His had been a task she didn’t envy—adding the weight of that snowflake.
With a flick of her fingers, the door swung open. She had had to have the carpenters fix the doorframe. Richard had shattered it with his Han, without even being aware of what he had done. And that was before he had even gone to Nathan.
The curt speech cut off as the door opened, and the three faces looked in, awaiting instruction.
“Sister Ulicia, Finella, it’s late; why don’t you two run along to your offices and tend to your paperwork. I will see her. Sister Verna, please come in.”
Ann stood as Sister Verna strode in. She liked Verna. She abhor
red what she was going to have to do to her, but she was running out of time. Hundreds of years to prepare, and now time and events were slipping through her fingers.
The world was at the brink.
Verna bowed. “Prelate Annalina.”
“Please, Verna, sit down. It has been so long.”
Verna pulled a chair close to the opposite side of the table. She sat with her back straight and her hands folded in her lap. “How good of you to take your valuable time to see me.”
Ann almost smiled. Almost. Dear Creator, thank you for sending her to me testy; though it won’t make my job any less onerous, it will surely make it easier.
“I have been busy.”
“So have I,” Verna snapped. “For the last twenty-odd years.”
“Apparently not busy enough. We seem to be having difficulty with a boy you collected, who you should have taken to task before he even arrived.”
Verna’s face turned scarlet. “Had you not forbidden me from doing my duty, using my skills, I would have done so.”
“Oh? Are you so barren of resourcefulness, Verna, that you could not function with minor restrictions? Pasha, a mere novice, seems to be having better success, and she functions under the same restrictions.”
“You think so? You think he is under control?”
“He has not killed anyone since Pasha took over.”
Verna stiffened. “I think I know something of Richard. I would advise the Prelate caution in her confidence.”
Ann looked down, moving papers about, as if devoting attention to words she was not seeing. “I will take your advice under consideration. Thank you for coming, Verna.”
“I’m not finished! I haven’t yet begun!”
Her eyes came slowly up. “If you raise your voice to me again, you will be, Verna.”
“Prelate Annalina, please forgive my tone, but there are matters of grave importance I simply must raise.”
Ann sighed, feigning impatience. “Yes, yes, then please do get to it. I have much work to do.” She folded her hands on the desk and gave Verna a blank look. “Go on then.”
Stone of Tears tsot-2 Page 106
