Stone of Tears

There was an image of a woman, a beautiful woman with long hair. Maybe a Confessor, although I don’t know how that could be. The aura flamed so strongly with anguish for her that I felt my face, fearing I would find the skin burned. If I hadn’t been at devotion, I would have fallen to my knees anyway from the agony of the auras.

“I almost rushed to him, to comfort him, when two Mord-Sith approached, and noticed him standing, and not kneeling. He felt no fear, but he went to his knees anyway, out of resignation to the terrible betrayal he had been forced into. I was relieved when he knelt; I thought that would be the end of it. I was thankful I had seen only auras, for the most part, and not true visions. I didn’t want to see any visions from that man.” She stared off, seemingly lost in the memory of it.

“But that wasn’t the end of it?”

Her eyes came back to where she was. “No. I thought the worst of it was over, but what I had seen didn’t touch what was to come.”

Jebra dry-washed her hands for a moment. “We were saying the chant to Father Rahl, and all of a sudden he sprang up He had a smile on his face. He had solved the puzzle that trapped him. The last piece had snapped into place. The woman’s face and his love for her filled the aura.”

She shook her head. “I pity the person who ever puts a finger between those two. They will lose the finger, maybe the hand, and maybe the whole arm before they have the time to think to pull it back.”

“Her name is Kahlan,” Zedd said with a little smile. “And then what happened?”

Jebra crossed her arms across her abdomen. Then the visions started. I saw him killing a man, but I couldn’t tell how. Not with blood, but killing him just the same. And then I saw the man he was going to kill: Darken Rahl. And then I saw that it was his father, but he didn’t know it. That was when I knew who he was: the son of Darken Rahl, the soon to be new Master Rahl. The aura was flashing in terrible conflicts. Commoner to king.”

Zedd put a comforting hand to her shoulder. “darken Rahl wanted to rule the world with a frightful magic. By stopping him, Richard saved a great many from torture or death. Even though killing is terrible, by doing so he has saved the lives of many more. Surely you would not be frightened of Richard because of that.”

She shook her head. “No. It was by what came next. The two Mord-Sith stood, because he was going to leave a devotion. One raised her Agiel, threatening him. I was surprised to see he wore one at his neck, red, just like theirs. He held it out in his fist. He told them that if they didn’t let him pass, he would kill them. The aura of violence around him took my breath away. He wanted them to try. They sensed it and let him pass.”

“As he turned to leave… that was when I saw the other visions.” She put a hand to her heart as tears ran down her cheeks. “Zedd… my visions are not always clear. Sometimes. I don’t know what they mean. Once I saw a farmer’s vision. Birds were pecking at the stomachs of him and his family. I didn’t know what it meant. It turned out that a flock of blackbirds came and ate the seed he had just planted. He was able to replant, and guard the field. But he and his family could have starved if he hadn’t.”

She wiped her fingers at the tears on her cheeks. “sometimes I can’t tell what the visions mean, or if they will turn out to be true; not all of that kind do.” She fussed with her hair. “But sometimes they come to pass exactly as I see them. I can tell when they are true, and will happen without a doubt.”

Zedd patted her shoulder. “I understand, Jebra. Visions are a form of prophecy, and I know how confusing prophecy can be. What kind of vision did you see from Richard? The confusing kind, or the ones that are clear?”

She shared a deep gaze with his eyes. “I saw every kind. I saw every kind of vision I have ever had, from the confusing to clear; from the possible to the certain. They came in a rush. They have never done that before. Mostly I only have a single vision, and I either know what it means and that it is true, or I don’t understand it and can’t tell if it will come to pass. The visions from this man came in a torrent. They rushed past like wind-driven rain. But every one was pain and hurt and danger.

The ones that stood out the hardest, and I knew to be true, were the worst. One was of something around his neck. I couldn’t tell what, but it was something that will cause him great pain, and take him from the woman… Kahlan, you said her name was… take him from everyone he loves. Lock him away.”

“Richard was captured by a Mord-Sith, and tortured by her. Perhaps that is what you saw,” Zedd offered.

Jebra shook her head vehemently. “It wasn’t what was: it was what will be. And not the pain of a Mord-Sith. Different. I am sure of it.”

Zedd nodded in thought. “What else?”