Stone of Tears

The burden of a wizard. That’s what it is called. Using people. A wise wizard understands that he cannot do everything himself, and that if the matter is important enough, he must use other people to accomplish what must be done. Even if it is to cost those other people their lives. It’s a rare ability, and vital to being a good wizard. Perhaps, to being a Prelate, too.”

“Ann, it’s urgent. I must speak with you.”

“Urgent, is it? Well, then, why don’t we go for a walk in my garden, and we can talk about this urgent business.”

She placed her arm in his, and walked him through the open doorway. Outside, in the moonlight, was a grand, expansive courtyard, with trees, paths, flower beds, wild areas, and a lovely pond. The beauty of the garden didn’t register in Richard’s mind. He had hardly been able to eat or sleep since he had had his talk with Warren. If the Keeper escaped, he would have everyone, including Kahlan. Richard had to do something.

“Ann, there is great trouble in the world. I need your help. I need this collar off so I may go help.”

That’s what I am here for, Richard. To help. What is the trouble?”

The Keeper…”

The Nameless One,” she corrected.

“What difference does it make?”

“Calling him by his name calls his attention.”

“Ann, it’s just a word. It’s the meaning of the word that matters, not an arrangement of letters. Do you think that when you call the Keeper the Nameless One, instead, that he would be fooled into thinking you weren’t speaking of him? It’s a mistake to assume your enemies are ignorant, and you are clever.”

A hearty laugh rose from in her chest. “I have been waiting for a very long time for someone to figure that out.”

She paused with him at the edge of the pond, and he asked, “What is “the pebble in the pond’?”

She gazed out over the water. “You are one, Richard.”

“You mean there are more than one?”

A small stone floated through the air, up into her hand.

“Everyone has an effect on others. Some people inspire others to do great things. Some take people into crime with them. Those with the gift affect those around them even more. The stronger the Han, the stronger the effect.”

“What does that have to do with me? What does that have to do with a pebble in a pond?”

“You see all the duck weed floating on the surface? Say that’s the other people, the world of life, and this pebble is you.” She tossed the stone into the pond. “see what happens? The ripples caused by you affect everyone else. Without you, all those ripples would not have happened.”

“So they float up and down, on the ripples. But the stone sank.”

She gave him a humorless grin. “don’t ever forget that.”

The answer gave him pause. “I think you invest too much faith in me. You don’t know anything about me.”

“Perhaps more than you think, child. And what is it that concerns you about the Keeper?”

“Something must be done. He’s about to escape. One of the boxes of Orden has been opened, the gateway is open. The Stone of Tears is in this world. I need to do something.”

“Ahh.” She smiled as she drifted to a stop. “so you, who was just thrown up against a wall by the Han of a mere Sister, wants to go off and battle the Keeper himself?”

“But things have happened. Something must be done.”

“I see you have been talking to Warren. A very bright young man, Warren. He is still young, though. Sometimes he needs direction. Guidance.” She tipped a branch closer. “He studies hard, and loves those books. I think he must know every smudge on them.”

She was inspecting a flower on the branch. As he watched her in the moonlight, he decided he might have thought himself more clever than he was. Warren, too.

“So, what about the Keeper? What about the Stone of Tears?”

She put her arm back through his and walked him on. “If the gateway is open and the Stone of Tears is in this world, Richard, why does the Keeper not have us? Hmm?”

“Maybe he’s about to swallow us all at any moment.”

“Ahh. So you think that maybe he is busy with his dinner, and when he is finished, and wipes his chin clean, he will get around to swallowing the world of the living, so you want to rush off and close the gateway before he picks his napkin from his lap? Is this the way you think the worlds beyond ours work? In the same terms as this world?”

Richard nervously raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know. I don’t know how it all works, but Warren said…”

“Warren does not know everything. He is but a student. He has a talent for the prophecies, but he has much to learn.

“Do you know why we keep the prophecies down in the vaults, and restrict who may read them? For the very reason we are having this discussion. Because prophecy is dangerous to the untrained mind, and sometimes even to the trained mind. There is more to things than you see, or the Keeper would have us already.”

“Are you saying we’re not in danger?”

She smiled a sly smile. “We are always in danger, Richard. As long as there is a world of the living, there will be danger. All life is mortal.”