Stone of Tears

“Before they are able to think for themselves, Sister Verna?” She was silent. “I will ask again. How do you know I have the gift?”

Sister Grace smoothed her straight black hair. “When one is born with the gift, it lies dormant, and is harmless. We strive to find these boys when they are young. We have a number of ways of knowing who they are. It has happened that one with the gift does things that trigger its growth, its evolution. When that happens it becomes a threat to them. How you managed to slip by our knowledge is something we can’t answer.

“Once triggered, the power begins to evolve. It cannot be stopped. It must be mastered or you will die. This is what has happened to you. It is exceedingly rare for it to happen this way. To be honest, though we have been taught it has happened before, none of us has personal knowledge of it.

Back at the Palace of the Prophets there will be old records of this in others, and we will look into it. But that doesn’t change what matters: you have the gift, it has been triggered, and the evolution has begun.

“We have never had to teach one of your age before. I fear the trouble it is going to cause at the palace. Teaching the gift requires discipline. One of your age has obvious difficulty with this.”

Richard softened his tone, but his gaze hardened. “sister Grace, I will ask for the last time. How do you know I have the gift?”

She stood up a little straighter and let out a noisy breath. She nicked a glance to Sister Verna. “Tell him.”

Sister Verna gave a resigned nod and pulled a small black book from behind her belt. With a frown, she began leafing through it. Those with the gift have some use of it throughout their life, in little ways, even though it lies dormant. Perhaps you have noticed how you could do some things that others could not, yes? The evolution of the gift is triggered by the specific use of the magic. Once triggered, it cannot be undone. This is what you have done.”

She continued turning pages, running her finger down them. “Ah. Here it is.” She lowered the book and looked up. “There are three things that must be done, in a specific manner, to trigger the gift. We don’t fully understand the precise nature of these things, but we understand their general principles. You have done these three things. First, you must use the gift to save another. Second, you must use the gift to save yourself. Third, you must use the gift to kill another with the gift. Perhaps you can see the difficulty in accomplishing them, and why we haven’t seen this before?”

“And what is written about me in that book?”

She looked once more to the book, then glanced up, lifting an eyebrow, to make sure he was paying attention before consulting the pages as she spoke. “First, you used the gift to save the life of one who was being pulled back into the underworld. Not physically, but by her mind. You drew her back. Without you, she would have been lost.” She looked up from under her eyebrows. “You understand, yes?”

Kahlan looked at Richard. They both understood. She was the one he had saved. “In the wayward pine,” she said,

“the first night we met. When you kept the underworld from taking me back.”

Richard nodded to Sister Verna. “Yes, I understand.”

Sister Verna put her finger back to the book. “As for saving yourself with the gift… let’s see… I saw it here a minute… ah! Yes, here it is.” She looked up from under her eyebrows again. “second, you used the gift to save your own life.” She tapped the book with a finger. “You partitioned your mind. You understand, yes?”

Richard’s eyes closed. “Yes, I understand,” he said in a weak voice. Kahlan didn’t understand that one.

Sister Verna went back to the book. “Third, you used the gift to kill a wizard. His name was Darken Rahl. You understand, yes?”

“Yes.” He opened his eyes. “How do you know these things?”

The things you have done used magic, specific magic, that leaves an essence because of who you are and because you are untrained. Were you trained, it would not leave this essence, and we would not know. We have ones back at the Palace of the Prophets who are sensitive to such events.”

Richard glared at her. “You have violated my privacy, spied on me. And as for the third of your three things, I didn’t exactly kill Darken Rahl. Not technically.”

“I can understand how you feel,” Sister Grace said quietly. “But it is only done to help you. If you wish to stand here and argue with us about whether or not these things qualify as the three triggers, I will put your doubts at ease. Once they are done, you begin the process of becoming a wizard. You may not believe it, or choose to be a wizard, but there is no doubt it has happened. We do not place this burden on you. We are only here to help you deal with it.”

“But…”