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  　‘Richard.’ She 【创建和谐家园】oothed her skirt. ‘I hope you understand, and that you don’t misinterpret our actions, but when we reach the palace, we may have to take the Sword of Truth from you. For your own good.’

  　‘Why? How could that be for my own good?’

  　She clasped her hands together again. The prophecy that you have invoked, the one that says ‘He is the bringer of death, and he shall so name himself,’ is a very dangerous prophecy. It goes on to say that the holder of the sword is able to call the dead forth, call the past into the present.’

  　‘What does that mean?’

  　‘We don’t know.’

  　‘Prophecies,’ he muttered. ‘Prophecies are just stupid riddles, Sister. You invest too much concern in them. You admit that you don’t understand them, yet try to follow them. Only a fool follows blindly what he doesn’t understand. If it were true, I would call the dead forth and give this woman’s life back to her.’

  　‘We know a lot more about them than you think. I believe it would be for the best if we took the sword, just for safekeeping, until we understand the prophecy better.’

  　‘Sister Verna, if someone took the dacra from you, would you still be a Sister?’

  　‘Of course. The dacra is simply a tool to help us in our job. It doesn’t make us who we are.’

  　He 【创建和谐家园】iled a cold 【创建和谐家园】ile. ‘It’s the same with the sword. With or without it, I am still the Seeker. I would be no less a danger to you. Taking it away from me will not save you.’

  　Her fists tightened. ‘It is not the same.’

  　‘You are not taking the sword,’ he said flatly. ‘You could never understand how much I hate this sword, hate its magic, and how much I wish to be rid of it, but it was given to me when I was named Seeker. It was given to me to be mine for as long as I wish to hold it. I am the Seeker, and I, not you, or anyone else, will decide when I am to give it up.’

  　Her eyes narrowed. ‘Named Seeker? You did not find the sword? Or purchase it? It was given by a wizard? You were named Seeker? A real Seeker? By a wizard?’

  　‘I was.’

  　‘Who was this wizard?’

  　The one I told you of before: Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander.’

  　‘You met him just this once, when he gave you the sword?’

  　‘No. I have spent my whole life with him. He practically raised me. He is my grandfather.’

  　There was a long moment of dead silence. ‘And he named you Seeker, because he refused to teach you to control the gift? To be a wizard?’

  　‘Refused! When he realized I had the gift, he practically begged to teach me to be a wizard.’

  　‘He offered?’ she whispered.

  　That’s right. I told him I didn’t want to be a wizard.’ Something was wrong. She seemed disturbed by this news. ‘He said the offer still stands. Why?’

  　She rubbed her hands absently. ‘It is just ... unusual, that’s all. Many things about you are unusual.’

  　Richard didn’t know if he believed her. He wondered if maybe he didn’t need the collar, if Zedd could have helped him without it.

  　But Kahlan had wanted it on him. She had wanted him taken away. His insides twisted with that pain.

  　The sword was the only thing he had of Zedd. It was given to him when he was still back in Westland, when he was home. He missed his home, his woods. The sword was the only thing left of Zedd, and home.

  　‘Sister, I was named Seeker, and given this sword, for as long as I wish to keep it and be Seeker. I will be the one to decide when the time has come to give it up. If you wish to take it away from me, then try to do it now.

  　‘If you try, one of us is going to die in the attempt. At the moment, I don’t much care which one of us it is. But I intend to fight to the death. It’s mine by right, and you are not taking it as long as there is a breath of life in me.’

  　He listened to the distant howl of an animal dying a sudden, violent death, and then to the long, empty silence that followed.

  　‘Since you were given the sword, and did not simply find it, or purchase it, you may keep it. I will not take it from you. I cannot speak for the others, but I will try to see to your wishes. It is the gift we must tend to. It is that magic we must teach you to control.’

  　She drew herself up and regarded him with an expression of such cold danger it made him have to fight the urge to shrink back. ‘But if you ever again draw it against me, I will make you me the day the Creator let you take your first breath.’ Her jaw muscles tightened. ‘Do we understand each other?’

  　‘What’s so important about me that you would kill to capture me?’

  　Her cold composure was more frightening than if she had yelled at him. ‘Our job is to help those with the gift, because the gift is given by the Creator. We serve the Creator. It is for him we die. I’ve lost two of my oldest friends because of you. I’ve wept myself to sleep with grief for them. I’ve had to kill this woman tonight, and I may have to kill others before we reach the palace.’

  　Richard had the feeling it would be best to keep quiet, but he couldn’t. She had a way of stirring the coals of his anger to flame. ‘Don’t try to assuage your guilt over what you’ve done at my expense, Sister.’

  　Her face heated with color that he could see, even in the moonlight. ‘I’ve tried to be patient with you, Richard. I’ve given you leeway because you’ve been pulled from the only life you have known, and been thrust into a situation you fear and don’t understand, but my patience is near its end.

  　‘I’ve tried my best not to see the lifeless bodies of my friends when I look into your eyes. Or when you tell me I’m heartless. I’ve tried not to think about you being the one standing at their burial, not me, and about the things I would have said over their fresh graves. There are things going on that are beyond my understanding, beyond my expectations, beyond what I was led to believe. Were it up to me, I’m of a mind to grant you your wish and remove your Rada’Han, and let you die in madness and pain.

  　‘But it’s not up to me. It is the Creator’s work I do.’

  　Although the hot coals of his temper hadn’t been doused, they had cooled. ‘Sister Verna, I’m sorry.’ He wished she would scream at him. That would be better than her calm anger, her quiet displeasure.

  　‘You are angered because you think I treat you as a child, and not as a man, and yet you have given me no reason to do otherwise. I know where you stand, in your abilities, and where you have yet to travel. In that journey you are no more than a babe who bawls to be turned loose in the world, yet cannot even walk.

  　The collar you wear is capable of controlling you. It is also capable of giving you pain. Great pain. Up until now, I have avoided using it, and have tried instead to encourage you in other ways to accept what must be done. But if I have to, I will use it. The Creator knows I’ve tried everything else.

  　‘We will soon be in a land much more dangerous than this. We will have to deal with the people there to get through. The Sisters have arrangements with them, to be allowed to pass. You will do as I tell you, as they tell you. You will do the things you are told, or there will be a great deal of trouble.’

  　Richard’s suspicion flared anew. ‘What things?’

  　She glared at him. ‘Do not test me further tonight, Richard.’

  　‘As long as you understand you’re not getting my sword without a fight.’

  　‘We are only trying to help you, Richard, but if you draw a weapon on me again, I will see to it you greatly regret it.’ She glanced to the Agiel hanging at his neck. ‘Mord-Sith hold no monopoly in giving pain.’

  　Cold confirmation of his suspicions spread through his gut. They intended to train him the way a Mord-Sith trained him. That was the real reason for the collar. That was how they intended to teach him: with pain. For the first time, he felt as if she had inadvertently let him see the bones of her intentions.

  　She pulled the little book from her belt. ‘I have some work to do before we leave. Go bury her. And hide her body well; if it’s found, it will tell them what happened, and they will be after us, and then I will have killed for nothing.’

  　She sat in front of the cold jumble of firewood. With a 【创建和谐家园】ooth sweep of her hand over the dark coals, it burst into flame. After you’ve buried her, I want you to go for a walk and let your temper cool. Do not return until it has done so. If you try to wander away, or if you don’t bring some reason into that thick head of yours by the time I’m ready to leave, I will bring you back by the collar.’ She gave him a menacing look from under her eyebrows. ‘You will not like it if I have to do that. I promise you, you will not like it one bit.’

  　----------

  　The dead woman was slight, and little burden to carry. He hardly noticed the weight as he walked away from the camp into the low, rocky hills. The moon was up and the way easy to see. His mind swirled with his brooding thoughts as he trudged along, kicking an occasional stone.

  　Richard was surprised at his pang of pain for Sister Verna. She had never before revealed how heartsick she was over the deaths of Sisters Grace and Elizabeth. He had thought that because she hadn’t said anything, she was callous. He felt sorry for her now, sorry for her anguish. He wished she hadn’t let him know. It was easier to rail against his situation when he thought she was heartless.