"It is my job to watch over you," Pasha said.
She used her Han, breaking his hold on her wrist and throwing him aside as if with an invisible hand, and then charged through the door. Richard rolled, finishing on his feet, drew his sword, and flew in after her. Only the small flames from the hearth gave light to the otherwise dark room. They both stumbled to a halt in the near darkness.
A voice came from a chair beside the fire. "Expecting a mriswith, Richard?"
"Sister Verna!" Richard slid his sword back into its scabbard. "What are you doing here?"
She rose to her feet and swept her hand in the direction of a lamp, bringing the wick to flame. "I didn't know if you heard." Her face was unreadable. "I'm once again a Sister of the Light."
"Really?" Richard said. "That's great news."
Sister Verna clasped her hands in a relaxed manner. "Since I am a Sister, again, I wanted to come and speak privately to you for a moment." She glanced to Pasha. "About some unfinished business Richard and I have."
Pasha looked from the Sister to Richard. "Well, I guess this dress is, well, not the most comfortable thing to give lessons in. Why don't I go change." She curtsied to Sister Verna. "Good night, Sister. I'm so happy for you; you should be a Sister. And Richard, thank you for being such a gentleman tonight. I will return after I change."
Richard stood facing the door once he had closed it behind Pasha.
"Gentleman." Sister Verna said. "I'm delighted to hear it, Richard. I would also like to thank you, for my being returned to Sister. Sister Maren told me what happened."
Richard laughed as he turned to her. "You have been around me too long, Sister. But you need more practice at telling lies; you are not yet totally convincing."
She couldn't keep a small smile from coming to her lips. "Well, Sister Maren told me that she had prayed for guidance, and decided I would serve the Creator best if I were a Sister, in view of my experience." She lifted an eyebrow. "Poor Sister Maren; lying seems to have become infectious since you arrived here."
He shrugged. "Sister Maren did what was right. I think your Creator would be pleased with the outcome."
"I heard that you killed a mriswith. News spreads through the Palace like a blaze through dry grass."
Richard walked to the hearth. He leaned on the dark, granite mantle and stared into the flames. "Well, I had no choice."
Sister Verna stroked a hand tenderly down his hair. "Are you all right, Richard? How are you doing?"
"I'm fine." Richard pulled the baldric over his head and set it and the sword aside. He tossed the red coat on a chair. "I'd be better if I didn't have to wear these silly clothes. But I guess it's a small price to pay for peace. For now. What did you want talk to me about, Sister?"
"I don't know what you did, how you got me returned to Sister, but thank you, Richard. Does this mean you would like for us to be friends?"
"Only if you will take this collar off me." She looked away from his eyes. "Someday, Sister, you will have to make your choice. I hope when the time comes, you choose to be on my side. After all we have been through, I would hate to have to kill you, but you know what I am capable of. You knew what my answer would be; surely, you came here for more than that."
"I have told you before how you are using your Han without knowing what you are doing, remember?"
"Yes, but I don't think I'm using my Han."
She lifted an eyebrow. "Richard, you killed a mriswith. As far as I know, that has not been done in the last three thousand years. You had to use your Han to do that."
"No, Sister, I used the magic of the sword to kill it."
"Richard, I have observed you, and learned a little about both you and your sword. The reason no one has ever been able to kill a mriswith is because they never knew it was coming. Even the Han of Sisters and wizards could not sense its approach. Your sword may have killed the mriswith, but your Han let you know it was coming. You are calling on your gift, but without control."
Richard was tired. He didn't feel like arguing, so he didn't. He flopped into a plush chair. He remembered the way he had seen the mriswith in his mind, had seen it coming. "I don't understand what I'm doing, Sister. The mriswith came, and I protected myself."
She sat in a chair opposite. "Look at it this way, Richard; you killed a beast as deadly as anything walking the land, yet that little girl with the big brown eyes and about as much power compared to you as a sparrow compared to a hawk, just used her Han to throw you down the hall. I hope you will study hard so you may learn to control your Han. You need to get it under control."
She looked at him intently. "Why did you go into Hagen Woods, after I told you that they are dangerous? The real reason. Not the justification, but the deep down inside reason. Please tell me the truth, Richard."
Richard stretched back, looking up at the ceiling. He finally conceded with a nod. "It was like something drew me in. It was a need. A hunger. It was like I needed to pound my fist against a wall, and that was the way to do it."
He thought she might launch into a lecture, but she didn't. Her tone was sympathetic.
"Richard, I've been talking to a few friends of mine. None of us knows everything about the magic of the Palace, and especially the Hagen Woods, but there is reason to believe that the Hagen Woods were placed there specifically for certain wizards."
Richard studied her quiet expression, the creases in her face, the sincerity in her eyes. "Are you saying, Sister, that if I need to pound my fist against the wall, maybe I should do so?"
She gave a slight lift to her eyebrows. "The Creator gave us hunger so we would eat, because eating is necessary.""What would be the purpose of a hunger like mine?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. For a second time in as many days, the Prelate has declined to grant me an audience. But I am going to try to find some answers. In the meantime, just please don't let the sun set on you in the Hagen Woods."
"Is this what you came to tell me, Sister?"
She looked away, and paused, rubbing her forehead with two fingers. She looked uncertain. He had never seen her like this. "Richard, there are things going on that I don't understand, and they are connected to you; events are not happening as they should." She saw his curious look "I can't talk about them just yet."
She cleared her throat. "Richard, I don't want you to trust every one of the Sisters."
Richard lifted an eyebrow. "Sister, I trust none of you."
That brought a short-lived smile to her face. "For now, that would be best. That was what I wanted to tell you. I am going to find the answers, but for now, well, let's just say that I know you will do as you must to stay safe."
After Sister Verna left, Richard thought about what she had said, and about the things Warren had told him. Mostly, he thought about the Stone of Tears.
It puzzled him that the magic in the Valley of the Lost would present him with a vision of something he had never seen before, and put it around Rachel's neck. The other visions seemed to have been anchored in his longings and fears. Maybe because he missed seeing his friend, Chase, he saw the vision of Rachel, too; she would be with Chase. But why would the vision put around her neck something he had never seen before, which turned out to look like a drawing in a book?
Maybe they were not the same thing. He told himself they couldn't be, but an uneasy feeling inside said otherwise.
As much as he missed Chase and Rachel, it was the stone around Rachel's neck that had captured his attention. It was as if Rachel were bringing it to him for Zedd, and Zedd had been there with him, urging him to take the stone.
Pasha's knock at the door brought him out of his brooding. She was wearing a plain, brownish gray dress with small, pink, cloth buttons up the front, all the way up to her neck. Though it didn't show the expanse of flesh the green dress had, it was tailored so that it revealed nearly every detail of her shape. The fact that it covered everything only made what it covered all that much more intriguing. The color somehow brought out the
softness of her brown hair.
Pasha sat cross-legged on the floor, on the blue and yellow carpet in front of the fireplace. She draped her dress carefully over her knees and then looked up.
"Here. Sit like me, in front of me."
Richard sat on the floor and folded his legs. She motioned him to come closer until their knees touched. She took his hands and held them lightly as they rested across both their knees.
"Sister Verna didn't do this when I practiced."
"That was because the Rada'Han had to be within the circle of influence of the magic of the Palace before we could practice in this way. Until now, when you have practiced touching your Han, it has been alone. Most of the time from now on, I, or a Sister, will use our Han to assist you." She smiled. "It will help you progress faster, Richard."
"All right. What do you want me to do?"
"She told you how to try to reach your Han? How to concentrate on finding that place within yourself?" Richard nodded. "That is what I want you to do. While you search for for that place, I will use my Han, through the Rada'Han, to try to guide you."
Richard squirmed a little, getting more comfortable. Pasha took back a hand and fanned her face.
"This dress seems so warm, after wearing the other."