Richard reached up to push back the hood of his cloak, and realized it wasn't even up, so he ran his fingers through his wet hair instead. He looked over at Sister Verna.
"There are some things we have to talk about. Important things you don't know about."
She glanced over without emotion. The edge of her hood partially blocked her face. "And what would those things be?"
"I am the Seeker."
She looked away, returning her eyes to where they had been. "That is hardly something I don't know."
Her calm, unconcerned attitude annoyed him. "I have responsibilities. I told you before: there are important things going on you know nothing about. Dangerous things." She didn't respond. It was as if he hadn't spoken. He decided to cut right to the heart of it. "The Keeper is trying to escape the underworld."
"We do not speak his name. You are not to speak it as you have just done. It brings his attention. When we must speak of him, he is addressed as the Nameless One."
She was talking to him as if he were a child. Kahlan's life was in danger and this woman was treating him like a child. "I don't care what you call him, he's trying to get out. And I assure you, I already have his attention."
At last she looked over, unconcerned. "The Nameless One is always trying to get out."
Richard took a deep breath and tried again. "The veil to the underworld is torn. He is going to get out."
Sister Verna turned to him once more, this time pulling the edge of the hood back to get a better look. Curly, brown hair peeked out the edge of the dark, heavy hood. She had an odd frown. A frown of amusement. There was a wisp of a smile at the corners of her mouth.
"The Creator himself put the Nameless One where he is. The Creator himself placed the veil with His own hand to keep him there." Her smile swelled a little as her eyebrows came closer together, creasing her weathered brow. "The Nameless One cannot escape the prison the Creator has placed him in. Do not be afraid, child."
Exploding in rage, Richard wheeled his bay mare around toward the Sister. The two horses jostled, whinnying and tossing their heads. Richard firmly snatched the reins to the Sister's surprised horse to keep it from rearing, or bolting.
He leaned toward her, his chest heaving in fury. "I will not be called names! I will not have names put to me because I wear a collar! I am Richard! Richard Rahl!"
Sister Verna didn't flinch. Her voice remained calm and smooth. "I'm sorry, Richard. It was only force of habit. I am used to dealing with ones much younger than you. I meant nothing demeaning by it."
The way she stared at him made him feel suddenly foolish, embarrassed. Made him feel like a child. He released the reins. "I apologize for yelling. I'm not in a very good mood."
She frowned again. "I thought your name was Cypher."
He tugged his cloak over his chest where the bandage covered his burn. "It's a long story. George Cypher raised me as his son. I only found out a short time ago that I am in truth the son of Darken Rahl."
Her frown deepened. "Darken Rahl. The one with the gift you killed? You killed your father?"
"Don't look at me like that. You didn't know him. You have no idea what kind of man he was. He imprisoned and tortured and killed more people than you or I could imagine. The idea of him being with my mother makes me sick. But that is the truth of it. I am his son. If you expect me to be sorry I killed him, you will have longer than eternity to wait."
Sister Verna shook her head with what seemed genuine concern. "I'm sorry, Richard. Sometimes the Creator weaves a tangled cloth for our lives, and we are left to wonder why. But I am sure of one thing: He has reasons for what He does."
Babble. He was getting babble from this woman. He urged his horse around and started out again. "I'm telling you, the veil is torn, and the Keeper is going to get out."
Her voice lowered dangerously. "The Nameless One."
He glanced over, annoyed. "Fine. The Nameless One. I could care less what you want to call him, but he is going to get out. We are all in great danger."
Kahlan was in great danger.
He didn't care if this sorceress of a Sister burned him to a cinder; his life meant nothing to him anymore. His only concern was Kahlan's safety.
Sister Verna's quizzical frown and smile returned. "Who told you such a thing?"
"Shota, a witch woman, she told me the veil was torn." He left out that Shota had also told him he was the one who had torn it. "She said it was torn and if it wasn't fixed, the Kee—the Nameless One would escape."
Sister Verna smiled. Her eyes sparkled. "A witch woman." She laughed a little. "And you believed her? You believed a witch woman? You think witch women speak the truth in such simple fashion?"
Fuming, Richard glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "She seemed pretty sure of it to me. She wouldn't lie about something this important. I believe her."
Sister Verna seemed to think the whole thing amusing. "If you would ever have had occasion to deal with a witch woman before, Richard, you would know that they have an odd view of the truth. They can be well intentioned at times, but witch women speak in words that rarely come to pass the way they sound."
The truth of that took some of the steam out of him. Sister Verna certainly seemed to know about witch women. In fact, she seemed to share his own view of them. "She seemed pretty sure of what she was saying. She was afraid."
"I am sure she was. A wise person is always afraid of the Nameless One. But I wouldn't put much stock in what she says."
"It's not just what she says. Other things have happened, too."
She looked over curiously. "Such as?"
"A screeling."
She set her calm, brown eyes back ahead. "A screeling. You have seen a screeling, yes?"
"Seen it! It attacked me! Screelings are from the underworld. They are sent by the Nameless One. It was sent through a tear in the veil, to kill me!"
Her smile returned. "You have quite an imagination, Richard. You have listened to too many children's songs."
He restrained his renewed anger. "What do you mean?"
"Screelings are indeed from the underworld, as are other beasts. The heart hounds, for example. But they are not 'sent'. They simply escape. We live in a world that lies between good and evil; between the light and the dark. The Creator did not intend this to be a perfect world, safe from all harm. We cannot understand His reasons, always, but He has them, and He is perfect. Perhaps the screelings are meant to show us the dark side. I don't know. But I do know they are simply an evil that sometimes comes. I have seen this happen before to ones with the gift. It is possible that the gift draws them. A test perhaps. A warning, perhaps, of the rancid evil that awaits those who stray from the light."
"But... there are prophecies that say they are sent when the veil is torn, sent by the Nameless One."
"How could that be, Richard? Has the veil ever been torn before?"
"How should I know?" He thought a minute. "But I don't see how it could have been. If it were, how could it have been mended? And it wouldn't have gone unnoticed. What are you getting at?"
"Well, if the veil has never been torn, how could the screelings have been sent before? How would we know what they were? How could they have a name already put to them?"
It was Richard's turn to frown. "Maybe we only know them as screelings because they have been named in the prophecy."
"You have read this prophecy?"
"Well, no. Kahlan told it to me."
"And she read it herself, with her own eyes, yes?"
"No. She learned it when she was young." Richard's irritated frown deepened. "In a song. She learned it from wizards."
"In a song." Sister Verna didn't look over, but her smile widened. "Richard, I do not mean to belittle your fears, but things repeated, over and over, especially in a song, have a way of changing.
"As for prophecies, well, they are harder to understand than a witch woman. We have vaults full of them at the Palace. As part of your studies, perhaps you wil
l be allowed to work with them. I have read all of them we have, and I can tell you that they are beyond the minds of most. If you aren't cautious, you can find a prophecy that will say whatever you want to hear. Or at least you will think it is what you want to hear. Some wizards devote their lives to the study of them, and yet even they understand only a tiny fraction of their truth."
"This is a danger not to be taken so lightly."
"Do you think the veil is torn that simply? Have faith, Richard. The Creator placed the veil. Have faith in Him."