«Then you don’t trust him either?»
«I didn’t say that.»
The highlander stared at her a moment, they slowly settled himself on the ground across from her, folding his long legs before him. «Well, which way is it, Brin? Do you trust him or don’t you?»
She sat down as well. «I guess I haven’t really decided.»
«Then what are you doing here, for cat’s sake?»
She smiled at his obvious disgust. «I’m here, Rone, because he needs me — I believe that much of what I have been told. The rest I’m not sure about. The part he keeps hidden, I have to discover for myself.»
«If you can.»
«I’ll find a way.»
«It’s too dangerous,” he said flatly.
She smiled, rose, and came over to where he sat. Gently she kissed his forehead. «That’s why I wanted you here with me, Rone Leah — to be my protector. Isn’t that why you came?» He flushed bright scarlet and muttered something unintelligible, and she laughed in spite of herself. «Why don’t we leave this discussion until later and do something with those hens. I’m starved.»
She built a small cooking fire while Rone cleaned the hens. Then they cooked and ate the birds together with a small portion of cheese and ale. They ate their meal in silence, seated back atop the small rise, watching the night sky darken and the stars and gibbous moon cast their pale silver light on the waters of the lake.
By the time they had finished, night had fallen and Allanon still had not returned.
«Brin, you remember what you said before, about my being here to protect you?» Rone asked her after they had returned to the fire. She nodded. «Well, it’s true — I am here to protect you. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you — not ever. I guess you know that.»
He hesitated, and she smiled through the dark. «I know.»
«Well.» He shifted about uneasily, his hands lifting the battered scabbard that housed the Sword of Leah. «There’s another reason I’m here, too. I hope you can understand this. I’m here to prove something to myself.» He hesitated again, groping for the words to explain. «I am a Prince of Leah, but that’s just a title. I was born into it, just like my brothers — and they’re all older. And this sword, Brin.» He held up the scabbard and its weapon. «It isn’t really mine; it’s my great–grandfather’s. It’s Menion Leah’s sword. It always has been, ever since he carried it in search of the Sword of Shannara. I carry it — the ash bow, too — because Menion carried them and I’d like to be what he was. But I’m not.»
«You don’t know that,” she said quickly.
«That’s just the point,” he continued. «I’ve never done anything to find out what I could be. And that’s partly why I’m here. I want to know. This is how Menion found out — by going on a quest, as protector to Shea Ohmsford. Maybe I can do it this way, too.»
Brin smiled. «Maybe you can. In any case, I’m glad you told me.» She paused. «Now I’ll tell you a secret. I came for the same reason. I have something to prove to myself, too. I don’t know if I can do what Allanon expects of me; I don’t know if I am strong enough. I was born with the wishsong, but I have never known what I was meant to do with it. I believe there is a reason for my having the magic. Maybe I will learn that reason from Allanon.»
She put her hand on his arm. «So you see, we’re not so different after all, are we, Rone?»
They talked a while longer, growing drowsy as the evening lengthened and the weariness of the day’s travel overcame them. Then at last their talk gave way to silence, and they spread their bedding. Clear and cool, the autumn night wrapped them in its solitude and peace as they stretched out next to the dark embers of the fire and pulled their blankets close.
They were asleep in moments.
Neither saw the tall, black–robed figure who stood in the shadow of the pines just beyond the fire’s light.
When they awoke the following morning, Allanon was there. He was seated only a few yards away from them on a hollow log, his tall, spare form wraithlike in the gray light of early dawn. He watched silently as they rose, washed, and ate a light breakfast, offering no explanation as to where he had been. More than once the Valegirl and the highlander glanced openly in his direction, but he seemed to take no notice. It was not until they had packed their bedrolls and cooking gear and brought the horses in to be saddled that he finally rose and came over to them.
«There has been a change of plans,” he announced. They stared at him silently. «We are no longer going east. We are going north into the Dragon’s Teeth.»
«The Dragon’s Teeth?» Rone’s jaw tightened. «Why?»
«Because it is necessary.»
«Necessary for whom?» Rone snapped.
«It will only be for a day or so.» Allanon turned his attention to Brin now, ignoring the angry highlander. «I have a visit to make. When it is finished, we will turn east again and complete our journey.»
«Allanon.» Brin spoke his name softly. «Tell us why we must go north.»
The Druid hesitated, his face darkening. Then he nodded. «Very well. Last night I received a summons from my father. He bids me come to him, and I am bound to do so. In life, he was the Druid Bremen. Now his shade surfaces from the netherworld through the waters of the Hadeshorn in the Valley of Shale. In three days time, before daybreak, he will speak with me there.»
Bremen — the Druid who had escaped the massacre of the Council at Paranor, when the Warlock Lord swept down out of the Northland in the Second War of the Races, and who had forged the Sword of Shannara. So long ago, Brin though, the legendary tale recalling itself in her memory. Then, seventy–odd years ago, Shea Ohmsford had gone with Allanon into the Valley of Shale and seen the shade of Bremen rise from the Hadeshorn to converse with his son, to warn of what lay ahead, to prophesy…
«He can see the future, can’t he?» Brin asked suddenly, remembering now how the shade had warned of Shea’s fate. «Will he speak of that?»
Allanon shook his head doubtfully. «Perhaps. Even so, he would reveal only fragments of what is to be, for the future is not yet formed in its entirety and must of necessity remain in doubt. Only certain things can be known. Even they are not always clear to our understanding.» He shrugged. «In any case, he calls. He would not do so if it were not of grave importance.»
«I don’t like it,” Rone announced. «It’s another three days or more gone — time that could be spent getting into and out of the Anar. The Wraiths are already searching for you. You told us that much yourself. We’re just giving them that much more time to find you — and Brin.»
The Druid’s eyes fixed on him, cold and hard. «I take no unnecessary risks with the girl’s safety, Prince of Leah. Nor with your own.»
Rone flushed angrily, and Brin stepped forward, seizing his hand. «Wait, Rone. Perhaps going to the Hadeshorn is a good idea. Perhaps we will learn something of what the future holds that will aid us.»
The highlander kept his gaze locked on Allanon. «What would aid us most is a bit more of the truth of what we’re about!» he snapped.
«So.» The word was a soft, quick whisper, and Allanon’s tall form seemed to suddenly grow taller. «What part of the truth would you have me reveal, Prince of Leah?»
Rone held his ground. «This much, Druid. You tell Brin that she must come with you into the Eastland because you lack the power necessary to penetrate the barrier that protects the book of dark magic — you, who are the keeper of the secrets of the Druids, who possess power enough to destroy Skull Bearers and Demons alike! Yet you need her. And what does she have that you don’t? The wishsong. Nothing more, just that. It lacks even the power of the Elfstones! It is a magic toy that changes the colors of leaves and causes flowers to bloom! What kind of protection is that?»
Allanon stared at him silently for a moment and then smiled, a faint, sad smile. «What kind of power, indeed?» he murmured. He looked suddenly at Brin. «Do you, too, harbor these doubts the highlander voices? Do you seek a better understanding of the wishsong? Shall I show you something of its use?»
It was cold the way he said it, but Brin nodded. «Yes.»
The Druid strode past her, seized the reins of his horse and mounted. «Come then, and I will show you, Valegirl,” he said.
