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Most troubling was that Richard's free will made him a wild card in prophecy, even those prophecies in which he was the subject. He was chaos among patterns, disorder among organization, and as capricious as lightning. And yet, he was guided by truth and driven by reason, not whim or chance, nor was he arbitrary. That he could be chaos among prophecy and at the same time be completely rational was an enigma to her.
A
But all of that was academic. The central problem was that while there was still lime they had to find some way to make sure he took up the cause fated to him in the prophecies and to fulfill his destiny. If they failed, if he failed, then all was lost.
Verna's message sat like the shadow of death in the back of A
Having spotted their light, Tom appeared out of the darkness, sprinting Through the long grass to meet them. "There you are," he said to A
By the brief glimpse she got in the weak yellow light from the lantern, Tom's face looked troubled.
The big D'Haran led them deeper into the graveyard, where in areas there were rows of gently mounded graves outlined in stones. These had in be newer, because most of what A
"Do you know what the fat bugs are that are making all the noise?" Je
"I'm not sure," Tom said. "I've never seen them before. They suddenly seem to be all over the place."
A
Je
"Cicadas. You wouldn't know what they are. At the last molt you would have probably still been a toddler, too young to remember. The life cycle of these cicadas with the red eyes is seventeen years."
"Seventeen years!" Je
"Without fail. After the females mate with these noisy fellows, they will lay their eggs in twigs. When they hatch, the nymphs will drop from the trees and burrow into the ground, not to emerge for another seventeen years where their life as adults will be brief."
Je
Like Richard, Je
Unlike any past Lord Rahl, Richard had been jubilant to discover that he had a sister. He would never allow her to be put to death for the nature of her birth, nor would he allow her and those like her to be forced into banishment.
Even though A
Je
And then, as they came around a small knoll, a stone monument loomed up into view. The light from the lantern lit one side of a rectangular stone base that was a little taller than A
As Tom led them around the front of the stone monument A
On the far side, faint light oozed up from beneath it.
It appeared that the entire monument had been pivoted aside, revealing steep stone steps that led down into the ground, down into the soft glow of light.
Tom gave them both a meaningful look. "He's down in there."
Je
"I'm afraid so," Tom told her.
"What is this place?" A
Tom shrugged apologetically. "I'm afraid I have no idea. I didn't even know this was here until just a little while ago when Nathan showed me where I could find him. He told me to send you down just as soon as you got here. He was pretty insistent about it. He doesn't want anyone knowing this place is here. He wanted me to stand lookout and keep any people away from the graveyard, although I really don't think anyone ever comes out here anymore, especially at night. The Bandakaran people aren't the kind to go looking for an adventure."
"Unlike Nathan," A
"We'll both go," Je
CHAPTER 11
Driven by worried curiosity, A
At the bottom of the steps she halted to stare in disbelief. Je
The place had a strange orderly disorder about it that A