Stone of Tears by Terry Goodkind Read Free Book Online Page A

grandson,” he said simply.
    Her eyes winced shut. “Oh, good spirits forgive me.” Her hand covered her mouth for a long moment, then her eyes came open, her eyebrows wrinkled together in horror. “Zedd … I’m so sorry for telling you what I saw. Forgive me. Had I known, I never would have told you.” Her hands trembled. “Forgive me. Oh please, forgive me.”
    “The truth is the truth. I am not one who would shut a door in your face for seeing it. Jebra, I am a wizard; I already know of the danger he is in. That is why I asked you to help. The veil to the underworld is torn. That thing that ripped you open escaped into the world of the living through the tear. If the veil tears enough, the Keeper will escape. Richard has done things that the prophecies say mark him as maybe the only one able to close the tear.”
    He lifted the purse of gold and slowly settled it in her lap, her eyes following it down. He took his empty hand back. Her gaze stayed on the purse as if it were a beast that might bite.
    “Would it be very dangerous?” she asked at last in a weak voice.
    Zedd smiled when her eyes came up. “No more dangerous than going for an afternoon stroll in a fortress palace.”
    With a reflex jerk, her hand clutched her abdomen where the wound had been. Her eyes lifted to look off down the wide, resplendent halls, as if seeking escape, or maybe fearing an attack. Without looking to him she spoke.
    “My grandmother was a Seer, and my only guide. She told me once that the visions would bring me a lifetime of hurt, and there was nothing I would ever be able to do to stop them. She said that if ever I was presented with the opportunity to use the visions for good, to take the chance, and it would make up for some of the burden. That was the day she put her Stone in my hand.”
    Jebra lifted the purse and set it back in Zedd’s lap. “I will not do it for all the gold in D’Hara. But I will do it for you.”
    Zedd smiled and patted her cheek. “Thank you, child.” He put the gold back in her lap, the coins making a muffled clink. “You will be needing this. You will have expenses. What is left is yours. That is the way I wish it.”
    She nodded resignedly. “What am I to do?”
    “Well, first we must both get a good night’s sleep. You will need to rest for a few days to regain your strength. And then you have some traveling to do, Lady Bevinvier.” He smiled at the way one of her eyebrows lifted. “We are both very tired right now. Tomorrow after I have rested, I must be off on important business. Before I leave, I will come to you and we will talk more of this. But starting right now, I would ask you not to wear the Stone where it can be seen. No good can come of declaring your talent to eyes in the shadows.”
    “So my new employer shall use me covertly too? Not the most honorable of things.”
    “The ones who would recognize you now are not vying for gold. They serve the Keeper. They want much more than gold. If they discover you, you will wish I had not saved you today.”

    She winced before finally nodding.

CHAPTER 4

    Zedd stood with the aid of a hand to his knee. He helped Jebra up. As he expected, she was unable to stand without leaning heavily on him. She apologized for the burden. He made her smile by telling her he would use any excuse to have his arm around the waist of a pretty maiden.
    People were starting to go back to their business, engaged in hushed conversation as their eyes twitched about the suddenly not so safe Palace. Those hurt had been helped away, and the dead carried off. Maidservants in heavy skirts worked tearfully at the task of cleaning up the blood, sloshing mops in buckets of reddening water. Soldiers of the First File were spread out everywhere. Zedd motioned to Commander Trimack across the hall.
    “Anyway, I shall be glad to be away from this place,” Jebra said. “I have seen auras here that make me sweat in my sleep.”
    As the officer started toward them, Zedd