Watt-Evans, Lawrence - Annals of the Chosen 01 (98 page)

"That's
because
...
someone
must,
and
Boss
has—there are
reasons
he
does
not
speak,"
Breaker
said.
He
glanced
around
at
his
six
companions.

"You're
doing
fine,"
the
Archer
said.
"You
killed
the
Dark
Lord,
so
you
get
to
speak
for
us
here,
so
long
as
we
agree
with
you—and
so
far,
Sword,
you
haven't
said
a
word
I
can't
accept."

"There
are
things
here
I
don't
understand,"
the
Beauty
said,
"and
I
have
nothing
more
to
say
until
I
do
understand
them."

"I
have
no
right
to
say
anything,"
the
Seer
said.
"We
should
have
been
here
five
years
ago.
I
should
have
been
at
their
side
in
the
tower.
Let
the
boy
speak
for
us
all."

"I
am
listening,"
the
Speaker
said.
"My
role
is
misnamed, for
my
task
is
always
to
listen,
more
than
to
speak."

"It's
all
too
soon
for
me,"
the
Scholar
said.
"Perhaps
a year
from
now
I'll
know
what
to
make
of
it."

"It's
as
he
said,"
the
Leader
agreed,
glancing
at
Breaker.
"There
are
reasons
I
don't
speak."

"It
seems
there
may
be
more
to
the
tale
than
you
told
us," the
blue-robed
wizard
said.

"There's
nothing
more
to
tell
you,"
Breaker
said.
"Anything
we
haven't
said
is
private,
and
while
you
may
choose
us,
you
do
not
own
us."

"That's
rather
the
point,
in
fact,"
the
Red
Wizard
agreed.
"Let
them
go,
Azal,
and
let
us
get
on
with
choosing
our
new lord."

"Let
them
deliver
the
talismans,"
the
Council's
leader
repeated.

"Swear
you'll
see
that
Stoneslope's
ghosts
are
freed,"
Breaker
said.

'7
will
swear
it,"
the
Red
Wizard
said.
"I
will
go
there
myself,
and
bring
whatever
priests
or
others
I
find
necessary
to set
the
souls
of
the
dead
at
peace.
I
swear
by
my
own
soul—
is
that
good
enough,
Swordsman?"

"Thank
you,"
Breaker
said,
with
heartfelt
gratitude.
"And
the
three
will
be
replaced?
Then
that's
enough—I've
had enough
of
all
of
this,
and
am
eager
to
go
home."
He
pulled out
the
little
silver
blade
he
had
taken
from
the
Wizard Lord's
body
and
tossed
it
to
the
ground
beside
the
orb
and
crown,
then
turned
and
walked
away
from
the
fire,
the
wizards,
and
the
others,
toward
the
waiting
wagon.

The
Seer
and
the
Leader
followed
him,
and
the
rest,
in turn,
added
their
captured
talismans
to
the
collection
before leaving
the
Council
of
Immortals.

The
Chosen
spent
another
night
in
the
Dark
Lord's
tower;
the
wizards'
meeting
ran
late
into
the
night,
but
did
eventually
end.
In
the
morning
Breaker
arose
to
find
the
maids gossiping—some
of
the
wizards
had
already
departed,
and others
still
slept
in
the
catacombs
beneath
the
tower,
but
the news
had
somehow
been
conveyed
that
the
red-clad
wizard, the
man
Breaker
knew
simply
as
the
Red
Wizard,
was
to
be the
new
Wizard
Lord.