The First Confessor (Sword of Truth 0)

“This is meant to be the key,” she whispered half to herself.

He was still watching her eyes. “Indeed it is, but as I’ve explained, I can’t complete it.”

“It all makes sense, now,” she said, still speaking to herself as much as to him. “I understand what you meant about the magic of the key serving truth and at the same time protecting the power.”

“The power needs truth to work. Truth is reality, the laws of nature. They’re inseparable. That relationship is represented by the word woven into the hilt. That makes this a sword meant to serve more than just the power. It is also meant to serve truth.”

She at last looked up into his eyes as the realization came to her.

“This is the Sword of Truth.”

A warm smile softened his expression. “That’s a good name for it. In fact, it’s perfect. I don’t know why I never thought of it myself. More than you realize, this sword serves truth on many levels and in many ways. I’ve always meant for the one who wields this sword to be a seeker of truth.

“Thank you, Magda, for the clarity.” He gestured to the sword in her hand. “From now on, it will always be known as the Sword of Truth.”

Magda lifted the blade upright, letting her eyes take in its graceful lines. Its fuller added not only lightness, which made it faster, but at the same time added strength to the blade. It was at once exquisite and deadly. Below the cross guard, the wire-wound hilt felt at home in her hand.

“Where did you ever get something this magnificent?”

His smile widened. “I made it.”

She again lifted the sword in astonishment, watching the light flare along the length of the blade.

“You made this?”

Merritt nodded. “While any would serve the purpose, this is the sword I made with the intent that it be the key. It has always been the sword I intended to invest with the power.”

“I feel . . . something. I can feel something stirring as I hold it.”

By his reaction, he was not at all surprised. “Like I explained before, we are all born with a spark of the gift. Though you are not gifted, as such, you still respond to magic. This sword is invested with magic. That is what you feel.”

Magda frowned. “What sort of magic?”

“In addition to preparing it to become the key, I also gave it abilities to help in its service to protect the power as well as to serve truth. Those are the elements you feel.” His smile ghosted away. “But that was before I knew that what I needed to complete it isn’t in this world any longer. I won’t let others use this sword to try to make the key because such a fruitless attempt would destroy it. At least the power is safe.”

Magda finally handed Merritt the sword. As his fist closed around the hilt, around the words Truth on either side, she closed both her hands around his, holding them tightly.

They were close as she searched his eyes.

“Answer a question for me?”

He shrugged, making no attempt to take the sword and his hand from under hers. “What do you want to know?”

“How many chests contain the power, the power that the Sword of Truth you hold is meant to protect?”

He seemed reluctant, but finally answered.

“Three.”

Magda felt a tear well up and run down her cheek.

“The three boxes of Orden.”

Something more than the gift alone shone in his eyes. “That’s what the power was called before the star shift. How is it that you know that name? The name Orden is only used in the most ancient of sources. How is it that you know it?”

How could she tell him?

How could she not?

Chapter 53

“Merritt, I have to tell you something.”

Concern creased his features. “What is it?”

Magda cleared her throat, hoping that her voice wouldn’t fail her.

“When Baraccus returned from the Temple of the Winds, returned from the underworld, I was there in the First Wizard’s enclave waiting for him. I was of course happy to see him, and he was happy to return safely to me. But he was strangely quiet. I asked him what it was that so troubled him.

“Baraccus told me that a great power, a very dangerous power, was no longer in the Temple of the Winds where it belonged. He said that it was supposed to be there, but it was gone. I asked him what he was talking about. He said that the three boxes of Orden were missing.”

Merritt’s face went ashen. “Missing?”

“He said that much was not right in the Temple of the Winds. When I asked what he meant, he just stared off and was quiet for a time. He finally told me about the boxes of Orden, and how important they were. I asked if he was certain they were gone. He said that the Temple of the Winds was a big place, but there was no doubt that the boxes were no longer there.”

“Who else has he told about the boxes being gone?”

“He said that he could tell no one but me.”

“The council doesn’t know?”

“No. I’m the only one who knows. And now you. I was waiting for the new First Wizard to

be named. I had planned to tell him once he is named.”

One of her hands came off his holding the sword so that she could grasp his muscular arm to urge his gaze back to her eyes.

“But I realize now that you are the one who needs to know, Merritt. You are the one I needed to tell.”

His face still hadn’t regained its color. His gaze again drifted away to focus into distant thoughts. She couldn’t imagine what he, having worked so long to create the protective key for the boxes of Orden, must be thinking.

“Thank you, Magda, for telling me. For trusting me.”

She nodded as her other hand finally slipped away from his on the sword.

His expression abruptly turned expectant. “Did Baraccus say anything about the rift calculations for creating a seventh-level breach? Maybe he brought them back with him.”

Magda shook her head. “I’m sorry, no. He didn’t say anything at all about that.”

His momentary eagerness faded, to be replaced by suspicion. “And the council doesn’t know about this? You’re certain they don’t know?”

“Yes, I’m certain. Baraccus said that he could tell no one but me. I don’t know why, but he was clear about it. He wouldn’t have said such a thing unless he meant it.”

“It makes no sense. How could the boxes of Orden not be in the Temple of the Winds?” Merritt stared off again. “I wonder if maybe someone else could go there to retrieve the formulas. I wonder if I could try it. I don’t know how, but if I could—”

“No,” Magda said with an emphatic shake of her head. “Baraccus told me that there was much wrong at the Temple. He said that it would be thousands of years before anyone again set foot there.”

“That sounds ominous. I wonder why he said that?”

“I don’t know, but if Baraccus said it he must have known what he was talking about. That means that you or anyone else wouldn’t be able to get in.”