The First Confessor (Sword of Truth 0)

“But the council . . .”

His eyes, still as sharp as ever, flashed her way. “I won’t be sitting on the council.”

Magda blinked. “What do you mean?”

He looked suddenly uncomfortable, even embarrassed. “I have been dismissed.”

Magda had to run the word through her mind again to be sure she had heard it correctly. “Dismissed? You can’t be dismissed. Unless of course you have been convicted of—”

“No, no, nothing like that,” he said as he waved with a gesture to indicate that she had gotten the wrong idea.

“Then what do you mean you’ve been dismissed? How can you be dismissed? By whom?”

“Lothain.”

Magda stared a moment before again having to remind herself to close her mouth.

“I don’t understand.”

He grimaced a little as he looked away from her. “Lothain suggested, and the rest of the council agreed, that changes needed to be made so that decisions in such difficult times could be more easily reached. With six members on the council, we were often deadlocked.”

“But it’s supposed to be that way so that a majority can’t run roughshod and dictate. Six members is meant to be more deliberative, meant to promote a measured pace in the council working toward the truth. It prevents rash decisions.”

He gestured with a flick of his hand, as if he agreed with her, but could do nothing about it.

“It was thought that in wartime, with problems such as we now face, what the council needs most is the ability to reach swift rulings. Five members gives them that ability. Three members in agreement is all it now takes to pass a proposal.”

Magda didn’t know what to say. She had known Sadler for a long time. She had brought matters before him for several years. He hadn’t always agreed with her, but unlike some of the others he had always listened with an open mind.

She reached out and laid a hand on his forearm. “I’m so sorry. Are you going to be all right?”

He again waved off her concern. “Don’t worry for me. I’ll be fine. I always wanted to spend more time in my quiet little cottage in the woods. Since my wife passed . . . well, I guess that I could use some time to reflect. Worrying about matters of war are probably too harsh a burden for me anymore. . . . At least, that was what the others said.”

A slight breath of breeze pulled some of her short hair across her face. Magda pushed it back. “Can I come see you sometime?”

He grinned and pinched her cheek, something he had never done before. It was an extraordinary gesture that stunned her.

“I’d like that, Magda. I’d like that.”

He seemed so much less reserved than, in her experience, he had always been. His weathered, wrinkled face looked tired. She thought it must be that he had believed he had to present a measured and resolute façade appropriate to being a councilman. Now that mask had faded away to reveal the man beneath it.

As he started away, she watched him turning his back on the Keep, on a life’s work. He looked hunched and older to her than he ever had before. Magda suddenly thought of something and called out to him.

Chapter 57

Magda took a step away from the stone wall at the side of the bridge.

“Councilman Sadler.”

He stopped and turned. “It’s just Sol, now. I am no longer a councilman. I am just Sol.”

Magda smiled a sad smile. “I’m afraid that I could never in my life bring myself to call you anything other than Councilman Sadler.”

He accepted the sentiment with a slight smile and a nod. “If you wish. I guess my ears are accustomed enough to the sound of it, and as long as we are alone I guess that there is no one to object.”

Magda glanced around to make sure that no one was close. Everyone looked to be mostly concerned with their own business and in a hurry to get where they were going before it got too dark. They didn’t pay the two of them undue attention, although people who did recognize him stared for a moment on their way past. Magda took another step, closing the distance to him so that there was no chance that anyone could overhear them. She again glanced around.

“Councilman Sadler, can you tell me anything about a woman, a sorceress from the Old World, who defected and came here to the Keep to join our cause?”

He rubbed a hand back and forth across his mouth as he thought it over. He lifted a finger.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do recall, now, that Lothain mentioned something about a woman coming over from the enemy side, claiming to want to change her loyalty. I think you’re right that she was a sorceress. He said that she was a spy, though. Could that be the woman you mean?”

“Most likely. Do you know anything about her?”

“I’m afraid not. I never met her. Why do you ask?”

Magda didn’t want to say. A councilman, of all people, would certainly be a prime target for a dream walker. For all she knew there could be a dream walker hiding in the shadows of his mind at that very moment, watching and listening to her every word. She had to be careful. She also had to think quickly. She lifted a hand in an casual gesture.

“I was hoping that maybe she might be able to help in our war effort. If she really did come from the Old World, I was hoping that maybe a woman like that would know something that could help us.”

For the first time his expression turned suspicious. “You mean, like with information about the dream walkers, such as what tasks occupy their attention, and how far they’ve gotten?”

Magda showed a brief, if insincere smile. “Well yes, that had crossed my mind, but I was thinking in a more general nature. We could use all the help we can get.”

He nodded. “Sorry, but I can’t say. Not because I wouldn’t tell you, Magda, but because I don’t know anything.”

“I see. Well, thank you anyway, Councilman Sadler.” She smiled again, but sincerely this time. “I’ll try to visit you, soon, and see how you’re getting along.”

He smiled warmly in return. “I’d like that, Magda. I’d like that very much.”

He took a step, but then paused and turned back to her. He laid a hand on her shoulder, his fingers tightening as he drew her a bit closer.

“Of all the people who came before us, Magda, you were the only one who always represented truth. I want you to know that.”

She suddenly felt a bit guilty for being deceptive in her answer about the sorceress. But it was a pretense necessary to protect lives. The dream walkers, after all, could be anywhere.

“I came before you to represent those who have no voice.”

He smiled a sly smile as he let the hand drop. “No, not exactly. You did not speak up for the deceitful, the covetous, the greedy who have no voice. You spoke only on behalf of the innocent, or those of principle, who have no voice. You came before us to represent truth. Others on the council may not have noted the distinction, but I wanted you to know that I always did.

“Though you are not gifted, there is power in a voice such as yours, power in truth. Our reasoning minds, after all, are where our greatest ability lies. Though you are not gifted

, that ring of truth resonates with people more than you know.

“There are things going on at the Keep that I don’t understand. Perhaps others do, perhaps even you do, but I don’t. As a councilman I was in a way shut off from many of the real goings-on around us. I saw only what was shown to me. In that capacity I saw a great many people who came before us for a great many reasons.

“You, Magda Searus, were the only one who always came before us concerned only with the truth.

“We live in dangerous times. We may be living in the end of times. If we are to survive, we need truth more than anything else. Of all the people I have known, you are the only one who stood out to me as someone dedicated to finding the truth of things. I doubt you have any idea how rare that is.

“Don’t ever give up on that calling, Magda. Know yourself, know who you are. Though few would admit it, even those on the council, I truly believe that we all need you.”

Magda was stunned to hear him say such things. “But I’m not even gifted. I’m . . .” She almost said that she was a nobody. “I’m not able to do much on my own.”

His smile returned. “Standing for truth is everything. Truth is power. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t. Thank you, Councilman Sadler.”

He smiled at the title.

“Oh, and Magda, I want you to know that I took your advice.”

“My advice? What advice?”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Your advice to give the oath to Lord Rahl to protect our minds from the dream walkers.”

Magda stared at him. “You did? When?”

He smiled. “The night after you came to the council covered in blood. Like I said, I know that you are the only one who came before us concerned with nothing more than the truth. As soon as I was in my room that night, I went to my knees, as you had instructed, and gave the three devotions to Lord Rahl.”

Magda hoped for his sake that he was telling the truth. “Did any of the other council members swear the oath?”