“I mean that there is more to this than you or I know. The Loden is an Elfstone, a talisman of magic. My father says there is great risk to the one who uses it. He wouldn’t reveal the nature of that risk, only that he wasn’t going to allow me to take it. I told him I wasn’t afraid. I told him that I was leader of the Chosen, and that I was the one who had to take it.”
She saw the look on his face and scowled. “You can believe me or not, Kirisin, but that was what I said to him. It made him furious. He told me that I didn’t know what I was talking about. He said that my time as a Chosen was almost up and I wasn’t going to be allowed to do this. Someone would have to take on the responsibility of using the Elfstone, but it wasn’t going to be me.”
She shook her head helplessly. “When I tried to object, he shouted me down. He was so angry! I have never seen him so angry. What could I do? He is my father! He was insistent about it!”
A long silence settled between them. They stared at each other, neither ready to say anything more right away. Kirisin was unsure how he should feel. He was furious at the King, but on the other hand he understood how Arissen Belloruus would want to protect his only daughter from what he perceived to be the danger of using the Loden. What bothered him most, however, was a nagging suspicion that the King might not have told Erisha everything he knew, that he might be holding something back. He had been duplicitous with Kirisin; there was nothing to say he was being any less so with her.
“What are you going to do?” she asked him finally.
In point of fact, he didn’t know. He had thought knowing the truth of things would give him the answer to that question, but it hadn’t. He was as much adrift now as he had been before.
“How does your father know that the Loden might be a danger to the user?” he asked.
She shrugged. “When I told him what the Ellcrys had said, he had me wait while he sent old Culph to study the histories to see what they said about it.
It was after Culph had done so that he decided I couldn’t have anything to do with the matter. He found out something about what would happen if the Loden were used, but as I said, he wouldn’t tell me.”
Kirisin thought it through some more. Then he said to her, “Don’t you want to know what that something is?”
She shook her head doubtfully. “I’m not sure if I do or not.”
“At least you would know how dangerous it really is to use the Loden. You would know if your father is right to forbid you.”
“Maybe.”
“You said you took your Chosen oath seriously. If that’s so, don’t you have to find out what you’re risking if you try to help the Ellcrys?” He paused.
“She asked you for help first, Erisha. Not me. She didn’t ask me until it must have seemed that you had abandoned her. But you were the one she wanted.”
Erisha looked miserable. “I know who she asked, Kirisin. What are you suggesting I do?”
“Have a look at the histories. That way you can make up your own mind.
I’ll help you. I don’t expect you to do this alone. Maybe we’ll find the answer faster if there are two of us searching.”
She was silent again, thinking. “I don’t know.”
“Remember when we were kids?” he asked impulsively. He reached out and touched her lightly on the shoulder. “We’d chase all through the woods outside your house and pretend we were on an adventure. Sometimes we would do it at night, when the woods were dark and scary. We pretended we were looking for secret treasure. We were friends, then. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but I think we still are. I don’t know why your father is so worried about what might happen to you, but I want to help you find out. Why don’t you give me a chance? Don’t you want to know the reason?”
She stared fixedly at him, as if not certain who he was. Then she said,
“We would have to sneak into the room where the histories are stored. Old Culph is poking around in there all the time. We would have to get in when he was sleeping or he would want to know what we’re doing and would probably tell my father.” She paused, thinking. “But I know how to get into the room, even after it’s locked.”
She was getting caught up in the idea of doing something, of shedding the burden of guilt she had been carrying for obeying her father’s wishes and ignoring her duty as a Chosen.
“Are you willing to do that?” he pressed, wanting to make sure she wouldn’t change her mind. “If you decide to disobey him, he will probably be pretty angry.”
“He will be furious/’ she agreed, looking doubtful again.
“But you can’t worry about that right now,” he insisted. He watched her face, measuring her resolve. “Not until we find out what he knows that we don’t.”
She shook her head. “I suppose not.” Her eyes lifted to meet his.
“No, not until we find out.”
The doubt he had seen a moment earlier was gone. He exhaled sharply in relief. “Can we do it tonight?” he asked.
She nodded, determination mirrored on her face. “We can do it tonight.”