CHAPTER 1
THE FORMATTING OF THIS BOOK IS FUCKED UP, YO.
”I have heard it told,” the old woman* confided, “that there be those walking among us who can do more than merely speak with the dead.”
*Alarm fucken bells. Accept no food. Watch her hands. Know where the exits are.
Magda looks up, and the old woman is leaning over her shoulder as she talks. She frowns, as well she might. Dangerous shit. Not a world in which you want folks sneaking up on you mumbling about necromancy.
She asks Tilly (gonna lay a bet that Tilly either kills or is killed) what she is on about.
Tilly (who has faded blue eyes - she’s probably blind. Terry likes his blind characters) says that down in the depths of the Keep (the wizard hangout - we must be at Aydindril. And pause to fucken lol at Aydindril. what the fuck.) there are folks doing dark work speaking with souls.
[We thought we were going to hear about something more gnarly than just talking to the dead, but Terry has switched on us. Fuck.]
Magda tells Tilly to pipe down and stop believing crazy shit.
She stares around the room (probably blind) at dust and sunlight and stuff, and then down at a silver box that apparently holds all her memories.
Which are all she has. Something awful has happened to Magda. Tilly mumbles that she has a contact down in the Keep who knows about what the deadspeakers are doing.
And yes, they are bringing folks back from the dead. Tilly wants to tell Magda
”that maybe you could have brought him back”
Which is a pretty braindead/callous thing to say. Magda refrains from slapping/zapping/choking out Tilly and merely asks her what the fuck. Kindly, what the fuck now.
They chat about how benign Magda has been towards Tilly, a mere servant. Magda pats her hand and tells her
”We are all noble, Tilly. Every life is . . .”
Magda had to swallow, fearing that another word would put her over the edge.
“Precious,” Tilly finished for her.
Bleurgh. She continues, telling Tilly that when life is done, it’s done. This is patently untrue in the Goodkindiverse. And she kinda knows it.
Tilly doesn’t swallow it. Insists that her friend down in the Keep has seen wizards working for the war effort bring souls back, reverse death. And that she feels like Magda could make it happen for Baraccus [a wizard, we’ve heard that name before. He was a Temple of the Winds maverick], who was Magda’s husband.
Magda pretty much shuts her down. Sends her out. Tilly limps towards the door, still suffering from a broken hip that has never quite healed.*
*Bullshit. Watch for her sudden agility in later chapters. Old woman is a panther.
Magda contemplates that Baraccus had already gone to the Land of the Dead once, and had come back. Doesn’t seem plausible (for some reason) that he could do it again*.
*Book it. Baraccus is coming back. Maybe as Nasty Baraccus. Or pseudo-Baraccus.
Tilly suggests, hovering by the door, that Magda visit “a spiritist”. Oh Terry. You are not good at words. She says that Magda, although she has super-long hair and is the widow of the First Wizard, might be in danger now that he is gone. Might not be respected. Perhaps advice from Baraccus-in-the-beyond could help her handle herself. Heaven forbid she manage to hold it together on her own. A husband, even if dead, is essential.
Seems like Baraccus might have committed suicide. Magda sits and looks at the silver box, wondering why he had “done what he did”. Tilly calls out, and when she looks up she sees
Men, their faces in shadow, their hands clasped, stood out in the doorway.
“There are . . . visitors come to see you, Mistress”
Magda seems to know them. She isn’t afraid, exactly, but wary and tired. And she knows Baraccus would want her to be strong.
As soon as all seven of them glided* into the room, Tilly hurried away, closing the door behind her
*Walked elegantly, I guess.
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Welp. We’re away. Magda doesn’t seem to have powers - I guess she is going to acquire the Confessor gift at some point over the course of this book. Tilly is going to get herself killed. No doubt. If her limp is legit, and her eyes are truly a bit hazy, she is at a laughable disadvantage. The seven folks who came into the room are probably wizards. Hence gliding. Hence Magda’s trepidation, because they will do magic shit, which usually involves pain for women. No idea about the silver box. Maybe it’s Baraccus’s ashes. War ? Presumably against other wizards. Bodes well, though. Even Terry can’t make a magical war tedious. Holes will be blasted through midriffs. Guts will fly.
That was actually a somewhat meaty chapter, compared to the two-page drool he served up in The Omen Machine.
Bodycount: Technically 1, Baraccus. Count it as 0.25. I feel like I knew him. He should register on the deathometer.
Sexy Times: 0. Not even close. Seven men alone in a room with a widow is a classic Goodkind setup, though.
