“That’s why I kept trying to warn or advise you, when I should have kept my damn mouth shut. I didn’t know how else to tell you I love you. If you’ve made mistakes—which I do not believe—you can’t blame yourself. You only made them because I couldn’t leave you alone.”

Above him, Stave, Clyme, and Branl stood with their backs to the gully, facing Landsdrop and the more distant vistas of Sarangrave Flat. They may have wished to grant Covenant the illusion of privacy. Guiding Jeremiah by the shoulder, Galt turned the boy and the croyel away so that Covenant would not be distracted by Jeremiah’s emptiness and the creature’s malevolence.

Apparently the Humbled and the former Master understood what Covenant was trying to do.

“Linden,” he went on, “I think you can hear me.” He kept his voice low to mask his sorrow and regret. “I think that because you’re like Jeremiah right now, and he can hear me. The croyel isn’t the only one listening. But that’s not all. I think he’s always heard you. Nothing you ever said to him was wasted.

“That’s one reason I believe he doesn’t serve Lord Foul. He’s been listening to you. You gave him a life that wasn’t all pain. It was also years of your care and devotion. You showed him he wasn’t alone even though he couldn’t tell you he was listening.

“Sure, Lord Foul got to him first. The Despiser marked him in that bonfire. But Jeremiah is like all the rest of us. He’s more than the sum of his hurts. One damaged hand doesn’t make him anybody’s property. And after that, you claimed him. You claimed him in the only way that matters, by loving him the whole time. Whatever Lord Foul has done to him since is too late. I believe that. Someday you’ll believe it, too. You’ve already taught him the difference between love and Despite.”

Some of the Giants slept restlessly, fighting old battles in their dreams, or fleeing beyond exhaustion in the deep places of the world. Rime Coldspray snorted defiance or desperation softly through her teeth. Cirrus Kindwind clutched the stump of her severed arm until her knuckles whitened and the thews stood out on her hand. But none of the Swordmainnir seemed likely to awaken.

“And since then—” Covenant tried to speak more strongly, and found that he could not. His throat was too dry, and lamentations filled his chest. “Hellfire, Linden. When I told you to do something they don’t expect, I didn’t know you were going to surprise me so often.”

He did not want her to hear his grief. She would hold herself accountable for it.