Fortunately the other Giants had recovered more fully. They had fought as hard as Rime Coldspray; had suffered as much from their wounds. And the healing which Linden had provided for them had been as swift as cruelty: it had its own cost. Latebirth still moved gingerly, protecting her ribs. Both Cabledarm and Frostheart Grueburn were limping, and Onyx Stonemage looked unsure of her balance. Nevertheless they had rested longer, and eaten more, than their Ironhand. They looked ready to wear their armor and carry supplies and travel, at least for a while.

For that Linden could be grateful.

“All right,” she sighed to Coldspray. “I’m sick of this place anyway. But there’s still the question of where we’re going, or what we think that we can do when we get there.” Bitterly she added, “Assuming that no one attacks us on the way.

“Covenant—” She swallowed bile and grief. “Abandoning us like that. It changes things.” It changed everything. “Maybe we should rethink this whole situation.”

Rime Coldspray opened her mouth to reply; but Mahrtiir spoke first. “Ringthane.” Fatigue thickened his voice until he seemed to be groaning. “Ere we consider such matters, will you not make some new attempt to bestir your son?” Without his Cords, he was a different man: smaller in some way; perhaps more fragile. Time and again, he had relied on Bhapa and Pahni to compensate for his blindness. “As he is, he remains helpless. And much has been altered since you last strove to retrieve his mind. Can you not now discover some means to restore him to himself?”

Linden shook her head; but she did not respond at once. She had to search for words to describe perceptions which had become plain to her. How often do I have to talk about trust? She had made too many mistakes. Worse, she had made the same ones too often. She needed to believe that better solutions existed; but she did not know how.

With an effort of will, she forced herself to say, “He isn’t helpless in there. Not really. He’s like Anele. He chose this. It’s his only defense. Or it was. That deserves some respect. I can’t think of any other way that he could have protected himself.

“So maybe he’s stuck there now,” she conceded to forestall protests. “He’s been like this for a long time. Maybe he wants to come out and just can’t find the way. But I can’t help him unless I go deeper than I did before.” Much deeper: deep enough to drag him from his graves. “I’ll have to possess him. And that’s just wrong. The Ranyhyn warned me. They showed me how bad things can get if I insist on violating people who have the right to make their own decisions.”