It might save Linden herself.

Or Jeremiah.

Briefly.

That was all she asked. She had gone too far, and done too much harm, to expect anything more.

Yet she hesitated without knowing why. The Staff of Law belonged to her. In some sense, Covenant had left his ring to her. But she had no claim on the krill. No right to it.

She wanted to ask the Harrow, Do you still believe that Infelice will stop you from taking me to Jeremiah? Even now?

But this decision was hers to make. It did not belong to either the Elohim or the Insequent.

Before she could make her last remaining choice, however, Manethrall Mahrtiir abruptly jerked up his head.

“Aliantha!” he barked as if he were astonished or ashamed that he had not thought of this earlier. “Cords, find aliantha.”

Bhapa and Pahni exchanged a baffled glance. In confusion, Pahni looked quickly at Liand. But they were Ramen: they obeyed their Manethrall at once. Dodging between the Ranyhyn, they sprinted up the slopes of the hollow until they passed beyond the reach of the krill’s argence.

“Manethrall?” asked Stave.

Perplexed, Coldspray, Grueburn, and their comrades frowned at Mahrtiir.

“The first Ringthane must have healing,” he replied harshly. “There is much here that lies beyond my comprehension—aye, beyond even my desire for comprehension. Yet it is plain to me, though I have no sight, that some portion of his suffering is mere human frailty. He has been given flesh which is too weak and flawed to contain his spirit.

“No balm known to the Ramen will ease the ardor and constriction of his reborn pain. But aliantha will supply the most urgent needs of his flesh. Mayhap it will grant him the strength to awaken—and perhaps to speak.”

Stave nodded; and some of the grimness lifted from the faces of the Giants. “Manethrall!” Liand exclaimed gladly. “The sight which you do not possess surpasses mine, which is whole. Aliantha, indeed! Why was this not our first thought rather than our last?”

Because, Linden answered to herself mordantly, you were distracted. As she had been. Like her companions, she had concentrated on other forms of healing.

Now she felt that she would never be able to meet Covenant’s gaze again. She could hardly bear to look into the faces of her friends, whom she had misled and misused.

She meant to leave them all behind. She did not want to expose them to the hazards of the Harrow’s dark intentions.

Covenant had professed his faith in her. She’s the only one who can do this. Linden would have found his sick and shattered condition easier to endure if he had spurned her utterly.

The idea that he still trusted her felt like a cruel joke.

Among Andelain’s wealth of gifts, the Cords did not have to search far for treasure-berries. Pahni had already re-entered the vale with a handful of the viridian fruit. And as she hastened fluidly down the slope, Bhapa caught the light at the rim of the hollow. At the same time, Mahrtiir walked around the Ranyhyn and the Giants and the krill to approach Covenant. Kneeling, the Manethrall gently, kindly, eased the Unbeliever around onto his back. Then Mahrtiir seated himself cross-legged at Covenant’s head and lifted it onto the support of his shins.