It did not shatter me the way it had Goblin. Maybe I am less sensitive. Or just more ignorant. But it was bad. Like I said, some days disappeared.

That eye is not infallible. It does not do well with short term memories. The Lady remained unaware of Silents proximity.

Of the rest of it there are only flickers of recollection, most filled with Whispers screams. There was a moment when the clearing filled with dancing devils all glowingwith their inner wickedness. They fought for the privilege of mounting Whisper.. There was a time when Whisper faced the eye. A time when, I think, Whisper died and was resurrected, died and was resurrected, till she became intimate with death. There were times when she was tortured. And another time with the eye.

The fragments I retain suggest that she was shattered, slain, revived, and reassembled as a devoted slave. J recall her pledge of fealty to the Lady. Her voice dripped a craven eagerness to please.

Long after it was over I wakened confused and lost, and terrified. It took a while to reason out. The confusion was part of the Ladys protective coloration. What I could not remember could not be used against her.

Some reward.

She was gone. Likewise Whisper. But Soulcatcher remained, pacing the clearing, muttering in a dozen frantic voices. He fell silent the instant I tried to sit up. He stared, head thrust forward suspiciously.

I groaned, tried to rise, fell back. I crawled over and propped myself on one of the stones. Catcher brought me a canteen. I drank clumsily. He said, You can eat after you pull yourself together.

Which remark alerted me to ravenous hunger. How long had it been? What happened?

What do you remember?

Not much. Whisper was Taken?

Shes replacing Limper. The Lady took her to the eastern front. Her knowledge of the other side should shake things loose out there.

I tried to shake the cobwebs. I thought they were shifting to a northern strategy.

They are. And as soon as your Mend recovers, we have to return to Lords. In a soft, female voice, he admitted, I didnt know Whisper as well as I thought.

She did pass the word when she learned what happened at her camp. For once the Circle responded quickly. They avoided the usual in-fighting. They smell blood. They accepted their losses, and let us divert ourselves while they started their maneuvers. Kept them damned well hidden. Now Hardens army is headed toward Lords. Our forces are still scattered throughout the forest. She turned the trap around on us.

I did not want to hear it. A year of bad news is enough. Why couldnt one of our coups remain solid? She sacrificed herself intentionally?