I talked about the Rebel plan for a thrust through Lords, and about what Whispers presence implied.

He chuckled. The old documents, Croaker. Tell me about the old documents.

I was sweating. The softer, the more gentle he became, the more I felt I had to fear. The old wizard. The one who wakened you all. Some of them were his papers. Damn. I knew I had stuck my foot in my mouth before I finished. Raven was the only man in the Company who could have identified Bomanzs papers as his.

Soulcatcher chuckled, gave me a comradely shoulder slap. I thought so, Croaker. I wasnt sure, but I thought so. I didnt think you could resist telling Raven.

I did not respond. I wanted to lie, but he knew.

You couldnt have known any other way. You told him about the references to the Limpers true name, so he just had to read everything he could. Right?

Still I kept my peace. It was true, though my motives had not been wholly brotherly. Raven has his scores to settle, but Limper wants all of us.

The most jealously guarded secret of any wizard, of course, is his true name. An enemy armed with that can stab through any magic or illusion straight to the heart of the soul.

You only guessed at the magnitude of what you found, Croaker. Even I can only guess. But what will come of it is predictable. The biggest disaster ever for Rebel arms, and a lot of rattling and shaking among the Ten. He slapped my shoulder again. Youve made me the second most powerful person in the Empire. The Lady knows all our true names. Now I know three of the others, and Ive gotten my own back.

No wonder he was effusive. He had ducked an arrow he had not known was coming, and had lucked onto a stranglehold on the Limper at the same time. He had stumbled over a rainbow pot of power.

But Whisper....

Whisper will have to go. The voice he used was deep and chill. It was the voice of an assassin, a voice accustomed to pronouncing death sentences. Whisper has to die fast. Otherwise nothing is gained.

Suppose she told someone else?

She didnt. Oh, no. I know Whisper. I fought her at Rust before the Lady sent me to Beryl. I fought her at Were. I chased her through the talking menhirs upon the Plain of Fear. I know Whisper. Shes a genius, but shes a loner. Had she lived during the first era, the Dominator would have made her one of his own. She serves the White Rose, but her heart is as black as the night of Hell.

That sounds like the whole Circle to me.