[spoiler]
Linden's friends have come to her. As have two of the Humbled...
And just as she has changed, so have they...
Stave has learned how to block his thoughts from the other haruchai.
Linden gest the Humbled to leave, with the promise that Stave will tell them what he feels they should know...and with them gone, she and her friends feel free to speak with each other.
Linad now carries orcrest
- and when Anele holds it, he is temporarily sane. And when he is asne, he tells Linden that his parents speak to him in his dreams, and that they beg Linden to not come to Andelain. Doom awaits Linden if she seeks out the dead. But Linden does not feel adequate to meet the needs of the Land and Jeremiah - ratehr than trusting herself, she feels her only hope is with the dead.
Am I only imagining an echo of Elena and the madness and obsession that led her to break the Law of Death?
After Stave had mastered hiding his thoughts from the other haruchai, he took Liand to the Aumbrie. There Liand found the orcrest, which responded to his hand. Stave challenged the other haruchai with the test of truth in order to allow Liand to keep it.
And it becomes clear that what has been hinted at since Runes has come to pass - Laindand Pahni are now a couple.
And finally, Linden must tell them what happened to her.
And the wilderness of her shattered heart and pain damaged soul come to light when the dedicated healer proclaims I do not forgive
She tells her plans to her friends:
* breaking the siege of the demondim
* going to Andelain
* getting Loric's krill
* getting some answers from the dead
And then Linden gest a surprise - the siege of Revelstone by the demondim has been lifted. By a lone stranger. Who in the space of 5-10 heartbeats devoured the demondim and destroyed them all.
Who could that be? An elohim? An Insequent? Something or someone new ?
[/spoiler]