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"I Gift you by your true nath and power in the Medium I bestow on you the rank of Aldermaston, the servant of all May you speak no falsehood and honor your oaths I grant you the dehtfully and properly to defend the escape To guide them to Pry-Ree where the ships await You will do this until you are released from your service or until death takes you Be it thus so"

As he spoke, Lia experienced a flood of warmth descend from the skin of her scalp all the way down to her soles With the warible, but very real It was a burden of responsibility, a shifting of responsibility from the Aldermaston of Muirwood to her

Lia’s eyes fluttered open in shock "Is he dead, Maderos? Why did you Gift me with Muirwood? Is he truly dead…?"

"Hush, child Too many questions You il That is all you need know right now Do not pester me with questions All will be revealed in tiil"

Lia rose, her legs tre She worried about Muirwood – about as happening there The feeling of uneasiness was as palpable as a er and fear The Abbey was in terrible danger

"Look ather chin "You feel the burden already I can see it But you have another duty here to perfor

"This is the irrevocare sigil Watch my hand You trace this shape in the air with your palm Think of a block of stone Down over up and across A square There is another square It starts in the ht-pointed star It is the seal of Zedakah of the first Fan of the Aldern is bound forever, child You will be con If you Gift son, that Gift will remain with them forever If you curse someone, the curse will last forever You can never use it for yourself You cannot bind someone to yourself or bind yourself to someone Remember this, child It is an iainst the Medium’s will Great calamities have happened when that occurs Do you understand?"

Lia nodded "I understand"

"You are an Alderil Go where the Medium bids you I ait for you here"

Lia walked carefully around the ri froeway on the other side The stones were ancient and carved with masterful details – little patterns of leaves and sy blue stones There was a sole in the air, a whisper of centuries past She did not kno long it had been since mastons had walked it, but she felt a peculiar reverence for the place The pathway led to another tunnel, and fro to her

As she stepped into the tunnel, her heart spasmed with fear and terror It struck her with such force that she nearly screa, conized that the fear was caused by stone faces carved into the archway ahead, their eyes white with power She silenced the hesitantly forward, Lia entered a sh to admit only a few people, but the space was consumed by a ed to be there in such a confined space, but then realized i it fro in places and seemed as ancient as the world The face was so worn by tinizable It could have been a man’s or a woman’s face The stone was smooth, as if touched by the sea for a thousand years The power ee presence thathad stood there for thousands of years Who carved it and when?

Instantly she knew The whispers told her it had been carved by King Zedakah himself It was nearly as old as the world itself It had been protected by the eleenerations Lia stared at it in awe What kind of Leering was it? What powers did it hold?

Lia hesitated, staring at the face – i the man who had carved it The first Aldermaston The story of her family A story that had been written and scrived for thousands of years She sith nervousness, feeling the weight of the responsibility With a tre hand, she reached out to touch the stone Her heart pounded in her chest Her fingers trembled as they brushed the stone