memory surrounding Kahlan lost to us because of what those Sisters did.”
Richard didn’t really hear him. Growing ever more agitated, he waggled a finger back and forth at a breach in the lines just below Nicci’s elbow. “I’m telling you, there’s a line missing, here. I’m sure of it.”
Richard turned to his grandfather. He saw then that everyone was staring at him. “Right here,” he told them as he pointed again, “from the end of this upward rising arc, to this intersection of triangles, there should be a line.”
Zedd frowned. “A line?”
“Yes.” He didn’t know why they hadn’t spotted it before. It was stone cold obvious to Richard, like a song sung with a note of the melody left out. “A line is missing. An important line.”
“Important,” Ann repeated in weary exasperation.
Richard, becoming more unsettled by the moment, wiped a hand across his mouth. “Very important.”
Zedd sighed. “Richard, what are you talking about?”
“There is no way you could know such a thing,” Ann scoffed, her patience wearing thinner by the moment.
“Look,” Richard said turning back to them, “it’s an emblem, a design.”
Zedd scratched the back of his head, glancing briefly to the window as a particularly violent fit of lightning flared so close that it released a crack of thunder that felt like it might loosen the stone walls of the Keep.
He turned back to Richard. “And the design…tells you something, Richard?”
“Yes. Such a design is like a translation from another language. In a way, it’s what you’re trying to understand by doing this verification web.This form characterizes a concept in much the same way that a math equation expresses physical attributes, such as an equation expressing the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter. Emblematic forms can be a kind of language, too, the way mathematics is a form of language. They both are able to reveal something about the nature of things.”
Zedd patiently smoothed back his hair. “You see emblems as a form of language?”
“In a way. Take the Grace underneath Nicci, for example. That’s an emblem. The outer circle represents the beginning of the underworld while the inner circle represents the limits of the world of life. The square separating them represents the veil between those worlds. In the center is an eight-pointed star, representing the Creator’s Light. The eight lines radiating out from the points of that star all the way out through the outer circle represent the gift carried from Creation all the way through life, across the veil, and beyond, into death. The whole thing is an emblem; when you see that emblem, you see it as a whole concept. You might say that you understand the language of it.
“If, during the casting of a spell, someone with the gift doesn’t draw the grace correctly—hasn’t spoken the language correctly—it won’t work as intended and might even cause trouble. Say you saw a Grace with a nine-pointed star, or with one of the circles missing, wouldn’t you know it was wrong? If the square representing the veil was drawn incorrectly, then under the right circumstances it could even theoretically breach the veil and allow the worlds to bleed together.
“It’s an emblem. You understand the concept it represents. You know what it should look like. If it’s drawn wrong, then you recognize it as wrong.”
When the flashes of lightning flickered to a stop, the room felt forsaken in the weak light of lamps. Distant thunder rumbled ominously up from the valley below.
Zedd, standing stock-still, studied Richard with more focus than he had been studying the verification web. “I’ve never looked at it in quite that way before, Richard, but I grant that you might have a point.”
Nathan arched a brow. “He certainly does.”
Ann sighed. “Perhaps.”
Richard turned from their dour expressions back to the glowing lines. “This, right here,” he said, gesturing, “is
Richard didn’t really hear him. Growing ever more agitated, he waggled a finger back and forth at a breach in the lines just below Nicci’s elbow. “I’m telling you, there’s a line missing, here. I’m sure of it.”
Richard turned to his grandfather. He saw then that everyone was staring at him. “Right here,” he told them as he pointed again, “from the end of this upward rising arc, to this intersection of triangles, there should be a line.”
Zedd frowned. “A line?”
“Yes.” He didn’t know why they hadn’t spotted it before. It was stone cold obvious to Richard, like a song sung with a note of the melody left out. “A line is missing. An important line.”
“Important,” Ann repeated in weary exasperation.
Richard, becoming more unsettled by the moment, wiped a hand across his mouth. “Very important.”
Zedd sighed. “Richard, what are you talking about?”
“There is no way you could know such a thing,” Ann scoffed, her patience wearing thinner by the moment.
“Look,” Richard said turning back to them, “it’s an emblem, a design.”
Zedd scratched the back of his head, glancing briefly to the window as a particularly violent fit of lightning flared so close that it released a crack of thunder that felt like it might loosen the stone walls of the Keep.
He turned back to Richard. “And the design…tells you something, Richard?”
“Yes. Such a design is like a translation from another language. In a way, it’s what you’re trying to understand by doing this verification web.This form characterizes a concept in much the same way that a math equation expresses physical attributes, such as an equation expressing the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter. Emblematic forms can be a kind of language, too, the way mathematics is a form of language. They both are able to reveal something about the nature of things.”
Zedd patiently smoothed back his hair. “You see emblems as a form of language?”
“In a way. Take the Grace underneath Nicci, for example. That’s an emblem. The outer circle represents the beginning of the underworld while the inner circle represents the limits of the world of life. The square separating them represents the veil between those worlds. In the center is an eight-pointed star, representing the Creator’s Light. The eight lines radiating out from the points of that star all the way out through the outer circle represent the gift carried from Creation all the way through life, across the veil, and beyond, into death. The whole thing is an emblem; when you see that emblem, you see it as a whole concept. You might say that you understand the language of it.
“If, during the casting of a spell, someone with the gift doesn’t draw the grace correctly—hasn’t spoken the language correctly—it won’t work as intended and might even cause trouble. Say you saw a Grace with a nine-pointed star, or with one of the circles missing, wouldn’t you know it was wrong? If the square representing the veil was drawn incorrectly, then under the right circumstances it could even theoretically breach the veil and allow the worlds to bleed together.
“It’s an emblem. You understand the concept it represents. You know what it should look like. If it’s drawn wrong, then you recognize it as wrong.”
When the flashes of lightning flickered to a stop, the room felt forsaken in the weak light of lamps. Distant thunder rumbled ominously up from the valley below.
Zedd, standing stock-still, studied Richard with more focus than he had been studying the verification web. “I’ve never looked at it in quite that way before, Richard, but I grant that you might have a point.”
Nathan arched a brow. “He certainly does.”
Ann sighed. “Perhaps.”
Richard turned from their dour expressions back to the glowing lines. “This, right here,” he said, gesturing, “is
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