file:///F|/rah/Stephen%20Donaldson/Donaldson%20Covenant%206%20White%20Gold%20Wielder%20.txt
of his blood in the water and followed it. Senseless he hung in
my arms as I bore him to the surface.
"With the sea thus wind-slashed, I saw little of his injury
but blood until I had borne him to Foamkite and wrested him
aboard. But there his wound seemed so great that I believed
his eyes had been crushed in his head, and for a time I be-
came as mad as my intent had been. To this day, I know
nothing of our return to the docks of Home. I did not regain
myself until a healer ^poke to me, compelling me to hear that
my brother had not been blinded. Had the boom itself struck
him, mayhap he would have been slain outright. But the im-
pact was borne by a cable along the boom, taking him below
the eyes and softening the blow somewhat."
Once more he fell still. His hands covered his face as if to
stanch the flow of blood he remembered. Covenant watched
him mutely. He had no courage for such stories, could not
bear to have them thrust upon him. But Honninscrave was a
Giant and a friend; and since the days of FoamfoIIower Cov-
enant had not been able to close his heart. Though he was
helpless and aggrieved, he remained silent and let Honnin-
scrave do what he willed.
After a moment, the Master dropped his hands. Drawing a
breath like a sigh, he said, "It is not the way of Giants to
punish such folly as mine, though I would have found com-
fort in the justice of punishment And Cable Seadreamer was
The Master's Scar 11
a Giant among Giants. He did not blame the carelessness
which marked his life forever." Then his tone stiffened. "But
I do not forget. The fault is mine. Though I too am a Giant
in my way, my ears have not found the joy to hear this story.
And I have thought often that perhaps my fault is greater than
it has appeared. The Earth-Sight is a mystery. None can say
why it chooses one Giant rather than another. Perhaps it
befell my brother because of some lingering hurt or alteration
done him by the puissance of that blow. Even in their youth,
Giants are not easily stricken senseless."
Suddenly Honninscrave looked upward; and his gaze struck
foreboding into Covenant's maimed empathy. His eyes under
his heavy brows were fierce with extremity, and the new-cut
lines around them were as intense as scars. 'Therefore have
I come to you," he said slowly, as if he could not see Cove-
nant quailing. "I desire a restitution which is not within my
power to perform. My fault must be assuaged.
"It is the custom of our people to give our dead to the sea.
But Cable Seadreamer my brother has met his end in horror,
and it will not release him. He is like the Dead of The Grieve,
damned to his anguish. If his spirit is not given its caamora"—
for an instant, his voice broke—"he will haunt me while one
stone of the Arch of Time remains standing upon another."
Then his gaze fell to the floor. "Yet there is no fire in all
the world that I can raise to give him surcease. He is a Giant.
Even in death, he is immune to flame."
At that. Covenant understood; and all his dreads came to-
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