trailed away from him as if blown in a wind, and he could not
seem to gather them up. They drifted and strayed, and the
272 The Talismans of Shannara
questions that had plagued him for weeks remained unan-
swered.
He was digging in the sand with a stick when Matty ap-
peared and sat down next to him.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she offered. Her face was pale and
cool-looking in the starlight, and her eyes were depthless.
“What are you doing? ”
He shook his head. “Thinking.”
“What about?”
“Everything and nothing.” He gave her a quick smile. “I
can’t seem to settle on much. I thought I might try to reason
out a few things, but my mind just keeps wandering.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment, her eyes turning
away to look out over the river. “You try too hard,” she said
finally.
He looked at her.
“You work at everything like it was the last chance you
were ever going to get. You’re like a little boy with a chore his
mother has given him to do. It means so much to you that you
can’t afford to make even the smallest mistake.”
He shrugged. “Well, that’s not how I am. Maybe that’s how
I seem at the moment, but that isn’t really me. Besides, now
who’s judging who? ”
She met his gaze squarely. “I’m not judging you; I’m giving
you my impression. That’s different from what you were
doing. You were judging me.”
“Oh.” He didn’t believe it for a moment. His face said so,
and he didn’t bother to hide it. “Anyway, trying hard isn’t a
bad thing.”
“Do you remember when I told you that I had killed a lot
of men? ” He nodded. “That was a lie. Or at least an exagger-
ation. I just said that because you made me mad.” She looked
away again, thoughtful. “There’s a lot you don’t understand
about me. I don’t think I can explain it all to you.”
He stared at her hard, but she refused to look at him. “Well,
I didn’t ask you to explain,” he replied defensively.
She ignored him. “You’re very good with that sword. Al-
most as good as I am. I could teach you to be better if you’d
let me. I could teach you a lot. Remember what happened to
The Talismans of Shannara 273
you at the Whistledown when you grabbed me. I could teach
you to do that, too.”
He flushed. “That wouldn’t have happened if …”
“… you had been ready.” She smiled. “I know, you said so
before. But the point is, you weren’t ready—and look what
happened. Besides, being ready is what counts. Padishar taught
me that. Being ready is certainly more important than trying
hard.”
His jaw tightened. “Are you about finished detailing what’s
wrong with me? Or is there something else you’d like to
add? ”
The smile disappeared from her face. She did not look at
him, keeping her eyes on the river. He started to say something
more, then thought better of it. She seemed strangely vulnera-
ble all of a sudden. He watched her draw up her knees, clasp
her arms about them, and lower her head into the darkened
space between. He could hear the sound of her breathing, slow
and even.
“I like you a lot,” she said finally. She kept her face hidden.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He didn’t know what to say. He just stared at her.
“That’s why I’m here,” she said. “That’s why I came.” She
lifted her head to look at him. “What do you think about
that? ”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what I think.”
She took a deep breath. “Damson told me about Quicken-
ing.”
She said it as if the words might catch fire in her mouth.
Her eyes searched his, and he saw that she was frightened of
what he might be thinking but determined that she would fin-
ish anyway. “Damson said you were in love with Quickening,
that losing her was the worst thing that had ever happened to
you. She told me about it because I asked her. I wanted to
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