Champion
Zeddicus.
Zedd sat up with a start. Scrolls, books, and astronomy charts were piled around him, covering the surface of the heavy oak table. He was in the palace library.
Or was he?
He looked down at his ink smudged fingers and saw they were unwrinkled.
You fell asleep, Champion.
"Hali." He turned in his seat to find her standing there, in the center of the white marble floor, light shining down on her from the intricate stained glass windows in the domed ceiling of the library.
She seemed brighter, her presence heavier than ever before. Her beauty brought tears to his eyes.
He went to her and raised her hand to his lips for a heart stopping kiss.
What are you searching for, Zeddicus?
"The place of the Great Betrayal. The place we must find to have any chance of stopping the Brotherhood. The eclipse occurs in a fortnight. We have that long to prepare, but there will be nothing to prepare for, if I can't find the thrice damned spot. I know I've read about it somewhere. If I could just remember where –"
Hali placed her hands on his cheeks. Be still. You have everything you need.
Zedd was so still he could have been carved from marble.
A braying laughed filled the air, echoing and overlapping though Hali's lips didn't move.
Breathe, Zeddicus.
Zedd's lips stretched into a smile, letting out his own throaty guffaw. It was difficult to be grim in Hali's presence. She made the bloody reality of the world seem far away, out of focus.
Small.
You have everything you need, Hali repeated, her brown eyes serious once more.
Daring to thread his hand into her hair and choosing to blame the indiscretion on his youthful form, Zedd replied, "Not everything."
Standing on her tiptoes, Hali pressed her lips to his.
It was both painful and beautiful, as if being struck by lightning. Her power electrified him down to his very bones. In the same moment, her love and light lifted him up, made his heart swell.
She pressed her Healing Hands to his chest as she pulled away. His heart beat twice.
This is the last time you will see me until everything is finished.
"Why?" he protested, still reeling from her kiss.
She looked up at him, and in that moment she was human again – crooked smile, tangled hair, a woman with a bad temper and soft brown eyes. Because there are rules, Zeddicus. I can't interfere. I may only give my chosen the things they need to succeed.
"But after the eclipse, I will see you again."
If everything goes as I hope, you will see me again. Old wrongs will be righted, and we will begin anew.
Zedd's mouth went dry. He reached for her, pulling her into his arms, his heart thumping wildly. "And if things don't go as you hope?"
For a long time, there was only silence. Then Hali pulled away.
I have done all I can. The rest is up to my children.
-l-
Zedd awoke with a crick in his neck and a pain in his back, slumped over a table in the library. His veins surged with more power than he had held since he was in his prime. His chest felt oddly warm.
When he opened his robes and looked, he found there was a mark seared into his skin, just over his heart. Just as his grandson had once been marked by the Keeper, Zedd was marked by the Creator.
He bore the imprint of the Healing Hands.