“Everything!” Alistair shouted. “I want everything, and you stand in my way, dead man!”
I waited for help from the sacrificed girl, but none came so I groaned. What should I do next? Inspiration came from somewhere, but I did not know if it was Aela or the child who put words in my mouth. “Then ask the Book how to get it. It can end this now, Alistair.”
I did not need the pealing laugh from Aela or the despairing “Fergus! No! I'm not ready” from the child to realise I had made a mistake.
“Why not?” Alistair laughed. “Oh Book of Black Earth, what must I do to gain ultimate power in this land?”
It was a simple question, simply put, but the results altered everything as the quiet voice, as sincere as any lawyer, smoothed like fine silk into the room.
“Why Alistair my servant and dearest
