Uncle Zophia smiled at Tinna. "Well, I guess I'll just continue," he said. "Do you remember that day, dear? It was a lovely day in South Karana --"
Tinna scowled. "It was raining, Zophia, as it always is in that accursed part of the world. If it had not been raining, I would never have become lost." She glared at him.
"Oh. Yes, well, I suppose it was raining. Sorry about that." Zophia smiled nervously at Tinna. "Anyway, Llewellyn and I were headed North across the plain, looking for the stone bridge across the river. It was slow going. We were tired, and quite loaded down by the money and weapons we'd plundered from the aviaks of Lake Rathetear.
"That's why we were headed to Surefall Glade, you see. After we'd dropped everything off at the bank in Qeynos, we were going to head over and train with the druid master there before going off to our next adventure. We'd both passed our nineteenth season, yet we'd had neither the opportunity nor the money to obtain the ability to teleport ourselves. So we had only our feet and the Spirit of the Wolf to take us."
"Some of us had only our feet," Tinna muttered.
Zophia didn't hear her. "We'd just passed the Den of Infected Paw, when we heard a gnoll bark, 'I'll teach you not to interfere with me, Tinna!' Well, of course that told us someone might need our help, but because of the rain, we had a hard time locating the source of the noise. Then at last, we saw the beautiful Knight of Innoruuk." Zophia beamed at Tinna.
"Knights of Innoruuk are NOT beautiful," Tinna hissed, leaning into Zophia's face. "We are terrible, for his hatred lives within our hearts." I shivered. I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if I saw Tinna coming at me with her sword drawn, but I knew my first thought would not be of her beauty.
"Uh, the TERRIBLE Knight of Innoruuk, I meant to say." Zophia cleared his throat. "Is it a little cold in here? Perhaps I should put another log on the fire, yes?"
"Continue." Tinna had relaxed a little, but not much.
"Yes, go on, Uncle Zophia," I said. "I do want to hear the rest of the story."
"All right then. Where was I? Oh yes, we saw Tinna battling the gnoll all on her own." He settled back into his chair. "I began to heal her, but Llewellyn held up his hand to stop me. 'Let her be,' he said. 'It's best to let Tunare deal with those who will not follow her laws.'
"That stopped me at first, but soon I saw that Tinna was going to die. And I remembered I'd promised to assist all living things. To me, that really meant all of them, not just the ones who agreed with me." Zophia shrugged. "So I healed Tinna, and that was enough for her to finish off the gnoll.
"She sat on the ground after that. Llewellyn stood looking at me, just like the Heartwood Master used to stand looking at me. Then he whispered, 'Tunare will not forget this.'"
"Father said that? But he's always been so kind!"
"Well, he is kind." Uncle Zophia nodded. "As I told you before, this is hard to explain. Our training told us the difference between good and evil, just as your own training did. But those ideas really don't equip a person to make difficult decisions. I saw then that even in our love of the living, we'd been encouraged to cultivate the hate necessary to let living things die. It didn't seem right."
He sighed and shook his head. "I knew in my own being that Tunare would have approved of my kindness to Tinna, and I told Llewellyn so. But he obviously didn't see it that way, though he didn't answer me then."
"I can't believe that." I did believe it, but I couldn't understand this seeming hatred on my father's part. "Father is tolerant of others. He's always told me that other races are our kin. He says he believes in letting others go their own way."
"Exactly." Zophia pointed at me. "You can let others go their own way, but you don't have to help them -- especially if someone has told you not to. Do you see the difference?"
"I do," I said to my boots. "I was just thinking about that very idea, because of Bankerra." I looked up. "She's not often kind, yet she understands how to look out for her own interests and help others too."
"These things are easier for those who serve no god," Tinna said. "You clearly understand that. And I believe you always have." She leaned a little closer to me. "Gwion, this is why your father wished you to speak with Zophia. It was obvious to him that you had questions of your own, and he knew that he could not answer them himself. He is a wise man."
"Wise in some things." I looked at Zophia. "Was that the end of it then? Did Father go on to Surefall Glade alone?"
"No." Zophia looked into his tankard. "This is empty," he said. "Have we more wine, Tinna?"
"There is some ale." Tinna rose and went out to the kitchen.
"Well, then what happened?" I said.
"We delayed our trip for a time. I shall tell you about that when Tinna comes back. All this talking has made me a bit thirsty."
