House of Chains/Epilogue

And now here I sit,
on my brow a circlet of fire,
and this kingdom
I rule
is naught but the host
of my life's recollections,
unruly subjects,
so eager for insurrection,
to usurp the aged man
from his charred throne
and raise up
younger versions
one by one.

The Crown of Years
Fisher kel Tath

The First Throne

An uneasy peace has been reached between the two groups of defenders of the First Throne. Minala inspects a score of her child soldiers as Onrack watches. Finding nothing amiss she leaves the room before Trull Sengar can attempt to win her trust with his long and unpleasant story. Onrack volunteers to hear the story instead.

Monok Ochem observes that Onrack seeks distraction because he has felt the death of the woman to whom he had given his heart before stealing it back. The woman who had been so enraged by Onrack's betrayal, that her madness had defeated the Vow itself. The other T'lan Imass had been forced to shatter her and lock her away in darkness. And now the Whirlwind Goddess was gone.

Hearing the tale, Trull begins to weep because his friend can not.

Onrack argues that the T'lan Imass have forgotten that the heart is neither given nor stolen, but surrendered. Monok Ochem says that word is without power to the T'lan Imass. Onrack disagrees, saying his people had changed the word to make it more palatable, and in doing so devoured their own souls. Trull identifies the change as the Ritual of Tellann before snorting that the T'lan Imass have the nerve to call Onrack broken.