“You must not. Put it down. The Way of the Leaf. You must not! The Way of the Leaf! Please, Aram! Please!” Aram danced with her, fending her off clumsily, trying to hold the sword away from her. “Why not?” he shouted angrily. “They killed Mother! I saw them! I might have saved her, if I had had a sword. I could have saved her!” The words sliced at Perrin’s chest. A Tinker with a sword seemed an unnatural thing, almost enough to make his hackles stand, but those words … . His mother. “Leave him alone,” he said, more roughly than he intended. “Any man has a right to defend himself, to defend his
...more
