Convergence

The gathering has begun. Tonight, I hope to bring together at least two groups of characters, which will set in motion other events that will propel the story forward to the end of this book, and launch right into Book Three:

First, one of the main characters--Gaerbith--must take an oath. As a result, he will be granted immortality, and a secret will be unlocked in his memory. That secret will reveal where something is hidden. However, he cannot go find it, because only descendants of a certain bloodline can touch the lost item. Even immortals will suffer if they disregard the rules.

Second, the character who can actually bring out the lost item is the dude who's just fought a Dragon, and is even now recovering from serious wounds and lost blood. He is several days away from Gaerbith. They've never met.

Third, the mad king's only living child, a daughter, will be kidnapped from Gaerbith's group and taken back to her mother's tower for "questioning." (She thinks dear ol' Mom is dead, and wishes she could remember her; what a surprise it will be to find out Mom is her worst enemy.)

There's more, but why give everything away? (smile)