years to teach him.

Entering at that moment, Caramon stared openmouthed at his brother. His astonishment increased tenfold when

Raistlin ran over to his twin, flung his arms around him, embraced him, then burst into tears.

"What's wrong?"

Caramon misread his brother's emotions, his heart almost stopped in terror. He dropped his sword, which fell to

the floor with a resounding clang, to clutch at his twin. "Raistlin! What's wrong? What's the matter? Who died?"

"Nothing is the matter, my brother!" Raistlin cried, laughing and drying his tears. "Nothing in the world is the

matter! For once, everything is right."

He waved the scroll, which he still held in his hand, pranced about the small room until he collapsed, out of

breath but still laughing, in his mother's rocking chair.

"Shut the door, my brother. And come sit beside me. We have a great deal to discuss."

Swearing Caramon to secrecy regarding the Test proved a difficult task. In his exuberance, Raistlin showed Caramon

the precious document summoning them both to

the Tower at Wayreth. Caramon came across the unfortunate linein the event of your demise and was extremely upset.

So upset that, at first, he vowed Raistlin should not go, that he would have Tanis and Sturm and Flint and Otik and

half the population of Solace sit on Raistlin before he should take a Test where the penalty for failure was death.

Raistlin was at first touched by Caramon's very genuine concern. Exhibiting unusual patience, Raistlin tried to

explain to his twin the reasoning behind such drastic measures.

"My dear brother, as you yourself have seen, magic wielded by the wrong hands can be extremely dangerous. The

conclave wants only those among their ranks who have proven that they are disciplined, skillful, and-most

important-dedicated body and soul to the art. Thus those who merely dabble in magic, who practice it for their own

amusement, do not want to take the Test, because they are not prepared to risk their lives for the magic."

"It is murder," Caramon said in a low voice. "Murder, plain and simple."

"No, no, my brother." Raistlin was soothing. Thinking of Lemuel, Raistlin smiled as he added, "Those deemed not

suitable for taking the Test are prohibited from doing so by the conclave. They permit only those magi who have an

excellent chance of passing to take the Test. And, my dear brother, very, very few fail. The risk is extremely minor

and, for me, no risk at all. You know how hard I have worked and studied. I can't possibly fail!"

"Is that true?" Caramon lifted his pale, haggard face, regarded his twin with a searching, unblinking gaze.

"I swear it." Raistlin sat back in the rocker, smiled again. He couldn't keep from smiling.

"Then why do they want me to come with you?" Caramon asked suspiciously.

Raistlin was forced to pause before answering. Truth to tell, he didn't know why Caramon should be invited to

come along. The more Raistlin thought about it, the more he resented the fact. Certainly it was logical for his

brother to escort him as far as the forest, but why should he come farther? It was extremely unusual for the

conclave to permit entry to their Tower to any person outside their ranks.

"I'm not sure," Raistlin admitted at last. "Probably it has something to do with the fact that we are twins. There

is nothing sinister about it, Caramon, if that's what you are thinking. You will merely accompany me to the

Tower and wait until I have finished the Test. Then we will return home together."

Envisioning that triumphant journey back to Solace, Raistlin's spirits, which had been shadowed a moment

before, were elevated to the heavens and sparkled bright as the stars.

Caramon was dolefully shaking his head. "I don't like it. I think you should discuss it with Tanis."

"I tell you again, I am not permitted to discuss it with anyone, Caramon!" Raistlin said angrily, losing patience

at last. "Can't you get that through your gully-dwarf skull?"

Caramon looked unhappy and uneasy, but still defiant.

Raistlin left the rocking chair. Hands clenched to fists, he stood over his brother, stared down at him, spoke to

him with passionate intensity.

"I am commanded to keep this secret, and I will do so. And so will you, my brother. You will not mention this

to Tanis. You will not mention this to Kitiara. You will not mention this to Sturm or anyone else. Do you

understand me, Caramon? No one must know!"

Raistlin paused, drew a breath, then said quietly, so that there could be no doubt of his sincerity, "If you do-if

you ruin this chance for me-then I have no brother."