The old man lifted his elbows in surprise, then picked up his robes as he stepped through the low
brush, muttering to himself while Richard prodded him along with the sword. He took only a quick
glance back before stepping between the trees. Richard watched as the spiderweb parted. A grin
spread on his face.
Zedd, hands on his hips, peered at him with one eye. "True as toasted toads, my boy."
Zedd's arms flailed as he tried to get a breath. Richard let up, looked him in the eye, beaming, then
squeezed again.
Richard walked him back to the fire, an arm around his shoulders. "Sorry about that, but I had to
know for sure. I can't believe you're here! I'm so glad to see you! I'm so happy you're all right. We
have so much to talk about."
Kahlan came and gave him a hug, too. "We were so worried about you."
"But it isn't done yet," she smiled.
"Quite sure. We've only just started it."
The wizard pushed the sleeves of his robes up his arms while he eyed the fire as if it were a child
who had misbehaved. His skinny arms stretched out, fingers extended. Blue light sizzled around his
bony hands, seeming to gather momentum. With a hiss, it shot out in a jagged blue streak, striking
the cooking pot, making it jump. The blue fire cradled the pot, twisting around it, caressing it,
stroking it. The stew bubbled with blue light, churned and sloshed. The wizard pulled his hands
back and the blue fire sizzled out.
Kahlan kneeled, tasting the stew with -a wooden spoon. "He's right. It is done."
Richard shook his head and did as he was told. Kahlan dished up a plate full, putting some dried
biscuits on the side, and Rich- and handed it to Zedd. The old man didn't sit, but stood next to them,
by the fire, shoveling in the stew by the forkful. Kahlan spooned stew on the other two plates, and
by the time she was done, Zedd was handing her his empty plate to be refilled.
Richard waited until Zedd had swallowed down half the stew on his plate, and finally allowed
himself a pause before asking, "So, how did you get along with Adie? Did she take good care of
you?"
Richard and Kahlan glanced at each other. "I didn't mean anything by it," he said. "It's just that I
couldn't help noticing that Adie is a handsome woman. And interesting. I just meant you would find
her interesting." Richard smiled a small smile to himself.
"Tava root," Kahlan said. "Don't you like it?"
Richard pushed at a piece of meat. "We know."
"Have you two been doing as I said? Have you been staying out of trouble? What have you been
doing?"
"The Mud People?" Zedd mulled this over. "Good," he proclaimed at last, holding a forkful of meat
in the air. "You can't get in much trouble with the Mud People." He took the meat off the fork with
his teeth and dipped it back in his plate for more stew and a bite of dried biscuit. He spoke and
chewed at the same time. "So, you two had a nice stay with the Mud People." He noticed that they
weren't saying anything, and his eyes went from one to the other. "You can't get in much trouble
with the Mud People." It sounded like an order.
Zedd dropped his fork, then caught it in midair just before it hit the ground. "What!"
"It was self-defense," Richard protested to her. "He was trying to kill you."
"Confessor," Richard finished for him. His mood withered.
Kahlan nodded. "A few days ago."
"Well," Richard said, "that was when we found out what a night stone could do. Just before they
named us as Mud People."
"Well . ._. no." Richard pulled the leather thong out of his shirt and showed Zedd the Bird Man's
whistle. "They settled for giving me this."
"Because we asked them. We had to. It was the only way to get them to call a gathering for us."
"Yes. That was just before Darken Rahl came."
Richard looked up. "We didn't exactly invite him."
Zedd stared at the top of her head, then slowly sank back down. "I'm -sorry," he said softly. "So,
what did the ancestors' spirits tell you?"
"Witch woman!" Zedd's eyes narrowed. "What witch woman? Where?"
Zedd winced, almost dropping his plate, the air making a sound going through his bared, gritted
teeth as he drew a sharp breath. "Shota!" He looked around as if someone might hear. He lowered
his voice, directing a harsh whisper to Kahlan as he leaned closer to her. "Bags! What would
possess you to guide him into Agaden Reach! You are sworn to protect him!"
"We had to," Richard said, coming to her defense.
"To find out where the box is. And we did, too, Shota told us."
Kahlan gave Richard a sidelong glance. He didn't return it. "Nothing. She told us nothing else." He
held Zedd's eyes without backing down. "She told us that Queen Milena, in Tamarang, has the last
box of Orden. She told us because her life too depends on this." Richard held Zedd's glare. He
doubted that his old friend believed him, but he didn't want to tell him what Shota had said. How
could he tell Zedd that one, or two, of them might end up being traitors? That Zedd would use
wizard's fire against him, that Kahlan would touch him with her power? He feared that maybe it
would be justified; after all, he was the one who knew about the book. They didn't.
His voice turned harder as he went on. "I have been doing the best I could without you. I've lost
track of the number of times we have nearly been. killed. All I knew to do was try to find the box.
Kahlan helped me, and we found out where it is. It has cost us both dearly. If you don't like what I
have done, then take your cursed Sword of Truth back, I am near to being fed up with it! With
everything!"
Zedd and Kahlan exchanged a look. "Yes," he said softly to her, "I can see that you have indeed
told him." He set his plate on the ground, stood, and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, dear
one."
"I'm sorry, my boy. I guess you have been having a hard time of it."
Zedd waited a short while before he spoke. "Well, I know you, I'm sure you had to." "No," Richard
said in a painful whisper. "I didn't have to. I thought I was protecting Kahlan, protecting her life. I
didn't know she was a Confessor, that she needed no protection. But I surely wanted to. And I
surely enjoyed it."
"I'm not so sure. I'm not sure what is becoming of me."
"What do you mean?"
They walked back to the fire, Kahlan watching them together, looking lonely. Richard sat next to
her again and gave her a small smile, which she returned.
A sarcastic remark immediately sprang to Richard's mind, but he stifled it and asked instead, "Why,
what's happened? What of your plan?"
"What was not for us to know?" Kahlan asked with a frown, her own anger flashing a little.
Apparently, she didn't like it any more than Richard did that they were in danger without knowing
it all.
Richard went rigid. The tooth felt as if it would jump right off his chest. He couldn't move a
muscle, could hardly breathe.
"No. I'm the keeper of the book. That information is all in the book. But I've never read it. I don't
know which box is which, or even how to figure it out: If I were to open the book, it would risk
spreading the knowledge. It must not be opened; that could be very dangerous. So I never did. I am
the keeper of many books, this only one among them, but a very important one." Richard realized
that his eyes were open wide and tried to relax them back to normal with a few blinks. Almost his
whole life he had been looking forward to the day he would find the keeper of the book, and it had
been Zedd the whole time. The shock left him frozen.
"It was in my Keep. The Wizard's Keep. In Aydindril."
"How is Aydindril? Is it safe?"
Kahlan's hand went to her mouth; tears filled her eyes. "No."
"Captain Riffkin? Lieutenants Delis and Miller? The Home Guard?"
"It's a refuge, a place where the wizards preserve important things of magic, such as the books of
prophecies, and books of even more importance-books of magic and instruction, such as the Book
of Counted Shadows. Some of the books are used to teach new wizards, some are used as reference,
and some are used as weapons. Other items of magic are kept there also, such as the Sword of
Truth, between Seekers. The Keep is sealed by magic; none can enter but a wizard. At least none
but a wizard was supposed to be able to enter. But someone did. How they did without being killed
is beyond me. It must have been Darken Rahl. He must have the book."
Zedd's eyes narrowed. "If it wasn't Darken Rahl, then it was a thief. A very clever thief, but a thief
nonetheless."
Zedd shrugged his bony shoulders. "As I said, I've never opened the cover. But from what I know
from other books of instruction, it would only be of aid to the person with the boxes; it's designed
to help use magic, not to help another in stopping its use. In all likelihood, it wouldn't have helped
us. My plan was to simply get the book, and destroy it, to keep Rahl from getting the information.
Having the book lost to us leaves us with no alternative; we must find the last box:'
"With as much as he knows, I am sure he can. But he still wouldn't know which one."
"Well, if he has the book, then he will know which to open. I was hoping that if we couldn't find
the last box, at least I could destroy the book, and keep it from Rahl, give us at least that one
chance. The chance he might pick right-for us." Zedd's face soured. "I would give anything to
destroy that book."
Zedd drew a finger and thumb down opposite sides of his chin. "And how do you propose we get it
from her? Knowing is one thing, getting is quite another."
"Giller? Queen Milena is the one Giller went to?" The wrinkles on Zedd's face deepened with his
scowl. "I think he will be astonished to meet my eyes again."
Richard's eyes went back and forth between the two of them He felt suddenly out of place. The
great wizard and the Mother Confessor discussing how they would deal with an upstart wizard, as
if they were talking of pulling weeds in a garden. He thought of his father, of how his father had
told him he had taken the book to prevent it from falling into covetous hands. Darken Rahl's hands.
He spoke without thinking.
They both turned and looked at him, as if they had forgotten he was there.
"Sometimes people do things for reasons that aren't what they seem." Richard gave her an even
look. "Maybe he thought the box was more important."
Zedd frowned, his white hair looking wild in the firelight. "Perhaps you are right. It could be that
Giller knew about the Queen having the box, and wanted to protect it. He certainly knew what the
boxes were about." He gave Richard an ironic smile. "Maybe the Seeker has given us a new
perspective. Maybe we have an ally in Tamarang."
"We will know soon enough," the wizard sighed.
Richard leaned forward. "It wasn't Westlanders, was it? It couldn't have been Westlanders. I told
Michael to get the army together and protect Westland. I didn't tell him to attack anyone. Certainly
not helpless people. It couldn't have been Westlanders; they wouldn't do that."
"Then who?"
"That does not make any sense," Kahlan said. "The town was loyal to D'Hara. There were forces of
the People's Peace Army there, and they were killed to a man."
They both gave him puzzled looks. "That doesn't make any sense," Kahlan said.
Richard frowned. "What?"
"Because of the Wizard's First Rule, the old wizards created Confessors, and Seekers, as a means of
helping find the truth, when the truth is important enough. Rahl knows the Wizard's Rules. He is
using the first one. People need an enemy to feel a sense of purpose. It's easy to lead people when
they have a sense of purpose. Sense of purpose is more important by far than the truth. In fact, truth
has no bearing in this. Darken Rahl is providing them with an enemy, other than himself, a sense of
purpose. People are stupid; they want to believe, so they do."
Richard sat back, a little stunned. "But it isn't true. How can Rahl get away with it? How could
everyone believe it?"
"But the ones who did the killing, they knew. It was murder. How could they do it?"
"But that goes against nature. Murder goes against nature."
Richard knew Zedd was sucking him in-it was his way to draw you in with an outrageous
statement-but his blood was up and he couldn't help protesting. "Only some of nature. Like
predators. And that's only to survive. Look about at these trees, they can't even think of murder."
Richard looked up, at the beautiful big pine spreading over them, illuminated in the firelight. A
spark of understanding lit in his mind. He saw the branches, stretched out with murderous intent, in
a years long struggle to reach the sunlight and dispatch its neighbors with its shade. Success would
give space for its offspring, many of which would also shrivel in the shade of the parent. Several
close neighbors of the big pine were withered and weak, victims all. It was true: the design of
nature was success by murder.
Richard nodded. "Life for the strongest. There is no sympathy for the slain, only admiration for the
winner's strength."
Zedd gave a sly smile. "No?" He pointed to a small, withered tree near them. "Look at this tree,
dear one." He pointed to the big pine. "And this. Tell me which you admire more."
"This one. You see? People do think this way. It's beautiful, you said. You chose the tree that
murders, not the one murdered." Zedd smiled triumphantly. "The way of nature."
"You may keep your mouth closed if you wish, but don't close your mind. To defeat Darken Rahl,
we must understand him to know how to destroy him."
Zedd nodded. "He uses the Wizard's First Rule to do most of the work for him. This is what makes
our job so hard. He gets people on his side because people don't care about the truth; they do his
bidding because they believe what they want to, and fight to the death for these beliefs, despite how
false they are."
"You have gotten it right, my boy. A plague of fools."
Zedd peered at her a moment. "If someone digs a hole, and it fills with rainwater, where is the
fault? Is it the rain's fault? Or is it the fault of the person who digs the hole? Is it Darken Rahl's
fault, or the fault of those who dig the hole, and let him rain in?"
Zedd lifted a finger. "And very dangerous ones. Fools who won't see the truth are deadly. As a
Confessor, perhaps you have already learned this lesson, yes?" She nodded. "They don't always do
what you think they will, or should, and you can be caught off guard. People you don't think should
be trouble can kill you quick."
Zedd shrugged. "You are correct. But we must stay alive to have a chance to kill this snake, and
there are plenty of small snakes that can kill us first."
Zedd's face turned deadly serious. "Just remember: Darken Rahl can kill you," he pointed a bony
finger at Richard, then Kahlan, "and you," then at himself, "and me-easy."
Zedd lifted an eyebrow. "Do you go around a room, and kill all the flies in it? No. You ignore
them. They don't merit your attention. Until they bite. Then you swat them." He leaned closer to the
two of them. "We are about to bite him." Richard and Kahlan gave each other a sideways glance.
"And don't repeat it to anyone," the wizard admonished. "Wizard's Rules are for none but a wizard
to know. The Wizard's Rules may seem cynical or trivial to you, but they are powerful weapons if
you know how to use them, because they are true. Truth is power. I have told you two because I'm
the head of the wizards, and I think it important for you to understand. You must know what Rahl
is doing, since it is the three of us who must stop him."
"It's late." Zedd yawned. "I have been traveling a long time to reach you. We will talk more later."
"Done. I'll take second watch." Second watch of three was the least pleasant: it split your sleeping
in two. Kahlan began to protest. "I spoke first, dear one."
At the edge of the river, he cast about until he found a chunk of driftwood big enough for his
purpose. Richard remembered Zedd telling him that he must have the courage to do what was
necessary for their goal, and he must be prepared to kill any one of them if it came to that. Richard
knew Zedd, and he knew that Zedd wasn't just making a point-he meant what he said. He .knew
that Zedd was capable of killing him, or, more important, Kahlan
But he couldn't.
But he did care if Kahlan died. If Zedd knew that Richard had the book inside him, he would make
him tell what it said, and then he would know that to make sure the book was true, Rahl would have
to use a Confessor. And there was only one Confessor left alive. Kahlan. If Zedd knew, he would
kill her to prevent Rahl from getting the knowledge.
He wrapped the cord around the piece of driftwood and jammed the tooth into a long crack,
wedging it into the wood so it wouldn't come out. Richard wanted the tooth as far away from him
as he could get it.
Hard as he could, he threw the wood with the tooth attached. He watched it arc through the air, and
splash into the dark water with a distant sound. In the moonlight, he could see it bob to the surface.
He stood with a lump in his throat as he watched it being carried downriver. Richard felt naked
without the tooth.
He hated this. Hated having to lie to Zedd, to feel that he couldn't trust him. What was he coming
to, to no longer be able to trust his oldest friend? The hand of Rahl was reaching out to him, even at
this distance, and making him do things he didn't want to.
Near the middle of his watch, he became suddenly aware again of the thing that followed them. He
couldn't see its eyes, but he could feel them. It was on the hill opposite the camp, watching. He felt
a chill run through him, at being watched.
He felt the eyes again. Richard smiled; it was still alive. He had the urge to go after it, to find out
what it was, but dismissed the idea. This was not the time. This was a creature of the dark. Better to
meet it on his own terms.
Without Richard having to go wake him, Zedd appeared for his watch, looking rested and
refreshed, eating a piece of dried meat. Zedd came and sat next to him, offering a piece of meat.
Richard declined.
"He is well. Far as I know, he went off to follow your instructions."
"Richard, what did Shota tell you?"
Zedd took a bite while he watched Richard. "The sword has a lot of anger to it. I see you are having
trouble controlling it."
"Samuel?"
"Oh. That Samuel."
Richard released his robes with a shove. He had to resist mightily the urge to draw the sword. His
chest heaved with his anger. Zedd watched calmly.
Richard stared back, everything that had happened pushing in on him, extinguishing the anger.
Everything seemed so hopeless. He burst into tears and fell against Zedd, throwing his arms around
him. He cried in choking sobs, unable to control himself.
Zedd held him, patted his back gently, spoke tenderly. "I know, Richard. I know."
Zedd held him and let him cry. "Nothing is ever easy." "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Kahlan
hated me or something, but I know she cares for me too. It's the magic. The magic keeps us apart."
Richard sank to the ground, leaned against the rock, crying. Zedd sat next to him.
"You will go on. There is nothing else you can do."
Zedd shook his head. "I'm sorry, Richard. I don't know. I gave you the sword against my own heart,
because I had to, for everyone else. The magic of the Sword of Truth does that to a Seeker, in the
end The prophecies say that the one who truly masters the sword's magic, and in so doing makes
the blade turn white, will be protected from that fate. But I don't know how it's to be done. I don't
even know what it means. I didn't have the courage to tell you. I'm sorry. If you want, you may
strike me dead for what I've done to you. Only, promise me first that you will go on and stop
Darken Rahl."
"Don't say such a thing," Zedd whispered. "Richard, I know how you feel about the magic. I
walked away from it too. Sometimes events happen that you have to deal with. You are all I have
left. I went after the book because I didn't want you to be in danger. I would do anything to spare
you hurt. But I cannot spare you this. We must stop Darken Rahl, not just for ourselves, but for all
the others who have no chance."
"Go and get some sleep. Each day will get a little better for you. If it's any consolation, although I
don't know why Seekers end up like Samuel, I truly don't believe it will happen to you. But if it
does, it won't happen for some time, and therefore, that can only mean you have defeated Darken
Rahl, and all the people of the lands will be safe. Know that if it happens I will al- ways take care
of you. If we can stop Rahl, maybe I can help you find the secret to turning the blade white."
"And Zedd, be careful tonight. There's something out there. It's been following us for days. I don't
know what it is, I haven't had the time to snap a circle on it. But I don't think it means us harm, at
least it hasn't so far, but you never know in the Midlands."
Richard started to walk away. Zedd called his name. He stopped and turned.
Richard stared back at him a long moment. "I'm afraid, in a way, she already has."
"I would have come and woke you when it was time," he said.
"Did you bring anything to eat?"
While Zedd rubbed his hands together and started right in, she watched out into the night, thinking
how to put the question she had come to ask him. It didn't take him long to finish the snack.
Kahlan laughed. "I also brought some berries." She pulled out a cloth bundle. "I thought you might
like something sweet. Can I share them with you?"
She laughed again and took a small handful from the open bundle in his hands. "I think I know why
Richard is so good at finding food. Growing up around you, he had to be good, or he would starve."
"I know. Me, too."
"My word?"
"Oh." She looked off into the night, gathering her courage. "Zedd, you are the only wizard left,
other than Giller. I am the last Confessor. You have lived in the Midlands, you have lived in
Aydindril. You are the only one who knows what it is like to be a Confessor. I tried to explain it to
Richard, but it takes a lifetime to truly understand, and then, I think none but another Confessor or
a wizard can really understand."
"I have no one. I can have no one. You can't imagine what that's like. Please, Zedd." Her eyebrows
wrinkled together. "Please, can you use your magic to remove this from me? Can you take the
Confessor's magic from me, and let me be a normal woman?"
His head bent. He didn't look up. "There is only one way to release you from the magic, Mother
Confessor."
His eyes came to hers. They were filled with pain. "I could kill you."
He nodded. "First, you must tell me what Shota said."
"Snakes." Zedd lifted an eyebrow. "Shots must have liked you. I have seen her do worse."
"I asked Richard. He won't tell me. You must."
"Richard is smart, perhaps the smartest Seeker I have ever seen, but he knows very little of the
Midlands. He has seen only a tiny portion of it. In some ways it's his best defense and strongest
asset. He found where the last box is by going to Shota. No Seeker from the Midlands would have
done that. You have spent your whole life here, you know many of the dangers. There are creatures
here who could use the magic of the Sword of Truth against him. There are creatures who would
suck the magic from him and kill him with it. There are dangers of every kind. We don't .have the
time to teach him all he needs to know, so we must protect him, so he can do his job. I must know
what Shota said so I can judge if it's important; if we need to protect him."
"Dear one, he is not your only friend. I'm your friend too. Help me protect him. I will keep it from
him that you told me."
Zedd gave a knowing smile at that; then his face hardened. "Mother Confessor, this is not a request,
this is an order. I expect you to treat it as such."
Zedd waited in silence. "Go on."
Silence settled around them again. "Mother Confessor . . ."
Zedd took a deep breath. "I see why he didn't want to tell me." He thought in silence a moment.
"Why didn't Shota kill you?"
Zedd lifted an eyebrow. "Really . . .
"That boy never fails to amaze me. He really picked the information over my life?"
Zedd rubbed his chin. "How wondrous: That's precisely what he should have done. I had always
feared he wouldn't be able to do what was necessary, if it came right down to it. I guess I need fear
no longer. Then what?"
She paused, and for a moment silence hung between them
"I'm very sorry, dear one, that I had to make you tell me, and for what you two have been through.
But Richard is right. Prophecies are dangerous things to take too seriously."
"Yes." He shrugged as he spoke softly. "But not always in the way .you think. Sometimes,
prophecies can even be self fulfilling."
"Sure. Just imagine, for the sake of illustration, that I tried to kill you because I wanted to protect
Richard, from this prophecy coming true. He sees this, we fight, one of us wins, say it's him. That
part of the prophecy is fulfilled, so he fears the other part will be too, and thinks he must kill you.
You don't want to be killed, so you touch him to protect yourself. There you have it; prophecy
fulfilled.
"I always thought prophecies were to be taken seriously."
Kahlan's eyes were wide. "Richard is in the books of prophecies? I have never met anyone before
who was in the books."
"Me! My name is in the books of prophecies!"
"Commands the wind! What does that mean?"
Kahlan frowned and looked down as she picked at the rock. "Zedd, what does it say about me in the
books of prophecies?"
She nodded. "I feel very foolish now, for wanting to kill myself because of Shota's prophecy. To
keep it from coming true, I mean. You must think me stupid."
"You are not making me feel any better."
She gave him a dark look. "Either way, I don't like it."
"The prophecy from Shota is different somehow, from those in books, isn't it?"
"Forked, that means it can go different ways?"
"Zedd, why don't you just tell him these things, like you have told me? Doesn't he have a right to
know all this?"
Kahlan smiled. She drew her knees up, folded her fingers together over them, and rested her chin
on her fingers. "Girls are not supposed to do such things. So I took it up as a diversion when I was
young. Before I began taking confessions."
She nodded with her chin still resting on her fingers. "Only a couple of times. But I know what
you're talking about."
When I have asked him how he does it, he shrugs and can't explain. He simply says he can feel
where the arrow is to go. He can do it all day long. But if I start telling him things, like how fast the
wind is, how many feet away the target is, or that the bow was outside the night before and it was a
humid night, affecting the draw, well, then he can't even hit the ground. The thinking interferes
with the feeling.
"That's pretty cynical. He is a human being, not an arrow. He only does that because he thinks so
much of you, and he would do anything to please you. You are an idol to him. He loves you very
much."
"I guess I know how you feel, not telling him what you wish you could."
"Zedd?" He stopped and looked back toward her, a dark form against the moonlit forest. "You had
a wife."
She cleared her throat and swallowed. "What was it like? Loving someone more than life itself, and
being able to be with them, and having them love you back?"
Kahlan held her chin up. "Wizard Zorander, I am not making a request. This is an order. You .will
answer the question."
"Thank you, Zedd." She was glad he couldn't see her tears as . she struggled to hold her voice
steady. "I was just wondering."
"How about some tava-root porridge?" he whispered, wanting to let Zedd sleep.
Richard pulled the roots from his pack and began peeling them with his knife while Kahlan
retrieved a pot.
"I picked some berries."
"You see anything while you were on watch?"
"Really." He glanced over each shoulder. "Down here. Wonder what that was about. I guess I was
so tired it didn't wake me."
"Why don't you wake him," she said.
He tapped his spoon a few times against the side of the tin bowl. Zedd made a short snort, and sat
bolt upright.
With their backs to him, they both giggled.
He smiled. "Zedd's back with us."
"Good!" Zedd proclaimed as he rose to get himself another bowlful from the pot.
Kahlan froze with a look as if she had been struck by lightning.
"Zedd . . . I never . . ."
He didn't bother to look up. "She didn't tell me. But you just did."
His face, calm and triumphant, came up to the wizard's squinting eyes. "Wizard's First Rule,"
Richard announced with a wisp of a smile. "The first step to believing something is wanting to
believe it is true . . . or being afraid it is."
Zedd paid her no attention; his eyes were locked on Richard.
Kahlan fell back on the blanket, laughing.
"Magic," Richard smiled. "A trick, if done properly, is magic." He shrugged. "Or so I've been told."
Richard frowned. "I don't want to be a wizard."
"You just said none of the other wizards was able to do it, so how could they be wizards if they
couldn't pass the test?"
"A very special trick." Zedd's eyes narrowed again. "I'm impressed. I'm also very proud of you."
Zedd shrugged. "Oh, I- don't know. Maybe a few hundred or so. But you have the gift, Richard." A
shadow of worry passed across his eyes, as if he hadn't expected it. "You must learn to control it, or
. . ." His eyes lit up again. "I will teach you. You really could be a wizard of the First Order."
"Just a stupid little trick if done on someone else. No small trick, if done on a wizard."
Zedd leaned forward eagerly, cutting him off. "Can you command the wind?"
Kahlan wrapped her cloak around herself expectantly. Zedd looked about. Nothing happened. The
two of them seemed a little disappointed.
Zedd turned to her. "He must learn that later."
Zedd scrubbed his hands together. "Bags! I wish I had the books here with me now. I'd bet a
dragon's tooth they have something to say about this." His face darkened. "But then there is the
matter of the pain . . . and . . ."
"A beard. Where's your beard? I've been wondering about it ever since I found out you were a
wizard. Wizards are supposed to have beards, you know." ,
"Well . . . I don't know. Everybody knows it. Wizards are supposed to have beards. It's common
knowledge. I'm surprised you don't know it."
Richard shrugged. "Seems you don't know as much as you think you do about being a wizard, if
you don't, even know wizards are supposed to have beards:"
Zedd cocked his head and gave Richard an intent look. "Will this do, my boy?"
Zedd scratched his chin and neck. "Good. Now give me your knife, so I can shave this thing off. It
itches like ants."
Kahlan gave a little laugh, then made her face straight when he glanced at her.
"Magic can only do things that use what is there. It cannot undo things that have happened."
Zedd peered at him with sharp eyes. "Your first lesson, should you ever decide to become a wizard.
The three of us all have magic. It is all Additive Magic. Additive Magic uses what is there, and
adds to it, or uses it somehow. The magic Kahlan has uses the spark of love in a person, no matter
how small, and adds to it until it's changed into something else. The magic of the Sword of Truth
uses your anger, and adds to it, takes power from it, until it becomes something else.
"Then, you can do anything," Richard whispered.
"Is it as powerful as Additive Magic?"
"And how do you suppose that came to be?" Richard asked with a frown.
Richard drew a deep breath. "Well, I still think you are getting worked up over nothing. All I did
was a little trick."
Richard put the knife handle in Zedd's hand. "The blade is dull. I've been digging roots with it. It's
too dull to shave with."
"You just used Subtractive Magic! You made some of the edge go away to sharpen it."
Richard shook his head and went about gathering up their things while Zedd shaved off the beard.
Kahlan helped put things away.
"A wife?"
"Adie?"
"Oh, I remember Adie quite well." He gave Richard his most innocent look. "But Adie has two
good feet, not one."
"Yes," Zedd smiled, turning away. "Seems it grew back." He bent, pulling an apple from Richard's
pack. "Quite unexpectedly."
The wizard smiled. "Are you thoroughly sure you wouldn't like to be a wizard?" He took a bite of
the apple, pleased at seeing the astonishment on Richard's face. Zedd handed him the knife, the
blade as sharp as he had ever seen it.
"Ali, well, there are dangers to using the magic. Also, pain."
Zedd regarded him for a moment. "You have used magic, with the sword. You tell me."
Zedd gave a small, sly smile. "Only just finished with the first lesson, and already he is eager for
the second."
Apple in hand, Zedd started toward the trail. "So you have told me." He took a big bite. "Now, I
want you two to tell me everything that has happened since I was knocked unconscious. Don't leave
out a thing, no matter how trivial."
She held him back with a hand on his arm. "I swear, not a word about what happened in the spirit
house."
For the rest of the day as they trudged along the trails, keeping off the main roads, the two of them
told Zedd the stories of everything that had happened since they Were attacked that day at the
boundary. Zedd made them go back to previous events at the oddest places in a story. Working off
each other's words, Richard and Kahlan managed to weave the story of the Mud People without
mention of anything that happened between them in the spirit house.
Late in the day, they had to take to the main road in order to cross the Callisidrin River. It was too
big and swift to risk fording, so they took the big wooden bridge. Zedd and Richard kept Kahlan
protectively between them as they walked among the people crossing the bridge. Kahlan kept the
hood of her cloak up so people wouldn't see her long hair. Most of the people were headed for
Tamarang, seeking shelter and safety from the marauding forces, supposedly sweeping in from
Westland. Kahlan said that they would reach Tamarang by the middle of the next day. From now
on they would have to travel most of the time on the road. Richard knew that they would have to
move far from the road at night to be clear of any people. He began watching the sun so as to leave
them time to move deep enough into the forest before it became too dark.
Rachel pretended Sara answered that it did, and tucked a little more grass around her doll to be
doubly sure she was warm enough. She nestled the loaf of bread with the cloth tied around it next
to Sara.
She left Sara with the bread in the wayward pine and went outside. The sun was down, but it was
still light enough to see. The clouds were a pretty pink. She looked at them once in a while as she
picked up sticks, holding them against her body with the other arm. She checked her pocket to be
sure the fire stick was still there. She had almost forgotten it last night, and was scared now, unless
she checked to make sure she hadn't forgotten it again.
It must be some big bird, she thought. Ravens were big, and dark. It must be one of those noisy
ravens. She picked up some more sticks. Then she saw a bunch of blueberry bushes, low against the
ground in an open place, their leaves starting to turn a flaming red. She threw the sticks down.
When her stomach felt better, and her pocket was full, she picked the sticks up and went back to the
wayward pine. Once back inside, she untied the cloth that was around the bread and dumped the
berries from her pocket onto the cloth. She sat down and ate the berries off the cloth as she chatted
with Sara, offering to share her berries as she ate. Sara didn't eat many. Rachel wished she had a
mirror. She wished she could look in a mirror at her hair. Earlier in the day, she had seen herself in
a dark pool. Her hair looked so wonderful, all even. Richard was such a nice man to cut it for her.
Rachel broke the sticks as best she could, so they would fit in the circle of stones she had made.
After stacking them carefully, she pulled out the fire stick.
She set the fire stick down on the cloth with the berries and then warmed her hands and ate a few
berries while she told Sara some of her troubles, how she wished Richard were hugging her, how
she wished Kahlan weren't mean, how she hoped Kahlan didn't hurt Giller, how she wished she had
something other than berries to eat.
"Look, Sara. Look at how that stupid fly bit me. It made blood."
Another fly bit her neck. Rachel swatted it, not squealing this time. There was another spot of blood
on her hand.
The fly that bit her on the arm made her jump. She slapped it flat. Another bit her neck. Rachel
flailed at the flies in the air around her face. Two more bit her neck, making blood before she
smacked them. Tears welled up in her eyes from the pain of the stings.
Some were inside her dress, biting her chest and back. More bit her neck.
Rachel screamed in a high pitch as she stumbled out of the wayward pine, wiping flies off her eyes.
She ran, arms lashing out, trying to get the flies away. The flies followed her as she ran and
screamed.
Her wide eyes worked their way up the giant, fur-covered body of the thing. Its belly was pink, and
had flies on it.
With all her courage, she put her shaking hand in her pocket. The fire stick wasn't there. Her legs
wouldn't move. She didn't even feel the flies that were biting her. She heard a sound like a cat
purring, but a lot louder. Her eyes went up further.
The mouth opened with a louder growl, lips pulling back, showing its long, curved teeth.
A big claw reached for her.
"I say we march in there and I deal with Giller. He is my student. I will get him to tell me what's
going on. I'm still Wizard of the First Order. He will do as I say. He will give me the box."
Richard let out a deep breath as he rubbed his eyes with his fingertips. "You both want to eat a
chicken. we haven't even plucked yet. We aren't even sure whose chicken it is."
Richard leaned forward. Now he had their attention, at last. "At the very least, Tamarang is giving a
sympathetic ear to D'Hara. At the very worst, Darken Rahl is there. Most likely, the fact is
somewhere between the two. If we march in there and tell them what we want, they might not like
it. Tamarang has a whole standing army to express to us how much they don't like it. Then what?
Are the three of us going to fight a war with their army? How is this going to get us the box? How
is it going to even get us to Giller? If we have to fight, I'd rather it be on the way out, not on the
way in."
"Maybe Giller is waiting and hoping someone will come, so he can help them get away with the
box. Then again, maybe he will not be so willing to part company with it. But we won't know if we
never make it to him, now, will we?" He addressed Zedd. "You told me the box has magic, and a
wizard, or Rahl, can feel that magic, but a wizard can also cover the feeling of that magic with a
wizard's web, so the box can't be detected. That could be why Queen Milena wanted a wizard-to
hide the box from Rahl, and use it as a bargaining tool. If we create a big commotion, and scare
Giller, no matter how he feels about us, he may be frightened, and use the opportunity to escape. It
could also be that Rahl is just waiting for the quarry to be flushed from cover, and then he will
pounce."
Kahlan smiled a little. "I believe you are correct, good wizard." She turned to Richard. "What is
your way?"
Kahlan needed no time to give it any thought. "Tamarang is a minor and relatively insignificant
land. Still, Queen Milena is as pompous and arrogant as any queen comes." "A small snake, but a
snake that can kill us nonetheless," Richard noted.
"Small snakes have to be careful, cautious, when they don't know what they are up against. The
first thing we have to do, is to give her a worry. Make her unsure enough not to bite us."
"You said you've dealt with her before. Confessors go to the lands to take confessions, and to
inspect the prisons, to find out what they will. She wouldn't want to close Tamarang to a Confessor,
would she?"
"Well, that's what we do then. You put your dress back on, and do your duty. Simply a Confessor
doing what Confessors are expected to do. She may not like it, but she will treat you well; she will
want you to be happy. She will want you to see what you will, and then be on your way. The last
thing she will want is to raise a fuss. So, you inspect her dungeon, smile, or frown, or whatever it is
you do, and then before we're on our way, you say you want to speak to your former wizard."
"No. Kahlan doesn't have a wizard with her; the Queen would see that as a tempting vulnerability.
We don't want her mouth to water."
"No, you will not be her wizard! Darken Rahl is killing people as we speak, looking for you. If you
remove the wizard's web, let them know who you are, we'll have trouble down around our ears
before we can get away with the box. Who .knows what reward there is on your wrinkled hide. You
will be her protection, but you will be anonymous protection. You will be . . . " Richard tapped the
sword hilt, thinking. His eyes came back down. "You will be a cloud reader. A trusted advisor to
the Mother Confessor in the absence of a wizard." Richard frowned slightly at Zedd's grumble. "I'm
sure you know how to play the part."
"No. The presence of the -Seeker will give her pause, something else to worry about, something to
keep her fangs in her mouth until we're away. The whole point is to give her something she's
familiar with, a Confessor, so as not to raise an alarm. At the same time, give her something to keep
her worried, a cloud reader and the Seeker, so she would rather be rid of us than find out what sort
of trouble we might be able to cause. The way you two want to do it gets us in a fight, a fight where
one or all of us could be hurt. My way puts us at minimum risk of a fight, and if it comes, at least it
will be when we're on our way out with the box." He gave each of them a stern look. "You do
remember the box, don' you? In case you've forgotten, that is what we're after, not Giller's head in a
basket. Whose side he's on is not an issue. We must only get the box, no more."
Zedd turned back to him. "Of course you are right. I agree." His thin face turned to Kahlan.
"Mother Confessor?"
"I hope not to be there long. Just tell me what I need to know to get by for a short time."
Richard watched her a moment while she studied the ground. He rose to his. feet. "It would be my
honor, Mother Confessor." He gave a bow.
"Richard," Zedd called after him. He stopped, turning back. "There are many in the Midlands who
have magic. Many different, and dangerous, types of magic. There. is no telling what manner of
sycophants Queen Milena has surrounded herself with. You pay attention to what Kahlan and I tell
you, and do your best not to cross anyone. You may not know who, or what, her attendants are."
"Good. You have it right, my boy. Good night."
Richard sat and brooded. He didn't like the idea of Kahlan having to put on the dress and put herself
at risk. He liked it less that it was his own idea. He wondered, and worried, at what she meant about
her acting "odd," and his playing along. He wondered, and worried even more at what she had said
about pretending she was the most important person he had ever been around. He liked that not at
all. He always pictured Kahlan in his mind as his friend, at the least. He didn't like to picture her as
the Mother Confessor. It was Confessor's magic that made it impossible for them to be more than
friends. He was afraid to see her as others saw her, as the Mother Confessor. Any reminder of what
she was, her magic, only brought the hurt deeper into his heart.
The eyes were on him. They were close, and though he couldn't see them, he could feel them. The
knowledge that some- thing was close, watching him, sent a chill across his skin. It made him feel
naked. Vulnerable.
Again came the soft sound of a foot being lowered stealthily to the forest floor. It was coming
toward him. Richard's wide eyes stared frantically into the blackness, trying to see a movement.
With a howl, it sprang. Richard jumped to his feet, his hand going for the sword. When it bounded
into the air, Richard saw that it was a wolf. The biggest wolf he had ever seen. It was to him before
his hand even reached the hilt. The wolf's front paws hit his chest square. The powerful impact
drove him backward over the log he had been sitting on.
A heart hound.
Richard's head hit something hard. He heard a yelp and the sound of teeth ripping tendon.
Everything went black.
With a frown of concern, she stroked her fingers on his face. "Are you all right?"
Zedd took the torch from Kahlan and held it behind the log, casting light on the body of a heart
hound, its throat ripped out. Zedd looked down at Richard's sword, still in its sheath.
Richard felt the back of his head; it hurt like daggers twisting
Kahlan stepped closer and put an arm around his waist to steady him. "A wolf?" The odd tone of
suspicion in her voice made him look to her narrowed eyes. "Are you sure?"
Kahlan straightened herself and put her fists on her hips. "Brophy!" she called into the darkness.
"Brophy! I know you're out there. Come here this instant!"
"Brophy!" she admonished. "Have you been following us?"
Richard's jaw dropped. He wondered how hard he had been hit on the head. "He can talk! I heard
him! That wolf can talk!"
Kahlan winced a little. "Well, I guess I didn't remember to tell him everything." She frowned at
Zedd. "It's hard to remember everything he doesn't know. We have lived it our whole lives. You
just forget he hasn't." ,
The wizard led them with the torch, Kahlan following, the wolf slinking along at her side, ears
lowered, tail dragging the ground
"Brophy. The name's Brophy."
"Don't mention it," he growled.
The wolf's ears flattened. "There is danger for you. I have been protecting you."
"Was that you, last night?" Richard asked.
Richard swallowed hard. "Thank you," he said in a weak voice.
Richard almost choked. "Well, Adie gave Kahlan a bone to carry, to get us through the boundary,
and to protect us from underworld beasts. I had an old bone, that my father gave me, and Adie said
it would do the same thing. But I lost it a day or two ago."
Brophy drew his long tongue around his lips. "Same reason you can talk. I can talk because ..." He
looked up at Kahlan. "You mean he doesn't know what I am?"
Kahlan locked her fingers around a knee, clicking her thumbnails together. "Richard, do you
remember when I told you that sometimes, when we took a confession, the person turned out to be
innocent? And once in a great while, one who was to be executed would ask to give a confession so
as to prove his innocence?" Richard nodded. She cast an eye to the wolf. "Brophy was to be
executed for killing a little boy . . . ."
"Do you wish to tell the story?"
"Brophy would have rather been touched by a Confessor's power than be thought a child killer. Not
to mention what else was done to that little boy. He requested a Confessor. It's something done only
rarely-most men choose the executioner-but it meant that much to him. I told you we have a wizard
with us, when we take confessions. One reason is for protection, but there is another reason. In a
case like this, where the person is unjustly accused, and found to be innocent, he is still left touched
by our power, he cannot be returned to who he was. So, the wizard changes him to something else.
The changing takes away some of the magic, of the Confessor, and gives him enough concern for
himself to start over with a new life."
"Completely innocent," Brophy confirmed.
The wolf sank back down. "Of killing that boy." His cowering eyes looked up at Kahlan as she
watched him. "That's all I meant. Innocent of killing that boy."
Kahlan looked over to him. "It -means that when he gave his confession, he confessed to other
things he was not accused of. You see, Brophy had been engaged in occupations of a dubious
nature." She glanced down at the wolf. "At the gray edges of law."
Kahlan cast an eye toward Brophy while she spoke to Richard. "Brophy was a trader."
"I don't know what traders in Westland trade, but in the Midlands, some traders deal in things of
magic." Richard thought about the Book of Counted Shadows. "So what?"
Brophy rose up on his front paws. "How am I to tell? You can't always tell. Sometimes, you think
something is just an artifact, like a book, that a collector will pay handsomely for. Sometimes it's
something more, a stone, a statue, or a staff, or perhaps a . . . Well, how am I to know if they are
alive?" .
The wolf's ears wilted. "It's true, Mistress. I have a temper. A temper as big as my, muscles. But it
only came out when I was wronged. A lot of people think they can cheat traders; they think we are
little more than thieves and will not stand up for ourselves. When I settled disagreements with my
temper, they tended to. stay settled."
The wolf put his paws over his head. "Oh, Mistress, please! Must we?"
Kahlan's smile widened. "Brophy had a weakness. Children. As he traveled around in search of
things to trade, he would stop at orphanages and see to it they had what they needed to take care of
the children. All the gold he made ended up in different orphanages, so the children could be cared
for, and not go hungry. He twisted the arms of the people running the orphanages, to swear them to
secrecy. He didn't want anyone knowing. Of course, he didn't have to twist very hard." Brophy's
paws were still over his head, and his eyes squeezed tightly shut. "Mistress, please," he whined, "I
have a reputation." He opened his eyes and rose up on his front paws. "And a well earned one at
that! I've broken my share of arms and noses! I've done some pretty despicable deeds!"
"Demmin Nass," Brophy growled. "Accused by Demmin Nass." His lips curled back, showing his
long teeth as he growled.
"Demmin Nass," Brophy growled again. "He would have slit their throats."
Kahlan exchanged a look with the wolf. "Remember when Darken Rahl came to the Mud People,
and he took Siddin? Remember when he said Siddin was a gift for a friend? Demmin Nass is that
friend." She gave Richard a meaningful look. "Demmin Nass has a very sick interest in little boys."
"If I ever find him," Brophy growled fiercely, "I will settle a few scores. He's not fit to die. He must
pay first for the things he's done."
The wolf's yellow eyes flared angrily at Kahlan for a moment before they cooled. "Yes, Mistress."
He lay back down. "I would have faced the executioner with my head held high, the spirits know I
may have earned it, but not for that. I would not let them kill me thinking I had done those things to
children. So I demanded a Confessor."
"Because wolves are honorable creatures." Richard smiled. "You haven't lived in the forest, you've
lived among people. Wolves are very social creatures, have strong ties and relationships. They are
fiercely protective of their young. The whole pack will fight to protect them. And all members of
the pack care for the young."