“Zedd! Is it truly you?”
Zedd, hands on his hips, peered at him with one eye. “True as toasted toads, my boy.”
Richard sheathed the sword and threw his arms around his old friend, nearly squeezing the life out of him. “Oh, Zedd! I’m so glad to see you!”
Zedd’s arms flailed as he tried to get a breath. Richard let up, looked him in the eye, beaming, then squeezed again.
“I fear what would have happened had you been any more glad to see me.”
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.”
“Yes, yes. Can we eat now?”
Kahlan came and gave him a hug, too. “We were so worried about you.”
Zedd longingly eyed the cooking pot over her shoulder as he hugged her back. “Yes, yes. But this would all go better on a full stomach.”
“But it isn’t done yet,” she smiled.
Zedd gave her a look of disappointment. “Not done? Are you sure? Perhaps we could check.”
“Quite sure. We’ve only just started it.”
“Not done,” he said to himself, holding an elbow with one hand, rubbing his chin with the other. “Well, we’ll just see about that. Stand back, the both of you.”
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.
Zedd smiled in satisfaction. “There, now it’s done. Let’s eat!”
Kahlan kneeled, tasting the stew with a wooden spoon. “He’s right. It is done.”
“Well, don’t just stand there staring, my boy. Get some plates!”
Richard shook his head and did as he was told. Kahlan dished up a plate full, putting some dried biscuits on the side, and Richard 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.
Having finished one helping, Zedd was able to spare himself the time to sit. Richard sat on a small outcropping of ledge; Kahlan sat next to him, folding her legs under her; Zedd sat on the ground facing them.
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?”
Zedd looked up at him, blinking. Even in the firelight, Richard could have sworn Zedd’s face reddened. “Adie? Well we…” He looked to Kahlan’s puzzled face. “Well, we… we got along… fine.” He scowled at Richard. “What kind of question is that to ask?”
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 I thought you would find her interesting.” Richard smiled a small smile to himself.
Zedd put his face back to his plate. “She’s a fine woman.” He rolled something around his plate with the end of his fork. “What is this? I’ve eaten three, and I still don’t know what it is.”
“Tava root,” Kahlan said. “Don’t you like it?”
Zedd grunted. “Didn’t say I didn’t like it. Just wanted to know what it was, that’s all.” He looked up from his plate. “Adie told me she gave you a night stone. That’s how I found you, by the night stone.” He shook his fork at Richard. “I hope you are being careful with that thing. Don’t take it out unless there is great need. Exceptionally great need. Night stones are extremely dangerous. Adie should have warned you. And I told her so!” He stabbed a tava root with his fork. “It would be best to be rid of it.”
Richard pushed at a piece of meat. “We know.”
Richard’s mind was awash with questions he wanted to ask; he didn’t know where to start. Zedd beat him to it, asking first.
“Have you two been doing as I said? Have you been staying out of trouble? What have you been doing?”
“Well,” Richard said, taking a deep breath, “we spent a good deal of time with the Mud People.”
“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.
Richard glanced over at Kahlan. She dipped her biscuit in the stew. “I killed one of the elders,” she said, putting the biscuit in her mouth without looking up.
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.”
“What?” Zedd stood with his plate, then sat back down. “Bags! Why would an elder dare to try to kill a…” He snapped his mouth shut, with a glance to Richard.
“Confessor,” Richard finished for him. His mood withered.
Zedd looked from one bowed head to the other. “So. You finally told him.”
Kahlan nodded. “A few days ago.”
“Just a few days ago.” Zedd grunted an acknowledgment, then ate more stew in silence, eyeing them suspiciously from time to time. “Why would an elder dare to try to kill a Confessor?”
“Well,” Richard said, “that was when we found out what a night stone could do. Just before they named us as Mud People.”
“They named you Mud People? Why?” Zedd’s eyes widened. “You took a wife!”
“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.”
Zedd gave a cursory glance to the whistle. “Why would they agree to you not… And why would they name you Mud People?”
“Because we asked them. We had to. It was the only way to get them to call a gathering for us.”
“What! They called a gathering for you?”
“Yes. That was just before Darken Rahl came.”
“What!” Zedd yelled again, jumping to his feet. “Darken Rahl was there! I told you; stay away from him!”
Richard looked up. “We didn’t exactly invite him.”
“He killed a lot of them,” Kahlan said in a quiet voice, still looking down at her plate, chewing slowly.
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?”
Richard gave a shrug. “That we had to go to see a witch woman.”
“Witch woman!” Zedd’s eyes narrowed. “What witch woman? Where?”
“Shota. In Agaden Reach.”
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!”
“Believe me,” she said, looking him in the eye, “I did not want to do it.”
“We had to,” Richard said, coming to her defense.
Zedd cast an eye to him. “Why?”
“To find out where the box is. And we did, t
oo, Shota told us.”
“Shota told you,” Zedd mocked, scowling at him. “And what else did she tell you? Shota tells you nothing you want to know without telling you something you don’t.”
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.
“Zedd,” he said softly, “you told me you wanted me to get us to the Midlands, and that you had a plan once we were here. You were struck down by that underworld beast, you were unconscious, we didn’t know when, or if, you would wake. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what your plan was. Winter is coming. We have to stop Darken Rahl.”
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!”
He threw his plate on the ground, walking off a ways into the dark, standing with his back to them, a lump growing in his throat. The dark trees in front of him became watery. It surprised him the way the anger had reached up and taken him. He had wanted to see Zedd so badly, and now that he was here, he was angry with him. He let the ire rage, waiting for it to die of its own accord.
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.”
Richard didn’t move when he felt Zedd’s hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, my boy. I guess you have been having a hard time of it.”
Richard nodded as he stared into the darkness. “I killed a man with the sword. With the magic.”
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.”
“You only thought you did. That was the magic.”
“I’m not so sure. I’m not sure what is becoming of me.”
“Richard, forgive me for sounding as if I were angry with you. It is myself I’m angry with. You have done well, it is I who have failed.”
“What do you mean?”
Zedd patted his shoulder. “Come and sit. I will tell you both what has happened.”
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.
Zedd picked up his plate, gave it a hard look, and set it back down. “I’m afraid we’re in a lot of trouble,” he said in a soft voice.
A sarcastic remark immediately sprang to Richard’s mind, but he stifled it and asked instead, “Why, what’s happened? What of your plan?”
“My plan.” Zedd gave a wry smile, drew his knees up, and pulled his robes over his legs, making a little tent over them. “My plan was to stop Rahl without having to deal with him, and without you two having to get in danger’s way. My plan was for you two to stay out of trouble while I dealt with this. It would seem as if your own plans may be our only way now. I have not told you all there is to know of the boxes of Orden, because it was not for you to know. It was none of your business; it was only for me to know.” He looked at each of them, anger flashing in his eyes for an instant before it faded. “But I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
“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.
“Well, you see,” Zedd said, “the three boxes work just as I said, each with their own purpose, but you have to know which to open. That is the part I know. It’s all in a book, called the Book of Counted Shadows. The Book of Counted Shadows is an instruction book for the boxes. I’m its keeper.”
Richard went rigid. The tooth felt as if it would jump right off his chest. He couldn’t move a muscle, could hardly breathe.
“You know which box is which?” Kahlan asked. “You know which he must open?”
“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.
“Where was it?” Kahlan asked. “What happened?”
“It was in my Keep. The Wizard’s Keep. In Aydindril.”
“You went to Aydindril?” Kahlan asked, her voice anxious. “How is Aydindril? Is it safe?”
Zedd averted his eyes. “Aydindril has fallen.”
Kahlan’s hand went to her mouth; tears filled her eyes. “No.”
Zedd nodded. “I’m afraid so.” He picked at his robes. “It is not going well for them. At least I gave the occupiers something to think about,” he added under his breath.
“Captain Riffkin? Lieutenants Delis and Miller? The Home Guard?”
Zedd kept his eyes to the ground and shook his head as she named each in turn. Kahlan put her hands to her breast as she took deep breaths and bit her lip. Whoever these men were, she looked to be pretty upset by the news.
Richard thought he should cover his own shock by saying something. “What’s this Wizard’s Keep?”
“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.”
“Maybe it wasn’t Darken Rahl,” Richard managed, his back straight as a board.
Zedd’s eyes narrowed. “If it wasn’t Darken Rahl, then it was a thief. A very clever thief, but a thief nonetheless.”
Richard swallowed back the dryness in his mouth. “Zedd… I… Do you think this book, the Book of Counted Shadows, would be able to tell us how to stop Rahl? How to keep him from using the boxes?”
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.”
“But without the book, can Rahl still open the boxes?
” Kahlan asked.
“With as much as he knows, I am sure he can. But he still wouldn’t know which one.”
“Then, with or without the book, he’s going to open a box,” Richard said. “He has to. If he doesn’t, he dies. He has nothing to lose. Even if you had recovered the book, he would still open a box—after all, there is a chance he will pick right.”
“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.”
Kahlan put her hand on Richard’s arm; he almost jumped. “Then Richard has done as the Seeker should; he has found where the box is. Queen Milena has it.” She gave Richard a smile of reassurance. “The Seeker has done his job well.” His mind was spinning too fast to return the smile properly.
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.”
Kahlan gave Zedd a smooth smile. “Queen Milena is the one to whom the snake in the silver robes sold his services. He is about to have an unpleasant meeting with the Mother Confessor.”
“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.”
She frowned. “You just leave this task to me. He is my wizard. I will deal with him.”
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.
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