Wizard's First Rule

CHAPTER 46

IT was w FRUSTRATING day. Scarlet flew low over thick woods as they both sca

The dragon went low, skimming the tops of pine trees at the edge of a field. She let out a piercing scream that made Richard jump and banked into a steep turn that made him dizzy. A buck broke into a run across the field, flushed from cover by the dragon's roar. Building speed in a quick dive, she swooped into the field. Without effort, Scarlet snatched the deer from the tall brown grass, snapping its neck in the process. Richard felt intimidated by how easy it was for her to take the prey.

Scarlet pulled higher into the air, into the golden light of the setting sun, among the puffy clouds. Richard felt as if his heart were sinking with the sun. He knew Scarlet was heading back to her egg. He wanted to tell her to search some more, while there was still light, but he knew she had to get back to her nest, her egg.

In near darkness, Scarlet landed on the ledge of rock, waiting for him to climb down over her red scales before she hurried to her egg. Richard went to one side and curled up in his cloak, shivering with the cold.

After she checked her egg, cooed to it, and warmed it with fire, she turned to see about the buck. She paused to say to Richard. "You don't look like you could eat much. I guess I could let you have some."

"Will you cook it for me? I don't eat raw meat."

She said she would, so he cut himself a chunk, stuck it on the end of his sword, and, holding it up, turned his head from the heat while she blew a thin stream of flame over it. Richard returned to the side, eating his meal, trying not to watch as the dragon tore the buck apart with fang and claw, tossing great chunks in the air and swallowing with hardly a chew.

"If we don't find your friends, what will you do?"

Richard swallowed. "We had better find them, that's all."

"The first day of winter is four days from tomorrow."

With a finger and thumb, he pulled off a small strip of meat. "I know."

"For a dragon, it is better to die than be ruled."

Richard looked up at her as she swished her tail. "If choosing for yourself, maybe, but what of others? You chose to be ruled, to save your egg, to give it a chance at life."

Scarlet grunted without answering and turned once more to her egg, stroking her talons over it.

Richard knew that if he couldn't find the last box and stop Rahl, he would have to save everyone else's life, he would have to spare Kahlan the torture of a Mord-Sith — he would have to agree to help Darken Rahl open the right box. Then Kahlan could live the kind of life a, Confessor, was used to.

It was a desperately depressing thought-that he could help Darken Rahl gain unchallenged power over everyone. But what choice did he have? Maybe what Shota said was right. Maybe Zedd and Kahlan would try to kill him. Maybe he should be killed for even thinking of helping Darken Rahl. If he had to choose, though, he would not let Kahlan be hurt by a Mord-Sith. He would have to help Rahl.

Richard lay back down, too sick at his choices to finish his meal. He put his head against his pack, pulling the cloak around himself, and thought about Kahlan. He was asleep in moments.

The next day, Scarlet took him into D'Hara, over where she said the boundary used to be, searching the roads and trails. Thin, high clouds filtered the sunlight. Richard hoped his friends wouldn't be this close to Darken Rahl, but if Zedd had sought the night stone before Rahl had destroyed it, and knew he had been at the People's Palace, they would be heading there. The dragon swept low over people they saw, giving them a fright, but they weren't the ones he sought.

Near midday, Richard saw them. Zedd, Chase, and Kahlan were riding horses on a trail near the main road. He yelled at Scarlet to take them down. The dragon rolled into a banking turn, diving toward the ground, a streak of red. The three riders saw them coming, stopped, and dismounted.

Scarlet spread her crimson wings, stopping their descent, and set them in a clearing next to the trail. Richard jumped off, ru

When he looked up, wizard's fire was wailing toward him. He froze in surprise. What was Zedd doing? The ball of liquid fire was bigger than any he had seen before. It illuminated the trees all around with its blue and yellow flame, shrieking as it advanced. Richard watched, wide-eyed, as it came, tumbling, twisting, expanding.

With the fright of what was about to happen, Richard's hand went to the hilt, feeling the word Truth press into the flesh of his palm. With a strong pull, he drew the sword, sending metallic ringing into the air. Released, the magic raced instantly through him. The fire was almost there. As he had done when he had been with Shota, he held the sword up, gripping the hilt in one hand, the point in the other, arms locked, holding it before him as a shield. Wrath took him, at the thought of Zedd betraying them. It couldn't be Zedd.

The impact drove him back a step. Heat and fire was all around him. The anger of the wizard's fire exploded, scattering back into the air from where it came, and then it was gone.

"Zedd! What are you doing? Are you crazy! It's me, Richard!" He advanced, angry. Angry that Zedd would do this, angry from the magic of the sword. The heat of his rage pounded through his veins.

Zedd, in his simple robes, looking as thin and frail as ever, stood his ground. Chase, bristling weapons, looking as dangerous as ever, stood his. Zedd took Kahlan's arm in his sticklike hand and pulled her protectively behind himself. Chase started forward, the look in his eyes as dark as his clothes.

"Chase," Zedd cautioned in a low voice, "don't be a fool. Stay where you are."

Richard looked from one grim face to another. "What's the matter with you three? What are you doing here? I told you not to come after me! Darken Rahl has sent men to capture you. You must turn back."

Zedd, his white hair in its usual disarray, turned a little to Kahlan, but kept his eyes on Richard. "Do you know what he's saying?"

Kahlan shook her head, pulling some of her long hair back. "No. I think it's high D'Haran; I don't speak high D'Haran."

"High D'Haran? What are you talking about? What are…"

With a cold wave of understanding, he remembered. It was the enemy web Darken Rahl had put on him. They didn't recognize him. They thought he was their worst enemy. They thought he was Darken Rahl.

Another thought came to him. Bumps ran up his arms to the back of his neck. Zedd, at least, thought he was Darken Rahl, and had used wizard's fire against him. Zedd wasn't the traitor. That left only Kahlan. Could it be she saw him for who he really was?

Choked with fear at the thought, he advanced toward her as his stare locked on her green eyes, Kahlan's back stiffened, her hands at her sides, her head held up. Richard recognized the stance; it was one of warning. Serious warning. He knew what her touch would do to him. He remembered Shota's warning that he might beat Zedd, but that Kahlan would not fail.

Zedd tried to stay between them. Richard hardly noticed him as he pushed the old man out of the way. Zedd came up behind him and put his thin fingers on the back of Richard's neck. They gave a pain something like the Agiel had given. Fire burned through the nerves of his arms, and all the way down his legs. Before all the time spent at the mercy of De

"Who do you see me as?" the Seeker whispered. "Darken Rahl, or Richard?"

She trembled slightly, seemingly unable to move. Richard's eye was caught by something, his view flicked down for an instant, and he saw that he had the sword point at her throat, at the hollow of her neck. He hadn't been aware of putting it there; it was as if the magic had taken it there of its own accord. But he knew that wasn't true. He had put it there. That was why she was trembling. A drop of blood grew against her skin, under the sword's point. If she was the traitor, he had to kill her.

The blade had turned white. So had Kahlan's face.

"Who do you see?" he whispered again.

"What have you done to Richard?" Her whisper was ragged with rage. "If you have harmed him, I swear I will kill you."

He remembered the way she had kissed him. It was not the kiss of a traitor, it was a kiss of love. He realized there was no way he could kill her, even if his fear was true. But he knew now it wasn't. With tears in his eyes, he slid the sword into its scabbard.

"I'm sorry, Kahlan. May the good spirits forgive me for what I almost did. I know you can't understand me, but I'm sorry. Darken Rahl is using the Wizard's First Rule on me, trying to turn us against one another. He is trying to make me believe a lie, and I almost did. I know you and Zedd would never betray me. Forgive me for thinking it."

"What do you want?" Zedd asked. "We can't understand you."

"Zedd…" He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "How can I make you understand?" He grabbed the wizard's robes in his fists. "Zedd, where's the box? I have to have the box before Rahl finds it! We can't let him get it!"