"What you propose not only would put someone's life at terrible risk, as Seeker, dear one, but yours also."

She raised an eyebrow. "I am hunted now. If you have a better way, put words to it."

Before Zedd could answer, Richard moaned. The old man looked over at him and then rose. "It is time."

Kahlan stood up next to him as he lifted Richard's arm by the wrist, holding the wounded hand over the tin plate. Blood dripped onto the plate with soft, hollow sounds. The thorn fell out with a small, wet splash. Kahlan reached for it.

Zedd grabbed her wrist. "Don't do that, dear one. Now that it has been expelled from its host, it will be anxious to have a new one. Watch."

She took her hand back as he put his bony finger on the plate several inches from the thorn. It wiggled its way toward the finger, leaving a thin trail of blood. He took his finger away and handed her the plate. "Hold it from underneath, and take it to the hearth. Put it on the fire, facedown, and leave it there."

While she did as Zedd requested, he cleaned the wound and applied a salve. When Kahlan returned, he held Richard's hand while she wrapped it. Zedd watched her hands as she worked.

"Why have you not told him what you are, that you are a Confessor?" There was a hard edge to his voice.

Hers came back in kind. "Because of the way you reacted when you recognized me as a Confessor." She paused, and the harshness left her voice. "Somehow we have become friends. I am inexperienced in that, but I am very experienced at being a Confessor. I have seen reactions like yours all my life. When I leave with the Seeker, I will tell him. Until then, I would very much like to have his friendship. Is that too much to ask, to be allowed the simple human pleasure of a friend? The friendship will end soon enough, when I tell him."

When she finished, Zedd put a finger under her chin, raising her face to his gentle smile. "When I first saw you, I reacted foolishly. Mostly to the surprise of seeing a Confessor. I had not expected ever to see one again. I quit the Midlands to be free of the magic. You were an intrusion into my solitude. I apologize for my reaction and for making you feel unwelcome. I hope I have made it up to you. I am one who has respect for the Confessors, perhaps more than you will ever know. You are a good woman, and you are welcome in my house."

Kahlan looked into his eyes a long moment. "Thank you, Zeddicus Zu'1 Zorander."

Zedd's expression turned more dangerous than hers had when they had first met. She stood frozen with his finger still under her chin, afraid to move, her eyes wide.

"Know this, though, Mother Confessor." His voice was only one step above a whisper, and deadly. "This. boy has been my friend a good long time. If you touch him with your power, or if you choose him, you will answer to me. And you would not like that. Do you understand?"

She swallowed hard and managed to give a weak nod. "Yes."

"Good." The danger left his face, leaving calm again in its place. He removed his finger from under her chin, and began to turn to Richard.

Kahlan let her breath out and, not willing to be intimidated, grabbed his arm, turning him back to her. "Zedd, I would not do that to him, not because of what you said, but because I care for him. I want you to understand that."

They faced off a long while, each measuring the other. Zedd's impish smile returned, as disarming as ever.

"If offered a choice, dear one, that is the way I would prefer it."

She relaxed, satisfied at having made her point, and gave him a quick hug that was returned earnestly.

"There is one thing you have left unspoken. You have not asked for my help in finding the wizard."

"No, and for now I won't. Richard fears what I would do if you were to say no. I promised I would not ask until he has a chance to ask you first. I gave him my word."

Zedd put a bony finger to his chin. "How interesting." He laid his hand on her shoulder conspiratorially, and changed the subject. "You know, dear one, you might make a good Seeker yourself."

"Me? A woman can be Seeker?"

He lifted an eyebrow. "Of course. Some of the best Seekers have been women."

"I already have an impossible job." She frowned. "I don't need two."

Zedd chuckled, his eyes sparkling. "Perhaps you are right. Now, it's very late, dear one. Go to my bed in the next room and get yourself some needed sleep. I will sit with Richard."

"No!" She shook her head and plopped down in the chair. "I don't want to leave him for now."

Zedd shrugged. "As you wish." He walked behind her and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "As you wish:" He gently reached up and put a middle finger to each of her temples, rubbing in little circles. She moaned softly as her eyes closed. "Sleep, dear one," he whispered, "sleep." She folded her arms down onto the edge of the bed, and her head sank onto her arms. She was deeply asleep. After he put a blanket over her, Zedd went to the front room and pulled open the door, looking out into the night.

"Cat! Come here, I want you." The cat came running in and rubbed himself against Zedd's legs, swishing his tail up. Zedd bent down and scratched him behind the ears. "Go in and sleep on the young woman's lap. Keep her warm." The cat padded off to the bedroom as the old man stepped out into the cold night air.

–+-

The wind whipped Zedd's robes as he walked the narrow path through the tall grass. The clouds were thin, illuminated by the moon, which gave enough light to see by, even though he didn't need it; he had walked the same route thousands of times.

"Nothing is ever easy," he muttered as he went.

Near a stand of trees he stopped, listening. Slowly, he turned about, peering into the shadows, watching the branches bend and sway in the breeze, testing the air with his nose. He searched for an alien movement.

A fly bit his neck. He swatted it angrily, picked the offender off his neck, and glared at it. "Blood fly. Bags. I thought as much," he complained.

From the brush near by, something came toward him in a terrible rush. Wings and fur and teeth came charging. Hands on his hips, Zedd waited. Just before it was on him, he held up his hand, bringing the short-tailed gar to a lurching halt. It was half again as tall as he, full grown, and twice as fierce as a long-tailed gar. The beast growled and blinked, its great muscles flexing as it fought against the force that kept it from reaching out and grabbing the old man. It was furious that it had not yet killed him.

Zedd reached up and with a crooked finger beckoned it to lean closer. The gar, panting in rage, bent toward him. Zedd jammed his finger hard under its chin.

"What is your name?" he hissed. The beast grunted twice and made a sound from deep in its throat. Zedd gave a nod. "I will remember it. Tell me, do you wish to live, or to die?" The gar struggled to back away, but was unable to. "Good. Then you will do exactly as I say. Somewhere between here and D'Hara, a quad comes this way. Hunt them and kill them. When you have done so, go back to D'Hara, to where you came from. Do these things and I will let you live, but I will remember your name, and if you fail to kill the quad, or ever come back after your task is done, I will kill you and feed you to your flies. Do you agree to my terms?" The gar grunted an acknowledgment. "Good. Then be gone." Zedd removed his finger from under the gar's chin.

Scrambling to get away, the beast flapped its wings frantically, beating down the grass as it stumbled along. At last the gar was airborne. Zedd watched it as it circled, searching for the quad. As the hunt moved steadily east, the circles seemed to get smaller until the old man could no longer see the beast. Only then did he continue on to the top of the hill.

Standing next to his cloud rock, Zedd pointed down at it and began turning his bony finger in a circle as if stirring a stew. The massive rock grated against the ground as it tried to revolve with the movement of Zedd's finger. The rock shuddered, trying to rotate its own weight. Popping and snapping, it fractured, sending hairline cracks shooting across its surface. Its trembling bulk struggled against the force being applied. The granular structure of the stone began to soften. Unable to maintain its state any longer, the texture of the rock liquefied enough to allow its mass to rotate with the movement of the finger above it. Gradually the speed of Zedd's stirring increased until light erupted from the rotating liquid rock.

The light built in intensity with the speed of Zedd's hand. As colors and sparkles of light spun, shadows and forms came into the center of the light and vanished as the fog of brightness increased. Light threatened to ignite the air about him. A dull roar, like the sound of wind rushing through a fissure, came forth. The smells of autumn changed to winter clarity, then spring's new plowed ground, summer's flowers, and back to autumn again. Clean, pure illumination chased the colors and sparkles away.

The rock abruptly solidified and Zedd stepped atop it, into the light. The brightness faded to a faint glow that swirled like smoke. Before him stood two apparitions, mere shadows of form. Where sharpness should have been, their shapes softened like a dim memory, yet they were still recognizable, and the sight of them brought a quickness to Zedd's heart.

His mother's voice came hollow and distant. "What troubles you, son? Why have you called us after so many years?" Her arms stretched out to him.

Zedd's arms reached out, but could not touch her. "I am troubled by what the Mother Confessor tells me."

"She speaks the truth."

He closed his eyes and nodded as his arms lowered with hers. "It's true, then, all my students, save Giller, are dead."

"You are the only one left to protect the Mother Confessor." She drifted closer. "You must appoint the Seeker."

"The High Council sowed these seeds," he protested, frowning. "Now you want me to help? They turned my advice away. Let them live and die by their own greed."

Zedd's father floated closer. "My son, why were you angry with your students?"

Zedd scowled. "Because they put themselves before their duty to help their people."

"I see. And how is this different from what you do now?" The echo of his voice hung in the air.