Kahlan smiled over at him. "Welcome to the Midlands. You have done as you said you would: you got us here. Now the hard work begins. What would you have us do?"

Richard's head was throbbing; he leaned back next to her. "We need someone with- magic who can tell us where the last box is, where to find it. Or at least where to look for it. We can't just go running around blindly. We need someone who can point us in the right direction. Who do you know like that?"

Kahlan gave him a sideways glance. "We are a long way from anyone who would want to help us."

She was avoiding telling him something. His anger jumped. "I didn't say they had to want to help us, I said they had to be, able to. You just take me to them and I'll worry about the rest!" Richard immediately regretted his tone of voice. He leaned his head back against the rock wall and put the anger down. "Kahlan, I'm sorry." He rolled his head away from her. "I've had a hard day. Besides killing that man, I had to run my sword through my father again. But the worst of it was I thought my best friend was lost to the underworld. I just want to stop Rahl, to end this nightmare."

He turned his face to hers, and she gave him one of her special, tight-upped smiles. Kahlan watched his eyes in the near darkness for a few minutes.

"Not easy, being Seeker," she said softly.

He smiled back at her. "Not easy," he agreed.

"The Mud People," she said at last. "They may be able to tell us where to search, but there is no guarantee they will agree to help us. The Wilds are a remote part of the Midlands, and the Mud People are not used to dealing with outsiders… They have strange customs. They do not care about the problems of others. They wish only to be left alone."

"If he succeeds, Darken Rahl will not respect their wishes," he reminded her.

Kahlan took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Richard, they can be dangerous."

"Have you dealt with them before?"

She nodded. "A few times. They do not speak our language, but I speak theirs."

"Do they trust you?"

Kahlan looked away as she wrapped her blanket tighter. "I guess so." She looked up at him from under her eyebrows. "But they are afraid of me, and with the Mud People, that may be more important than trust."

Richard had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from asking why they were afraid of her. "How far?"

"I'm not sure exactly where we are in the Wilds. I didn't see enough to tell for certain, but I'm sure they are no more than a week to the northeast."

"Good enough. In the morning we head northeast."

"When we get there, you must follow my lead, and if I tell you something, you must pay heed. You must convince them to help you, or they will not, sword or no sword." He gave her a nod. She took her hand out from under the blanket and put in on his arm. "Richard," she whispered, "thank you for coming back for me. I'm sorry for what it cost you."

"I had to-what good would it do to go to the Midlands without my guide?"

Kahlan grinned. "I will try to live up to your expectations."

He gave her hand a squeeze before they both lay down. Sleep took him as he thanked the good spirits for protecting her