“One time Father came home with a vase that had these little figures sculpted around the top, like they were dancing on the rim. He was proud of it. He said it was old, and he thought he could get a gold piece for it. Michael said he could get more. They argued, and finally Father let Michael take the vase to sell. Michael came back and threw four gold pieces on the table. My father just stared at them for the longest time. Then he said, in a real quiet voice, that the vase wasn’t worth four gold pieces, and wanted to know what Michael had told the people. Michael said he told them what they wanted to hear. Father reached out to pick up the four coins, and Michael slapped his hand over them. He picked up three and said only one was for my father, because one was all he expected to get. Then he said, ‘That is the value of my friends, George.’

“That was the first time Michael called him ‘George.’ My father never let him sell anything for him again.

“But do you know what Michael did with the money? The next time my father left on a trip, he paid off most of the family debts. He didn’t even buy anything for himself.

“Sometimes Michael is crude in the way he does things, like today when he told everyone about our mother, and pointed at me, but I know… I know that he has everyone’s best interests at heart. He doesn’t want anyone hurt by fire. That’s all, he just doesn’t want anyone to go through what we did. He is only trying to do what is best for everyone.”

Kahlan didn’t look up. She pushed at the dirt a moment more and then tossed the stick in the fire. “I’m sorry, Richard. I shouldn’t be so suspicious. I know how much it hurts to lose your mother. I’m sure you’re right.” Finally, she looked up. “Forgive me?”

Richard smiled and gave her a nod. “Of course. I guess if I had been through all you have, I would be quick to think the worst, too. I’m sorry I jumped on you. If you will forgive my tone, I’ll let you finish the soup.”

She nodded her agreement with a smile as he handed her the last of the soup.

He wanted to hear the rest of her story, but he waited and watched her eat for a while before he asked, “So have the D’Haran forces conquered all of the Midlands?”

“The Midlands is a big place—the People’s Peace Army occupies only a few of the larger cities. People in many areas ignore the alliance. Rahl does not really care. He considers it a petty problem. His attention has been diverted to something else. The wizards found out his real goal was the magic the great wizard had warned the council about, the magic they had mishandled for their own avarice. With the magic Darken Rahl seeks, he will be master of all, without having to fight anyone.

“Five of the wizards realized they had been wrong, that the great wizard was right after all. The sought to gain redemption in his eyes, and save the Midlands, and Westland, from what will happen if Darken Rahl gains the magic he seeks. So they searched for the great wizard, but Rahl hunts him also.”

“You said five wizards. How many are there?”

“There were seven: the great wizard and his six students. The old one has vanished—one of the others sold his services to a queen, a very dishonorable thing for a wizard to do.” She paused, considering that a moment. “And as I told you before, the five others are dead. Before they died they had the whole of the Midlands searched, but the great one was not to be found. He is not in the Midlands.”

“So they believed him to be in Westland?”

Kahlan dropped the spoon in the empty pot. “Yes. He is here.”

“And they thought this great wizard could stop Darken Rahl, even though they could not?” Something was wrong with this story, and Richard wasn’t sure he wanted to know what was coming next.

“No,” she said after a pause, “he does not have the power to go against Darkeh Rahl either. What they wanted, what we need to save and keep us all from what will be, is for the great wizard to make the appointment only he can make.”

By the care with which she was choosing her words, he knew she was dancing around secrets he was not to ask about, so he didn’t, and instead asked, “Why didn’t they come after him themselves, and ask him to do it?”

“Because they feared he would say no, and they did not have the power to force him.”

“Five wizards did not have the power of this one?”

She shook her head with a sad smile. “They were his students, ones who wanted to be wizards. They were not born wizards, born with the gift. The great one was born to a father who was a wizard and a mother who was a sorceress. It is in his blood, not just his head. They could never be the wizard he is. They simply did not have the power to make him do what they wanted.” She fell silent.

“And…” He didn’t say anything else. With his silence he let her know his next question, and that he would have the answer to it.

At last, she gave him the answer in a soft whisper.

“And so they sent me, because I do.”

The fire crackled and hissed. He could feel the tension in her, and he knew she had gone as far with that answer as she would on the subject, so he remained still to let her feel safe. Without looking over, he put his hand on her forearm, and she put her other hand over his.

“How are you to know this wizard?”

“I only know I must find him, and soon, or we are all lost.”

Richard thought in silence. “Zedd will help us,” he said at last. “He’s a cloud reader. Finding lost people is what a cloud reader does.”

Kahlan gave him a suspicious look. “That sounds like magic. There is not supposed to be any magic in Westland.”

“He says it’s not—that anyone can learn. He’s always trying to teach me. He mocks me whenever I say it looks like it will rain. His eyes get real big and he says, ‘Magic! You must have magic, my boy, to read the clouds and know the future so.’”

Kahlan laughed. It was a good sound to hear. He didn’t want to press her further even though the weave of her story had many loose threads—there was much she wasn’t telling him. At least he knew more than he did before. The important thing was to find the wizard and then get away—another quad would be coming for her. They would have to go west while the wizard did whatever it was he had to do.

She opened her waist pouch and pulled something out. Untying a string, she laid back the folds of a waxed cloth that held a tan substance. Dipping her finger in it, she turned to him. “This will help the fly bites heal. Turn your head.”

The ointment soothed the sting. He recognized the fragrances of some of the plants and herbs it was made from. Zedd had taught him to make a similar ointment, but with aum, that would take pain from flesh wounds. When finished with him, she put some on herself. He held out his sore red hand.

“Here, put some on this, too.”

“Richard! What have you done?”

“I was stuck by a thorn, this morning.”

She dabbed the ointment carefully on his wound. “I have never seen a thorn do this.”

“It was a big thorn. I’m sure I’ll be better by morning.”

The ointment didn’t help the pain as much as he had hoped, but he told her that it did, not wanting to worry her. His hand was nothing compared to the things she had to worry about. He watched as she retied the string around the little package and replaced it in her waist pouch. Her forehead was creased in thought.

“Richard, are you afraid of magic?”

He thought carefully before answering. “I was always fascinated by it—it sounded exciting. But now I know there is magic to fear. But I would guess it’s like people: some you stay clear of and some you are fortunate to know.”

Kahlan smiled, apparently satisfied with his answer. “Richard, before I can sleep, there is something, l must tend to. It is a creature of magic. If you would not be afraid, I will let you see it. The opportunity is a rare one. Few have ever seen it, and few ever will. But you must promise me you will leave and take a walk when I ask, and not ask me any more questions when you return. I am very tired and must sleep.”