“I know you don’t want to believe this, Richard, but you must listen. Darken Rahl does the things he does, because he thinks them right, just as you do the things you do because you think them right. The two of you are more the same in that than you think. You want revenge on him for killing your father, and he wants revenge on me for killing his. In your eyes he is evil, but to his eyes, you are the one who is evil. It is all just perception. Whoever wins thinks he was in the right. The loser will always believe himself wronged. It is the same as with the magic of Orden: the power is simply there—one use wins over the other.”

“The same? Have you lost your mind? How could you think we are the same in any way! He craves power! He would chance destroying the world to get it! I don’t want power, I just wanted to be left alone! He murdered my father! He ripped his guts out! He’s trying to kill us all! How can you saw we are alike? You make it sound like he isn’t even dangerous!”

“Haven’t you been paying attention to what I have just been teaching you? I said you are the same in that you both think you are right. And that makes him more dangerous than you can imagine because in every other way you are different. Darken Rahl savors bleeding the life from people. He hungers for their pain. Your sense of right has bounds—his has none. His is twisted into an all-consuming lust to torture all opposition into submission, and he considers any who don’t rush to bow before him as opposition. His conscience was clear when he used his bare hands to calmly extract your father’s guts while he was still breathing. He found pleasure in the doing because his distorted sense of right gives him license. That is how he is very different from you. That is how dangerous he is.” He pointed back at Kahlan. “Weren’t you paying attention? Didn’t you see what she was able to do with the sword? And how did she do what you could not? Hmm?”

“Perception,” Richard said, in a much quieter voice. “She was able to do it because she thought she was right.”

Zedd thrust a finger in the air. “Aha! Perception is what makes the threat even more dangerous.” The wizard’s finger came down and jabbed Richard’s chest with each word. “Just… like… the sword.”

Richard hooked a thumb under the baldric and let out a deep breath. He felt as if he were standing in quicksand, but he had lived with Zedd too long to dismiss the things he said simply because they were hard to fathom. He longed for simplicity, though. “You mean that it’s not only what he does that makes him dangerous, but also what he feels justified in doing?”

Zedd shrugged. “Let me put it another way. Who would you be more afraid of: a two-hundred-pound man who wants to steal a loaf of bread from you, and knows he is doing wrong, or a one hundred-pound woman who believes, wrongly, but believes with all her heart, that you stole her baby?”

Richard folded his arms across his chest. “I would run from the woman. She wouldn’t give up. She wouldn’t listen to reason. She would be capable of anything.”

Zedd’s eyes were fierce. “So is Darken Rahl. Because he thinks he is right, he is that much more dangerous.”

Richard returned the fierce expression. “I am in the right.”

Zedd’s expression softened. “The mice think they are in the right, too, but my cat eats them just the same. I am trying to teach you something, Richard. I don’t want you to get caught in his claws.”

Richard unfolded his arms and sighed. “I don’t like it, but I understand. As I have heard you say, nothing is ever easy. While all of this is interesting, it isn’t going to frighten me away from doing what it is I must, what I believe to be right. So what is this business about a price to using the Sword of Truth?”

Zedd held a thin finger to Richard’s chest. “The payment is that you suffer the pain of seeing in yourself all your own evil, all your own shortcomings, all the things we don’t like to see in ourselves, or admit are there. And you see the good in the one you have killed, suffer the guilt for having done so.” Zedd shook his head sadly. “Please believe me, Richard, the pain comes not only from yourself, but more importantly, from the magic, a very powerful magic, a very powerful pain. Do not underestimate it. It is real, and it punishes your body, as well as your soul. You saw it in Kahlan, and that was from killing a tree. If it had been a man, it would have been profound. This is why anger is so important. Rage is the only armor you have against the pain—it gives a measure of protection. The stronger the enemy, the stronger the pain. But the stronger the rage, the stronger the shield. It makes you care less about the truth of what you have done. In some cases enough to not feel the pain. This is why I said the terrible things I did to Kahlan, things that hurt, and filled her with rage. It was to protect her when she used the sword. You see why I wouldn’t have allowed you to take the sword, if you weren’t able to use your anger? You would be naked before the magic—it would tear you apart.”

Richard was a little frightened by this, by the look in Kahlan’s eyes after she had used the sword, but it didn’t dissuade him. He glanced up at the mountains of the boundary. They stood out, pale pink in the light of the setting sun. Behind them, from the east, darkness was coming. Darkness coming for them. He had to find a way across the boundary, into that darkness. The sword would help him, that was what mattered. There was much at stake. There was a cost to everything in life—he would pay this one.

His old friend placed his hands on Richard’s shoulders and looked hard into his eyes. Zedd’s features were set in grim warning.

“Now I have to tell you something you are not going to like.” His fingers tightened, almost painfully. “You cannot use the Sword of Truth on Darken Rahl.”

“What!”

Zedd gave him a shake. “He is too powerful. The magic of Orden protects him during the year of search. If you try to use the sword, you will be dead before it reaches him.”

“This is crazy! First you want me to be the Seeker and take the sword, now you tell me I can’t use it!” Richard was furious. He felt cheated.

“Just against Rahl, it won’t work against him! Richard, I didn’t make the magic, I only know how it works. Darken Rahl knows how it works too. He may try to make you use the sword against him. He knows it would kill you. If you give in to the rage and use the sword against him, he will win. You will be dead and he will have the boxes.”

Kahlan’s brow wrinkled in frustration. “Zedd, I agree with Richard. This makes it impossible. If he cannot use his most important weapon, then…”

Zedd cut her off. “No! This”—he rapped Richard on the head with his knuckles—“this is a Seeker’s most important weapon.” He jabbed his long finger at the center of Richard’s chest. “And this.”

Everyone stood in silence for a moment.

“The Seeker is the weapon,” Zedd said with emphasis. “The sword is just a tool. You can find another way. You must.”

Richard thought he should be upset, that he should feel angry, frustrated, overwhelmed, but he didn’t. His first view of his options lifted from him, letting him see beyond. He felt strangely calm and determined.

“I’m sorry, my boy. I wish I could change the magic, but I…”

Richard put his hand on Zedd’s shoulder. “It’s all right, my friend. You’re right. We must stop Rahl. That’s all that matters. I have to know the truth to succeed, and you have given me the truth. Now it’s up to me to use it. If we gain one of the boxes, justice will have Rahl. I don’t need to see it. I need only know it is done. I said I wouldn’t be an assassin, and so I shall not be. The sword will be invaluable, I’m sure, but as you said, it’s only a tool, and that’s the purpose I will put it to. The magic of the sword isn’t an end in itself. I can’t allow myself to make that mistake, or I will be only a pretend Seeker.”