“Richard, come look at this,” Zedd called to him.
The wizard reached out and ran a finger through a gritty black area on the wall. There were two black areas, in fact. They stood next to each other. Two blackened spots, in the shapes of men standing at attention, as if the men had gone and left their shadows behind. Just above each elbow, instead of the black, was a band of gold-colored metal melted into the stone of the wall.
Zedd turned, raising an eyebrow to him. “Wizard’s fire.”
Richard was incredulous. “You mean these were men?”
Zedd nodded. “Burned them right into the wall.” He tasted the black smudge on the end of his finger. He smiled to himself. “But this was more than just wizard’s fire.” Richard frowned. Zedd pointed at the black on the wall. “Taste it.”
“Why?”
Zedd rapped Richard’s head with his knuckles. “To learn something.”
With a grimace, Richard ran his finger through the black grit, as Zedd had done. “It tastes sweet!”
Zedd smiled in satisfaction. “This is more than simple wizard’s fire. Giller gave his life energy to it. He gave his life into the fire. This was a Wizard’s Life Fire.”
“He died, making this wizard’s fire?”
“Yes. And it tastes sweet. That means he gave his life to save another. If he had done it only for himself, for instance to spare himself the torture, it would taste bitter. Giller has done this for another.”
Zedd went and stood in front of Giller’s body, swishing the flies away, twisting his own head around, trying to turn it upside down for a look. With a finger, he pushed a knotted cord of gut out of the way, so he could see Giller’s face. He straightened.
“He has left a message.”
“A message?” Kahlan asked. “What message?”
“There is a smile on his face. A smile, frozen in death, meant to tell anyone who knows of such things that he did not give up what was wanted.” Richard stepped closer as Zedd pointed to the opening cut across the abdomen. “See here, the way this cut goes? This is done by one who practices the magic called anthropomancy, the divining of answers by the inspection of living entrails. Darken Rahl makes his cut very similar to the way his father did.”
Richard remembered his own father, and how Rahl had done this very thing to him.
“You are sure it was Darken Rahl?” Kahlan asked.
Zedd shrugged. “Who else? Darken Rahl is the only one who would have been unharmed by a Wizard’s Life Fire. Besides, this cut is his signature. Look here. See the end of the opening? See the way it starts to turn?”
Kahlan turned her face away. “What of it?”
“That’s the hook. At least it should be. It should turn back in a hooked cut. While incantations are spoken, the hook is cut, binding the questioned to the questioner. The hook forces them to give up the answer to the question asked. But see here? The hook is begun, but it is not finished.” Zedd gave a sad grin. “That is when Giller gave his life to the fire. He waited until Rahl was almost done, then, at the last instant, denied him what he sought. Probably the name of who has the box. Without life in them, his entrails could tell Rahl nothing.”
“I never thought Giller capable of such a selfless act,” Kahlan whispered.
“Zedd,” Richard asked fearfully, “how could Giller have done it, taken the pain of having this done to him, and manage to leave a smile on his face?”
Zedd gave him a hard look that ran a chill up Richard’s spine. “Wizards must know about pain. They must know it very well, indeed. It is to spare you that lesson that I would happily accept your choice not to be a wizard. It is a lesson few survive.”
Richard wondered at the mysterious, secret things Zedd must know, but had never shared with him.
Tenderly, Zedd cupped a hand to the side of Giller’s face. “You have done well, my student. Honor in the end.”
“I bet Darken Rahl was livid,” Richard said. “Zedd, I think we had better get out of here. This looks a little too much like bait on a hook to me.”
Zedd nodded. “Wherever the box is, it is not here. At least Rahl does not have it—yet.” He put his hands out. “Give me the boy. We need to leave as we came in. We don’t want to tell them why we were really here.”
Zedd whispered something in Siddin’s ear, and the boy giggled, hugging the wizard’s neck.
Queen Milena was still white, fumbling with the corner of her cape, as Kahlan strode purposefully but calmly up to her.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Kahlan said. “We will be leaving now.”
The Queen bowed her head. “Always a pleasure to see the Mother Confessor.” Her curiosity overcame her fear. “What of… Giller?”
Kahlan appraised her coolly. “I regret you have beaten me to him. I only wish I had had the pleasure of doing it myself, or at least witnessed it being done. But, the results are all that matter. Disagreement, was it?”
The color returned to the Queen’s face. “He stole something that belonged to me.”
“I see. Well, I hope you got it back. Good day.” She started to move, then stopped. “And Queen Milena, I will be back to check, and make sure you have brought your overly ambitious commanders back in line, and that they are not mistakenly executing innocent people.”
Richard and Zedd, holding Siddin, fell in behind Kahlan as she turned and left.
Richard’s thoughts swirled desperately through his head as he walked woodenly next to Zedd, following Kahlan through all the bowing people and out of the city. What were they going to do now? Shota had warned him that the Queen wouldn’t have the box for long. She had been right. Where could it be now? He certainly couldn’t go back and ask Shota where it was. Who could Giller have given the box to? How were they going to find it? He felt desperately depressed. He felt like giving up. He could tell by the slump in Kahlan’s shoulders that she felt the same way. Neither of them spoke. The only one talking was Siddin, and Richard couldn’t understand him.
“What’s he saying?” he asked Zedd.
“He says he has been being brave, just as Kahlan had told him, but he is glad that Richard With The Temper has come to take him home.”
“I guess I know how he feels. Zedd, what are we going to do now?”
Zedd gave him a puzzled look. “How should I know? You’re the Seeker.”
Great. He had just done his best, and they still didn’t have the box, but he was expected, somehow, to find it. He felt as if he had run square into a wall he hadn’t known was there. They kept walking, but he didn’t kno
w where to go next.
The setting sun was golden among golden clouds. Richard thought he could see something ahead in the distance. He moved up and walked next to Kahlan. She was watching it, too. All the people had disappeared from the road for the night.
It wasn’t long before he knew what it was. It was four horses galloping toward them. Only one had a rider.
40
Richard touched the hilt of the sword for reassurance as he watched the four horses raising a cloud of dust that turned golden in the setting sun. Soon the sound of thundering hooves reached him. The lone rider bent over his mount, urging him on. Richard lifted the sword a little in its scabbard, checking that it was clear, then let it drop back. As the darkly clad rider approached, Richard realized he looked familiar.
“Chase!”
The boundary warden brought the horses to a skidding halt in front of them. He looked down as the dust drifted away. “You all look to be well.”
“Chase, is it ever good to see you!” Richard grinned. “How did you find us?”
He looked insulted. “I’m a boundary warden.” He thought that was explanation enough. “Find what you were after?”
“No,” Richard admitted with a sigh. He saw little arms clutching at Chase’s sides. A little face peeked around the black cloak. “Rachel? Is that you?”
Her face came farther out, a grin spreading on it. “Richard! I’m so happy to see you again. Isn’t Chase wonderful? He fought a gar and saved me from being eaten.”
“Didn’t fight him,” Chase grumbled. “Just put a bolt through his head, that’s all.”
“But you would have. You’re the bravest man I ever saw.”
With a pained frown, Chase rolled his eyes. “Isn’t she just about the ugliest child you have ever seen?” He leaned around and looked at her. “I can’t believe a gar would even want to eat you.”
Rachel giggled and hugged her arms to his sides. “Look, Richard.” She put a foot out toward him, showing off a shoe. “Chase brought down a buck. He said it was a mistake, because it was too big, so he traded it to a man, but all the man had to trade were these shoes, and this cloak. Aren’t they wonderful? And Chase says I can keep them.”