Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth 1)

“‘We’ be a lie.” She thumped her crutch again. “You be the one who thought to offer supplies. You be the one who decided to bring them. Not you and Kahlan. You. ‘We’ be a lie. ‘I’ be the truth.”

Richard unfolded his arms, holding them out to his sides. “What difference does that make? ‘I,’ ‘we,’ what does it matter?”

She stared at him. “One be true, one be a lie. How much more difference could there be?”

Richard folded his arms across his chest again, frowning. “Chase must have a very difficult time telling you the stories of his adventures.”

Adie’s small smile came back. “True,” she nodded. She leaned a little closer, motioning with her hand. “Bring your friends inside.”

She turned, put the crutch back under her arm, and worked her way to the house. Richard and Kahlan looked at each other, and then went to get Chase, putting the blankets away first. He had Kahlan take the boundary warden’s feet; he took the heavy half. As soon as they lugged Chase through the door, Richard discovered why she was called the bone woman.

Bones of every kind stood out in stark relief against the dark walls. Every wall was covered. Against one were shelves that held skulls. Skulls of beasts Richard didn’t recognize. Most were fearsome-looking, with long, curved teeth. At least none were human, he thought. Some of the bones were assembled into necklaces. Some were decorated into objects of purpose with feathers and colored beads, chalk circles drawn around them on the surface of the wall. There were stacks of bones in the corner, looking unimportant en masse. The ones on the wall were displayed carefully, with space around them to signify their importance. On the mantel over the fireplace was a rib bone as thick as Richard’s arm, as long as he was tall, with symbols he didn’t recognize carved in dark lines along its length. There were so many bleached bones around him that Richard felt as if he were in the belly of a dead beast.

They set Chase down while Richard’s head swiveled around, looking. Rainwater dripped off Kahlan, Chase, and himself. Adie towered over him. She was as dry as the bones around her. She had stood outside in the rain, yet she was dry. Richard reconsidered the wisdom of his decision to come here. If Chase hadn’t told him Adie was his friend, he would not be doing this.

He looked to Kahlan. “I’ll go get Zedd.” It was more of a question than a statement.

“I will help carry in the supplies,” she offered, casting a glance at Adie.

Richard gently laid Zedd at the bone woman’s feet. Together, he and Kahlan stacked the supplies on the table. When they had finished, both went and stood next to their friends, in front of Adie, both peering at the bones. Adie watched them.

“Who be this one?” she asked, pointing at Zedd.

“Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander. My friend,” he said.

“Wizard!” Adie snapped.

“My friend!” Richard yelled, his anger unhinged.

Adie calmly looked at him with her white eyes while he glared back. Zedd was going to die if he didn’t get help, and Richard was in no mood to allow that to happen. Adie leaned forward, placing her wrinkled hand flat against his stomach. A little surprised, he stood still while she rubbed her hand in a slow circle, as if seeking to discern something. She took her hand back, carefully folding it over the other on the crutch. Her thin lips pulled to the sides in a slight smile as she looked up.

“The righteous rage of a true Seeker. Good.” She looked over to Kahlan. “You have nothing to fear from him, child. It be the anger of truth. It be the anger of the teeth. The good need not fear it.” With the aid of her crutch, she took a few steps to Kahlan. Adie placed her hand on Kahlan’s stomach and repeated the procedure. When she was finished, she laid her hand over the crutch and nodded. She looked to Richard.

“She has the fire. The anger burns in her too. But it be the anger of the tongue. You have to fear it. All have to fear it. It be dangerous if she ever lets it out.”

Richard gave Adie a leery look. “I dislike riddles; they leave too much room for misinterpretation. If you want to tell me something, then tell me.”

“Tell me,” she mocked. Her eyes narrowed. “What be stronger, teeth or tongue?”

Richard took a deep breath. “The answer is obviously teeth. Therefore I choose tongue.”

Adie gave him a disapproving scowl. “Sometimes your tongue moves when it shouldn’t. Make it be still,” she commanded in a dry rasp.

Somewhat embarrassed, Richard kept quiet.

Adie smiled and gave a nod. “See?”

Richard frowned. “No.”

“The anger of teeth be force by contact. Violence by touch. Combat. The magic of the Sword of Truth be the magic of the anger of teeth. Ripping. Tearing. The anger of the tongue need not touch, but it be force just the same. It cuts just as quick.”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Richard said.

Adie reached out, her long finger stretching to him and lightly touching his shoulder. His head was suddenly filled with a vision, a vision that was a memory: a memory of the night before. He saw the men at the inn. He was standing in front of them with Kahlan, and the men were ready to attack. He was grasping the Sword of Truth, ready for the violence necessary to stop them, knowing that nothing short of blood would suffice. Then he saw Kahlan next to him, talking to the mob, stopping them, holding them with her words, running her tongue across her lip, giving meaning without speaking. She was taking the fire from them, disarming the depraved without touching them; doing what the sword could not. He began to understand what Adie meant.

Kahlan’s hand swept up sharply and snatched Adie’s wrist, pulling the hand away from Richard. There was a dangerous look in her eyes, one that wasn’t lost on Adie.

“I am sworn to protect the life of the Seeker. I do n

ot know what you are doing. You will forgive me if I overreact; I mean no disrespect, but I could not forgive myself if I failed in my task. There is much at risk.”

Adie looked down at the hand around her wrist. “I understand, child. Forgive me for thoughtlessly giving you cause for alarm.”

Kahlan held the wrist a moment longer to make her point, then released it. Adie laid the hand over her other on the top of the crutch. She looked back to Richard.

“Teeth and tongue work together. Same with the magic. You command the magic of the sword, the magic of the teeth. But that gives you magic of the tongue also. The magic of the tongue works because you back it with the sword.” She turned her head slowly to Kahlan. “You have both, child. Teeth and tongue. You use them together, one backing the other.”

“And what is a wizard’s magic?” Richard asked.

Adie looked at him, considering the question. “There be many kinds of magic, teeth and tongue be only two. Wizards know them all, save those of the underworld. Wizards use most of what they know.” She looked down at Zedd. “He be a very dangerous man.”

“He has never shown me anything but kindness and understanding. He is a gentle man.”

“True. But he also be a dangerous one,” Adie repeated.

Richard let it drop. “And Darken Rahl? Do you know of him, what kind he can use?”

Adie’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, yes,” she hissed, “I know of him. He can use all the magic a wizard does, and the magic a wizard cannot. Darken Rahl can use the underworld.”

Icy bumps rippled up Richard’s arms. He wanted to ask what kind of magic Adie had, but decided better of it. She turned once more to Kahlan.

“Be warned, child, you have the true power of the tongue. You have never seen it. It will be a terrible doing if you ever let it loose.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Kahlan said, her eyebrows in a frown.

“True,” Adie nodded. “True.” She reached out and gently placed her hand on Kahlan’s shoulder, working her fingers, bringing her closer. “Your mother died before you became a woman, before you were of the age when she could teach you of it.”