Wizard's First Rule (24 page)

“I have. But, I’ve never seen it this close.” His eyes came up, dark and intense. “The point is, Richard, what are you doing with it?”

Richard peered back with equal intensity. “It was given to me by a great and noble wizard.”

Chase’s forehead wrinkled into a sober frown. He looked to Zedd. “What’s your part in this, Zedd?”

Zedd leaned forward, a small smile on his thin lips. “I’m the one who gave it to him.”

Chase leaned back in his chair, shaking his head slowly. “The spirits be praised,” he whispered. “A real Seeker. At last.”

“We don’t have much time,” Richard said. “I need to know some things about the boundary.”

Chase let out a deep sigh as he rose and went to the hearth. He leaned an arm on the mantel, staring into the flames. The other two waited while the big man picked at the rough wood of the mantel as if trying to pick his words.

“Richard, do you know what my job is?”

Richard shrugged. “Keeping people away from the boundary, for their own good.”

Chase shook his head. “Do you know how to get rid of wolves?”

“Go out and hunt them, I guess.”

The boundary warden shook his head again. “That might get a few, but more would be born, and in the end, you have just as many. If you really want to have fewer wolves, you hunt their food. You trap rabbits, so to speak. It’s easier. If there is less food, fewer pups will be born. In the end you have fewer wolves. That’s my job. I hunt rabbits.”

Richard felt a wave of fright ripple through him.

“Most people don’t understand the boundary, or what we do. They think it’s just some stupid law we enforce. Many are afraid of the boundary, mostly older people. Many others think they know what’s best and go up there to poach. They aren’t afraid of the boundary, so we make them afraid of the wardens. That’s something real to them, and we keep it real. They don’t like it, but out of fear of us, they stay away. To a few it’s a game, to see if they can get away with it. We don’t expect to catch them all; we don’t really care. What we care about is scaring enough of them so the wolves in the boundary won’t have enough rabbits to get stronger.

“We protect the people, but not by preventing them from going into the boundary. Anyone stupid enough to do that is beyond our help. Our job is to keep most away, keep the boundary weak enough so the things in there can’t come out and get everyone else. The wardens have all seen things that have gotten loose. We all understand; others don’t. Lately, more and more things have been getting loose. Your brother’s government may pay us, but they don’t understand, either; our allegiance is not to them, nor to any rule of law. Our only duty is to protect the people from the things that come out of the darkness. We consider ourselves
sovereign. We take orders when it doesn’t hinder our job. It keeps matters friendly. But if the time ever comes, well, we follow our own cause, our own orders.”

He sat back at the table, leaning forward on his elbows. “Ultimately, there is only one whose orders we will follow, because our cause is a part of his larger cause. That one is the true Seeker.” He picked up the sword in his big hands and held it out to Richard, looking him in the eyes. “I pledge my life and loyalty to the Seeker.”

Richard sat back, moved. “Thank you, Chase.” He looked to the wizard a moment, then back to the boundary warden. “Now we’ll tell you what’s been going on, and then I’ll tell you what I want.”

Richard and Zedd both shared in the telling of all that had happened. Richard wanted Chase to know it all, to understand that there could be no half efforts, that it had to be victory or death, not by their choice, but by Darken Rahl’s. Chase looked from one to the other as they spoke, understanding the seriousness of what they were telling him, appearing grim at the telling of the story of the magic of Orden. They didn’t have to convince him of the truth of it; he was a man who had seen more than they would probably ever know. He asked few questions, and listened carefully.

He did enjoy the story of what Zedd had done to the mob. His booming laugh filled the room until his laughter dissolved in tears.

The door opened, and Kahlan and Emma stepped into the light. Kahlan was outfitted in fine forest garb, dark green pants with a wide belt, tan shirt, dark cloak, and a good pack. The boots and waist pouch were her own. She looked ready to live a life in the woods. Still, her hair, her face, her figure, and mostly her bearing, spoke that she was more.

Richard introduced her to Chase. “My guide.”

Chase lifted an eyebrow.

Emma saw the sword, and by her expression Richard knew she understood. She moved behind her husband again, not touching his hair, but simply resting a hand on his shoulder, wanting to be near him. She knew trouble visited this night. Richard sheathed the sword, and Kahlan came and sat next to him as he finished relating the rest of the events of the night. When he was done, they all sat in silence for a few minutes.

“What can I do to help you, Richard?” Chase finally asked.

Richard spoke softly, but firmly. “Tell me where the pass is.”

Chase’s eyes came up sharply. “What pass?” His old defensiveness was still in evidence.

“The pass across the boundary. I know about it, I just don’t know exactly where it is, and I don’t have time to search.” Richard didn’t have time to play these games and felt his anger rising.

“Who told you this?”

“Chase! Answer the question!”

The other smiled a little. “One condition. I take you there.”

Richard thought about the children. Chase was used to danger, but this was different. “That isn’t necessary.”

Chase gave Richard an appraising look. “It is to me. It’s a dangerous place.
You three don’t know what you’re getting yourselves into. I won’t send you there alone. And the boundary is my responsibility. If you want me to tell you, then I’m going.”

Everyone waited while Richard considered this a moment. Chase didn’t bluff, and time was dear. Richard had no choice. “Chase, we would be honored to have you with us.”

“Good.” He slapped his hand on the table. “The pass is called the Kings’ Port. It’s in a foul place called Southaven. Four, maybe five days’ ride on horseback, if we take Hawkers Trail. Since you’re in a hurry, that’s the way you’ll want to be going. It will be light in a few hours. The three of you need to get some sleep. Emma and I will get the provisions together.”

It seemed that he had just fallen asleep when Emma woke him and led them down to breakfast. The sun wasn’t up yet, nor was anyone else in the house, but roosters were already crowing at the lightening of the new day. The aromas of cooking made him instantly hungry. Emma, smiling, but not as brightly as the night before, dished out a big breakfast and said Chase had already eaten and was loading the horses. Richard had always thought Kahlan looked alluring in her unusual dress. He decided her new outfit didn’t lessen her appeal in the least. While Kahlan and Emma talked about the children, and Zedd gushed compliments about the food, Richard’s mind fretted on what lay ahead.

The light dimmed a little as Chase’s form filled the doorway. Kahlan gave a start when she saw him. He was wearing a chain-mail shirt over a tan leather tunic, heavy black pants, boots, and cloak. Black gauntlets were tucked behind a wide black belt set with a large silver buckle emblazoned with the emblem of the boundary wardens. Strapped everywhere were enough armaments to outfit a small army. On an ordinary man the effect would have been silly; on Chase it was frightening. He was an image of overt threat, deadly with every weapon he carried. Chase had two basic expressions he wore most of the time, the first a look of feigned ignorant disinterest, the second, one that made him seem as if he was about to participate in a slaughter. He wore the second this day.

On their way out, Emma handed Zedd a bundle. “Fried chicken,” she said. He gave her a big grin and kissed her forehead. Kahlan gave her a hug and promised to see that the clothes were returned. Richard bent and gave Emma a warm embrace. “Be careful,” she whispered in his ear. She gave her husband a kiss on the cheek that he accepted graciously.

Chase handed Kahlan a sheathed long knife, telling her to wear it at all times. Richard asked if he could borrow a knife, too, as he had left his home. Chase’s fingers deftly found the strap he wanted among the tangle, freed it, and handed a knife to Richard.

Kahlan eyed all the weaponry. “Do you think you will need all those?”

He gave her a crooked smile. “If I didn’t take them, I know I would.”

The small company, Chase leading, followed by Zedd, then Kahlan, with Richard bringing up the rear, settled into a comfortable pace through the Hartland Woods. It was a bright autumn morning with a chill to the air. A hawk wheeled in the sky over their heads, a sign of warning at the beginning of a journey. Richard thought to himself that the sign was totally unnecessary.

By midmorning they had left the Hartland Valley and passed into the upper Ven Forest, joining Hawkers Trail below Trunt Lake, and turned south, with the snakelike cloud in slow pursuit. Richard was glad to be leading it away from Chase’s house and children. He was troubled that they had to travel so far to the south to cross the boundary, for time was dear. But Chase had said that if there was another pass, he didn’t know about it.

Hardwood forests gave way to stands of ancient pines. Passing among them was like traveling through a canyon. The trunks soared to dizzying heights before the limbs branched out, and Richard felt small in the deep shade of the old trees. He had always been at ease traveling. He did it often, and the familiar places they passed made it seem to be just another trek, but this trip was not the same. They were going places he had never been. Dangerous places. Chase was concerned, and had warned them. This alone gave Richard pause, for Chase was not a man to worry over nothing; in fact, Richard had often thought he worried far too little.

Richard watched the other three as they rode: Chase, a black wraith upon his horse, armed to the teeth, feared by the people he protected as well as the ones he hunted, but somehow, not by children; the wisp of a wizard, sticklike Zedd, unassuming, hardly more than a smile, white hair, and simple robes, content to carry nothing more than a bundle of fried chicken, but wielder of wizard’s fire and who knew what else; and Kahlan, courageous, determined, and keeper of some secret power, sent to threaten a wizard into naming the Seeker. The three of them were his friends, yet each in their own way made him uneasy. He wondered who was more dangerous. They followed him unquestioningly, yet led him at the same time. The three of them, all, sworn to protect the Seeker with their lives. And yet, none of the small company, singly or together, was a match for Darken Rahl. The whole of their task seemed hopeless.

Zedd was already into the chicken. Periodically he would toss a bone over his shoulder. After a while he thought to offer a piece to the others. Chase declined, as he kept up a continual scan of their surroundings, paying particular attention to the left side of the trail, to the boundary. The other two accepted. The chicken had lasted longer than Richard thought it would. When the trail widened, he brought his horse up with Kahlan’s and rode next to her. She took off her cloak as the day warmed, and smiled over to him with the special smile she never gave anyone else.

Richard had a thought. “Zedd, is there anything a wizard can do about that cloud?”

The old man squinted up at it, then peered back at Richard. “That idea has already come into my head. I think there might be, but I want to wait a while longer, until we are farther away from Chase’s family. I don’t want to lead a search to them.”

In the late afternoon they came upon an old couple, woods people whom Chase knew. The four brought their horses to a halt while the boundary warden spoke with the couple. He sat relaxed on his mount, leather creaking, as he listened to them repeat rumors that they had heard about things coming out of the boundary. Richard now knew them to be more than rumors. Chase treated the couple with respect, as he did most people; nevertheless, they were clearly afraid of him. He told them he was looking into the matter and advised them to stay inside at night.

They rode until long after dark before making camp for the night in a stand of pine, and were on their way the next morning as the sky lightened behind the mountains of the boundary. Richard and Kahlan both yawned as they rode. The forest thinned, with open patches of meadow, bright and green and smelling sweet in the sunshine as they traveled through the hill country on their journey south, the road taking them temporarily farther from the mountains of the boundary. Occasionally they passed small farms, their owners making themselves scarce when they saw Chase.

The land became less familiar to Richard, who rarely traveled this far south. He kept a sharp lookout, making note of the landmarks they passed. After they ate a cold lunch in the warm sun, the road began angling steadily closer to the mountains, until in the late afternoon they were so close to the boundary that they began encountering the gray skeletons of trees killed by the snake vine. Even the sun did little to brighten the dense woods. Chase’s demeanor became distant, harder, as he observed everything carefully. Several times he dismounted, walking his horse as he studied the ground, reading tracks.