Wizard's First Rule

"So that we might help each other. There is a man who would rule your people. The Seeker and I would have you rule yourselves. We came seeking your people's strength and wisdom to aid us in our fight."

"Father Rahl," Savidlin announced knowingly.

"You know of him?"

Savidlin nodded. "A man came. He called himself' a missionary, said he wanted to teach us of the goodness of one called Father Rahl. He talked to our people for three days, until we became tired of him.»

It was Kahlan's turn to stiffen, she glanced to the other men, who had started smiling at the mention of the missionary. She looked back to the elder's mud streaked face. "And what happened to him after the three days?"

"He was a good man. " Savidlin smiled meaningfully.

Kahlan straightened herself. Richard leaned closer to her.

"What are they saying?"

"They want to know why we are here. They said they have heard of Darken Rahl."

"Tell them I want to talk to their people, that I need them to call a gathering."

She looked up at him from under her eyebrows. "I am getting to that. Adie was right, you are not a patient person."

Richard smiled. "No, she was wrong. I am very patient, but I am not very tolerant. There is a difference."

Kahlan smiled at Savidlin as she spoke to Richard. "Well, please do not become intolerant just now, or show them any more respect for the moment. I know what I am doing, and it is going well. Let me do it my way, all right?"

He agreed, folding his arms in frustration. She turned once more to the elder. He peered at her sharply and asked something that surprised her.

"Did Richard With The Temper bring us the rains?"

Kahlan frowned. "Well, I guess you could say that. " She was confused by the question and didn't know what to say, so told him the truth. "The clouds follow him.»

The elder studied her face intently and nodded. She didn't feel comfortable under his gaze, and sought to bring the conversation back to the reason for her visit.

"Savidlin, the Seeker has come to see your people on my advice. He is not here to harm or interfere with your people. You know me. l have been among you before. You know of my respect for the Mud People. 1 would not bring another to you unless it was important. Right now, time is our enemy.»

Savidlin considered what she had said for a while, then at last spoke.

"As 1 said before, you are welcome among us. " He looked up with a grin at the Seeker, then back to her. "Richard With The Temper is most welcome in our village too.»

The other men were pleased with the decision; they all seemed to like Richard. They gathered up their things, including two deer and a wild boar, each tied to a carrying pole. Kahlan hadn't seen the result of their hunt before because it had been hidden in the tall grass. As they all started off down the path, the men gathered about Richard, touching him cautiously and jabbering questions he couldn't understand. Savidlin clapped him on the shoulders, looking forward to showing off his big new friend to the village. Kahlan went along beside him, for the most part ignored, and happy that so far they liked Richard. She understood the feeling-it was hard to dislike him-but there was some other reason for their ready acceptance of him. She worried about what that reason could be.

"I told you I would win them over," Richard said with a grin as he looked at her over their heads. "I just never thought I would do it by laying one of them out."

CHAPTER 23

CHICKENS SCATTERED AT THEIR feet as the hunting party surrounding Kahlan and Richard led them into the Mud People's village. Set on a slight rise that passed for a hill in the grasslands of the Wilds, the village was a collection of buildings constructed of a kind of mud brick, surfaced with a tan clay plaster and topped with grass roofs that leaked as they became dry, and had to be replaced constantly to keep the rain at bay. There were wood doors, but no glass in the windows of the thick walls, only cloth hanging in some to keep out the weather.

Set in a rough circle around an open area, the buildings were one-room family homes clustered tightly on the south side, most sharing at least one common wall, narrow walkways passing between the homes here and there, and communal buildings grouped together on the north. A variety of structures placed loosely on the east and west separated them. Some of these were nothing more than four poles with grass roofs, used as places to eat, or as work areas for making weapons and pottery, or as food preparation and cooking areas. In dry times the whole village was shrouded in a fog of dust that clogged the eyes, nose, and tongue, but now its buildings were washed clean by the rain, and on the ground a thousand footprints were turned to puddles that reflected the drab buildings above.