Wizard's First Rule

He watched Kahlan as she walked with her shoulders slumped, and wondered what he was going to do in a few days, when they reached Tamarang. Whether he liked it or not, she was winning this slow battle, simply because things couldn't go on like this. She could fail time and again; she had only to succeed once. He had to win every time. To slip just once would let her end her life. In the end, he knew he couldn't win, knew he was going to lose, and could think of nothing to change that.

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Rachel sat on the short footstool in front of the tall chair that was covered with red velvet and buttons and gold carving, waiting, knocking her knees together. Hurry, Giller, she kept saying to herself, hurry, before the Princess comes. She looked up at the Queen's box. She hoped that when Princess Violet came to try on jewelry, she didn't touch the box again. Rachel hated it when she did that; it scared her.

The door opened a-little. Giller poked his head in.

"Hurry, Giller," she whispered loudly.

The rest of him came in. He stuck his head back out, looking up and down the hall, then he shut the door. He looked down at her.

"Did you get the bread?"

She nodded. "I got it here." She pulled the bundle out from under the chair and set it on the footstool. "I took a towel and wrapped it around the bread so no one would see."

"Good girl." He smiled as he turned around, away from her.

She smiled up at him, then frowned. "I had to steal it. I never stole anything before."

"I assure you, Rachel, it's for a good cause." He was looking at the box.

"Giller, Princess Violet is coming here."

He turned back, his eyes big. "When?"

"She said after she has the fitting for her new dress. She's pretty fussy, so it may take a while, but maybe not. She likes to try jewelry on and look at herself in the mirror."

"Curse the spirits," Giller whispered, "nothing is ever easy." He turned around again and snatched the Queen's box off the marble stand.

"Giller! You mustn't touch that! It's the Queen's!"

He looked a little mad when he looked down at her. "No! It's not! Just wait, and I will explain."

He set the box down on the stool next to the bread. His hand reached into his robes and pulled out another box. "How's it look?" With a smile on one side of his mouth, he held the new box toward her.

"It looks just the same!"

"Good." He put it on the stand where the real one had been, then sat down on the floor next to her and the footstool. "Now listen to me very carefully, Rachel. We don't have much time, and it is very important that you understand."

She could tell by the way his face looked that he meant it. She nodded. "I will, Giller."

He laid his hand on the box. "This box has magic, and it does not belong to the Queen."

She frowned. "It doesn't? Who does it belong to?"

"I don't have time to explain that right now. Maybe after we are away from here. The important thing is that the Queen is a bad person." Rachel nodded; she knew that was true. "She chops off people's heads just because she wants to. She doesn't care about anyone but herself. She has power. Power means she can do whatever she wants. This box has magic and it helps give her power. That is why she took it."

"I understand. Like the way the Princess has power, so she can slap me, and chop my hair crooked, and laugh at me."

He nodded. "That's right. Very good, Rachel. Now. There is a man who is even meaner than the Queen. His name is Darken Rahl."

"Father Rahl?" She was confused. "Everyone say he's nice. The Princess says he is the nicest man in the world."

"The Princess also says she doesn't spill gravy on her dresses." He lifted an eyebrow.

"That's a lie."

Giller put his hands on her shoulders, real soft. "You listen very carefully… Darken Rahl, Father Rahl, is the meanest man that ever was. He hurts more people than the Queen could even think of. He is so mean that he even kills children. Do you know what that means, to kill someone?"

She felt sad, and scared. "It means you chop off their head or something, and make them dead."

"Yes. And just as the Princess laughs when she slaps you, Darken Rahl laughs when he kills people. You know the way when the Princess is at dinner with all the lords and ladies, she is real nice, and polite? But when she is alone with you, she slaps you?"

Rachel nodded; she had a lump in her throat. "She doesn't like them to know she's really mean."

Giller held his finger up. "That's right! You're a very bright girl! Well, Father Rahl is the same way. He doesn't want people to know he is really mean, so he can be very polite, and make it seem like he is the nicest man in-the world. Whatever you do, Rachel, you stay away from him, if you can."

"I will, for sure."

"But if he talks to you, just be polite right back, don't let him know that you know. You must not let people know all the things you know. That keeps you safe."

She smiled. "Like Sara. I don't let people know about her so they can't take her away from me. It keeps her safe."