Wizard's First Rule

He put his arms around her and gave her a quick hug. "The spirits be praised, you are a smart child." It made her feel really good that he said that. No one ever told her that she was smart. "Now, listen close. This is the important part."

She nodded again. "I will, Gillen"

He put his hand back on the box. "This box has magic. When the Queen gives it to Father Rahl, he will be able to use the magic to hurt even more people. He will chop off a lot more people's heads. The Queen is a mean person, and wants him to do it, so she is going to give him the box."

Her eyes got real big. "Giller! We mustn't let her give him the box! Or all those people will get their heads chopped off!"

A big smile spread under his hook nose. He held her chin in his hand. "Rachel, you are the smartest girl I have ever met. You truly are."

"We have to hide it, hide the box, like I hide Sara!"

"And that's just what we are going to do." He pointed up at the box he had put on the stand. "That is a fake. That means it's not the real thing, it's just pretend, so they will be fooled for a while, and we can get away before they find out the real one is gone."

She looked up at the fake box. It looked just like the real one. "Giller, you're the most clever man I ever did know." His smile went away a little. "I'm afraid, child, that I am too clever for my own good." His smile came back. "Here is what we are going to do."

Giller took the loaf of bread she had stolen from the kitchen and broke it in half. With his big hands, he scooped out some of the insides. Part of it he stuffed in his mouth; his cheeks puffed out, there was so much. He stuffed some in her mouth. She chewed as fast as she could. It was good, still warm. When they finished eating the middle, he took the real box and pushed it into the middle of the bread and put the two halves back together. He held it up for her to look at.

"What do you think?"

She made a face. "It's all cracked. People will know it's been broken."

He shook his head. "Smart. You are really smart. Well, since I'm a wizard, perhaps I could do something about that. What do you think?"

She nodded. "Maybe."

He put the bread in his lap. and made his hands go all around in the air over it. He took his hands away and held the bread up in front of her face again. The cracks were gone! It looked just like new!

"No one will know now for sure." She giggled.

"Let's hope you're right, child. I have put a wizard's web, a magic spell, in the bread, to be sure no one will be able to see the magic of the box inside it."

He spread the cloth out on top of the stool and put the bread on it, then pulled up all four corners and tied them in the middle on top. He lifted up the bundle by the knots and put it in the palm of his other hand, in front of her. He looked her in the eyes and he didn't smile; he looked almost sad.

"Now, here's the hard part, Rachel. We have to get this box away from here. We can't hide it in the castle, or it might be found. You remember where I hid your doll, in the garden?"

She smiled proudly, she remembered. "Third urn on the right."

He nodded. "I will hide this there, just like I hid your doll. You must go and get it, just like you did with your doll, and then take it out of the castle." He leaned a little closer. "You have to do it tonight." She started twisting her finger in the hem of her dress. She started to get tears in her eyes. "Giller, I'm scared to touch the Queen's box."

"I know you're afraid, child. But remember? It's not the Queen's box. You do want to help keep all those people from getting their heads chopped off, don't you?"

"Yes," she whined. "But, couldn't you take it away from the castle?"

"If I could, I swear to you, Rachel, I would. But I can't. There are some who watch me, and don't want me to go out of the castle. If they found me with the box, then Father Rahl would get it, and we can't have that, now, can we?"

"No…" Then she got real scared. "Giller, you said you were going to run away with me. You promised."

"And I mean to keep that promise, believe me. But it may take a couple of days for me to sneak out of Tamarang. It's very dangerous for the box to be here another day, and I can't get it out myself. You must get it away. Take it to your secret place, your wayward pine. You wait there for me, until I can cover our escape, and I will come get you."

"I guess I can. If you say it's important, I'll try."

Giller moved up and sat on the stool. He pulled her up with his hands around her waist, and set her on his knee.