Wizard's First Rule

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 not 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 kind 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."

Kahlan swallowed hard. "What can you teach me of it?"

"Nothing. I am sorry, but I have no understanding of its workings. It be something only your mother can teach, when you reached the age of woman. Since your mother did not show you, the teaching be lost. But the.power be still there. Be warned. Just because you were not taught its use does not mean it cannot come out."

"Did you know my mother?" Kahlan asked in a painful whisper.

Adie's face softened as she looked at Kahlan. She nodded slowly. "I remember your family name. And I remember her green eyes; they not be easy to forget. You have her eyes. When she carried you, I knew her."

A tear rolled down Kahlan's cheek, and her voice came in the same painful whisper. "My mother wore a necklace, with a small bone on it. She gave it to me when I was a child. I wore it always, until… until, Dennee, the girl I called my sister… when she died, I buried it with her. She had always been fond of it. You gave that necklace to my mother, didn't you?"

Adie closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes child. I gave it to her to protect her unborn daughter, to keep her child safe, that she might grow to be strong, like her mother. I can see that she has."

Kahlan slipped her arms around the old woman. "Thank you, Adie," she said tearfully, "for helping my mother." Adie held the crutch With one hand, and with the other rubbed Kahlan's back in genuine sympathy. After a few moments Kahlan separated from the old woman and wiped the tears from her eyes

Richard saw his opening, and went for it with single-minded determination.

"Adie," he said in a soft voice, "you helped Kahlan before she was born. Help her now. Her life and the lives of a great many others are at stake. Darken Rahl hunts her, hunts me. We need the help of these two men. Please help them. Help Kahlan."