Wizard's First Rule (39 page)

Darken Rahl, as had his father before him, considered women merely vessels for the man’s seed, the dirt it grew in, unworthy of higher recognition. Darken Rahl, as his father before him, would have no wife. His own mother had been nothing more than the first to sprout his father’s wondrous seed, and then she had been discarded, as was only fitting. If he had siblings, he didn’t know, nor did it matter; he was firstborn, all glory fell to him. He was the one born with the gift, and the one to whom his father passed the knowledge. If he had half brothers or sisters, they were merely weeds, to be expunged if discovered.

Darken Rahl spoke the words silently in his mind as his fingers traced the symbols. Although it was of the utmost importance that the directives were followed exactly, he had no fear of making an error; the instructions were burned into his memory. But he enjoyed reliving the thrill of the passage, of hanging between life and death. He savored going into the underworld, commanding the dead. He was impatient for the next journey.

Footsteps echoed at someone’s approach. Darken Rahl showed no concern, or interest, but his guards did; they drew their swords. No one was allowed to come into the crypt with the Master. When they saw who it was, they stood down, replacing their weapons. No one but Demmin Nass, that is.

Demmin Nass, the right hand of Rahl, the lightning of the Master’s dark thoughts, was a man as big as those he commanded. As he strode in, ignoring the guards, his sharply chiseled muscles stood out in stark relief in the torchlight. His chest was covered with skin as smooth as that of the young boys he had a weakness for. In stark contrast, his face was riddled with pockmarks. His blond hair was cropped close enough to cause it to stand up in a collection of spikes. A streak of black hair started in the middle of his right eyebrow and continued back over his head, to the right of center. It made him recognizable from a distance, a fact appreciated by those who had cause to know of him.

Darken Rahl stood absorbed in the reading of the symbols, and did not look when his guards drew their weapons, or when they replaced them. Although his guards were formidable, they were unnecessary, mere accoutrements of his position.
He had powers enough to put down any threat. Demmin Nass stood at ease, waiting for the Master to finish. When at last Darken Rahl turned, his blond hair and stark white robe swished around with him. Demmin gave a respectful bow of his head.

“Lord Rahl.” His voice was deep, coarse. He kept his head bowed.

“Demmin, my old friend, how good to see you again.” Rahl’s quiet tone had a clear, almost liquid quality to it.

Demmin straightened, his face set in a frown of displeasure. “Lord Rahl, Queen Milena has delivered her list of demands.”

Darken Rahl stared through the commander, as if he weren’t there, slowly wetting the tips of the first three fingers of his right hand with his tongue and then carefully stroking his lips and eyebrows with them.

“Have you brought me a boy?” Rahl asked expectantly.

“Yes, Lord Rahl. He awaits you in the Garden of Life.”

“Good.” A small smile spread across Darken Rahl’s handsome face. “Good. And he is not too old? He is still a boy?”

“Yes, Lord Rahl, he is but a boy.” Demmin looked away from Rahl’s blue eyes.

Darken Rahl’s smile widened. “You are sure, Demmin? Did you take off his pants yourself, and check?”

Demmin shifted his weight. “Yes, Lord Rahl.”

Rahl’s eyes searched the other’s face. “You didn’t touch him, did you?” His smile vanished. “He must be unsoiled.”

“No, Lord Rahl!” Demmin insisted, looking back to the Master, his eyes wide. “I would not touch your spirit guide! You have forbidden it!”

Darken Rahl again wet his fingers and smoothed his eyebrows as he took a step closer. “I know you wanted to, Demmin. Was it hard for you? Looking but not touching?” His smile came back, teasing, then melted again. “Your weakness has caused me trouble before.”

“I took care of that!” Demmin protested in his deep voice, but not too forcefully. “I had that trader, Brophy, arrested for the murder of that boy.”

“Yes,” Rahl snapped back, “and then he submitted to a Confessor, to prove his innocence.”

Demmin’s face wrinkled in frustration. “How was I to know he would do that? Who could expect a man would willingly do that?”

Rahl held up his hand. Demmin fell silent.

“You should have been more careful. You should have taken the Confessors into account. And is that job finished yet?”

“All but one,” Demmin admitted. “The quad that went after Kahlan, the Mother Confessor, failed. I had to send another.”

Darken Rahl frowned. “Confessor Kahlan is the one who took the confession of this trader, Brophy, and found him innocent, is she not?”

Demmin nodded slowly, his face contorted in anger. “She must have found help, or the quad would not have failed.”

Rahl remained silent, watching the other. At last Demmin broke the silence.

“It is but a small matter, Lord Rahl, not worthy of your time or thought.”

Darken Rahl lifted an eyebrow. “I will decide what matters are worthy of my attention.” His voice was soft, almost kind.

“Of course, Lord Rahl. Please forgive me.” Demmin didn’t need to hear an angry tone to know he was treading on dangerous ground.

Rahl licked his fingers again and rubbed them on his lips. He looked sharply back up into the other’s eyes. “Demmin, if you touched the boy, I will know.”

A bead of sweat rolled into Demmin’s eye. He tried to blink it away. “Lord Rahl,” he said in a coarse whisper, “I would gladly give my life for you. I would not touch your spirit guide. I swear.”

Darken Rahl considered Demmin Nass for a moment, then nodded. “As I said, I would know anyway. And you know what I would do to you if you ever lied to me. I can’t tolerate anyone lying to me. It’s wrong.”

“Lord Rahl,” Demmin said, anxious to change the subject, “what of Queen Milena’s demands?”

Rahl shrugged. “Tell her I agree to all her demands in return for the box.”

Demmin stared incredulously. “But Lord Rahl, you have not seen them listed.”

Rahl shrugged innocently. “Now,
they
are truly a matter not worthy of my time or thought.”

Demmin shifted his weight again, making the leather he wore creak. “Lord Rahl, I do not understand why you play this game with the queen. It is humiliating to be issued a list of demands. With no trouble, we could crush her like the fat toad she is. Just give me the word, allow me to issue my own demands, on your behalf. She will be made to regret not bowing down to you as she should have.”

Rahl smiled a small private smile as he studied the pockmarked face of his loyal commander. “She has a wizard, Demmin,” he whispered, his blue eyes intense.

“I know.” Demmin’s fists tightened. “Giller. You have only to ask, Lord Rahl, and I will bring you his head.”

“Demmin, why do you think Queen Milena would enlist a wizard in her service?” Demmin only shrugged, so Rahl answered his own question. “To protect the box, that is why. It is her protection too, she believes. If we kill her or the wizard, we may find he has hidden the box with magic, and then we would have to spend time finding it. So why move too quickly? For now, the easiest path is to go along with her. If she gives me any trouble, I will deal with her, and the wizard.” He walked slowly around his father’s coffin, trailing his fingers along the carved symbols as he kept his blue eyes on Demmin. “And anyway, once I have the last box, her demands will be meaningless.” He came back to the big man, stopping in front of him. “But there is another reason, my friend.”

Demmin cocked his head to the side. “Another reason?”

Darken Rahl nodded, leaned closer, and lowered his voice. “Demmin, do you kill your little boyfriends before… or after?”

Demmin leaned back a little, away from the other, hooking a thumb in his belt. He cleared his throat. At last he answered. “After.”

“And why after? Why not before?” Rahl asked, his face in a coy, questioning frown.

Demmin avoided the Master’s eyes, looked down at the floor, and shifted his
weight to his other foot. Darken Rahl continued to keep his face close, watching, waiting. In a voice too low for the guards to hear, Demmin spoke.

“I like it when they squirm.”

A slow smile spread over Rahl’s face. “That is the other reason, my friend. I too enjoy it when they squirm, so to speak. I want to enjoy watching her squirm, before I kill her.” He licked the ends of his fingers again, and stroked them on his lips.

A knowing grin grew across the pockmarked face. “I will tell Queen Milena that Father Rahl has graciously agreed to her terms.”

Darken Rahl put his hand on Demmin’s muscled shoulder. “Very good, my friend. Now, show me what manner of boy you have brought me.”

Both wearing smiles, they strode toward the door. Before they reached it, Darken Rahl stopped suddenly. He spun on his heels, his robes flinging around him.

“What was that sound!” he demanded.

Except for the hiss of the torches, the crypt was as silent as the dead king. Demmin and the guards looked slowly around the chamber.

“There!” Rahl thrust out his arm.

The other three looked where he pointed. A single white rose petal sat on the floor. Darken Rahl’s face reddened, his eyes fierce. Shaking, his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists, his eyes filled with tears of wrath. He was too furious to speak. Regaining his composure, he held out his hand toward where the white petal lay on the cold marble floor. As if touched by a breeze, it rose into the air and floated across the room, settling in Rahl’s outstretched hand. He licked the petal, turned to one of the guards, and stuck it to the man’s forehead.

The heavily muscled guard looked back impassively. He knew what the Master wanted, and gave a single grim nod before turning and going through the door in one fluid motion, pulling his sword as he went.

Darken Rahl straightened his body, smoothed his hair and then his robes with the flats of his hands. He took a deep breath, letting his anger out with it. Frowning, his blue eyes searched up at Demmin, who stood calmly beside him.

“I ask nothing else of them. Only that they care for my father’s tomb. Their needs are seen to, they are fed and clothed and taken care of. It is a simple request.” His face took on a hurt look. “Why do they mock me with their carelessness?” He looked over to his father’s coffin, then back to the other’s face. “Do you think I am too harsh with them, Demmin?”

The commander’s hard eyes scowled back. “Not harsh enough. If you were not so compassionate, if you didn’t allow them a quick punishment, maybe the others would learn to treat your heartfelt requests with more commitment. I would not be as lenient.”

Darken Rahl stared off at nothing in particular, and nodded absently. After a time he took another deep breath and strode through the door, with Demmin at his side, and the remaining guard following at a respectful distance. They went down long corridors of polished granite lit by torches, up spiral stairs of white stone, down more corridors with windows that let the light out into the darkness. The stone smelled damp, stale. Several levels up, the air regained its freshness. Small tables
of lustrous wood stationed at intervals along the halls held vases with bouquets of fresh flowers that lent a light fragrance to the rooms.

As they came to a pair of doors with a scene of hillsides and forests carved in relief, the second guard rejoined them, the task assigned him completed. Demmin pulled on the iron rings, and the heavy doors opened smoothly, silently. Beyond was a room of dark, brown oak panels. It gleamed in the light of the candles and lamps set about on heavy tables. Books lined two walls, and an immense fireplace warmed the two-story room. Rahl stopped for a short time to consult an old leather-bound book sitting on a pedestal; then he and his commander walked on through a labyrinth of rooms, most covered in the same warm wood panels. A few were plastered and painted with scenes of the D’Hara countryside, forests and fields, game and children. The guards followed at a distance, watching everywhere, alert but silent: the Master’s shadows.

Logs crackled and popped as flames wavered in a brick hearth, providing the only light in one of the smaller rooms they passed into. On the walls hung trophies of the hunt, heads of every sort of beast. Antlers jutted out, lit by the light of the flames. Darken Rahl stopped suddenly in midstride, his robes made pink in the firelight.

“Again,” he whispered.

Demmin had stopped when Rahl did, and now watched him with questioning eyes.

“Again she comes to the boundary. To the underworld.” He licked his fingertips, smoothing them carefully over his lips and eyebrows as his eyes fixed in a stare.

“Who?” Demmin asked.

“The Mother Confessor. Kahlan. She has the help of a wizard, you know.”

“Giller is with the queen,” Demmin insisted, “not with the Mother Confessor.”

A thin smile spread on Darken Rahl’s lips. “Not Giller,” he whispered, “the Old One. The one I seek. The one who killed my father. She has found him.”

Demmin stood straight in surprise. Rahl turned and walked over to the window at the end of the room. Made up of small panes and round at the top, it stood twice his height. Firelight glinted off the curved knife at his belt. Clasping his hands behind him, he stood gazing down on the darkened countryside, on the night, on the things others couldn’t see. He turned back to Demmin, his blond hair brushing his shoulders.

“That is why she went to Westland, you know. Not to run from the quad, as you thought, but to find the great wizard.” His blue eyes sparkled. “She has done me a great favor, my friend; she has flushed out the wizard. It is fortunate she slipped past the ones in the underworld. Fate is truly on our side. You see, Demmin, why I tell you not to worry so? It is my destiny to succeed; all things have a way of working toward my ends.”

Demmin’s brow knitted into a frown. “Just because one quad failed, that does not mean she has found the wizard. Quads have failed before.”

Rahl slowly licked his fingertips. He stepped closer to the big man. “The Old One has named a Seeker,” he whispered.