Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy Part 3

Richard started across the room. "I have to get something first."

"The book?" Zedd asked.

Richard stopped and turned back. "You saw it?"

"I should say I did. Where in the world did you ever come across such a thing?"

Richard climbed up on the chair and pulled down a pack stuffed up behind a beam. "First Wizard Baraccus-"

"From the great war? That Baraccus?"

"That's right." Richard hopped down from the chair. "He wrote the book and then had it hidden for me to find. He is responsible for me being born with both sides of the gift, so he wanted to help me with my abilities. He had his wife, Magda Searus, hide it after he came back from the Temple of the Winds. It's a long story, but the book has been waiting for me for three thousand years."

Zedd appeared dumbfounded. They gathered around the table as Richard dug around in the pack until he found the book and pulled it out. He held up the book for Zedd to see.

"The problem was, at the time I was cut off from my gift, so I couldn't read it. It just looked like blank pages. I don't know what Baraccus wanted to tell me about my ability."

Zedd shared a look with the other two captives. "Richard, I need to talk to you about what Baraccus left for you."

"Yes, in a moment."

A frown grew on Richard's face as he thumbed through the book. "It's still blank." He looked up in confusion. "Zedd, it's still blank. The block on my gift was broken-I know it was. Why would this still appear blank to me?"

Zedd laid a hand on Richard's shoulder. "Because it is blank."

"To me. But you can read it." He held the book open before the old man. "What does it say?"

"It's blank," Zedd repeated. "There is no writing at all in the book- only the title on the cover."

Richard puzzled at the old man. "What do you mean it's blank? It can't be blank. It's supposed to be the Secrets of a War Wizard's Power!"

"It is," Zedd said in a grave tone.

Richard looked heartbroken, angry, and puzzled all at once. "I don't understand."

"Wizard Baraccus left you a wizard's rule."

"What wizard's rule?"

"The rule of all rules. The rule unwritten. The rule unspoken since the dawn of history."

Richard ran his fingers back through his hair. "We don't have time for riddles. What did he want me to know? What is the rule!"

Zedd shrugged. "I don't know. It's never been spoken, and has never been written. "But Baraccus wanted you to know that it's the secret to using a war wizard's power. The only way to express it, to make sure that you would grasp what he was intending to tell you, was to give you a book unwritten to signify the rule unwritten."

"How am I supposed to use it if I don't know what it is?"

"That's a question for yourself, Richard. If you are the one Baraccus thought you were, then you will know how to use what he left for you. He obviously thought it was exceptionally important and worth all the trouble he went to, so I would say that it must be what you need."

Richard took a deep breath to steady himself. Kahlan felt so sorry for him. He looked at his wits' end. He looked on the verge of tears.

"My, my, my," came a voice from behind.

They all spun around.

A reed-thin woman in black smiled a sly smile. Her hair was a tangled nest of black. Her bloodless flesh and blanched eyes made her look ca­daverous.

"Six . . ." Zedd said.

"What do you know, if it isn't the Mother Confessor. And won't the em­peror be pleased when I bring him Lord Rahl as well, all tied up in a nice bundle."

Kahlan saw Zedd press his hands to his head, in obvious pain. He stag­gered back and crumpled to the ground. Richard's sword made a ringing sound as he drew it. He charged the woman but was stopped short and driven back by forces Kahlan couldn't see. His sword clattered across the stone floor.

The woman held out a thin finger toward Kahlan. "Not a good idea, Mother Confessor. Not that I care if you fry your own brain trying to turn mine to mush, but you are much more valuable to me alive."

Kahlan felt the pain of the unseen power forcing her back, just as Richard had been forced back. The debilitating agony was something like the pain from the collar, but sharper, deeper down in her ears. It made the back of her jaw hurt so much that she had to open her mouth. All five of them were cringing back, holding their ears with the pain of it.

"This is going to make things so much easier," Six said in a self-satisfied manner as she glided toward them, like death itself.

"Six," a stern voice called from the doorway.

Six spun to a voice she obviously recognized. The pain lifted from Kahlan's head. She saw the others recovering as well.

"Mother . . . ?" Six said in emotional confusion.

"You have disappointed me, Six," the old woman said as she stepped forward into the room. "Disappointed me greatly."

She was slender, much like Six, but stooped with age. Her black hair flared out from her face in much the same way, but it was streaked with white. Her eyes, too, were a blanched blue.

Six backed up a couple of steps. "But I, I. . ."