Main Events
Richard falls unconscious from the fever, drifting in and out of awareness. Kahlan watches over him, cooling his forehead with a cloth. In his delirium, Richard remembers how his father made him memorize the Book of Counted Shadows—a secret book that was then burned. His father had rescued the book and brought it to Westland, choosing Richard to commit it to memory so the knowledge could be preserved without the book itself being stolen. Richard realizes the book's prophecy about the three boxes of Orden is coming true. He makes Kahlan promise not to harm Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, but she cannot promise, explaining she has responsibilities to many others who have given their lives.
Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander returns with the root needed for the cure and prepares a complex medicine. He helps Richard drink it, and the thorn from the snake vine is expelled from Richard's hand. While Richard sleeps, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander and Kahlan discuss the situation. Kahlan explains that she was sent to find the great wizard to appoint a Seeker—the only hope against Lord Darken Rahl. Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander explains that a true Seeker cannot be appointed by a wizard; a Seeker must show himself to be one through his actions, and the wizard merely recognizes what has already happened. He warns that even a true Seeker would have little chance against Lord Darken Rahl, but Kahlan insists they must try.
After Richard is cured and sleeping peacefully, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander goes outside and encounters a short-tailed gar—a massive, intelligent beast sent to hunt them. Using his power, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander commands the gar to hunt and kill the approaching quad instead, then return to D'Hara. The gar agrees and flies off. Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander then calls upon the spirits of his parents using his cloud rock, which transforms into a portal. His parents' spirits tell him that Lord Darken Rahl hunts Richard specifically, that the snake vine was placed by Rahl to put Richard to sleep, and that Rahl has only two of the three boxes of Orden, not all three. They tell Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander he must appoint the Seeker—Richard—and that Richard will not get the chance to grow older if he doesn't act. Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander realizes he has been watching Richard, hoping he would show himself to be the Seeker, and now the time has come.
Notable Quotes
The Book of Counted Shadows
His father told Richard he was not to tell anyone, ever, except the keeper. He said Richard might never find the keeper, and in that case he was to pass the book on to his child, and then that child to his own, and so on, for as long as was necessary. His father couldn't tell him who the keeper of the book was, as he didn't know. Richard asked how he was to know the keeper, but his father said only that he would have to find the answer himself, and not to tell anyone, ever, except the keeper. His father told Richard he was not to tell his own brother, or even his best friend, Zed. Richard swore on his life.
[After three years of memorization and testing]
Together they built a fire, stacking on more than enough wood, until the heat drove them back. His father handed him the book and told him that if he was sure to throw the book into the fire. Richard held the book of counted shadows in the crook of his arm, running his fingers over the leather cover. He held his father's trust in his arms, held the trust of everyone in his arms, and he felt the weight of the burden. He gave the book to the fire. In that moment, he was no longer a child.
The flames swirled around the book, embracing, caressing, consuming. Colors and forms spiraled up and a roaring cry came forth. Strange beams of light shot skyward. Wind made their cloaks flap as the fire sucked leaves and twigs into itself, adding to the flames and heat. Phantoms appeared, spreading their arms as if being fed by the blaze, their voices racing away on the wind. The two of them stood as if turned to stone, unable to move, unable even to turn away from the sight. Searing heat turned to wind as cold as the deepest winter night, sending chills up their spines, taking their breath from them. Then the cold was gone, and the fire turned to a white light that consumed everything in its brightness, as if they were standing in the sun.
Just as suddenly, it was gone. In its place, silence. The fire was out. Wisps of smoke rose slowly from the blackened wood into the autumn air. The book was gone. Richard knew what he had seen. He had seen magic.
What a True Seeker Is
"Seekers appoint themselves. The wizard just sort of recognizes what has happened and makes it official."
"I don't understand. I thought the wizard picked the person, the right person."
Zed sat back down, rubbing his chin. "Well, that's true in a sense, but backwards. A true seeker, one who can make a difference, must show himself to be a seeker. The wizard doesn't point to someone and say, 'Here is the sword of truth, you will be the seeker.' He doesn't really have a choice in the matter. It isn't something you can train someone for. One should simply be a seeker and show himself to be so by his actions. A wizard must watch a person for years to be sure. A seeker doesn't have to be the smartest person, but he has to be the right person. He has to have the right qualities within himself. A true seeker is a rare person. The seeker is a balance point of power."
The Power of a True Seeker
"Kahlan, you were born after the council took this power upon itself, so you may have seen a seeker when you were young. But in those days they were pretend seekers. You have never seen the real thing."
His eyes got round in the telling, his voice low and full of passion. "I have seen a true seeker make a king quake in his boots with the asking of a single question. When a real seeker draws the sword of truth," he held his hands up and rolled his eyes in delight. "Righteous anger can be an extraordinary thing to behold. It can make the good tremble with joy and the wicked shiver in fear."
Kahlan's Plea for the Midlands
"Zed, there are many people who disapprove of the High Council of the Midlands and its greed. They wish it were not so, but they are just common people who have no say. They only wish to live their lives in peace. Darken Rahl has taken the food that was stored for the coming winter and given it to the army. They waste it or let it rot or sell it back to the people they stole it from. Already there is hunger. This winter there will be death. Fire has been outlawed. People are cold.
"Rahl says it is all the great wizard's fault for not coming forward to be put on trial as an enemy of the people. He says the wizard has brought this on them, that he is to blame. He doesn't explain how this could be, but many believe it anyway. Many believe everything Rahl says, even though what they see with their own eyes should be enough to tell them otherwise."
Zed Protects Richard from Kahlan
Kahlan looked into his eyes a long moment. "Thank you," Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander.
Zed's expression turned more dangerous than hers had when they had first met. She stood frozen with his fingers still under her chin, afraid to move, her eyes wide.
"Know this, though, Mother Confessor," his voice was only one step above a whisper, and deadly. "This boy has been my friend a good long time. If you touch him with your power, or if you choose him, you will answer to me. And you are not like that. Do you understand?"
She swallowed hard and managed to give a weak nod. "Yes."
Zed is the Great Wizard
Before him stood two apparitions, mere shadows of form. Where sharpness should have been, their shapes softened like a dim memory. Yet they were still recognizable and the sight of them brought a quickness to Zed's heart.
His mother's voice came hollow and distant. "What troubles you, son? Why have you called us after so many years?" Her arms stretched out to him. Zed's arms reached out but could not touch her.
"I am troubled by what the Mother Confessor tells me," she speaks the truth.
He closed his eyes and nodded as his arms lowered with hers. "It's true, then. All my students, save Giller, are dead. You are the only one left to protect the Mother Confessor."
She drifted closer. "You must appoint the Seeker."
[At the end of the chapter]
Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, the great and honorable wizard, stood alone on the wizard's rock his father had given him and stared out into the night, thinking wizard's thoughts. "Nothing is ever easy," he whispered.
Darken Rahl's Hunt for Richard
"He's too young!" She shook her head with a gentle smile. "He will not get the chance to grow older."
"He has not passed my final test!"
"Darken Rahl hunts Richard. The cloud that shadows him was sent by Rahl to track him. The snake vine was put in the jar by Darken Rahl in the expectation that Richard would search for it and it would bite him. The snake vine wasn't meant to kill. Rahl sought to have him put to sleep by the fever until he could come for him."