Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind [109]
In front of the old house, a patch of ferns bowed and nodded when water from the trees dripped onto them. Mist turned their distinctive dusty pale green bright in the wetness. A narrow path slipped through their midst.
In the center of the ferns, in the center of the path, stood a tall woman, taller than Kahlan, not as tall as Richard. She wore a simple tan robe of a coarse weave, with red and yellow symbols and decorations at the neck. Her hair was fine and straight, a mix of black and gray, parted in the middle, chopped square with her strong jaw. Age had not stolen the handsome features of her weathered face. She leaned on a crutch. She had but one foot. Richard brought the horses to a slow halt in front of her.
The woman’s eyes were completely white.
“I be Adie. Who be you?” Adie’s voice had a harsh, throaty, raspy quality that sent a shiver up Richard’s spine.
“Four friends,” Richard said in a respectful tone. Light rain fell in a hushed, soft patter. He waited.
Fine wrinkles covered her face. She took the crutch from under her arm and folded both thin hands over the top, lending her weight to it. Adie’s thin lips pulled tighter in a slight smile.
“One friend,” she rasped. “Three dangerous people. I decide if they be friends.” She nodded slightly to herself.
Richard and Kahlan stole a sidelong glance at each other. His guard went up. He felt somehow uncomfortable sitting on the horse, as if talking down to her suggested disrespect. He dismounted, Kahlan following his lead. With his horse’s reins in his hand, he moved to stand in front of the animal, Kahlan next to him.
“I am Richard Cypher. This is my friend, Kahlan Amnell.”
The woman studied his face with her white eyes. He had no idea if she could see, but he didn’t know how it could be possible. She turned to Kahlan. The woman’s raspy voice spoke a few words to Kahlan in a language he couldn’t understand. Kahlan’s gaze held the old woman’s, and she gave Adie a slight bow of her head.
It had been a greeting. A greeting of deference. Richard hadn’t recognized the words Kahlan or Amnell anywhere in it. The fine hairs on the back of his neck stiffened.
Kahlan had been addressed by title.
He had been around Kahlan long enough to know that by the way she was standing, with her back straight and her head held assertively up, she was on guard. Serious guard. If she had been a cat, her back would be arched, her fur standing on end. The two women faced each other; age had been dismissed for the moment by each. They measured each other on qualities he couldn’t see. This was a woman who could bring them to harm, and he knew the sword wasn’t going to protect him.
Adie turned back to Richard. “Put words to your need, Richard Cypher.”
“We need your help.”
Adie’s head bobbed. “True.”
“Our two friends are hurt. One, Dell Brandstone, told me he is your friend.”
“True,” Adie said again in her raspy voice.
“Another man, in Southaven, told us you may be able to help them. In return for your help, we brought you supplies. We thought it would be fair to offer you something.”
Adie leaned closer. “Lie!” She thumped her crutch once on the ground. Richard and Kahlan both jerked back a little.
Richard didn’t know what to say. Adie waited. “It’s true. The supplies are right here.” He turned a little, indicating Chase’s horse. “We thought it would be fair…”
“Lie!” She thumped her crutch once again.
Richard folded his arms, his temper rising. His friends were dying while he played games with this woman. “What is a lie?”
“‘We’ be a lie.” She thumped her crutch again. “You be the one who thought to offer supplies. You be the one who decided to bring them. Not you and Kahlan. You. ‘We’ be a lie. ‘I’ be the truth.”
Richard unfolded his arms, holding them out to his sides. “What difference does that make? ‘I,’ ‘we,’ what does it matter?”
She stared at him. “One be true, one be a lie. How much more difference could there be?”
Richard folded his arms across his chest again, frowning. “Chase