Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind [290]
Richard was incredulous. “You were innocent? And yet you are to be left like this? For life?”
“Completely innocent,” Brophy confirmed.
“Brophy.” Kahlan spoke his name in a rising tone Richard was familiar with.
The wolf sank back down. “Of killing that boy.” His cowering eyes looked up at Kahlan as she watched him. “That’s all I meant. Innocent of killing that boy.”
Richard frowned. “What does that mean?”
Kahlan looked over to him. “It means that when he gave his confession, he confessed to other things he was not accused of. You see, Brophy had been engaged in occupations of a dubious nature.” She glanced down at the wolf. “At the gray edges of law.”
“I was an honest businessman,” the wolf protested.
Kahlan cast an eye toward Brophy while she spoke to Richard. “Brophy was a trader.”
“My father was a trader,” Richard said, his anger rising.
“I don’t know what traders in Westland trade, but in the Midlands, some traders deal in things of magic.”
Richard thought about the Book of Counted Shadows. “So what?”
Kahlan lifted an eyebrow to him. “Some of them happen to be alive at the time.”
Brophy rose up on his front paws. “How am I to tell! You can’t always tell. Sometimes, you think something is just an artifact, like a book, that a collector will pay handsomely for. Sometimes it’s something more, a stone, a statue, or a staff, or perhaps a… Well, how am I to know if they are alive?”
Kahlan still had her eye on the wolf. “You traded things of magic other than books and statues,” she scolded. “In this innocent business of his, he would also get himself into disagreements with people. Disagreements such as rights of ownership. When Brophy was a man, he was as big for a man as he is for a wolf. He sometimes used his size to ‘persuade’ people to do as he wished. Is this not true, Brophy?”
The wolf’s ears wilted. “It’s true, Mistress. I have a temper. A temper as big as my muscles. But it only came out when I was wronged. A lot of people think they can cheat traders; they think we are little more than thieves and will not stand up for ourselves. When I settled disagreements with my temper, they tended to stay settled.”
Kahlan gave the wolf a little smile. “Brophy had a reputation that, although not unearned, was larger than the truth.” She looked up at Richard. “The business he was in was dangerous, and therefore very profitable. Brophy made enough money at it to support his ‘hobby.’ Almost no one knew about it until after I touched him, and he made his confession.”
The wolf put his paws over his head. “Oh, Mistress, please! Must we?”
Richard frowned. “What was this ‘hobby’?”
Kahlan’s smile widened. “Brophy had a weakness. Children. As he traveled around in search of things to trade, he would stop at orphanages and see to it they had what they needed to take care of the children. All the gold he made ended up in different orphanages, so the children could be cared for, and not go hungry. He twisted the arms of the people running the orphanages, to swear them to secrecy. He didn’t want anyone knowing. Of course, he didn’t have to twist very hard.”
Brophy’s paws were still over his head, and his eyes squeezed tightly shut. “Mistress, please,” he whined, “I have a reputation.” He opened his eyes and rose up on his front paws. “And a well-earned one at that! I’ve broken my share of arms and noses! I’ve done some pretty despicable deeds!”
Kahlan lifted an eyebrow to him. “Yes, you have. Some were reason enough to get you thrown in prison for a time. But none were reason enough to chop off your head.” She