Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind [45]
“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.”
Zedd 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 council made the appointment a political bone to be thrown to one of the sniveling dogs at their feet. It was a sought-after post because of the power a Seeker wields. But the council didn’t understand: it wasn’t the post that brought the power to the person, it was the person that brought the power to the post.”
He edged closer to her. “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.” Kahlan smiled at his excitement. “It can make the good tremble with joy, and the wicked shiver in fear.” The smile left his face. “But people rarely believe the truth when they see it and less so when they don’t want to, and that makes the position of Seeker a dangerous one. He is an obstacle to those who would subvert power. He draws lightning from many sides. Most often he stands alone, and frequently not long.”
“I know the feeling well,” she said, with only the hint of a smile.
Zedd leaned closer. “Against Darken Rahl, I doubt even a true Seeker would last long. And then what?”
She took up his hands again. “Zedd, we must try. It is our only chance. If we don’t take it, we have none.”
He sat up, pulling away from her. “Any person the wizard picks would not know the Midlands. He would have no chance there. It would be a sentence of quick death.”
“That is the other reason I was sent. To be his guide, and stand with him, to offer my life if need be, to help protect him. Confessors spend their life traveling the lands. I have been almost everywhere in the Midlands. A Confessor is trained from birth in languages. She has to be, because she never knows where she will be called. I speak every major language, and most of the minor ones. And as far as drawing lightning, a Confessor draws her fair share. If we were easy to kill, Rahl would not need to send quads to get the job done. And many of them have died in the doing. I can help protect the Seeker; if need be, with my own life.”
“What you propose not only would put someone’s life at terrible risk, as Seeker, dear one, but yours also.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I am hunted now. If you have a better way, put words to it.”
Before Zedd could answer, Richard moaned. The old man looked over at him and then rose. “It is time.”
Kahlan stood up next to him as he lifted Richard’s arm by the wrist, holding the wounded hand over the tin plate. Blood dripped onto the plate with soft, hollow sounds. The thorn fell out with a small, wet splash. Kahlan reached for it.
Zedd grabbed her wrist. “Don’t do that, dear one. Now that it has been expelled from its host, it will be anxious to have a new one. Watch.”
She took her hand back as he put his bony finger on the plate several inches from the thorn. It wiggled its way toward