Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth, #1)

by Terry Goodkind

The night wisp floated to him and touched against his forehead. Her voice seemed to be as much in his head as in his ears. “I am sorry, Richard Cypher. I do not know the answers that would save you. If I did, please believe I would give them eagerly. But I know the good in you. I believe in you. I do know that you have within you what you must to succeed. There will be times when you doubt yourself. Do not give up. Remember then that I believe in you, that I know you can accomplish what you must. You are a rare person, Richard Cypher. Believe in yourself. And protect Kahlan.”

“Richard, you are too quick to criticize yourself. What is it you say when I ask how you must solve difficult problems?” Richard knew what Zedd was talking about, but was reluctant to answer, as he felt answering only pulled him in deeper. Zedd lifted an eyebrow, waiting. Richard looked down at the table, picking at the wood with his thumbnail. “Think of the solution, not the problem.”

“Sometimes it is easier to make a decision if you aren’t burdened with a knowledge of history,” the wizard said cryptically.

“Did you see how easily Kahlan cut through the bigger tree?” Richard frowned. Zedd smiled. “It could just as well have been iron. The blade would have cut through it the same. But you are stronger than she, and you couldn’t even scratch the smaller tree.” “Yes, Zedd, I noticed.” Zedd’s brow wrinkled in mock bewilderment. “And why do you think that is?” Richard’s irritation melted. This was the way Zedd often taught lessons, by making him come up with the answer on his own. “I would say it has something to do with intent. She thought the tree was evil, I didn’t.” Zedd held up a bony finger. “Very good, my boy!” Kahlan knitted her fingers together. “Zedd, I don’t understand. I destroyed the tree, but it wasn’t evil. It was innocent.” “That, dear one, is the point of the demonstration. Reality isn’t relevant. Perception is everything. If you think it is the enemy, you can destroy it, whether true or not. The magic interprets only your perception. It won’t allow you to harm someone you think innocent, but it will destroy whoever you perceive to be the enemy, within limits. Only what you believe, and not the truth of your thoughts, is the determining factor.”

There is no such thing as pure good or pure evil, least of all in people. In the best of us there are thoughts or deeds that are wicked, and in the worst of us, at least some virtue. An adversary is not one who does loathsome acts for their own sake. He always has a reason that to him is justification. My cat eats mice. Does that make him bad? I don’t think so, and the cat doesn’t think so, but I would bet the mice have a different opinion. Every murderer thinks the victim needed killing. “I know you don’t want to believe this, Richard, but you must listen. Darken Rahl does the things he does, because he thinks them right, just as you do the things you do because you think them right. The two of you are more the same in that than you think. You want revenge on him for killing your father, and he wants revenge on me for killing his. In your eyes he is evil, but to his eyes, you are the one who is evil. It is all just perception. Whoever wins thinks he was in the right. The loser will always believe himself wronged. It is the same as with the magic of Orden: the power is simply there; one use wins over the other.”

“And how do you know there is a way across?” “There is. That’s all that matters.” Zedd had an innocent look on his face. “Richard.” He ate two more spoonfuls of stew. “We are your friends. There are no secrets among us. You can tell us.” Richard looked from one big pair of eyes to the other, and laughed out loud. “I’ve had strangers tell me more of themselves.” Zedd and Kahlan both backed away a little at the rebuff and looked at each other, but neither dared repeat the question.

“A lesson in power, my friends.” He put a sticklike finger on Kahlan’s nose. “Too little.” Next he put the finger on Richard’s nose. “Too much.” He put the finger to his own nose, and with a twinkle in his eyes said, “Just right.” He cupped Kahlan’s chin in his hand. “If I were to let you do this, dear one, there would be graves to be dug this night. Our three would be among them. But very noble nonetheless. Thank you for your concern for me.” He put his hand on Richard’s shoulder. “If I were to let you do this, there would be a great many graves to be dug, and the three of us would be the only ones left to do the digging. I am too old to dig that many holes in the ground, and we have more important things to do. But you were very noble too; you handled yourself honorably.” He patted Richard’s shoulder and then put a finger under each of their chins. “Now, I want you two to let me handle this matter. The problem is not what you are telling these men. The problem is they aren’t listening. You have to get their attention before they will hear you.” He lifted an eyebrow and looked to each in turn. “Watch and learn what you can. Listen to my words, but they will have no effect on you.” He removed his finger and shuffled past them, smiling and waving to the men.

“Well, what is it you think a warlock capable of?” There was more talk among themselves. They started shouting out suggestions. He could make two-headed cows, make the rains come, find people who were lost, make children be stillborn, make strong men weak and make their women leave them. Somehow this didn’t seem to be sufficient, so more ideas were shouted out. Make water burn, turn people into cripples, change a man into a toad, kill with a look, call upon demons, and in general, everything else. Zedd waited until they were done, and then held his arms out to them. “There you have it. Just as I said, you men are the bravest fellows I have ever seen! To think, armed only with pitchforks and axe handles, you come to do battle with a warlock who has these kinds of powers. My, my, how brave.” His voice trailed off. Zedd shook his head in wonderment. Worry started to break out in the crowd.

“How could anyone fight on his side? Darken Rahl wants to dominate everyone, to be the master of all. How could they fight for him?” The wizard leaned back against the rock and looked out over the hills, as if seeing more than was there. His tone was sorrowful. “Because, Richard, many people must be ruled to thrive. In their selfishness and greed, they see free people as their oppressors. They wish to have a leader who will cut the taller plants so the sun will reach them. They think no plant should be allowed to grow taller than the shortest, and in that way give light to all. They would rather be provided a guiding light, regardless of the fuel, than light a candle themselves. “Some of them think that when Rahl wins, he will smile on them, and they will be rewarded, and so they are as ruthless as he to gain his favor. Some are simply blind to the truth and fight for the lies they hear. And some find, once that guiding light is lit, that they are wearing chains, and then it is too late.”

“Expensive-looking whore you got there, boy,” the red-haired man said. “I don’t suppose you’d mind if we came up to your room and passed her around some?” Richard locked his glare on the man. He knew this was a challenge that would only be ended with blood. His eyes didn’t move. His hand did—slowly—toward the sword. His rage pounded, fully awake even before his fingers reached the hilt. This was the day he was going to have to kill other men. A lot of other men. Richard’s grip tightened around the braided wire hilt until his knuckles were white. Kahlan gave a steady pull on the sleeve of his sword arm. She spoke his name in a low tone, raising the inflection at the end, the way his mother did when she was warning him to stay out of something. He stole a glance at her. She gave a luscious smile to the red-haired man. “You men have it all wrong,” she said in a throaty voice. “You see, this is my day off. I’m the one who hired him for the night.” She smacked Richard on the rear. Hard. It surprised him so much he froze. She licked her top lip as she looked at the red-haired man. “But if he doesn’t give me my money’s worth, well, you will be the first I call to fill the breach.” She smiled lasciviously. There was a thick moment of silence. Richard resisted mightily his need to pull the sword free. He held his breath as he waited to see which way it was going to go. Kahlan continued to smile at the men in a way that only made his anger deepen. Life and death measured each other ...

“Wizard’s First Rule: people are stupid.” Richard and Kahlan frowned even more. “People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it’s true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People’s heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool.