The Bird Man looked at Kahlan’s eyes. She could tell he was used to having people be afraid when he looked at them, even if it wasn’t warranted. She could tell because she was used to the same thing. This time he found no fear.

“Mother Confessor, you have not yet chosen a mate.” He gently stroked the hawk’s head while he watched her.

Kahlan decided she didn’t like his tone. He was testing. “No. Are you offering yourself?”

He smiled slightly. “No. I apologize. I did not mean to offend you. Why are you not with a wizard?”

“All the wizards, save two, are dead. Of those two, one sold his services to a queen. The other was struck down by an underworld beast, and lies in a sleep. There are none left to protect me. All the other Confessors have been killed. We are in dark times.”

His eyes looked genuinely sympathetic, but his tone still was not. “It is dangerous for a Confessor to be alone.”

“Yes, and it is also dangerous for a man to be alone with a Confessor who is in great want of something. From where I sit, it would seem that you are in greater danger than I.”

“Perhaps,” he said, stroking the hawk, his slight smile returning. “Perhaps. This one is a true Seeker? One named by a wizard?”

“Yes.”

The Bird Man nodded. “It has been many years since I have seen a true Seeker. A Seeker who was not a real Seeker came here one time. He killed some of my people when we would not give him what he wanted.”

“I am sorry for them,” she said.

He shook his head slowly. “Do not be. They died quickly. Be sorry for the Seeker. He did not.” The hawk blinked as it looked at her.

“I have never seen a pretend Seeker, but I have seen this one in the rage. Believe me, you and your people do not want to ever give this one cause to draw his sword in anger. He knows how to use the magic. I have even seen him strike down evil spirits.”

He studied her eyes for a moment, seeming to judge the truth of what she said. “Thank you for the warning. I will remember your words.”

Richard spoke up at last. “Are you two about done threatening each other?”

Kahlan looked at him in surprise. “I thought you couldn’t understand their language.”

“Can’t. But I can understand eyes. If looks caused sparks, this place would be ablaze.”

Kahlan turned back to the Bird Man. “The Seeker wishes to know if we are finished threatening each other.”

He glanced at Richard and then back to her. “He is an impatient man, is he not?”

She nodded. “l have told him so myself. He denies it.”

“It must be a burden traveling with him.”

Kahlan broke into a smile. “Not at all.”

The Bird Man returned her smile, and then addressed his gaze to Richard. “If we choose not to help you, how many of us will you kill?”

Kahlan interpreted the words as they spoke.

“None.”

The Bird Man studied the hawk as he asked, “And if we choose not to help Darken Rahl, how many of us will he kill?”

“Sooner or later, a great many.”

He took his hand away from the hawk, and looked at Richard with his sharp eyes. “It would seem you argue for us to help Darken Rahl.”

A smile spread across Richard’s face. “If you choose not to help me and remain neutral, foolish as that would be, it is your right, and I will harm none of your people. But Rahl will. I will press on and fight against him with my last breath if need be.”

His face took on a dangerous expression. He leaned forward. “If, on the other hand, you choose to help Darken Rahl, and I defeat him, I will come back, and…” He pulled his finger across his throat in a quick gesture that needed no translation.

The Bird Man sat stone-faced, no quick retort at hand. “We wish only to be left alone,” he said at last.

Richard shrugged, looking down at the ground. “I can understand that. I too wished only to be left alone.” His eyes came up. “Darken Rahl killed my father, and sends evil spirits that haunt me in my father’s guise. He sends men to try to kill Kahlan. He brings down the boundary, to invade my homeland. His minions have struck down my two oldest friends. They lie in a deep sleep, near death, but at least they will live… unless he is successful the next time. Kahlan has told me of many he has killed. Children—stories that would make your heart sick.” He nodded, his voice soft, hardly more than a whisper. “Yes, my friend, I too wished only to be left alone. On the first day of winter, if Darken Rahl gains the magic he seeks, he will have a power no one can stand against. Then it will be too late.” His hand went to his sword. Kahlan’s eyes widened. “If he were here, in my place, he would pull this sword and have your help or have your head.” He took his hand away. “That, my friend, is why I cannot harm you if you choose not to help me.”

The Bird Man sat quiet and still for a while. “I can see now that I do not want Darken Rahl for an enemy. Or you.” He got up and went to the door, casting the hawk into the sky. The Bird Man sat once more, sighing heavily with the weight of his thoughts. “Your words seem to flow true, but I cannot know for sure yet. It would also seem that although you want us to help you, you also wish to help us. I believe you are sincere in this. It is a wise man who seeks help by helping, and not by threats or tricks.”

“If I wanted to get your help by tricks, I would have let you believe me to be a spirit.”

The corners of the Bird Man’s mouth turned up in a small smile. “If we had held a gathering, we would have discovered you were not. A wise man would suspect that too. So which reason is it that made you tell the truth? You did not want to trick us, or you were afraid to?”

Richard smiled back. “In truth? Both.”

The Bird Man nodded. “Thank you for the truth.”

Richard sat quietly, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “So, Bird Man, I have told you my tale. You must judge it true or not. Time works against me. Will you help?”

“It is not that simple. My people look to me for direction. If you asked for food, I could say ‘Give him food,’ and they would do so. But you have asked for a gathering. That is different. The council of seers are the six elders you spoke to, plus myself. They are old men, firm in the ways of their past. An outsider has never been given a gathering before, never been permitted to disturb the peace of our ancestors’ spirits. Soon these six will join the ancestors’ spirits, and they do not want to think they will be called from the spirit world for an outsider’s needs. If they break the tradition, they will be forever burdened with the results. I cannot order them to do this.”

“It is not only an outsider’s needs,” Kahlan said, telling them both her words. “Helping us also helps the Mud People.”

“Maybe in the end,” the Bird Man said, “but not in the beginning.”

“What if I were one of the Mud People?” Richard asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Then they would call the gathering for you, and not violate the tradition.”

“Could you make me one of the Mud People?”

The Bird Man’s silver-gray hair glistened in the firelight as he considered. “If you were to first do something that helped our people, something that benefited them, with no advantage to you, proved you were a man of good intentions toward us, doing so without promise of aid for your help, and the elders wished it, I could.”

“And once you named me as one of the Mud People, I could ask for a gathering, and they would call it?”

“If you were one of’ us, they would know you had our interests in your heart. They would call a council of seers to help you.”

“And if they called the council, would they be able to tell me where the object I seek is located?”

“I cannot answer that. Sometimes the spirits will not answer our questions, sometimes they do not know the answers to our questions. There is no guarantee that we could help you, even if we held a gathering. All I could promise is that we would try our best.”