Terry Goodkind - Wizard's First Rule

“Stand up.” He did as he was told, still struggling to breathe. “That was the proper way to do it. See to it that is the only way you dare to remove the pain in the future, or I will change the magic so you will be unable to remove it at all. Understand?”

“Yes, Mistress Denna.” He was still catching his breath. “Mistress Denna, you said someone betrayed me. Who was it?”

“One of your own.”

“None of my friends would do that, Mistress Denna.”

She regarded him contemptuously. “Then I would guess they aren’t really your friends, now, are they?”

He looked at the floor, a lump in his throat. “No, Mistress Denna, but who was it?”

She shrugged. “Master Rahl didn’t think it important enough to tell me. The only thing that is important for you to know, now, is that no one is going to rescue you. You are never going to be free again. The sooner you learn that, the easier it will go for you—the easier your training will be.”

“And what is the purpose of my training, Mistress Denna?”

The smile returned to her face. “To teach you the meaning of pain. To teach you that your life is no longer yours, that it is mine, and I can do anything I want with it. Anything. I can hurt you in any way I want, for as long as I want, and no one is going to help you but me. I’m going to teach you that every moment you have without pain is a moment only I can grant you. You are going to learn to do as I say without question, without hesitation, no matter what it is. You are going to learn to beg for anything you get.

“After a few days of training here, and I think you have made enough progress, then I will take you to another place, where there are other Mord-Sith, and I will continue training you there until I’m finished, no matter how long it takes. I will let some of the other Mord-Sith play with you, so you can see how lucky you are to have me. I rather like men. Some of the others hate them. I will let some of them have you for a while, so you can see how gentle I really am.”

“And what is the purpose of this training, Mistress Denna? To what end? What is it you want?”

She seemed to genuinely enjoy telling him these things. “You are someone special. Master Rahl himself wants you trained.” Her smiled widened. “He asked for me. I would guess he has something he wants to ask you. I will not let you embarrass me in his eyes. When I’m done with you, you will beg to tell him anything he wants to know. When he is finished with you, then you are to be mine, for life. However long that may be.”

Richard had to concentrate on her hair, had to fight to keep the anger down. He knew what Darken Rahl wanted to know—he wanted to know about the Book of Counted Shadows . The box was safe. Kahlan was safe. Nothing else mattered. Denna could kill him, for all he cared. In fact, it would be doing him a favor.

Denna walked around him, looking him up and down. “If you prove to be a good pet, I may even choose you for my mate.” She stopped in front of him, put her face close to his, gave him a coy smile. “Mord-Sith mate for life.” Her smile showed her teeth. “I’ve had many mates. But don’t get yourself too excited by the prospect, my pet,” she breathed. “I doubt you will find it to be an experience you enjoy, if you live through it. None of the others have. They all died after a short time as my mate.”

Richard didn’t think that was anything he had to worry about. Darken Rahl wanted the book. If he didn’t find a way to escape, Darken Rahl was going to kill him, in the same way he had killed Richard’s father, and Giller. The most he would learn from reading Richard’s entrails was where that place was—inside Richard’s head—and there was no way any amount of the reading of his entrails was going to read the book out to him. Richard only hoped he could live long enough to see the look of surprise on Darken Rahl’s face when he realized he had made a fatal mistake.

No book. No box. Darken Rahl was a dead man. That was all that mattered.

As for the question of him being betrayed, he decided that he didn’t believe it. Darken Rahl knew the Wizard’s Rules, and he was just using the first, trying to make him afraid of the possibility. The first step to believing. Richard decided that he was not going to be tricked by the Wizard’s First Rule. He knew Zedd and Chase and Kahlan. He would not believe Darken Rahl over his friends.

“By the way, where did you get the Sword of Truth?”

He looked right into her eyes. “I bought it from the last man who had it, Mistress Denna.”

“Is that so? What did you have to give for it?”

Richard held her eyes. “Everything I had. It would appear it is to also cost me my freedom, and probably my life.”

Denna laughed. “You have spirit. I love breaking a man with spirit. Do you know why Master Rahl picked me?”

“No, Mistress Denna.”

“Because I am relentless. I may not be as cruel as some of the others, but I enjoy breaking a man more than any of them. I love hurting my pets more than anything else in life. I live to do it.” She arched an eyebrow and smiled. “I don’t give up, I don’t tire of it, and I don’t ease up. Ever.”

“I am honored, Mistress Denna, to be in the hands of the best.”

She put the Agiel against the cut on his lip and held it there until he was on his knees and tears ran from his eyes. “That is the last flippant thing I ever want to hear from you.” She took the Agiel away and kneed him in his mouth, knocking him sprawling on his back. She pressed the Agiel against his stomach. Before he passed out, she pulled it away. “What do you have to say?”

“Please, Mistress Denna,” he managed with the greatest of effort, “forgive me.”

“All right, get up. It’s time to begin your training.”

She went to the table and retrieved something. She pointed to a spot on the floor. “Stand there. Now!”

Richard moved as fast as he could. He couldn’t straighten himself—the pain wouldn’t allow it. He stood on the spot, breathing hard, sweating. She handed him something with a thin chain attached. It was a collar made of leather, the same color as she wore.

Her voice lost its pleasant quality. “Put it on.”

Richard was in no condition to ask questions. He realized that he was starting to believe he would do anything to avoid the touch of the Agiel. He buckled the collar around his neck. Denna picked up the chain. The end of it had a loop of metal, which she slipped over the post on the back of the wooden chair.

“The magic will punish you for going against my wishes. When I place this chain somewhere, it is my wish for it to stay there until I remove it. I want you to learn that you are helpless to remove it.” She pointed at the door, which stood open. “For the next hour, I want you to try your best to make it to that doorway. If you don’t try your hardest, this is what I will do for the rest of the hour.” She put the Agiel to the side of his neck until he was on his knees, screaming in agony, and begging for her to stop. She took it away and told him to begin, then went to lean, arms folded, against a wall.

The first thing he did was simply to try to walk to the door. The pain buckled his legs before he was able to put even a little tension on the chain, and stopped only when he scooted backward toward the chair.

Richard reached for the ring. The pain of the magic cramped his arms until he was shaking with the strain of reaching for it. Sweat ran off his face. He tried backing to the chair, then turning, but before his fingers could touch the chain, the pain took him to the ground again. He pushed against the pain, straining to reach the chair, but couldn’t get there past the pain, the effort causing him to fall to the ground, vomiting blood. When it ended, he held himself up with one hand, tears dripping from his face as he held his stomach with his other hand and shook. From the corner of his eye, he saw Denna unfold her arms and stand up straight. He started moving again.