Richard Cypher is a young woods guide. His father recently was murdered and his brother just became first minister, leader of all Heartland, but overall Richard lives a quiet life. Fate has more than a quiet life in store for him, however.
One day while out scouting in the woods he sees a woman being stalked by a group of 4 men. Richard's decision to help Kahlan Amnell will change his life and his heart in more ways than he can imagine. After helping Kahlan, he finds that she's on a quest to save her people from Darken Rahl. An evil wizard and king bent on either ruling or destroying the world.
Darken Rahl has 2 of the 3 fabled boxes of Orden. Once he got the first one, the magic of the boxes was started. By the first day of winter, one year after Darken Rahl got the first box and the magic began, he must open one of the boxes or he will die. One of the boxes will make him supreme ruler of the world, the other box will destroy the world, and the third box will destroy only Darken Rahl himself, so he must open the right box. However, before he can determine which one's the right one, Darken Rahl must have all 3 boxes in his possession.
The wizards who got Kahlan to Heartland killed themselves so that she couldn't be followed, and so one of only two wizards left is the First Wizard, their teacher and leader. The wizards sent Kahlan to find their master and force him to help them stop Darken Rahl not by fighting him directly, but by appointing a new person to the ancient, currently empty, office of Seeker of Truth. The Seeker has powers of intelligence and reasoning and, of course, the truth at his command. His word is law unto itself, and it's backed up by the ancient, magical Sword of Truth. With such powers at his command, surely the Seeker could stop Darken Rahl. Kahlan doesn't know who the wizard is, however, since he disappeared before she was even born.
Richard decides to take Kahlan to see his mentor and good friend, Zed. Through reason and deduction while Kahlan explains things to Zed, Richard realizes that Zed himself is in fact the master wizard Kahlan seeks. For his proven abilities, Zed appoints Richard Seeker and gives him the sword of his new office. After teaching Richard about the powers of the sword, Zed teaches him about the wizard's first rule, since he might come up against it or need to use it himself. Wizard's first rule is that people are stupid and will believe anything you tell them because either they want it to be true, or they're afraid that it's true.
After these lessons, Richard, Zed, and Kahlan go visit another of Richard's friends, Chase. He's a big, muscular warden who helps guard the magical boundary between Richard's and Kahlan's lands. Chase joins them on their quest as he has plenty of supplies, and also knows a way across the boundary. Along the way, however, Darken Rahl's underworld minions attack them and Chase and Zed get incapacitated and left unconscious. They were going to see Adie, the bone woman, along the way to get to Kahlan's lands, and so Richard and Kahlan take their wounded friends and continue on to Adie's home.
Adie - a blind, one-footed sorceress who works magic with her many bones - tells them the way to get across the boundary and also agrees to care for their friends. Richard and Kahlan must now go on alone with no guidance.
After a harrowing trip across the boundary, Richard and Kahlan enter the Midlands, Kahlan's homeland. Richard suggests that the best thing to do would be not to confront Darken Rahl and steal the boxes he has, but to find where the last box is and hide it from him until the first day of winter. Kahlan explains that there are two options to find where the third box is. One is a trip to Agaden Reach to visit the dreaded witch woman, Shota. The other option is to visit the Mud People of the savannah, who keep in regular contact with their dead ancestors, who might also know where the last box is. The Mud People are closer, and so Richard opts for the latter choice. They don't have time to waste.
Once they get there, Richard and Kahlan have to prove themselves and become honorary Mud People to be able to speak to the spirits, which they do. The spirits tell Richard they can't say where the box is, but that Shota the witch woman also knows where it is.
Richard and Kahlan set out for Agaden Reach. When they get there Shota captures and tries to kill Kahlan, and Richard finds Zed suddenly there and about to kill Shota. Before Zed can do so, Richard protects Shota so that they can get any possible information she may have, and finds that Zed was an illusion, Shota's test to see what sort of person he was. In return for "saving" her, Shota offers Richard one wish, which he uses to get her to release Kahlan. The witch woman then tells them that Queen Millena of Tamarang has the third box, but to hurry because she won't have it much longer. Darken Rahl is trying to make an ally of her and working on a contract for it with the box as her gift to seal the alliance. Shota offers more advice, but she's really not much more help to Richard at this point since witch women speak in roundabout ways and rarely tell anything straight out. Richard hates such talk and usually disregards it.
After they leave the witch woman's haven, Richard and Kahlan meet up with the real Zed, who's recovered, and they continue on to Tamarang. When they get there, they find the box is gone, even before Darken Rahl was able to get it. They also find Zed's final student, dead, having given his life to get the box safely away from the queen. After leaving Queen Millena's Castle to find the last box, Richard decides to go back to the castle alone, and is beset by a group of soldiers, lead by a red-haired woman clad neck to foot in blood red leather. Using the magic of his sword to try and dispatch them is Richard's fatal mistake, however, because the woman is Mistress Denna, a mord-sith. Such women are specially trained by Darken Rahl to steal any magic used against them and make it their own, turning it back on the magic user. They are also well trained in the arts of torture and giving pain. They delight in giving it, and receiving it as well.
Mistress Denna then holds Richard captive. She's the best at what she does, and trapping and torturing Richard is a special assignment from Darken Rahl. Mistress Denna is to "train" and prepare Richard to help Darken Rahl's evil purposes.
Will Richard escape before Mistress Denna breaks him? And what of Kahlan? Who and what is she? Richard's fallen in love with her on their journeys but has been told, even by Kahlan herself, that they can never be together. If Richard ever escapes Denna, could he find a way for him and Kahlan? These questions are answered in the reading, and the answers, as well as the final confrontation with Darken Rahl, have to be read to be believed! I hope you will check this book out and enjoy it!