While Zedd and Cara follow a lead in tracking down the Stone of Tears, Kahlan learns of a mysterious girl who proves to be the only other living Confessor. She and Richard set out to rescue the teenager from evil forces and prevent her from accidentally unleashing the power she possesses.

Richard and Cara help a small group of villagers escape ruthless slave traders, killing the aggressors in the process. The deaths disappoint the matriarch of the victimized people, a pacifist group called the Minders. Some of them, though, are tired of turning the other cheek while they are being subjugated and slaughtered, and enlist the Seeker's aid in showing them how to protect themselves against future attacks. But Richard's attempt to teach the Minders self-defense skills unleashes their building rage, which threatens to consume them and destroy the Seeker.