Rachel (Sword of Truth)

Rachel is a fictional character in The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.

The name Rachel means "Little lamb" or "One with Purity"

Description

Rachel is a young girl and was a playmate of Princess Violet, the daughter of Queen Milena of Tamarang. She had short hair (like most non-royalty in the Midlands), which was cut jagged while she lived in the palace.

Rachel originally grew up in an orphanage with many other children, including her brother. The people there were nice to her and she liked it better than living with the Princess. It was at the orphanage that Rachel met Brophy. Rachel's brother was often afraid, which Rachel could tell because he would fidget and squirm. Rachel's brother was murdered by Demmin Nass shortly before Queen Milena took her to the palace to be the playmate of Princess Violet.

In "Wizard's First Rule", as Princess Violet's playmate, Rachel was required to be with her for most of the day, to make sure the Princess was enjoying herself. She would often run errands for the Princess, and the guards and servants came to expect seeing her running throughout the palace. At night, she slept in a locked box in the Princess' bedroom, prohibited from having almost any personal possessions, especially a doll. Occasionally the princess would force Rachel to sleep outside the castle in the woods as punishment (although Rachel actually enjoyed this). After living in the palace for a time, the wizard Giller entrusted Rachel with the third box of Orden and instructed her to flee Tamarang, which she did. Rachel was later found by Richard and Kahlan. Rachel is scared by Kahlan's long hair and runs away from them, only to be found later by Chase, who eventually adopts her.

In "Stone of Tears", Rachel is given the important job of holding onto the stone of tears, a powerful magical object sent into the world by the Boxes of Orden. Zedd instructs her to give it to Richard. Wizard Zorander also orders Chase to train her to be a fighter.

Rachel doesn't appear again in the series until "Naked Empire", the eighth book in the series. After Zedd is taken from the Wizard's Keep and brought to Jagang, Rikka, Chase and Rachel appear to save Zedd shortly after he activates the sunset spell to destroy the Imperial Order camp. Rachel and Chase return to the Keep afterward, where Zedd offers to let them stay at the Keep. In "Chainfire", she appears there as well, but she doesn't affect the book much. She has a significantly greater role in "Phantom" however as she is captured by Samuel and taken to Tamarang under Princess Violet where she is returned as her "playmate". She escapes and takes the Box of Orden which Samuel stole from Tovi and goes with Chase back to the Keep to give Nicci the Box of Orden.

In "Confessor" Rachel is forced to return to Tamarang by Violet. She alters the pictures Violet has drawn on the caves resulting in Violet dying and Richard Rahl recovering his gift. She is captured by Six and escapes with the aid of Shota (disguised as her mother) and Gratch. In the book's final chapter it's revealed that Rachel's ability to alter drawn spells is indicative of her royal blood, and she becomes the Queen of Tamarang.

References

External links

* [http://www.terrygoodkind.com Official Terry Goodkind website]
* [http://www.terrygoodkind.net Unofficial Terry Goodkind website] (endorsed by Terry Goodkind)