Chapter 1

Should I Say Something?

Zed, Richard and Kahlan had stopped at a town and purchased horses for their journey to the next town. Kahlan had been worried about what the Listener boy Ren had told her, that she should just tell Richard how she felt. She could hurt him with her powers, and she didn't want to.

And Richard had felt the same way about Kahlan. He was so confused about what to do. And what had he been thinking when he said "if we ever have children at least we will have some experience…" ? How foolish!!! He was upset with himself for saying it now. What if he had scared Kahlan off?

They were both conflicted, and Zed was probably the most confused of all. "What is with the two of you?" He asked them.

"What do you mean?" Kahlan asked first.

"Why in the world are you two acting this way? Avoiding each other and such…"

"Oh…" Richard nodded. "Well, the Listener told me to tell Kahlan something that I am afraid to tell her…" He began.

"He did?" Kahlan looked at him confused. "What did he want you to tell me?" She asked.

"Um…Well…I…" Richard stammered. "I love you." He forced it out.

Kahlan smiled. "Really?" She asked.

"Really." Richard replied.

"This is crazy! Why in the world…" Zed began, but already Richard was kissing Kahlan and she was kissing back, as they stood by the stream where they were getting water for the rest of the journey.

"I am all yours." Richard whispered to her when the kiss was all over.

"I hope that's not my power talking." She joked.

"It's all me." Richard replied, hugging her tightly.

"We have to get moving." Kahlan composed herself and Richard smiled at her and she blushed. What were they thinking? This was forbidden…

They continued on to the town, but not before some guards decided it might be fun to try to fight Zed, Kahlan and Richard. The first person they went after was Richard, and he fell off his horse, landed on his hurt arm, and attempted to fight with the sword in his other arm. Pain ran through his body as he felt the fall. The guard came and tried to attack, but Richard killed him quickly. Another one came at him, this time wounding his other arm, but Zed killed him and Kahlan killed the last of the men that had surrounded her on her horse.

She ran to Richard's aid. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"My other arm is damaged now." He frowned. "I am not going to be a very good fighter for at least two weeks." He told her.

She looked at Zed. "Do you think that's too much time to take off from our journey?" She asked. "He needs to heal," she began to explain. "The only place I can think of to take him is a safe place, one that I have visited many times. It is in the land of magic and we will not be found there."

"How long will it take to get there?" Zed asked.

"No more than a day." She replied.

"Then let's do it." Zed agreed. She nodded. Richard tried to stand, but could not, so Zed moved him over to a log so Kahlan could clean his wounds.

"Thank you." Richard said once she was done.

"No problem." Kahlan replied. "Just don't injure yourself again." She ordered.

"I will attempt not to." Richard replied.

"I will hold you to that." Kahlan teased.

"Stop that." Zed ordered. "We need to be on the move to the…where are we going again?" Zed asked.

"The healing springs." Kahlan replied. "He can heal there."

"Right." Zed replied. "Let's get moving."

Richard stood with Kahlan's help and they headed to the horses. She got on and helped him onto the back of her horse, since his had ridden away when the attack had happened. He was used to riding alone, so he wrapped his arms around her waist tightly and held on.

By the end of the day, they had arrived at the healing springs. "Kahlan!" A pretty young girl ran to Kahlan and gave her a hug. "How are you?" She asked.

"I'm doing well, but my friend Richard here needs to spend some time in the healing spring." She replied. "He has two wounded arms."

"Oh, I am sure the springs can fix that." She smiled and led them to the springs. They were out in the open and available to all. Richard removed his tunic and got in and soaked both his arms. They healed quickly and he smiled widely.

"Would you look at that?" He asked. "Good as new!"

Kahlan smiled at him and he got out of the water and dried off. "Why don't you show me around here Kahlan?" He asked.

"I would love to." She replied.

He kept the towel with him and the tunic in one hand while his other was laced with Kahlan's hand. Zed was busy with one of the pretty ladies and didn't notice that they had wandered off.

"This would be the forest of good." She explained as they entered a pretty forest with many trees and lots of green grass. "There is no evil here, none at all." She smiled at him.

"It is nice to be able to relax for once." He replied, sitting down in the grass. Kahlan followed his lead and sat down too.

"Feeling better?" She asked.

"Much." He smiled and then laid back, his head in her lap and his legs stretched out in front of him.

"Good." She smiled. "I should take a dip to get rid of some of the bruises." She told him. "But not right now." She ran a hand through his hair and noticed he was almost asleep.

"That's nice." He whispered, shifting a little bit onto his left side.

Some girls were watching them and giggled as they walked by. "You should just have Erin marry you two while you are in town!" They shouted. "I'm sure she will be available!"

"Maybe…We will have to ask the groom if he would like that." Kahlan replied. "And he is asleep right now."

The girls shrugged and continued on. And Richard stayed like that for about forty five minutes before Kahlan woke him up and led him to the dinner hall.

Women were constantly hitting on Richard and Zed, and while Zed loved it, Richard was feeling awkward. "Really, ladies, as lovely as all of this is," he began, as they were all trying to give him gifts. "I am a taken man and this is an awkward feeling."

"Awww!" They all let out at the same time and walked away.

"Well, that worked." Richard smiled at Kahlan who laughed.

"I think there are some broken hearts here today." Kahlan replied.

"Indeed." Richard nodded. "Where are our sleeping quarters?" He asked her.

An older woman came in. "There are only two rooms left, so, someone is sharing, and Zed has already taken the one."

"That's fine." Kahlan replied. The woman led them to a room with a big bed in the middle that was covered in animal hides. There was barely any floor space. "They like big beds here." Kahlan whispered to him.

"I can see that." Richard replied.

"Have a good night." The woman replied, walking off and leaving them to figure out how they were going to sleep.

"Let's just sleep together." Kahlan suggested.

"You sure you want to do that?" Richard asked.

"Why not?" She asked. "It's not like you or I would be able to sleep on the floor…There is no space!" She protested. "And I would never ask you to go to Zed's room…"

They both laughed. "Okay." Richard agreed. "But only if your sure."

"Positive." Kahlan agreed.

They opened the drawers to find that there were pajamas and both took a second to let the other get dressed in them. "Someone was expecting us?" Richard asked.

"Maybe. You never know who can see the future here…" Kahlan said mysteriously.

Richard smiled and they got into the bed. Right away, Richard rolled into the position most comfortable to him. He wrapped his arms around Kahlan's waist and put his head right under her chin. She held him close, and before long, they were both fast asleep.

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Tell me what you think please. I never did read the book, so, I am going off of what I have seen of the TV show. I really like the TV show a lot!