Chapter One
Callia
The afternoon sun was shining high overhead as Kahlan, Cara, and their daughter Callia swam in the ocean's waves. Well, Cara opted out of swimming, saying that she didn't want to let her guard down in case someone attacked them. Kahlan laughed, knowing that Cara just didn't know how to swim, and always refused to learn.
"Callia, duck!" Kahlan shouted to her daughter just as a curling wave crashed over top of the teenager's head. Hearing her mother's warning too late, Callia was washed out to shore, dark hair pulled over her face and decorated in green seaweed. Kahlan couldn't help but laugh, as did Cara. The Mord-Sith had softened up over the years, laughing at things that before she had deemed humorless. Cara pulled her daughter up out of the water, Callia spitting out saltwater.
"I'm finished now. Can we go back?" Callia asked, visibly tired. To the young Confessor's relief, her mothers agreed and began to pack their bags to return to the small cottage they were staying in. The Amnells had built a house near the sea so they could go there any time they wished. The last time they came here, Callia was thirteen summers old. The fifteen year old never got tired of visiting their beachfront cottage by the sea.
When the three women had reached the small house, it was time for lunch. Kahlan carefully cut up some bread and fruit, before carrying it over to the table outside where Cara and Callia were seated.
"I love strawberries! Thanks Mommy," Callia exclaimed, popping one of the small, red fruits into her mouth. The dark haired girl took another strawberry and held it up next to Cara's arm. Cara raised an eyebrow, confused.
"They match you leather, Mother," Callia laughed, and Kahlan let out a giggle. Cara just rolled her eyes, but Callia heard her mother snicker under her breath. They continued to talk and eat their lunch, Kahlan giving her wife and daughter a geography lesson. Cara poked her daughter in the arm and rolled her eyes when Kahlan wasn't looking. Callia couldn't help but laugh.
After they were all finished with lunch, Cara picked up their plates and headed into the cottage to put them away. Callia helped her mothers clean up the table and then looked to the forest behind their idyllic little house.
"Mommy, can I go for a walk in the woods? I want to see what's there," Callia asked her mother, her green eyes pleading. Kahlan didn't want Callia by herself in the dense forest, but she knew that her daughter had a good head on her shoulders. And anyway, who would be in these woods?
"Sure. Just be back by sunset," Kahlan said, and Callia nodded and thanked her mother.
xxx
Callia loved to be outside. As she sat up in a large, evergreen tree, the young Confessor listened to the birds chatter to one another. She laughed as she remembered when her mother complained about the birds chirping too early in the morning. Callia's mommy, however, took Callia out into the forest all the time, showing her how to make the different birdcalls. Her mother even got one bird to rest on her outstretched finger.
Callia was enjoying herself when she heard something coming down the path she had used earlier. The young girl climbed a bit higher in the tree before looking down on the path, waiting for someone to walk along it. Callia gasped when she saw a handsome young man, hunting bow in hand, leisurely waltzing down the trail. The young man with long, brown hair stopped right under the tree where Callia was hiding, and looked around him as if he had heard something. Callia giggled again, and this time, the young man saw her.
"What is a fine young lady like you doing up in a tree?" the young man called, his dark eyes shining.
"I'm climbing it. Is there a problem?" Callia said in jest, and quickly climbed down from her perch. Being on the ground, Callia looked up at the young man. He seemed to be about her age, give or take two summers. He had long, brown hair and deep brown eyes that shone in the afternoon sun. A goofy smile was plastered on his face, and Callia couldn't help but smile as well.
"Pardon me, miss, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Richard," the young man said, and politely held his hand out to Callia. With a smirk, the young Confessor took it, and Richard planted a gentle kiss on the top of her hand. "And who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"
Callia laughed. "Callia. I'm here with my parents on a vacation."
"Really? That's nice. I live not far from here, with my parents," Richard shared, and walked off near a tree.
"What are you doing?" Callia called to a bent over Richard. The longhaired boy smiled and plucked a flower from the grass. He reached over to Callia's face and pushed a yellow daisy behind her ear. Callia grinned.
"Asking a lovely girl to dinner. Why don't you and your family come to my house for dinner tonight?" Richard offered, a smirk on his face. "My mother makes the best fish stew around."
Callia giggled, looking into Richard's eyes. She could see that he was an honest young man, who most likely had no intentions of doing her any harm.
"I don't want to intrude…"
"Not at all. I insist," Richard continued. "Here, I live a ways up this path. Just follow that, and you'll be fine. Come over by sunset, alright?"
Callia didn't know what to say. This boy had power over her. Callia had never met a boy before, so Richard was amazing to her.
"Alright. See you then," Callia said, and went back the way she came.
"Don't be late!" Richard called, waving to her.
"I won't!" Callia shouted, and hurried on to find her mothers.