Title: Jasper

Author: VirKatJol

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Kahlan versus the World.

Disclaimer: Not mine, except Richard is, that's actually a lie… I don't own them

A/N: This is for 7thKetch HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope it's what you wanted… I wasn't sure what to do with it but I like the end product. I hope that you do too!

"Richard!" Kahlan ducked the swing of the sword, the D'Haran just missing taking off her head. "Watch out!" She glanced over and saw that he had jumped up from his bedroll and had drawn the Sword of Truth.

The attack had been unexpected, Kahlan had been on watch and suddenly they had been overwhelmed by soldiers. Cara and Zedd were helping fend off the rush of men. Richard was in the middle of the fray trying to gain the upper hand. Being ambushed while they slept had put them at a disadvantage, but they were all more skilled warriors.

Kahlan saw that the others were now coming at their enemies full forces she concentrated on herself. She needed to find someone to confess. She took stock of the men that were rushing her, trying to pick out the strongest, smartest looking to bring over to their side. After slicing a throat, throwing a dagger into the heart of a man with a crossbow, she found her target. She did her deadly dance over to the man she had singled out. She used her feet, elbows and single dagger to eliminate all that got in her way.

Watching her go after one of the attackers he kept her in his line of vision while he continued to cut down the soldiers surrounding him. His sword swung true, taking down one after another, channeling his fury at the danger they were putting him and his friends in. He ducked and parried, sliced and stabbed, one after another, in a seemingly endless line of death.

Kahlan finally reached her target, she could see the fear in his eyes as her hand clasped his neck. He tried to back away, made an attempt to escape her magic, but she already had him. Time stopped as she let her power flow through her veins, sending it into him. Her eyes blackened with it and she saw his follow suit.

He was hers.

The release of the magic drained her a bit, she bent over at the waist, hands on he knees, attempting to recover. The confessed man was already protecting her from the onslaught. She caught her breath and popped back up. She saw a flash out of the corner of her eye, felt the elbow hit her head and the last thing that she heard was Richard screaming her name.

The light was too bright. Her eyes couldn't adjust to it. Blinking rapidly, she tried to get her pupils accustomed to the sunlight. She attempted to rub her eyelids with her hands, but she couldn't move them, tugging harder she felt the rope digging into her skin. Kahlan started breathing erratically, her hands being bound was causing her to panic, she had to take control of the situation. Try to calm herself down, nothing was going to be solved by hyperventilating. She concentrated on drawing deep, even breaths.

Blinking some more she finally got her eyes to adjust and she surveyed the area. She was in a small room, it had rock walls, and one narrow door, made of a thick looking metal. The hinges were large and it sat even with the stone surrounding it, making prying difficult to impossible. Not that she had anything to use to attempt to get out with.

Rolling over she saw that it was much of the same behind her as well. She wondered where her friends were. Trying to remember what had happened, if she could find any clues of where she could be in her visions of the attack. Nothing seemed to be useful. They were just typical D'haran's, nothing seemed special about the attack. She worked at the binding on her hands, maybe wiggling her hands would loosen them.

Kahlan was so focused on fixing her situation that she failed to hear the door, at her back, opening. Suddenly she was being hauled to her feet.

"Trying to escape?" The husky voice growled at her, as he pushed on her, angling her out the door. Directing her down the hallway in the dungeon. She didn't recognize the building or any of the designs on the torch holders. She didn't like all the unknown quantities in this situation. She needed to be planning, there was always a way out. However it was easier to find if you understood you opponent.

They reached a larger room, where a man was seated in front of a fire. His face was scarred, obviously he was a skilled warrior. He was large with sinew and muscle, he also appeared to be quite tall, but she couldn't be sure by how much he would tower over her while he was sitting. Her face was in confessor mode, she wouldn't display any emotion, no matter what news he delivered to her. She knew that would only give him ammunition to use against her. Emotional torture was worse then the physical kind. She needed her mind to stay clear and unaffected.

"Mother Confessor." He nodded at her, meeting her gaze with one of his own. "Welcome to my home. You probably have a few questions. I'll answer them in a moment. However, first, know that there is no escape."

She just stared at him. Not letting on how much she was scared for her life and the fate of the people she loved. She wasn't going to ask the questions, she was going to let him volunteer the information. Kahlan didn't want to seem like she cared what happened to her, it gave him less power over her if she could control her burning urge to know where Richard, Zedd and Cara were.

"Your friends are all dead." The thin smile that crossed his face was mocking her, knowing that he'd been the one that had ended the lives of her companions.

Kahlan was caught off guard by that bit of information. She didn't think that it was true, she prayed to the Spirits that it wasn't. She had no desire to escape captivity only to have no one to return to. She still said nothing.

"You probably wonder why we didn't just kill you as well." He cackled before continuing, "The services of a Confessor are very valuable to me. There are many people in the world that I'd love to have control over. Having them confessed would ensure that they do things my way."

She finally decided to speak, "Your plan won't work."

"Why do you think that, Kahlan?" He deliberately used her given name instead of her title, trying to bring her down to a lower level, taking more power from her.

"The confessed only obey me. They wouldn't be following your orders, they'd be listening to mine." She didn't revel in her victory, but continued watching him with her stoney stare.

"That's where you're wrong. You don't have all the information, and you're making the assumption that you'll be the one confessing them."

"I don't see any one else here with the ability to do that."

The man snapped his fingers and a guard came forward with an object. One that she immediately recognized as Quillion.

"I can see that you now understand. You confessed a good friend of mine a while back. One that had a theory about how to get the magic of confession for himself. I can see by the reaction that flashed in your eyes that you also know of this theory, and I'm guessing that you also know that it works."

She bit her tongue, making sure that she didn't say anything else. Kahlan was upset with herself with revealing that information. She didn't expect it, but she should have schooled her reaction more, she knew better. She decided that it would be a good time to start getting information.

"After you steal all my power, then what?" She kept eye contact, daring him to threaten her life, if her friends were dead, then she had nothing to live for, all the fear she had felt previously had left her body.

"I haven't determined what I'll do with you yet. If I don't over use the Quillion you should never lose all your power, but just stay weak enough to be easily contained and controlled."

That fate sounded far worse than death, a life of being weak, used and alone. She'd rather not live at all if that's all that awaited her. She had to figure out a way out of this before he drained so much that she was too weak to fight back. She had yet to get this man's name. She needed to gain his trust. Let him believe that she didn't care what happened to her, he'd let his guard down and she'd have a better chance to escape. She was forming a plan in her mind, working it out was helping her not think about what had happened to her friends, her Richard. She didn't think that her life was worth living without him in it. She love him enough to not let his fate effect hers, he wouldn't want that. He'd want her to get out and not let this evil man succeed in hurting many other people.

"If I"m going to be spending so much time with you, it's only polite to introduce yourself." She kept her face covered in the confessor's mask, no emotions breaking through.

"I'm Jasper." He smiled at her and stood up, making his way to stand next to her.

He was larger then she had first thought. He towered over her and his arms were twice as big as Richard's were. She knew that over powering him wasn't going to be an option, he seemed rather intelligent as well, so outsmarting him was going to call upon all her training that she'd ever gotten from her father and learned from all the scrapes Richard and she had gotten into. It was a war for her existence, she didn't want to lose, she had hope that he was alive, waiting for her to escape, to come back to him. She had to try. Until she knew that Richard was dead and gone, she had to fight for her life. He wouldn't do any less.

Three Days later

She was exhausted. Three times a day Jasper would bring the Quillion to her prison, spend a few minutes harvesting her powers, then leave her. Kahlan's body shook from cold, the thin blanket and hard bedroll did nothing to stop the dampness seeping into her veins. She was so tired her body couldn't keep warm. She shivered constantly, huddled into a ball, wrapped in the scratchy wool. Her hair stuck to her face, greasy, coated in a layer of dirt and grime. She had never longed for a bath as much as she did right now. Much of the time she spent in the small room was spent thinking of being clean. If she wasn't envisioning soaking in hot water, her mind drifted to thoughts of Richard, she couldn't handle the direction her brain took her, the depression that would set in, thinking that he could be dead, or if he wasn't that he was looking for her and couldn't get to her.

Sometimes sleep would overtake her, despite the conditions, her body would essentially collapse and she'd wake up to hands groping at her, pulling her up to put her in the chair where they'd take more from her. They didn't bother binding her hands anymore, she was too weak to use them. At first she would protest, but never with words, she didn't want to say anything that they could use against her. She never called for Richard out loud, mentally she was screaming for him, but she never let them know. She stood strongly against them every time, only physically struggling to get away. Now she couldn't even spare the energy to do that. She worried about the numbers of people that were being confessed, because she couldn't do anything to stop him. She had to put an end to Jasper, if only she could regain some of her strength.

The small window in the top of her cell let in enough light that she knew what time of day it was. She could also tell how long she'd been there. Since the first day, the sun hadn't invaded her space, She longed for it's warm rays to taste her skin, to help her regain some heat. Instead, even the weather was cruel, wind whipping about, bringing in clouds. Clouds that brought rain with them or ones that just blocked the sun, it didn't matter, really, the rain didn't make her any colder then she already was.

She was jostled from her thoughts as the door scraped open, they were back. It seemed like only a few minutes had passed since Jasper had been there, time was slipping through her fingers, how was she going to grasp it back, she needed to take hold of it and control her destiny. She had to think harder, if she didn't find a way soon, she feared that it was going to be too late.

Two Days Later

She heard him, and bolted upright. He was there. Somewhere. She felt his breath on her ear, the sound of her name leaving his lips as it traveled down the short canal. Now that she was awake, she knew that he wasn't there. He was in her heart, her soul and her head. He was not there. He wasn't cradling her in his arms, he wasn't kissing her temple, he wasn't playfully touching her elbow, that was all in her mind.

She'd been hearing him a lot lately. At times she'd swear he was standing over her when she woke up, in that instant when her eyes open and they are still clouded with sleep, she swore that she would see Richard. That split second vision of his face, kept her fighting. Despite the daily 'treatments', as Jasper liked to call them, she felt like she was gaining strength. The first time she'd woken up to Richard's brown eyes she'd felt better. As if that millisecond of exposure to him, not even the real him, a vision of him, made her body revive.

Today was the sixth time this had happened.

Today she felt like fighting.

Kahlan's body was still weak, but her mind was strong. She needed to concentrate when they arrived. Perhaps she could call forth the Con Dar. She just needed to think about Richard. How he needed her to get out, how he was in danger without his Confessor. He had to be alive. Her visions were a sign that he was there, she just needed to get to him.

She knew that they'd be there soon. So she sat, and stared blankly at the wall. She pictured all the ways that Richard could be in danger, all the ways that he could be hurt without her by his side. She thought about all the things that could be happening to him. She felt the fear, the rage, the power. All of it rising inside her. The magic was more subtle then normal, all the overuse, the draining, was making it harder for it to emerge. She continued to tug on it, pulling every last ounce that she could. Dragging the magic from deep within her soul, trying to gather every last piece that existed inside her. She didn't know what would happen when she released it all, would there be anything left of her power?

Her brain registered the door being opened. Hands pulled her form up from the floor, setting her roughly on the chair. Jasper walked in and made some remark about how she looked, all she could hear was thunder, with no sound. The wind at her back increased through the window, the room blackened as the clouds thickened. A flash of blue lightning crackled in the air.

She let go of everything.

Kahlan's head snapped back as the magic overtook her. The Con Dar possessed her, more quickly then it had ever before. Her world was a vision of red as she stood up from the chair. She saw Jasper reaching for the Quillion, desperate to unleash it on her. He was far too late, Jasper was hers, as were his two minions.

She walked to the Quillion, made sure it was securely latched, then took it. Moving through the place she was being held, she motioned for Jasper to lead the way out. Still not speaking to him, even when he was under her spell. He wouldn't be questioned by anyone on the way out. The stiffness to her body, from the Con Dar, didn't go unnoticed. The guards in the halls shrank back, having heard rumors of the power of the Mother Confessor, not wanting to give her any reason to add them to her group of enslaved men.

When they reached the doorway to the outside, she stood back while the guards threw open the doors. A blinding, bright white light hit her face. She didn't remember the sun being so luminous. Then she heard him. The sweet cadence of his voice, calling her name. He sounded desperate for her. There was a yearning there, that she shared. She squinted, trying to erase the red from her vision, attempting to see through the glow from the sun through the doors. She moved towards the exit, blinking her eyes, trying to see through to him. He was out there why could't she find him.

Her whole body was encased in the dazzling light. Then she felt him, his hand on her shoulder, he was shaking her. She closed her eyes again, and squeezed them shut as hard as she could. Concentrating on his voice, she cleansed her mind, relaxed her body and let go. She knew he'd catch her.

She took a few deep, even breaths, then opened her eyes again. She was looking directly into his.

"Oh thank the Spirits, Kahlan, I've been so worried about you." Richard placed his lips on her forehead, kissing her skin. She felt warm under him, which was a nice change from the cold, damp flesh of the past few days.

"How did I get here?" She glanced around and saw that she was in a bed, covered in a thick quilt. Richard was laying next to her, propped on his side on an elbow.

"After you got knocked out, we finished off the D'Haran's and you wouldn't wake up." He let out a sigh and leaned down to kiss her again, this time her cheeks and nose received the attention from his mouth. "I carried you here. Zedd couldn't get through to your conscious to get you to wake up. He said there was a wall up that he couldn't break. You had to come out of it on your own."

"I did that. I put that wall there… I didn't want the person I thought had captured me to get to my mind…" Her hand crept out from under the blanket and touched his cheek. "I didn't think that I was going to get out of that place. I didn't want them to be able to use my love for you against me, so I walled off part of my brain, I locked it away. Like you told me you did when you were with Denna."

"Where were you? Tell me about it." He pulled the quilt back and climbed under, pulling her back to his chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, never wanting to let her leave his embrace.

She clasped his hand in hers, brought their entwined fingers to her lips and kissed the back of his. She pulled him even closer to her, hugging his arm, not wanting an inch of space between them. Then she told him the tale of her nightmare. Throughout the story she felt him squeeze her tightly during the most intense parts, and breathe a relieved sigh when she figured out how to escape.

"If you hadn't gotten free, I don't think that you'd have been able to return to me." He rolled her onto her back and looked into her eyes. "I don't know what I would have done, watching you waste away, while I did nothing that helped."

"You saved me though Richard. It was me versus, what felt like, the world. The only thing that got me through that was you. Just the inkling of a wish that you could still be alive, even though I was told there was no hope. The sight and sound of you in my head, you talking to me here, even when I couldn't respond so you'd know I could hear. That saved my life." She leaned up and kissed his lips. A sweet, slow, chaste kiss.

"You are my life, Kahlan. If that saved your life, then it saved mine as well. Holding you, talking to you and sitting by your side, it all kept me sane and hopeful." He connected their mouths again, this time heating up the contact with more pressure. He licked her lips and she opened for him, allowing his tongue in to caress hers. Richard explored her mouth, lazily stroking her lips before plunging back into to glide along her tongue. He pulled back before things became too intense, knowing she wasn't ready for anything more strenuous yet.

"Thanks for never giving up on me."

"I couldn't, not as long as there was a smidgeon of a chance that you'd return to me. Even if there wasn't, I'd never give up hope that I could fix it. As long as I'm alive, you will be too." Richard kissed her forehead again, before settling them in spooning position again. "Now get some sleep. I'll be here holding you when you wake up."

"That's all I could ever hope for, you never letting go." Kahlan whispered back before drifting into a dreamless, restful slumber.

The End