He couldn't believe it, the woman standing with her back to him wasn't his. Her white dress sucked her torso, revealing the body men ached for, while the rest flowed outward away from her. If the current situation wasn't so severer he would have seen her as an angel. He stopped for a moment, in a way he did see her as an angel one that was out for blood. A Mord'Sith's to put it into simple detail. His Kahlan stood in front of him, her waves hidden by the hood of her dress. His Confessor was going to kill his Mord'Sith, Cara. It's not that he had strong feelings for Cara, not in the way he had for Kahlan, but as his quest became longer, he found himself realizing that they were his only family, Cara included.
He believed she changed, he KNEW she changed. He had seen her save their lives countless times. He could also see that deep in her eyes she held fear and heartache. He knew she would deny it being there but it was he didn't need to be a Confessor to see through her lies. Cara rarely did lie, now that he thought about it, she had never lied once to him…..to any of them. She had been bluntly honest, that's how she got into this whole situation in the first place. She had told Kahlan, without pause, that she killed her baby sister. Of course Kahlan had reacted as any person would with sadness that fueled her rage. And he had sent her away, and here they were standing and waiting for the Mother Confessor to do her deed. She had not hesitated to confess the other Mord'Sith next to Cara, who had beat her into everything she knew and did.
Richard swept a glance behind him, the crowd began to get antsy, some switching from foot to foot. It was then that he locked eyes with Cara's sister. She was shaking her head, her eyes showed her fear, hurt and loss. She was afraid to lose her sister…..again. It was then that Richard heard gasps, his head whipping back to the stage, where Kahlan had taken off her hood. He couldn't help but smile; she had done the right thing. She had seen what he had, the remorse that shined brightly in Cara's eyes. She whipped around her hair flying around her face, creating a black halo of some sort; she had never looked so beautiful to him, her dress moving with her body. Her eyes swept over the crowd, and then they locked with his, his swirl of brown with her ocean blue. She took a breath and spoke, her harmonic voice floating through the air.
"I can not punish the woman, she has shown true remorse." It was then the crowd lit like a flame, with anger.
"You said you would oblige to the towns elders!" A short, stubbly man in the crowd yelled.
"We have found the Mord'Sith guilty!" An elder screamed. Richard returned his gaze back to Kahlan to see the anger in her eyes, authority radiated off her and Richard couldn't help but smile. If they were alone, he would have shown her who hold the true authority. Richard shook his head; this was not a time to fantasize about Kahlan.
"And as the Mother Confessor I have the power to withdraw your verdict." Kahlan's voice was firm but beautiful none the less. He had seen the attraction that flashed through many men's eyes, as lust flooded them. It happened to a lot of men when Kahlan was around, but none acted on it, the way Richard did.
"If you don't kill her I will." The short man ran forward his sword pointed and Richard's love. He would none of that; Richard had the Sword of Truth in his grip before the man had reached his Confessor.
"Henry!" Richard heard someone yell. So the man's name was Henry, he would remember to put that on his gravestone, when Richard killed him. Richard's sword clashed with the Henry's. Others charged into action some escaping past him, but Kahlan was ready. She kicked and punched even stabbed when necessary. Richard pushed Henry away and stormed off to stop the guards. He swung his sword in the air, before slicing the first man's stomach. 1 down 2 to go, Richard thought as the two men charged him, but only one actually made it to Richard, for the other had a dragged bulging out of his chest. Richard looked at the guard whose blood now traveled from his mouth down his chin as he gurgled and jerked on the ground. Richard looked around at Kahlan, she stood her chest heaving, her arm still in its throwing pose but with no dagger to throw. She gave him a small smile before turning to face more civilians running at Cara. Richard finished off the last guard and ran to help Kahlan but right as he reached the platform, a familiar voice made his stop.
"If you don't confess her, I'll kill you where you stand Mother Confessor." As Kahlan turned to see the face of her so called killer, she found she was looking at Cara's sister's husband, Kahlan's eyes widen. Richard could see that Kahlan was stunned but just as fast as it came it was gone. Fear sparkled in Cara's eyes, she thought Kahlan would let them kill her now, she probably remembered the dream Kahlan had the night; there lives spiraled into this hell. She was the last Confessor left…but would she really let Cara die to save her own skin. Richard couldn't believe that his Kahlan would do such a thing. Kahlan never thought of herself, even in times where she should have. Richard turned to the husband; he could see Kahlan looking at him but nothing shown through her azul eyes. Then it sparked, it was sudden but it was there: sheer determination. Nothing was going to happen to Cara, not on Kahlan's watch.
"Then shoot, hit the Mother Confessor but you'll be a murderer of two innocent lives, something that I will not have hanging over my head. I refuse to take Cara's life away," She paused taking a breath. "Not only that but you would be killed, by the Sword of Truth. For I don't think the Seeker would be pleased with his Confessor dead." She looked at the crowd, then back to the husband. "So shoot, but I can promise you, you will not kill the Mother Confessor."
After about ten minutes of just staring, he lowered his arrow. Kahlan inclined her head at him and turned her back, she hadn't even walked a step forward when she heard the click. Richard's face turned pale.
"Kahlan!" He yelled his heart clenching.
In that moment, she spun like a ballerina; her hand stretched outward colliding with the arrows smooth body. Kahlan had practiced dodging arrows, ever since she could remember. It was one of the few things her father had actually taught her to do, but never in her life had she caught a flying arrow. Excitement bubbled inside of her, but her face remained straight. She would give nothing away. She stopped her spin with her eyes locked with the husbands, amazement written across his face in big bold letters. The crowd stared wide-eyed as Kahlan snapped the arrow in two. Letting the pieces fall to the steps, it echoed as the hard arrow hit stone.
Kahlan slowly shook her head, "May you rot in the Underworld." She whispered to him.
Everyone froze, awaiting the next move. Like a game of chess, only Cara was the Queen and Richard and Kahlan were the pawns that protected her. It was a game for life or death.
"Richard NOW!" Kahlan spun running toward him. He held the Sword of Truth high over his head and with a battle cry of strength brought the weapon on the chains, metal against metal but the sword was stronger. The chains broke instantly. With Cara free the townspeople attacked. This was a battle they knew they would win. The trio turned to each other and shared a smile before heading head first into the blood shed.