The heat of the sun lingered around them, keeping them warm as they waited in the brush for the deer to come closer. They were a breath a part; eyes darting from the trees before them to each other, trying to keep their glances from lingering. The day had passed slowly, both trying to keep the night before off of their minds. The Seeker had tried to leave the group, give himself a few minutes to think, but his grandfather was, as always, too eager to eat and sent Kahlan with him. It was awkward between them, it had been all day, but because they needed to, they pretended it was alright.

"Kahlan," Richard said quietly, trying to keep his voice calm.

"No," she countered quickly, looking at him quickly. "We don't need to talk about it." Releasing a sigh, he turned and flopped onto his back, scaring away the deer instantly. "Hurry, we can-"

The young man grabbed her arm, holding her in place. "I'm not letting go until you talk to me."

Her eyes narrowed, meeting his coldly. "Let go." Her voice was filled with malice, but he didn't budge. Out of all of the men in the world, here she was with the one who wasn't afraid of her. "Richard, please," she whispered, her voice now timid and vulnerable. "Let me go."

He released her arm at once, pulling back his hand as though she had burned him. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, his words barely reaching her ears before he started to move away. "No," he added, looking back to her. "No, I'm not. I'm not sorry. Not for touching you now or what happened last night. I'm not sorry for any of it. Kahlan, I'm not sorry for what we did."

"You should be. You know what I could have done to you."

"You would never hurt me."

Their eyes met, hers wet with a layer of tears he knew she wouldn't allow to fall. "You don't know me as well as you think you do."

"Yes, I do," he said quickly. "I think know you better than you do."

"You don't know anything."

Sitting forward, Richard crossed his legs before him. "I know that what happened last night meant something to you." She looked away, but kept quiet. One word and she knew he would see past her defenses. "I also know something you don't want me to. I saw it last night, the darkness in your eyes. I know you almost released your magic, Kahlan. I saw it and-"

"No." Standing, the Confessor wiped her hands on her dress and shook her head. "You don't know what you saw."

Jumping to his feet, he kept her from walking away. If she left now, this conversation would never be picked up again. "Yes, I do. I saw everything. I saw the look in your eyes when I told you that I loved you." He reached out for her, laying his hand on her arm, hesitantly for a moment. "If I hadn't told you, would you have pulled away?"

"Richard, don't-"

"If you can answer me, I'll let you go."

"I don't know." As he had said, he released her arm, but to his surprise and delight, she didn't hurry away. "I don't know what I would have done. I- I knew that I needed to stop, but I..." Licking her lips, she turned to face him completely. "When you kissed me, I could barely form thoughts."

He understood her words perfectly. The night before had started innocently and quickly lead them down a different path. She hadn't seen the drop off, the grass grown wildly around, hiding all dangers as they searched for more firewood. He had reached to help her, taking her hand in an attempt to stop her fall, but he wasn't quick enough. They were lucky to have fallen into some sort of cave on the side of the cliff, just a few feet from then next drop.

Richard had rushed close to her, ripping a portion of his shirt in anticipation of the bleeding wound on her head. She felt his heart pounding as he hugged her to him and in pure instinct; she pulled back and connected their lips. No words were spoken after that, their mouths too busy discovering the other to even gather breath. Within moments, he had pulled her onto him, her legs bent at the knees, holding herself just above his thighs as their chests crashed together. He could feel the heat of her radiating from her, crying out for him and it wiped his control. Dropping his hands from her face to her hips, he pulled her against him, both moaning at the sudden, rough contact.

He thought she would pull away, but his actions only seemed to fuel her desire and with each passing moment, their bodies begged for more. Before either of them realized, Richard was lying above her, his hands roaming her body and she gave no effort to stop him. Each movement of his hands or shift of his body seemed cause an unending amount of pleasure within her and there was nothing in existence that could make him part from her. He had always wondered about her sexual past, but from the way she reacted to his touch and kiss, he knew that he was the only person to be with her this way. The new knowledge made him even more eager to please her. He wanted to show her what they could have, what he wanted to give her and then he saw it.

Her magic was lingering in her eyes, giving him a brief glance each time her eyes fluttered open. It was beautiful, captivating and it called out to him. Breaking their kiss, he did the only thing he could.

"I love you."

Three words left his lips, words that he had never said to anyone outside his family. The shock and terror in her eyes broke him. Without a word, she pulled his hands from beneath her dress, stopping his smooth caressing of her thighs. Tears dripped down her cheeks, but she wiped them quickly, capturing her emotionless Confessor's face before sitting up and moving to find a way to get back to the land above them. He couldn't move, his body still aching for hers and he was now afraid for her to see his desire. He understood her fears, but it didn't make it any easier on him.

Shaking the memory from his mind, he swallowed back the lump and sucked on a deep breath of the nature around them. "I didn't want to hurt you."

That was Richard, she thought at once. He would never purposely hurt her, but each time they were alone together, that was all that seemed to happen. Though, when she looked back at the night before, it wasn't pain that she remembered. He had touched her in ways she could never have imagined and he hadn't been afraid. He had stared into her eyes and seen everything and he still stayed with her. He continued to kiss her as though she wasn't a danger to him, like she was another, no, any other woman he could spend the night with. But he said something to her; something that she knew wouldn't be said lightly. Three words that meant too much to be said to a Confessor, to her. She saw the truth of his words in his eyes and it was more painful than walking away.

"We should find something for Zedd to eat."

Richard nodded. "Alright, but Kahlan," he said quietly. "I-" He stopped and took a step forward, reading her face. It was rare to see her with such vulnerability and fear; he did the only thing he could. Pulling her into his arms, he hugged her and when she didn't move away, he lowered them back to the ground.

******

Richard opened his eyes, straining them to see in the darkness that engulfed him. He was naked, sitting on what felt to be stone and he was chained. His wrists and ankles were surrounded by chain and then the panic hit him.

"Kahlan?!"

"Richard?" she spoke with a rasp, opening her eyes with a slight jump.

"I'm here," he said instantly, his hands searching to find where his chains met the wall. "Are you alright? Where are you?"

"Here," she whispered, instantly telling him where she was. He jerked forward, trying to get to her, but the chains wouldn't budge. He watched the dark figure of her body across the small room; she was shifting in attempt to cover herself even though they could barely see each other. "You-"

"I'm fine. Kahlan, do you know what happened?"

To his surprise, she inched closer, allowing him to see her a little better. "No."

"Did they..." He couldn't finish the question, the image too horrid to think of.

She shook her head, realizing what it was he was trying to ask. He must have seen the Rada'Han around her neck. "I don't think so, but..." Her words trailed off as she moved back, further into the darkness. She was obviously in discomfort and it wasn't just from the situation.

"I won't let them hurt you."

"If we couldn't stop them before..."

"I promise."

"I know."

He wanted to move from the wall, pull her into his arms and then search for a way out, but the chains told him he wouldn't be able to go far. "I'm going to get us out of here."

"There's no way out," she said quietly. "We have a prison like this is Aydindril. My mother took me there once when I was young. The unfathomable home, she called it. There's only one way in and no one could ever escape."

"I don't understand."

Leaning back against the stone, Kahlan folded her arms, her legs doing the same to make sure she was covered as well as possible. "The only way in or out is up. Whoever captured us wanted to make sure we couldn't escape before they got what they wanted."

"Do you know who-"

"No," she replied at once. "There are many cities here that use it. I don't know where we are."

"It can't be far from where we were-"

"I don't remember arriving and we don't know how long they had us before we were placed in here." She sighed heavily, making her cringe as her body ached, but she wasn't about to tell him. "That night we were looking for firewood, you said that we should expect rain within the next few days. I think it's already passed, the walls are still wet, the sun is shining off of the droplets, that's how we can see."

"I'll get us out of here, Kahlan." Her silence said more than her words could.