A/N: Okay this is my first Legend of the Seeker fanfic and also the first thing i've written in third person - usually I write in 1st person, so please, please, please tell me whether you think it works. I'm a little bit nervous about it. OOC?


Chapter One

Kahlan still couldn't quite digest the fact that she could finally be with Richard whilst keeping her Confessor's powers. It was also hard for her to believe that Richard actually loved her enough to already belong to her. She had never had anyone care about her to that extent; except perhaps for Dennee. As she sat around the fire with Zedd, Cara and Richard, her eyes refused to leave his handsome face, drinking in the fact that he wasn't dead. It had broken her heart when she thought she had killed the man she loved, without ever telling him exactly how much he meant to her. Now all she wanted was to finally be alone with him. She yearned to embrace him so much that she was having to keep her hands clenched against her chin, fingernails digging into her palms.

Richard noticed the attention Kahlan was giving him and her apparent lack of interest in her food, which was odd considering it was the first good meal they'd eaten in ages, seeing as it had been Richard who had caught the hares using bow and arrow rather than allow Zedd to use his Wizard's fire to roast the animals to cinders. He glanced over at her meeting her gaze. He could see her blue eyes filled with lust, and had to supress a groan as he looked at her beautiful face and form. As the fire began to burn low, he stood and stretched before saying he was going to get more firewood. Kahlan's eyes silently followed him.

"Kahlan, would you like to come with me?" He asked innocently.

She smiled at the thought of being alone with him, and nodded her head, rising to join him.

They stepped through the trees holding hands, so Richard could help Kahlan over some fallen trees.

"This bit looks dry," he commented to her, pointing to a thick stick on the sodden ground.

Disappointment ran through Kahlan, as she realised that Richard actually wanted to collect firewood, not be alone with her. She couldn't answer him or meet his gaze. Suddenly his big hands were upon her face, gently pushing her chin up so Richard could stare down into her eyes and tell if she was lying.

"What is it, Kahlan? What's wrong?" The wood he had found lay abandoned by his feet.

What could she say? She could hardly tell him what she was disappointed about. Nor would it seem proper to tell him how much she wanted his body. As a Confessor, Kahlan had to declare her mate to the Council before she actually took him as her mate. That meant Kahlan and Richard would have to wait until they got to Aydindril before they could properly be together.

"Kahlan…" Richard whispered in despair. He couldn't bear to see her hurting. "Is it because you tried to kill me?" His hands dropped from her face to encircle her waist and pull her against his chest.

She hung her head in shame at recalling how close she had come to losing him. How she had stabbed him and how it was only through the luck and genius of Richard for allowing a Mord'Sith, Cara, to travel with them, that he was alive.

She shook her head, still unable to find words to speak.

"Well, what is it, Kahlan? Please tell me, I'm dying here."

Her mouth was dry as she attempted to utter the words. "Richard, I…I want you," she admitted.

Richard looked confusedly at her. He didn't understand.

She had to continue. "But I can't h…have you because we have to tell the Council at Aydindril before we…do anything." Kahlan's cheeks flushed pink as she forced the words out.

"Oh, Kahlan, I want you too, but we can't." He pressed his lips to her forehead and inhaled the scent of her beautifully long hair. "I want to wait until we're married. You're the Mother Confessor, I won't let people think any less of you."

She sighed, feeling miserable.

"Look at it this way, it's going to be freezing tonight, we'll have to sleep close together for warmth. I'm sure Zedd and Cara will only be too happy to snuggle together," he joked and was rewarded with a wide smile from Kahlan at the thought of Zedd and Cara enjoying each other's company. It wasn't that Zedd and Cara hated each other, far from it, Zedd liked Cara well enough; but Cara was more of a solitary character and didn't enjoy anybody's company but Richard's and even then that was only because he was the Lord Rahl. "All I want to do with my life now, is look forward to some peace and quiet now that the Keeper has been defeated, and be a husband to you and a father to our children," he confided.

Kahlan leaned up on her tip-toes to press her lips to Richard's. After he pulled away moaning and muttering something about never being able to resist her, she took his hand again and pulled his away, saying, "Zedd and Cara will be wondering where we got to. We should get some wood and go back. If we don't hurry the fire might've gone out by the time we get back."

Richard trailed behind her, attempting unsuccessfully to clear his mind of thoughts of Kahlan's wonderfully curved body. It didn't help that he was walking behind her and so could quite easily see her swaying hips, and slim waist which always looked best in her Confessors dress. As a result when Kahlan turned around, white dress swishing around her ankles, to see what was taking him so long, he had acquired a dreamy look on his face.

When they finally arrived back at the camp, Zedd had fallen asleep on his log with his head resting in his hands. Richard through the armful of wood he carried onto the ground and crouched, picking up each piece of wood individually and placing it expertly in the fire so that it was in the position where it would burn best. Kahlan silently watched Richard, marvelling at how knowledgeable he was and feeling particularly grateful that he was a Woods Guide and so could make a good fire, even when the weather was bad.

"Cara, can you stop pacing? It's distracting," he complained, as Cara patrolled the camp, keeping watch for danger. As Lord Rahl's only protector it was her duty to make sure wherever they chose to stay overnight was safe.

"Is that an order, Lord Rahl?" She asked, dryly.

Richard scowled. He refused to give Cara orders even though he was the Lord Rahl. He wanted to set a different example than his brother, Darken Rahl, had and encourage his subjects to live their own lives.

Zedd woke with a start as a Cara gave a derisive snort over Richard's dilemma. He could not order her to stop pacing or tell her to stop laughing at him. To do so would only make his predicament worse.

"Oh, you're back. You've been gone ages, my boy."

Richard met his grandfather's eyes and smiled at him before replying, "Most of the wood we found was soaked through from the rain. We had to walk far to find wood that would actually burn." He stood and brushed his hands down his breeches, and pulled his shirt and jerkin tighter around himself to keep warm as he sat down beside Kahlan on her log. She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes in rest.

"Are you tired?" He asked her, concerned because it wasn't that late in the evening.

"Oh. No, not really. I've just been feeling a little off for a few days. Being in the Con Dar and confessed by my own hand really took it out of me."

"You should go to bed," he murmured into her hair.

"I'm fine I can sleep like this if I need to."

"Okay," he reluctantly conceded, putting an arm around her waist to support her if she did fall asleep against him.


A/N: So there it is. Please Read and Review! It will help me improve it.