Surprises

She awoke to a start, her stomach in knots. She barely made it out of the bed, to the wash basin at the corner of the room when she emptied the contents of her stomach. Her trembling hands held her hair back as more came out, into the basin. Richard was awoken by her sudden burst from his arms. He sat up in the bed and squinted at her in the early hours of the morning. The sun was just coming up and there was little light in the room.

"Kahlan," he said, getting up and walked over to her. Kahlan was kneeling on the ground, holding her stomach, sitting by the basin waiting for the next round. She was breathing hard as he knelt next to her and put a hand on her back, "Are you all right?" he questioned. She nodded slightly, not sure if she actually was. She was about to say something when she felt it coming up again. Richard grabbed her hair this time as she vomited. Tears were forming in her eyes, not from hurt but from the exertion. She sat back when she was finished and wrapped both arms around her middle. Richard rubbed her back, worried for her. First her eating habits and now this…she needed to see someone. Maybe Zedd would know something.

Kahlan looked over at him, "Richard," she wiped her mouth with a cloth, "can you please get me some water?" she asked. He nodded, got up and walked to the other corner of the room grabbing her water skin. He handed it to her as she stood up.

As she took a big swig from it, he sat on the corner of the bed, "Kahlan, I'm worried for you," he stated as he pulled on his pants. He handed Kahlan her clothes and she slowly slid into them. When done, she came back over to the bed and laid down, her hand on her stomach.

"I'll be fine, Richard," she closed her eyes, trying to relax against the nausea. Richard frowned and put a hand on her leg. "Probably just a stomach flu. There were tons of dirty men downstairs last night. I might have caught something from one of them," she stated matter-of-factly. Richard didn't buy it.

"Kahlan, first it was your eating habits. You have not been eating properly. I can tell in your form you've lost weight. And now, you wake up, vomiting up your last meal!" he gave her an incredulous look. "You call that a simple stomach flu? It's lasted since before we left Aydindril. A stomach flu will come and go within a week. It's been too long for that."

Kahlan sat up and looked at him, "Richard, relax. I'm feeling better now. It might have been what I ate last night – you never know about the food in these places," she gave him a reassuring smile. Richard ran a hand down her hair as he worried.

"I'm still going to talk to Zedd about it," he whispered to her. She sighed and lay back down.

"It's too early right now," she gave in, "come, we can get at least another hours rest before daylight. Don't wake them up now," Kahlan grabbed his hand. Richard stared at her, wanting to figure out exactly what it was that was bothering her. "Richard, I'm fine. I'm a grown woman…a little nausea isn't going to kill me." He frowned at her, not liking her choice of words. "Please, come back to bed?" she gave him a pleading look. He conceded and crawled back in with her, wrapping his arms around her once more.

He couldn't fall back asleep, knowing something was wrong with her. Within minutes she had fallen back into a deep slumber. He sighed and watched as the sun rose, itching to go and talk with Zedd.


Zedd groaned when he noticed the insistent knocking on his door would not go away, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it. He considered throwing a stone spell on the intruder, making him paralyzed and therefore unable to awake him with their annoying knocking.

"Bags," he cursed, knowing it was probably important if they were waking him at this hour. Nobody woke up a wizard in the middle of their slumber for no reason. Grumbling obscenities, he stumbled out of his bed and stomped to the door. He yanked it open, heatedly and glared at his intruders.

Richard stood with Kahlan at his side, "Zedd," he started. Zedd's face softened slightly at seeing Richard's worried face.

"Bags boy," he complained, "why did you go and wake me like that? I could have killed you!" he muttered. Richard scratched at the stubble on his chin.

"Zedd, please," he pleaded. Zedd frowned and ushered them in his room. As they came in, Kahlan sat on a nearby couch and ran a hand down her long, brown hair. Richard looked to Zedd, "Kahlan's not well." He stated. Zedd turned his gaze to Kahlan. She rolled her eyes. "Her eating habits have been strange, she's been losing weight and I woke up to her vomiting this morning." Richard stated, obviously not impressed with Kahlan's lack of concern over the matter. Zedd let out a breath and crossed his arms.

"Sounds like a stomach flu to me," Zedd stated, not happy that they had woken him up for this. Kahlan smiled at Zedd.

"See, Richard…I'm fine!" she held her arms out, pointing to the bony old man. Richard bit his lip in frustration, "even Zedd says so! Now, can we move on…"

"Zedd, a stomach flu does not last for a month," Richard said under his breath, interrupting her. Zedd took him in for a minute before speaking.

"That's true," Zedd put his one hand on his hip and the other on his chin. Kahlan plopped her head back on the couch in frustration. "Dear one, come here…lie down," he called to Kahlan. She rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked over to the bed and lay down. Zedd came over to her and placed his hands above her body. He started chanting as his hands hovered above her, moving up and down in rhythm with the chant. She looked at Richard in annoyance. He stood, worry still on his brow, not bothered by Kahlan's ire. He knew this was far more than just a stomach flu. Zedd's eyes opened wider slightly, but only Kahlan noticed. He stopped his chant and patted her on the shoulder. "Nothing serious, Richard," Zedd turned to his grandson. "she'll be fine." Richard started speaking but Zedd held up his hand, "she'll be fine, Richard." He repeated again. Richard kept his mouth shut, though he knew differently. "Boy, go get her some tea from your bag. That'll help calm her stomach," Richard swayed on his feet, unsure of whether or not to keep questioning the First Wizard. Zedd gave him a look, "Well. What are you waiting for? Tea. Now," he snipped at him. Richard jumped slightly and headed out the door.

Kahlan sat up and put her hands on her knees, "Thanks, Zedd. He wouldn't believe me when I said I was fine. I knew it would take you to convince him," she smiled up at him. Zedd stood in front of her and gave her a small smile.

"Dear one," he stated, his brown eyes gazing down at her, "you're with child."