Time passed slowly as Kahlan and Zedd waited for Richard and Cara to return. Kahlan started to pace after only a few minutes. "You should sit, rest. We'll be leaving when they return." she stopped pacing and turned to him "Thank you." Zedd looked slightly confused "For what, child?" Kahlan looked to the trees "For not asking about my father." "It's none of my business. You should probably talk to Richard though." She looked at him once again "I don't know if I can. Not about that." She took in a deep breath "I know Richard, and I don't want him to imagine me like that." Zedd walked over to her "He's going to imagine the events if you tell him or not. It may be easier for the both of you if he knew the truth." He smiled warmly down at her, trying to give her a bit of assurance. "You're right." Zedd gave a small laugh "I am a wizard of the first order. Of course I am." sounds of foot steps cause Kahlan to jump slightly as she quickly turned towards them. "It's just us." Richard said as he and Cara appeared from the trees and made their way over. "Where's Jacob?" Kahlan asked looking behind them. "He wont be joining us after all." Cara said cooly. "You killed him?" Kahlan asked half terrified "No." Richard said coming to stand before her. He took her hands as he spoke "He's fine." Cara stepped towards them "More or less." she said with a smile.
"Richard?" he sighed "We didn't kill him and we didn't just let him go. How could we?" he pulled her into his arms "He wont bother you again." "Of course we can't be sure. He is still alive and unpredictable." Richard shot Cara a glare to shut her up and Kahlan pushed herself out of his embrace. "No he's not. He will be back. It's who he is." "Not after what we did." Cara almost sounded reassuring. "Kahlan, it'll be okay." his warm smile bringing a moment of comfort. "We should get moving. I want to put some distance between us." Zedd said picking up his pack. "I agree." Kahlan picked up her pack as well and walked to Zedd. "Which way Seeker?" Zedd asked holding out Richard's pack and some food. Pulling out the compass, Richard looked around a moment "This way." Kahlan was the first to start walking. Zedd followed close behind and Cara and Richard behind.
They walked for hours and Kahlan still studied their surroundings. Searching for any sign they were being followed. She stopped to look behind so many times that Zedd and Cara had passed her. "If he does follow us, it wont be so soon." "It's not just that Richard. When he returns... he wont be alone." Richard stopped "Would you have preferred that we killed him?" Kahlan stopped and turned to him "No. And maybe you're right, he could leave us in peace." he sighed "You seem sure that he wont." "I spent a lot of time with him. One of the few who treated me like a normal woman." she shifted her eyes to look at anything but him "He never gave up. He knew what he wanted and would do anything to get it." She looked back at him to be sure he understood "Anything... Before I was rescued from my father, Jacob helped me realize what was happening to me was my fault. I had a way to stop it, but I couldn't do it. At least not at first." Richard's face grew confused "It was the first time I'd seen someone killed before me. Because of me. The man never saw it coming. The moment he touched me he was dead." Kahlan looked to the ground quickly "Before I realized what happened, he fell to the ground and died. I held the knife in my hands as they shook from the feel of his blood. I didn't know what to do, so I hid the body and the first chance i had I told Jacob." looking back up at Richard, a few tears fell. "He helped me hide the body and promised me he would never tell anyone what I had done. He was the only person I could trust." she took in a deep breath as she closed her eyes "It took me year to stop thinking of what I had done." Richard moved quickly as he saw her body tremble. Pulling her into his arms he held her as tight as he could without hurting her. She seemed so fragile that he was afraid he would shatter her.
She didn't return his embrace. He could feel her tears seeping through his shirt as she cried softly. "I'm sorry." His voice flowed through her like a small wave of calmness. She wrapped her arms around him and then pulled away to wipe her face. She turned to look back up at their path to see Zedd and Cara disappearing. "We should catch them." She started to turn away when Richard stopped her "You read people. You know when they are lying to you. How did he-" "Because I chose not to look." she said before he could finnish. "Why?" "The same reason I don't try to read you." She looked to the ground "You loved him." Kahlan looked quickly at him "No! I trusted him." The look on Richard's face made it clear she needed to continue "I never cared for him that way, Richard." She touched his arm "Never." Richard starred at her "He wants you to have his child." She stepped towards him "Not because of he has feelings for me. He wants a powerful child. He always wanted a child that was half wizard and half confessor. I am the last confessor. If any other had survived he would have asked them." Richard nodded slightly and took a few steps passing her.
"We should really catch us with them." Kahlan grabbed his arm "Richard please." he stopped "We never had feelings for each other." "I saw the way he looked at you." she moved to his side "He didn't look at me the way you do." She looked to the ground "The way you used to." Richard looked down at her "What do you mean?" She didn't move her eyes from the small leaf on the ground "You don't look at me the way you used to.' "Kahlan, I could never look at you different. My feelings for you haven't changed. They've just grown stronger and they will continue to grow." She looked up at him "You're doing it now." she looked back to the leaf "It's like it pains you to look at me." He reached to her face and turned her head to look at him "Of course it does! How can I look at you?" her eyes started to water "I look at you an d I want to scream! I want to pull you to me and show you how much I care for you, but I can't!" He brushed her tears with his thumbs "Because I know how hard it would be for you." She could only nod as she pulled herself out of his reach. "I'm sorry Richard." He reached out and grabbed her shoulder so she couldn't back away any father "It's not your fault." She pulled back with force "Yes it is. I should have told you what could happen." Richard shook his head "It would have made no difference." Kahlan looked up at him "We will never know." She started to turn away again but stopped "We were all taught not to fall in love. Not to care for anyone, Richard. That's why I never had feelings for Jacob. Why I tried not to have them for you. "We should get going." he nodded and gave her a small smile "You're right." She turned and started walking "Kahlan." she turned back to him slowly "Don't doubt my feelings for you. If you do, I will have no choice but to show you." she smiled and they both made their way up the path...