********Chapter 2********

"This is as far as the tracks go." Cara said pulling Richard from his mind. "I looked all over the area and couldn't find anything. This is where hiss body was." She stepped beside the blood-stained grass, pointing down.

"They took her to The People's Palace, we don't need their tracks anymore."

"She may not be there, Richard. They-"

"You read the orders yourself!" he said loudly, looking over at the Mord'Sith. "That is where they took her!"

"That doesn't mean they took the easiest route." she countered, crossing her arms. "They would have to pass through two towns before they reached it. She's The Mother Confessor. Do you really think people are going to just let her be carried past them?"

"She wouldn't make it easy for them. They would have no choice but to go the easiest way. They wouldn't risk her confessing or killing the others." He had grown angrier throughout the past day, ignoring most of the things Cara said. "She would not have made it easy for them." he repeated, staring at the ground.

Releasing a sigh, Richard started off again, not caring if they followed him or not. He looked at everything he could, trying to find some piece of anything that proved that the woman he loved had passed through the area.

"It's-" he couldn't bring himself to finish as he stepped towards the bushes before him. The brush, rumbled and dry, held something between its leaves. Something he had no problem figuring out what it was before he picked it up. "She came through here." the anger that flowed through his words made Zedd stop in his tracks, waiting for Richard to continue. "They- this was ripped from her skirt."

He tucked the fabric safely inside his shirt, keeping it close to him.

"Has it been taken care of?"

"Yes, Lord Rahl. Everything is in place for The Mother Confessor and she is unaware of everything."

Smiling, Darken Rahl turned around, facing the man who knelt before him. "Good. How long will it last?"

"A few days, my Lord. She is stronger than expected."

"Then we must act quickly. They will come for her soon and I must be sure that it will make her sick to see my brother's face." His smile widened, "He will never have her again. Get Nicci, bring her to me. She has work to do."

"Yes, My Lord." Standing, the man turned and walked towards the door.

"Jullian." the man froze at the sound of his name. "Has anyone touched The Mother Confessor?"

"As many as you asked to, my Lord."

"Does she know?"

"I watched her. She knows."

"But she is unaware of who has taken her?"

"As you requested. She was unconscious."

"Good." he replied in a soft voice, his smile growing wide.

"Nicci?" Kahlan breathed out softly as the blond walked freely into the dungeon cell.

"Mother Confessor." she replied, looking up at the woman, taking in, with pride, the site of her bloody body. "I see they have taken care of you. Used you to feed their own needs."

"Not they. He." replied through a halted sob.

"Who?"

"You know who. You know who!" she shouted as she began to cry harder. "You have to save him, you have to get him out of here! It's not Richard!"

"Richard?" she laughed at her words. "You're saying Richard did this" she motioned to Kahlan's body, "to you?"

"It's not Richard. It's his face, but it's not Richard." she cried, pleading with the other woman to listen to her. "It's not my Richard."

"You're right. He is not the man you knew. He will never be that man again. He is mine now. You see, I am able to confess whomever I please. That is, with thanks to you."

"What? No-"

"Yes. You see, Darken Rahl made me an offer that I just couldn't refuse and this, well, this was just some fun for me." The blond smiled widely, "I have to admit, having him do whatever I tell him to, and eagerly, is something I will never tire of. You should have confessed him long ago."

Tears streaming down her face, Kahlan felt her body tremble as anger rose, filling her with it. "I'll kill you to release him."

"I have no doubt that you will try." she laughed, looking around the room for a moment before meeting her eyes. "You would kill yourself to release him. He is your weakness. The weakness of The Mother Confessor."

"What have you done to him?"

"Why him? Sure he is nice to look at and he has many other talents, but you wouldn't have known about them without removing your clothes and you were always too afraid to risk his soul, ignoring your screaming needs." Staring up at her, Nicci stepped back, towards the door on the other side of the room. "It's a shame too. If you had, this may never have happened. You would never had to experience the look in the eyes of the man you love as he rapes you."

"How can you be so cold?"

Smiling, Nicci took another step back, almost outside of the door. "How can you have such a weakness?"

Kahlan blinked,releasing the tears pooling in her eyes. "I will kill you."

"You will try."

With those words, Nicci, turned and walked quickly out of site, leaving Kahlan once again alone in fear of what was to come.

Her cries were heard through out the palace, bringing a smile to his face as he continued to eat. "Who is with her?"

"Michael, my Lord."

Nodding, Darken Rahl looked up to the long haired man standing across the table. "Good. Has he been informed on the new instructions?"

"My lord?"

"He is not to touch her."

"Yes, my Lord. He knows not to touch her. Not in that way. She is for you, My Lord."

"Good. I will join him now then." He stood, dropping a napkin onto the table as he stepped beside it. "I have a few questions for our guest."

His guard followed him through the halls, keeping himself a few paces behind him. The sound of Kahlan's screams grew louder as they continued, turning one corner after another. When they reached the stairs to the dungeon he stopped in fear. The cry that escaped the mouth of their captive sent chills through his spine, causing his heart to stop for a moment.

"She can not hurt you." Darken Rahl said softly, turning back to look at his guard.

"Yes, My Lord."

"She frightens you. Why?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he walked towards him. "She is The Mother Confessor. Her powers are stronger than any of the others that have lived."

"Yes, she is very powerful. That is why we have her. Go and see how close her friends are. We don't want to be questioning her when they arrive."

Nodding, the guard turned and walked quickly to do as commanded.

"Kahlan." Darken Rahl spoke her name before he entered the room, pleased to have her looking at him when he came into view.

"Richard." she breathed out as he walked into the room.

"Lord Rahl," he said looking over to the short, fat man at her feet. "My mistress has ordered me to be with her."

"No!" Kahlan shouted, looking down to the fat man, who she saw to be Darken Rahl. "Don't leave me alone with him!" she cried, hoping he would listen to her plea.

"Why wouldn't I?" he laughed, "This is the man you love. It would be rude of me to stay." With a wide smile, he walked to the door. "Have fun."

"No!" she shouted again as Darken Rahl walked towards her. "You don't want to do this." He moved towards her, pulling at the strings of his pants. "Richard please, please don't do this." He came to a stop before her and looked up, meeting her eyes. "Please." she whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Reaching out, he grabbed her waist, pushing her backwards to the wall. The angle was painful as her lower body was pressed against the stone behind her, her arms stretched forward above her. Ignoring her cries, he lifted her skirt, running his hands over her body, a smile growing on his lips.

"Please," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut, "Don't do this."

His hands ran over her, stripping the clothes from her body. Each cry she released seemed to make him happier. She could feel him smile as his lips pressed against her stomach, pausing before taking the flesh into his mouth and pressing his teeth roughly into the skin, drawing blood.

Her body jerked away, instinctively trying to prevent the pain as he tightened his hold on her, gripping her hips and holding her firmly against him.

"Please Richard, this isn't you. You would never hurt me." she whispered more to herself than to him. She knew the truth of her words, yet here he was, breaking her heart.

"Richard, slow down!" Zedd called out as his grandson ran towards the palace in the distance. "We can't just go in there and ask to take her with us."

"I have to get to her, Zedd. I can't leave her there another moment." he replied, slowing his run enough to speak clearly.

"We'll get her out, Richard."

He stopped, turning around to his friends. "I know." he said softly, running his fingers through his hair. "I have to."

"We need a plan." Cara said softly, waiting for Richard to look at her. "I think I know how we can get in."

"How?"

Taking a breath, she looked over his shoulder to the palace. "There's an entrance on the side. Not many know about it, he would have it lightly guarded and they would be on the inside of the door. He wouldn't want anyone to see them and know it's there."

"Take us." Richard ordered coldly, still angry with the Mord'Sith for something he knew was not her fault. It was his.

They hadn't gone far, when Richard pulled her to a stop and to the ground, using his body to hold her against the dirt. "What-"

"Over there." He pointed ahead of them, to the group of horses at their entrance. "They're going to be coming out soon. We can take Kahlan when we kill them all." he growled, moving off of her and crawling closer, his chin almost scraping the ground.

"I'll follow them close enough to spell them. They won't be able to hide their tracks from us." Zedd whispered.

"Zedd," Richard whispered back to his grandfather, "be careful."

Nodding, Zedd gave them a quick smile before moving back into the trees.

He jumped up from the ground, the moment, Darken Rahl and Nicci step through the door and ran towards them, his weapon ready and filled with a rage that fuiled the sword. "Rahl!" he shouted, causing his brother to look up and smile.

"You're too late!" he shouted, lifting himself onto his horse, his eyes, staring straight at Richard as he raced towards him with a furious scream. "Go." he said to his men as they mounted their horses around him.

The scream grew louder as he watched them ride away, his eyes scanning every horse for the woman he loved. They were not taking her with them. She was dead. His heart stopped at his thoughts, but his body continued to move, running towards the door, fueled by the magic of the sword.

He could feel Cara close behind him, working effortlessly to keep up with him as he ran through ever door, looking for Kahlan. Reaching the stairs, his heart had begun to pound harder, threatening to break free of the confinement of his chest.

Opening the unlocked dungeon door, he saw her, laying naked in the corner of the room, across from the door, curled up in the corner. Blood on the floor surrounding her. "Kahlan," he breathed out, drawing her attention to him.

"No!" she shouted, sitting up and pressing herself even closer to the wall, trying to keep away from him. She would have given anything not to be afraid of him. To fear his touch, but he was no longer the man she loved. He belonged to another.

Stunned by her reaction, he rushed towards her, reaching for her shoulders as she pushed and clawed at him, trying to keep him away from her. "Kahlan, it's alright, It's-"

"Don't!" she shouted, slapping his face with a force that surprised Cara, stopping her in her tracks as she entered the room. "Stay away from me!" Lifting her knees to her chest, she used them to keep him from her, her eyes wide in horror.

"Kahlan," he whispered, pulling his hand back from her knee before she smacked it again. "it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." his voice full of fear.

"Please," she whispered through tears, "don't hurt me anymore."

Richard fell backwards, confused by her words as she tried to move away from him. "Kahlan, I would never-" he started, but the fear he saw in her eyes made his mouth run dry and unable to form any more words.

"We're going to get you out of here." Cara said, stepping towards them.

Shaking her head, Kahlan pressed herself closer to the wall, her body shaking in fear. "I don't want him near me. I don't want him to.." she mumbled the last of the words, ashamed to have to say them. "Why?" she whispered, looking over to Richard, who stared at her in tears. "Why did she make you do that to me?"

"I never- Kahlan, it wasn't me. Kahlan, I promise you, it wasn't me." he reached for her, startling her for a moment, making her drop her arms from her chest, reveling more of the damage that had come to her. His heart pounded in anguish, at her thinking he could have done this to her. "I would never hurt you."

"We don't have time for this!" Cara said loudly, walking past him and grabbed Kahlan, pulling her into her arms and shaking her. "You have to come with us, now!" She didn't give her a moment to fight back. Lifting her up, she tossed her swiftly over her shoulder, and walked back to the door. "Grab what's left of her clothes, she freezing."

Jumping up, he looked around the room for her clothes. Following the blood trail backwards, he saw them ripped and thrown about the room. Taking in everything, he was certain he could see what had happened to her.

She squeezed her eyes shut as Cara worked over her, trying to stop some of her bleeding. Watching her, Richard sat a few feet away from them. He wanted so badly to pull her into his arms and kiss her, but he didn't want to upset her again. Trailing his eyes over her naked, exposed body, he took in every wound. The bite marks on her neck, chest and breasts were only the begriming. It made him sick.

Continuing on, his eyes fell to a complete stop at her stomach. The bite marks covered as most of it, covering the scratches, marks he knew to be from someone's nails. Leaning forward, he tried to get a better look, without getting any closer to the women.

"Cara," he breathed out, his eyes on the one distinctive wound on her lower stomach. "He must have stabbed her. He stabbed her!" he shouted, standing up and pacing around them. "I'm going to kill him!"

"Richard," Kahlan whispered, her eyes closed as Cara pressed torn cloth against her, trying to stop more of the bleeding. He turned instantly at the sound of his name leaving her lips. "You have to save him. Cara, Nicci..." her breathing slowed as she passed out, leaving them staring.

"Cara, he did something to her. She thinks that I-" he could bring himself to say it, the pain was too great. "I would never hurt her." he added softly, sitting onto his knees beside the woman he loved. "I would never hurt you." Softly, he brushed his fingers through her hair, the way he had done so many times to bring her comfort. He hoped it would work in this moment.

Her body relaxed instantly to his touch, her body seeming to forget everything it had been through.

"Spirits, what happened?" no one looked up as Zedd rushed towards them. His eyes scanning the Confessor's bloody body.

"Can you heal her?" Richard ask, his eyes glued to Kahlan's face, studying the lines and curves of her beautiful features.

Kneeling down beside Cara, the wizard lifted his hands, laying them above Kahlan. "I'll do what I can." he replied, looking away from the tears falling down his grandson's face. "Richard," he whispered, drawing his attention, "I cannot heal the bite marks." he said softly, "She was bitten by someone using a powerful elixir. It was transferred into her blood. I may not be able to heal her at all."

"You have to!" he shouted, gripping his left hand into a fist. "Zedd, I can't let her die. She thinks that I did this to her!"

"What?"

Shaking his head, Richard pulled his hand from her hair and ran it through his own. "I don't know why, but she's terrified of me. Zedd, she thinks that I..." He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't have to.