Entering their bedroom, she walked instantly across to the window and looked out at the busy people who went on with their day. "Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be one of them." He knew where she was leading him, but he didn't stop her. A part of him wanted her to continue. "My sister can handle things here." She turned to him slowly, taking an extra breath. "I can go with you-"
It all flooded into him in an instant, his selfishness and error. Shaking his head, he took a step forward and sighed. "This is where you belong, Kahlan. It's who you are; who you were born to be."
"Dennee can-"
"She's not you. This is where you're meant to be-"
Looking back to the window, she shook her head. "Any Confessor can do what I do, but only you can rule D'Hara."
"It's not who I am, Kahlan and if I go back again, what we have- Look what's happened to us. I don't want to lose you."
"You won't," she whispered, bringing her gaze back to his. "You can't."
"Then why does it feel like you're slipping away?"
With a small smile, Kahlan removed all distance between them. "That's because you're standing too far away. You won't lose me Richard, I promise. I can go with you-"
"No, I won't let you-"
"I wasn't asking," she interrupted. "I've been thinking about it for some time now. You're not happy here and I-"
"Yes, I am."
Walking away from him, she walked to their wardrobe and opened it, relieving his things. "You never unpacked." Closing the door, she looked around the room. "There is nothing in here that belongs to you." He searched the room quickly, trying to find something of his that wasn't on to his body. "Nothing."
Looking at her, he shrugged his shoulders, not knowing exactly what to say to her. "Kahlan," he started before she shook her head. The way he spoke her name told her everything she needed to know and she didn't want him to say it aloud.
"You don't want me to go with you, but you don't want to be here. Maybe you were right."
His face floated through a series of emotions before settling on a cross between fear and confusion. "What are you saying?"
Shaking her head slowly, she sighed. "Maybe we should be worried about us."
He walked to her previous position by the window and looked outside. "It's not that I don't like it here," he said over his shoulder. "This is your home, not mine."
"Then why do you return?"
He turned around to face her, hurt that she had asked. When he saw her face, he suddenly understood why she had. "I come back for you."
"Do you?" she asked softly.
Without hesitation, he rushed over and took her cheeks in his hands. "Yes. Kahlan, I- I come here for you, because one look at you and I'm reminded why I breathe. I return because without you, everything I am, is meaningless."
"Richard, don't-"
"You are my home, Kahlan."
Pushing him away, she began walking to the door. She stopped as she took hold of the doorknob and looked over her shoulder at him. "You shouldn't lie to a Confessor." Opening the door, she held back a heavy steam of tears. "You should go back to the People's Palace."
******
"You're going to freeze, dear one." Zedd's soft voice pulled the Mother Confessor from her thoughts. "I haven't seen you here in some time."
"I had lost the need to come." Sitting down on the bench beside her, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I was wrong, Zedd."
"What about?"
Looking at him, she deepened her frown. "Everything. I thought that he needed time." The wizard's face remained confused as he stared at her, waiting for her to explain. "Richard didn't tell you?"
"No."
Turning her head away, she focused her attention on their surroundings. They were on the other side of the luscious garden, a small opening before the forest that was filled with stone structures. Some of the sculptures were remarkably detailed, sometimes making it impossible for her take her eyes off of them.
"I hoped they could give me some guidance," she whispered as she turned her head slightly to the right. The stone carving of her mother towered over them with a peaceful look that the wizard had only seen on Kahlan's face when she was with her husband. "He's not happy, Zedd."
"I'm sure he-"
"He left," she whispered softly. "He's gone back to the People's palace."
"He'll return."
"He took all of his things. He's not coming back. Why would he?" she asked as she moved to her feet and stepped to the stone sculpture of her mother. "There is nothing for him here."
"You're here," the wizard offered.
Looking at the older man, she shook her head and let a few tears fall down her cheeks. "He told me I was his home and I wanted, so badly, to believe him, but I'm a Confessor." Zedd was surprised by her words, having thought that the couple was happy. "I lost him."
"Then why are you here?"
Wiping her tears, she tried to compose herself. "I told him I would go with him. Dennee can take care of things here and we wouldn't have to return, but, he- We've lost everything."
"You told him you would give up your title?"
"I would give up everything," she whispered. "He said this was who I am and I had just started to believe that I wasn't what my title claimed me to be, not with him." Meeting his grey eyes, she let herself go. "What kind of woman can't make her husband happy?"
At last, the wizard came to his feet and pulled her into his arms. He had no words to comfort her and in this moment, he wasn't sure anything would. Kahlan grabbed his robes, using him to help stable herself as she cried. Her body ached in a way it had never done before and no matter how tightly he held her, she felt like she was going to fly away. She hated herself for pushing him to come to Aydindril; for marrying him when she knew how different it would make his life. She had been selfish and now he was gone.
