Legend of the Seeker
The Male Confessed

Hello everyone, and once again, thank you all so much for your reviews. I'm really glad that you're enjoying the story so far. I hope I can keep your interest. 'americanchild' I will agree with you there. When I published chapter 3, I was really tired and so didn't proof read it. I do apologise for that and I will make sure I proof read every chapter to follow. Also as many of you would have noticed, each chapter will begin with 'The' so chapter 2 will still be called 'Into the valley' on the story, but I edited the title in the drop down list to 'The valley'.

Well, I'm sure you're all itching with anticipation at what happened next after the cliff-hanger last chapter. So you can wait no longer. Here is chapter 4, please read and review.

Enjoy!

Previously, on The Male Confessed: After Richard rode off in order to rescue Kahlan, Zedd was left alone without a horse. Unable to ride, he was forced to walk. On his journey, his guilt got the better of him and so went back to the cave where Kahlan was taken and found a place to bury Nell, the old woman who healed Kahlan. On his walk back through the path and valley, he stumbled upon a Gar, a feared beast in the Midlands. Whilst successfully killing it, lack of food and sleep proved its worth on Zedd rendering him unconscious. Moments before he was made unconscious he saw something which worried him. What was it? Where's Richard? Is Kahlan safe? Who were the white knights? ...

Chapter 4
The grieving child

The faint crackle and popping gently woke him from his sleeping. His head was numb and felt like a thousands flies were inside him and biting away. His stomach ached from the faint smell of freshly cooked fish. The aroma in the small room was almost unbearable. Where was he? He didn't remember much about how he got there but whatever happened cannot have been too bad. He could hear a ringing and wondered where it came from until he realised it was in his ears. A high pitched ring which could of made a person go deaf or want to go deaf. Despite the ringing, and the numbing, he found himself smiling. An emotion he realised he hadn't felt for a while. Trying to sit up, he groaned which settled into a soothing awe.

The feel of soft silk against his skin was heavenly. Looking down he was on, what he presumed, to be a mattress filled with feathers due to the softness. Overlaid with a warm white sheet he lay under a thick black silk blanket woven with elegant symbols. Symbols he didn't know represented any meaning or not. Each was a faint yellowish golden colour warming to the eyes, looping and curving, intertwining and spiralling. The room he found himself in was small and only held a lantern glowing faintly allowing some of the light inside. On the other end of the room was a small square window, a white cloth draped over, softly letting in the blue light from the moon cascading across the floor and on the bed fit for the Creator himself.

He felt at ease with himself that he didn't notice when the ringing in his ears and numbing in his head had vanished. Gently peeling off the duvet he slid his skinny legs off the bed and onto a furry red rug. He realised he was bare footed when the soft warming seductive feel of the rug welcomed his feet. Just to the side of him was a pair of grey woolly slippers. Obliging himself, he slipped his feet inside them. Looking down, he found himself in a long white cloth-like robe. The fabric had however started to make him itch and as he scratched briefly he found his clothes on a small chair situated in the corner of the room.

With a deepened frown he turned at the head of the bed to where stands a doorway draped over with a long, ripped, yellow cloth letting in some light from the other end. Cautiously he approached the doorway, hands at the ready, and pulled back the cloth. The surprisingly blinding light stunned him forcing him to raise his hand to shield from the light. "I heard you stirring. So I cooked you some food" came the soothing angelic voice. His stomach growled with the smell.

"I'm not hungry" he lied, his stomach growling again.

"Really?" she asked, standing, "You're stomach says differently" he smiled raising her eyebrows. Approaching the female, he rose his index finger with a threat like manner to stop her from walking any closer to him. Looking down at her feet the memories suddenly flooded back to him. What happened to him that night. The Gar. Nell. Kahlan. Richard. Zedd's eyes snapped sharply to the woman's blue eyes. She stared back at him with a faint smile.

"You were in the valley with me!" said Zedd, she kept her smile. "What am I doing here?" he asked her more of a demand. "Who are you?" he ordered. The room was slightly bigger then the room he was in before. On the side stands a stove which was used to cook the food on. In the centre of the room stood a round wooden table with four chairs around it. On the table itself was one lone plate with a freshly cooked fish. Still hot, Zedd almost found himself licking his lips from the smell and sight. He hadn't eaten in so long he could murder for that fish. Several lanterns lit up the room nicely along with the two square windows letting in the moonlight.

Around the room were hangings of puppets and dolls which slightly aroused Zedd's caution. "You should eat" she told him, an instruction of her own, but she sounded less foreboding and more forthcoming and affectionate. Zedd didn't move and simply stared into the young woman's ocean blue eyes. She too stood unmoving but her graceful presence and the arch in her back proved her no danger. Zedd didn't want to risk anything and remained transfixed on the woman. She wore a black flowing gown which touched her ankles. She had no shoes on and so was bare footed. She had gorgeous long flowing red hair down to her shoulders. Red hair in the midlands usually meant you a witch or some other evil force.

Zedd didn't believe in such but still took this as an omen. Her young unwrinkled soft skin shone from the light in the room. Ruban lips smiled at him, blue blameless eyes looked up at him. She looked smaller than he at around his shoulders. She interlocked her fingers in front of her as if to demonstrate she shows no harm and is weapon-less. Her blue eyes travelled down his body and to the slippers he now wore. "I hope the gown and slippers were to your satisfaction" she smiled kindly. He scratched at his shoulder caused by the gown.

"Yes, thank you" he relaxed a little. Only a little. "May I ask where I am?" he asked deciding to take a more calming and gentle approach. He was a wizard of the first order and if this young woman decides to prove any trouble, no matter what she is or the power she wields, he'll easily be able to kill her within a second.

"Your at my cottage. My home" she nodded respectfully, "It's not much but it houses me and once my mother" she said with grave anguish. The sound and reaction to saying it out loud looked to Zedd like her mother had died recently. He felt for the poor girl. He nodded in kind and with sympathy in his voice he asked,

"Who are you?"

"My name is Jessica. I was named after my grandmother. She's with the spirits now" Zedd wanted to console the clearly upset girl but he still wasn't at ease with any of this. Again, he nodded before thinking of the next thing to say.

"What happened? Before I became unconscious I saw feet. You're feet"

"You were badly exhausted from your fight with that Gar" she said softly with fear in her voice. He frowned the more at her but allowed her to continue. "I hid in the bushes until you killed it. When I came out you had fallen unconscious. So I did the right thing, the honest thing, and brought you back to mine."

"A stranger?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"A stranger who killed a Gar. Presides, my mother always told me to look out for those in need. I could hear your belly grumbling a mile off. I knew you were thirsty. When I got you back to mine I gave you water so you wouldn't be too dehydrated. Then I clothed you and put you in my bed." She told him before a brief pause filled the dry air. "I didn't want you to freeze. It was a cold night" she said coyly. He smiled his thanks suddenly beginning to relax. His shoulders loosened and he started thinking about the fish more.

"How long was I asleep for?" he asked curious, stepping closer to the fish trying to make it natural. She knew it wasn't and giggled at the lame attempt at acting natural.

"That night and the day. It's night time again, obviously, and here you are. Awake. I caught a bunch of fish earlier. There's a pond not far from here. I cooked many and thought I'd give you that one" she said pointing to the fish on the table. She looked over at him, he looked back at that sweet angelic face. "Better not have it go cold. That one took me ages to catch! I hope you-," before able to finish, Zedd had sat down on the chair with a heap. The slimy fish was in his mouth straight away. "…Enjoy it" she finished taken aback with a giggle. Zedd tore away at the fish as Jessica came with a cup full of cold fresh water. He smiled to her and gulped it down.

She sat on the chair opposite from Zedd and watched him devour the entire fish and water. When she made comment at how fast he was eating the thing he replied he was a hungry man. With no doubt in her mind of that statement, she gave him four more fish stored away in the stove. Each time, Zedd never faltered with them. He moaned with pleasure, laughed at how great it felt to fill the void in his stomach that tears brimmed the corner of his eyes. Within moments all the fish given to him were gone and he was, unbelievably, full. Jessica, standing up to clear his plate, eyed as Zedd slouched into the chair and rubbed his bloated belly. Licking his lips, Jessica sat back in front of him on the table. Remembering his manners, he sat up properly and levelled out his white hair.

"Thank you for your generosity. But I now must get going" he told her respectively and went to stand up.

"Are you crazy?" she barked. As he turned back she realised her tone and softened up. "Sorry. I just mean it's cold and pitch black outside. You have no real idea where you are and… It's just silly!" she told him. Whilst the words were demanding, her voice couldn't get to such a tone and merely came as a plea.

"You don't understand. My friend was taken by a white knight and my other friend went after her" with her blank expression he decided to change the sentence, "A confessor was taken by a white night and The Seeker himself went off after her" Jessica's eyes widened with amazement. "I need to find them. They rode off and I think they bypassed this village I saw at the end of the valley…"

"Eden" she said.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"That's the village. Eden. It prides itself in its fresh water. I have to travel there at times for their water. With the rain and the pond itself, it gets very dirty and muddy. So in order for water or to wash my clothes I go to Eden. Peaceful village too. No one would ever turn a blind eye to anyone. Sometimes it's their curse. They'll trust anyone"

"What about people in white?" he asked worried straightening up.

"What do you mean?" she asked with a frown. The moonlight cascaded across her face making her glow. Her red hair blew lightly from a breeze and glimmered from the moonlight.

"They'll trust anyone, correct?" he asked. She nodded. "Well I would assume if that be the case, they would do so with a thief, a murderer? Give them a second chance"

"I would assume so, yes"

"Then surely, if seeing someone in white, a colour of purity, of good. They would think them angels, saints or even His spirits" the look in her eyes proved she didn't know but that it could be a possibility. "They would be more inclined to do anything for them…" his voice trailed off when he got deep in thought. Still not understanding what he was getting at she walked around the table.

"I'm not following. I do apologise for my ignorance" Zedd spun around with much seriousness.

"I must go! I think those people may be behind the attack" claimed Zedd running into the bedroom. Jessica went to follow until watching the white robe collapse into a heap by the gap at the bottom of the silk cloth. She realised he was changing back into his clothes before. His shoes laid underneath the clothes. In a matter of moments, Zedd came back out in his own robes.

"Please don't leave me!" she begged. Zedd spun around to see her face. She had begun to cry which made Zedd's heart melt. "I'm scared. Being alone. I hate being alone" she said shivering from the cold. Zedd, fatherly, embraced her into a hug to warm her up. She started to cry and clung onto him feeling such solace in the affection. Something he felt she missed and needed.

"Do you have no other family?" asked Zedd stroking at her red silk hair.

"My father was taken captive to be a soldier for Darken Rahl before I was born" she wept gulping back tears. "That left my mother and grandmother until she passed away. Two days later I was bored. For 16 years my mother helped raise me, love me, look after me. Every night she'd tuck me in and stroke my hair, like your doing now. She would read me stories about a seeker and these amazing adventures. She said they were legend, but now I know them true. If I ever hurt myself my mother would help to heal me. I miss her so much" she cried more intensely. Zedd bent down and gently held onto the weeping girl fearful of her life.

"You said heal. Heal how?" he asked gently. He waited for her crying to calm down. He dared not rush her. When she did calm down, wiping at her tears, she replied to the question.

"She had magic. She used that to heal me" she wept looking away. Zedd's eyes rose in horrific realization. His heart panged more as fresh tears of his own begun to form.

"Was your mother named Nell? Nell Troth?" he asked softly but still stunned himself. The girl, weeping, nodded her head. Zedd grabbed the girl and cradled her to him, gently rocking her back and forth.

"Oh, you poor girl. You saw the whole thing didn't you? What that Gar did to her. You saw it" he said, to himself by the end. The girl only cried the harder. He held her tighter and rocked her. Resting his cheek on her head, he felt great sorrow for her. He understood why she reacted so freshly to the mention of her dead mother. She had died yesterday. Zedd remained rocking her backwards and forth for several hours. He reasoned with himself that she hadn't had time to properly grieve and decided to give her as long as she needed. After a time, she had fallen asleep in his arms.

Zedd, cradling her, walked her into her bedroom and laid her to rest under the duvet. Walking out, Zedd went to go for the door but stopped himself. He couldn't just abandon this little girl in her time of need. Not after what she had been through. Sat by the table, he told himself that he would take her to Eden and hope that one person there will take her in. He began thinking about the people there, how they could be connected with the white knights. His thoughts eventually drifted him off to sleep…

To be continued…

That's that, another chapter done and dusted, so what you think? Yes, it's another Zedd centric, but unlike the television series, I won't rush my storylines. I like to stretch them out a little, give this story many different arch's to keep you all on the edge of your seats, begging for more. This is why this has been another Zedd centric chapter. It still leaves you wanting to know where Richard is, if Kahlan is safe and so forth. Will they be in the next chapter? Who knows!

What did you think of Jessica? Did I show her turmoil ok? I thought the addition of Jessica would be nice and something to add a new layer to the story. The fact that she's the daughter of Nell was also an idea I found interesting and opens up many ideas for myself.

So with chapter 4 done, I'd love to hear your views, comments and suggestions. You guys help drive my story onwards and up so please, keep them up. Chapter 5 is in the works and half way done so it should be published soon. Until then, take care!