Chapter 10
Lucinda couldn't hold in the grimace that sprung to her lips as she pulled her red leather up her bruised form, her entire body still recovering from the violent pleasure that she'd experienced with Demos a couple of nights ago. It didn't help that he had decided on another repeat performance last night, but thankfully not nearly as brutal as before.
It had been almost…sweet…in a strange way, apologetic. It was as if Demos had felt a measure of guilt or shame over what he had done to her. She hated to admit it, but it nearly brought tears to her eyes, feeling things inside of her that she'd truly experienced before.
She didn't know what had brought on this sudden turn of events whether it was regret for nearly killing her or because she had been one of Darken's numerous consorts.
She attached her agiel to her waist before checking her appearance one more time in the manor. She slowly ran a hand over her auburn burn braid to smooth it out before leaving her room.
She had been somewhat surprised that Demos had granted her permission to take an army of Mord'Sith to go after Richard and Kahlan herself. She had thought for certain that he would've denied her, pointing out the fact that Askar had already been released from the gates of the Underworld in order to hunt them down.
Slipping her gloves on, Lucinda slowly bent her fingers as the red leather molded to her hands like a second skin. She could hardly wait to find Kahlan Amnell, to make her suffer before she finally ended her life.
She couldn't care less what happened to the Seeker as long as she ended Demos's foolish obsession with the Mother Confessor. He already had her at his beck and call. He needed no other woman but her by his side.
A wicked smirk spread across Lucinda's face, her eyes growing distant as thoughts of what she was going to do to Kahlan once she found her drifted through her mind. She would make her scream, beg for her life, but it would never be granted.
She would, of course, force the Seeker to watch as she tortured Kahlan for killing Demos. Then she would drag the Seeker back to her Lord Rahl, allowing him to have a part of his desired prize. She would regretfully inform him that Kahlan had been accidently killed along the way and it couldn't have been helped.
Demos would never believe Richard over her if he tried to tell him what had really happened to Kahlan. There was no way that she was going to fail eliminating the Mother Confessor this time. She would hunt her down like an animal and end this once and for all.
XXX
Cara paced furiously, her face fixed into a permanent scowl that pretty much warned everyone around her to stay back at risk of life and limb. She didn't know how much more of this she could possibly take. She paused long enough to glance up at the People's Palace looming so large before them, wondering what was taking Zedd so long. He'd been gone for hours.
She swore to herself, cursing the Wizard for talking her into letting him go into the People's Palace by himself to gather information about Richard and Kahlan. Their trail had ended her much to her greatest fear. She had hoped to be able to get to them before reaching the People's Palace but knew that it had been wishful thinking on her part.
She turned then spotting Hadi sitting on a large rock watching her every move with those cold dark eyes filled with as much hatred as the Aku warrior could muster. She flashed him a smirk, knowing it would only get under his skin even more.
Hadi glowered at her, stuffing a leaf into his mouth before finally skulking further back into the woods away from her. Temin stood several feet away from him leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, keeping his distance between him and Hadi.
Tolla suddenly came into the small area where they'd decided to wait for Zedd, a grim expression on his tanned face. "You're wearing the grass away with your pacing," he told her, pointing at the ground.
His voice was accusing, but the glint in his eyes revealed his amusement as Cara met his gaze. "I can't help it," she frowned. "Zedd's been gone for hours. What if something has happened to him in there?"
"He still has some time before he's supposed to check back in with us," Tolla Nakunam reminded her. "I'm sure he's fine, Cara. He seems to me to be a very resourceful man."
"He can be if he's not worried about his stomach," Cara agreed. "He's probably in a tavern filling his stomach right now."
"Now, do you really think I'd put food before the wellbeing of Kahlan and my grandson?" Zedd groused as he came through the thick cover of trees, pulling back the hood of his robe to reveal a thick shock of white hair.
"It's about time," Cara huffed, pretending not to be worried about the old Wizard.
"You had Mistress Cara more than a little concerned about the state of your welfare," Tolla informed him with a smile.
Cara swatted at the Tolla's shoulder in annoyance. "No, I wasn't," she insisted. "I just want to find Richard and Kahlan that's all. Spirits only know what Demos could be doing to them right now."
"I always knew you cared, my dear," Zedd grinned broadly at her.
Cara glared hotly at him in return. "Well, what did you find out?"
"I've got some good news and some not so good news," he sighed heavily.
"And?" she nearly shouted in frustration.
"Richard and Kahlan aren't here as far as I can tell," he informed them.
"What do you mean they're not here?" Cara scowled. "Where are they?"
"Rumor has it Kahlan killed Demos, but the Mord'Sith brought him back to life," he said. "They managed to escape the People's Palace after that."
"And what's the bad news?" Tolla asked.
"Demos has half his D'Haran army out searching for them and a large party of Mord'Sith just left this morning to join in the hunt," he replied, folding his arms against his chest with obvious worry.
"Great!" Cara cried, throwing her hands up in exasperated anger. "This just keeps getting worse and worse. They could be anywhere by now. How are we supposed to find them now?"
"Well, we know they aren't heading back towards the Aku village or we would've come across them on the way," Zedd pointed out.
"Why wouldn't they come back to find us?" Cara asked. "It makes no sense."
"Something must be keeping them from being able to return to the village," Tolla interjected, his expression brooding as he considered this latest information.
Cara frowned. "Like what?"
"I don't know, but it must be more than they can handle together," Zedd supposed.
"If Demos died then that means the marking spell on Kahlan has been broken," Cara pointed out, her expression brightening somewhat.
"It would stand to reason," he nodded in agreement. "The only problem is if she was able to regain her memories or not."
"You mean she may have permanently lost her memory?" Cara exclaimed, stunned by the sudden revelation.
"I'm afraid so," Zedd regretfully informed them. "When a spell like Demos concocted is cast, any number of outcomes could happen when it's finally broken. She could lose all of her memories, some of them or none of them. It's difficult to say."
"Is there any way to recover them if she has lost them?"
"Time will be the biggest revealer as to the extent of the damage," he grimly said. "It could be permanent or she may regain them in time. Unfortunately, we won't know for quite a while."
"Seeker Richard must be beside himself right now with worry over his Confessor Kahlan," Tolla sadly shook his head.
Cara released a ragged breath. "I hope they're alright," she murmured, lost in her own thoughts.
"How will we find them now?" Tolla suddenly frowned. "We don't even know the first place to look for them."
"I may still have a trick or two up my sleeve that can help us," Zedd informed them.
XXX
Richard studied the compass in his hand, amazed by the fact that it was glowing so brightly, brighter than it ever had before. It warmed the palm of his head, the light that it radiated casting a blue glow on his fingers.
He could hardly believe that they were getting so close to having this all be over with. He drew a deep breath in an effort to calm the tremble of relief that suddenly rippled through him with the very thought.
He was one step closer to making Kahlan his forever, to his dream coming true. He could feel tears collecting in his throat. He had fought so hard for so long, had wanted a life with Kahlan so badly and now it was so close to becoming a reality.
Unfortunately, she didn't have any memories of him or the love that they shared. He was nothing more than the Seeker to her, a friend…a protector. He would have to start all over at winning her heart again, but he was more than determined to do just that no matter how long it took.
For her, he'd do anything, give up everything.
Snapping the compass closed, he shoved it in his vest pocket. He hated that the compass was directing them away from Zedd and Cara waiting for them at the Aku village, but it couldn't be helped. They had two days to find the stone or the Keeper would have free reign over the world of the living, destroying all life as they know it.
It felt as though the heavy burden he carried on his shoulders had suddenly grown heavier, knowing how everyone was depending on him to save them. He glanced at Kahlan walking beside him and felt a sudden rush of peace wash through him.
She had a way of making him feel stronger than he actually felt, as if he could take on the whole world single-handedly. He wanted to be a better person, a better man because of her.
Richard couldn't help but notice that she was lost deep in thought over something. He knew that she was fighting to remember her past, her forehead creased in obvious frustration. He longed to pull her into his arms and reassure her, to tell her that he was the one that loved her so completely it nearly stole his breath away with the sheer intensity of it or how it was all he could do take his eyes off of her some days.
But he couldn't…at least not yet. He needed to do what was best for Kahlan right now, not what he wanted.
He was thankful that she had finally eaten some last night. It wasn't as much as he had hoped, but at least it was something. She also seemed to have regained a little more strength, but the chase through the woods by those creatures from the Underworld had drained her considerably.
She needed several days of uninterrupted rest, but unfortunately that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Everything inside of him just wanted to whisk her so far away from here, to take her some place safe where no one could ever hurt her again, where Demos would never find her.
Unfortunately, the titles they each held prevented that from ever happening.
"You keep making that face, it'll stick like that," he teased, wanting to break the silence that had encompassed them all morning.
Kahlan turned to look at him, her expression shifting to one of confusion. "I'm sorry," she shook her head. "What did you say?"
"I said if you keep making that face, it'll stay like that," he repeated with a smile. "It's just something my mother always used to tell me to make me smile when I was feeling down."
Kahlan couldn't help but smile at his comment. He had a way of always raising her spirits when she was feeling discouraged. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I guess I'm not very good company am I?"
"Kahlan, you're fine," he insisted. "I just hate watching you struggle to remember your past. I feel so helpless to make it better for you."
"You've already helped me regain a couple of memories, Richard," she pointed out, her hand reaching out to a tree trunk to help balance herself as they crossed over rocky terrain. "Just think if you hadn't come upon me after my bath, I might not have ever remembered you were a peeping Tom."
"Kahlan, I told you it was purely accidental."
He looked at her again to find pure mischievousness dancing in her bright blue eyes, his special smile playing on her lips and warming his heart. Spirits, how he wanted to just pin her up against the nearest tree, to plunder her mouth and kiss her breathless.
He smiled in return at her playfulness. "You are so evil, Kahlan Amnell," he shook his head in amazement.
"I would say that I know I am, but I don't know that for certain," she smirked.
"Trust me when I say you can be very mischievous at times," he reassured her. "One time, I was walking through the woods looking for you only to have you leap out of a tree and jump me from behind."
"I did that?" she asked in surprise. "You're making that up."
Richard couldn't suppress the chuckle that rose up in his throat at the memory that was one of his favorites. It had been like a well-coordinated dance, their sparring holding such a powerful sexual tension to it that it had left him more than a little aroused.
"Yes, you did," he maintained with a nod of his head. "I had told you that I wanted you to keep me sharp and on my toes. I feared growing lax so you jumped me from behind and nearly killed me in the process."
"I highly doubt that I nearly killed you," she replied with a look of complete skepticism. "You must have really been growing soft if I was able to sneak up on you like that."
"That's almost the exact same reply that you gave me back then when I told you that you nearly killed me," he told her. "You put up a pretty good sparring match. I thought you were going to remove my head from my shoulders."
"Weren't we waiting for something…or maybe it was someone?" she frowned again, her gaze narrowing in thought.
"Yes, we were waiting to meet up with Zedd," Richard nodded his head, his excitement bubbling to the surface once more. "Do you remember anything more?"
Kahlan shook her head in discouragement. "No, just flashes of images of us sparring. Nothing more than that."
"That's better than nothing at all, Kahlan," he encouraged her. "You're going to get your memories back and I'm going to be there to help you every step of the way."
"What will the man you say loves me have to say about that?" she asked, taking Richard completely off guard.
Richard's mind suddenly went numb with her flirtatious comment. "I'm sure he won't mind," he finally replied, silently hoping that she wouldn't ask any more questions about the one who loved her.
"It seems to me he would be jealous of me spending so much time with you," she thoughtfully reasoned.
"If it was anyone but me he'd definitely be furiously jealous," he truthfully told her.
"You seem to know him very well," she answered. "Are the two of you close?"
Richard bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. "Closer than you can begin to imagine."
"Will the woman who loves you be jealous of me spending so much time with you?"
Richard thought for a long moment before finally responding. "Not at all," he decided was safe enough to say while under his breath adding, "She prefers it this way."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, just that she's very understanding…a lot like you are."
Kahlan looked at him for a long hard moment, studying him. "You're hiding something from me. There's more to it than what you're telling me."
Richard abruptly stopped, returning her suspicious gaze. He released a deep breath, trying to figure out how to keep her trust without affecting her memories too much. "Kahlan, there's a lot more to it than you can begin to imagine," he finally admitted. "I would love nothing more than to be able to tell you everything, but I'm afraid if I tell you too much it might somehow keep all of your memories from coming back."
"How would you telling me about my past keep me from getting my memories back?"
"I don't know enough about magic to be able to tell you," he confessed. "That's why once we stop the Keeper; I need to get you back to Zedd so he can help you regain your memories and remove any lingering effects that the magical spell may still be having on you."
"Will you promise to someday tell me everything?" she finally asked somewhat disheartened.
"Of course, Kahlan," he promised her, taking a step closer to her. "I swear I will tell you everything you want to know. Until then, please just trust me. I promise that everything will be alright."
Kahlan drew a deep breath, nodding her head in agreement. "I trust you," she replied. "I just wish that…"
An arrow suddenly sliced past Kahlan's head, taking them both by surprise as it embedded itself into a nearby tree. They both crouched down low to the ground, each going for their weapons as more arrows began to rain down upon them.
Richard growled under his breath as he caught a glimpse of several D'Haran uniforms peeking through the thick forest foliage. "Damn," he cursed to himself, gripping his sword tightly in his hand. "We're going to have to fight our way out of here."
"I'm ready," Kahlan reassured him. "I know you think I can't, but I'm not letting you take them on alone."
"So stubborn," he snapped in agitation. "Just try to stay behind me; engage only if attacked."
"Giving orders now?" she scowled at him. "I don't remember that ever happening."
"You don't remember a lot of things," he hissed before throwing himself into the fight.
Using his sword, he skillfully deflected one arrow after another, pushing towards the D'Haran soldiers that had tracked them down. He wanted to make sure he took out as many as possible, keeping the attention on him and off of Kahlan.
Kahlan gritted her teeth in frustration as she followed close behind him. This seemed so unnatural following behind the Seeker into a battle inside of running headlong into it side-by-side. She knew he was trying to protect her, but why? She was more than certain she could handle herself with or without her memories, protecting her Seeker at all cost.
A dozen D'Haran soldiers suddenly emerged from the foliage, swords drawn and more than ready for a fight with the Seeker and Mother Confessor. The battle was on and they would win for their Lord Rahl.