Chapter 24 – Lights

Kahlan was always breathless after Richard made love to her. And when she thought about him making love to her, she was not thinking of a quickie in the hallway closet, but a long and passionate series of pleasure checkpoints that he always hit right on the dot, making her moan and tremble with indescribable ecstasy. The last time Richard had made love to her in just such a fashion had been on their wedding night. And now, nearly five months after that glorious night, he had done it again. Yet this time, in so doing, he had also restored her faith in him and his love for her… and her alone.

Once they had both succumbed to exhaustion, they had collapsed on the bed and fallen asleep. As soon as his head hit the pillow, Richard had drifted off into dreamland. It had taken Kahlan a little longer to come down from the highs of nirvana that he had brought her to, but once she did, she had gotten some sleep. But her rest only lasted so long. It had not help matters that they had fallen asleep on top of the covers. And to make matters worse, many spots on the coverlet were soaked from the wet fluids that had gushed out of Kahlan like a flood every time Richard stimulated her beyond the point of no return. He had seeded her so much that her insides could not hold it all, and his seed had mixed with her own essence to further ruin the coverlet.

Now, lying awake on the cold wet top blanket of her big bed, Kahlan shivered and grumbled, knowing that her favorite coverlet was most likely ruined. However, she was willing to accept it, because it had been their passionate lovemaking that had ruined it. Taking in a slow breath as she curled up beside the strong and sleeping frame of her beloved, Kahlan could not help but feel guilty for ever doubting him. She vowed that she would try her best not to allow her jealous side to seize control again. Other women may fawn and throw themselves at him, but Kahlan—and only her—was the woman Richard wanted to make love to. And he had proved it last night.

Pushing herself up on an elbow, Kahlan gazed down on his handsome face, watching as his eyes moved beneath his lids as he dreamed. Slowly, she ran her fingers along his brow, brushing away his unruly hair. "I love you, my Richard," she murmured softly.

Breathing in deeply, Kahlan shifted to scoot closer to him. She let out a soft groan as she moved her hips, trying to get into a more comfortable position. Her inner thighs ached, but in a good way. She smiled, remembering how slow and long lasting their lovemaking had been at the start, and how it had gradually picked up to a pace that had resulted in Kahlan having more internal bursts of pleasure than she had ever thought possible. And if she had not been pregnant from the beginning, she had no doubt that she would be now.

Letting out a frustrated breath, unable to find a comfortable position, she cursed under her breath and turned onto her back. Gazing up at the rosewood ceiling above her, Kahlan rested her hands on her swollen belly. She wondered what their daughter had thought of all the pounding and loud screams she heard from outside the safe and comforting warmth of the womb. Kahlan had no doubt that the entire palace—if not the city—was aware of what had been going on in the Mother Confessor's bedchambers. She had cried so loudly with each successive release that her voice was almost hoarse. Richard had lost the ability to even speak near the end, and had to content himself with simply low growls and grunts to emote his pleasure and love. Though, when he reached his final release of the evening, he did manage to call up enough energy to softly moan her name.

That was one of the things she'd never get tired of, hearing Richard moan her name in the heights of pleasure. She felt confident that he felt the same about her moaning his name. And there were other things she never got tired of. Kahlan firmly believed that she would never tire of that initial connection, when Richard pushed himself up into her and her inner muscles contracted at the intrusion. She loved doing that to him, making a low throaty groan escape his lips. The first couple of times during the night, she had let him take control of the connection, but as the evening went on, she varied the speed and pressure of his entrances, heightening not only her pleasure, but his as well.

Being with Richard was one of the greatest things that had ever happened to her. And she wasn't just thinking about the physical sense of being one with him—though that was pretty damn great, itself—but of the love that they shared. Once, Richard had told her that their souls had already mingled and become one, and that even if they had never physically been capable of consummating their love, he would have died a happy man, knowing that he had shared a love so pure and eternal that when he was without her, he had felt incomplete. Well, they had managed to consummate their love, and Richard assured her that he had no intention of dying until he was more wrinkled than Zedd, and he made her promise to do the same, which she eagerly agreed, though she wondered how attractive she'd be then.

"Thinking happy thoughts?"

Kahlan jerked, and let out a gasp, as his voice called her from her thoughts. She held still, watching with big eyes as his hand came up to touch her jaw and cheek. It slowly slinked down her neck and shoulder to cup one of her breasts. She smiled, feeling his breath on her face as he leaned over to plant a soft kiss on her lips as his hand began to lightly squeeze her full breast, teasing the aching nipple.

"Always," she eventually murmured in reply.

Richard grinned and eased back down onto the mattress. "Are you cold?" he asked, stopping his fondling and simply laying his hand out across her breast, his voice sounding concerned.

"No…," she shook her head and looked over at him, smiling at how the waning moonlight played across his features.

"Did you get any sleep?" Richard asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Some," Kahlan answered, not knowing why she was speaking in such a soft voice.

A crooked smile formed on his lips. "Sorry for keeping you up," he chuckled softly, leaning over to kiss her pale shoulder, tenderly brushing away the long strands of her damp hair that covered her moist skin. "But I could not help myself."

"You know," Kahlan said, twiddling with her fingers over her belly. "I do believe that was our longest session of lovemaking ever."

"Really?" Richard scrunched up his eyebrows and looked at her, dubious of her assertion. He narrowed his eyes in thought. "Let's see, I came to you in mid-afternoon… and…"

"And we did not finish until three hours past midnight," Kahlan finish.

"Yeah, but our wedding night was like… what? Three days?"

"Yes…," Kahlan smiled, winking. "Three glorious days, but we weren't making love all the time. There were long intervals in-between when we were either asleep or just talking."

"Or just snuggling close and softly kissing," Richard smirked, and leaned over her to kiss her.

Kahlan licked her lips and sighed in contentment when he shifted back down to rest beside her, his hand affectionately rubbing her bare arm. "Well, this night we were in constant motion, or rather you were," Kahlan said, continuing her explanation of why this session had been the longest. "We only had one interruption and it was only brief."

"Oh yes, I remember," Richard chuckled, his mirth shaking the bed a bit. "Rikka pounded on the door and asked if we wanted supper."

"Which I tersely replied with, No thank you, the Seeker is filling me as we speak!" Kahlan laughed, still shocked she had actually said that.

Richard rolled onto his back and let out a long breath. "It was pretty good, wasn't it?" he questioned.

Kahlan shifted onto her side to look at him. "Yes… yes it was," she reached out and ran her fingers along the hard planes of his chest. "It was worthy of creating a life."

"So now you're saying it was as good as our wedding night!" Richard turned on her. "I think someone has a change of opinion." He tickled her nose with his, before capturing her lips in a long and slow kiss. Kahlan closed her eyes and moaned softly, bringing her hand up to caress the side of his face and grip at his hair. She felt him move closer to her, his hand running down the length of her hair and following the curve of her back until he reached her bottom. He gripped a good portion of her soft flesh and squeezed, eliciting a sensual groan from her mouth.

"You're in a playful mood," Kahlan moaned into his mouth.

"What did I tell you?" Richard feigned irritation.

Kahlan smiled coyly and batted her eyelashes. "That it doesn't take much for me to get you hard… Ooh, and look I was right!" she beamed at him and ran her hand down his body to grip him in her hand.

Suddenly a strange noise sounded from outside. Kahlan ignored it, thinking it was just the soldiers rousing for an early morning. But when it came again, it sounded more clear and distinct, and familiar. Richard let out a frustrated groan and pulled back her hand. He gave her a quick kiss, before backing away and sliding off the bed. Kahlan pouted, glaring at his amazing backside as the perfect muscles flexed when he walked across the room to the wardrobe. He opened it and retrieved one of his cloaks, pulling it over his shoulders.

He paused and looked over his shoulder at her, his expression one of a man being tortured. "Spirits, Kahlan, you're glowing like an angelic being."

"Why don't you come back to bed then and make this angel sing?" Kahlan suggested, wiggling her eyebrows.

The strange noise came drifting through the opened balcony doors again, carried by the wind. Richard visibly groaned, tormented by the decision between going to see what was making that sound or going back to the tempting woman in the bed asking for him to ravish her. Then suddenly the sound stopped and a low drumming began. Richard's eyes narrowed and his expression changed immediately.

"Kahlan, stay there," he said firmly, raising a hand to reinforce his order.

Kahlan watched as he ducked outside, tightening the cloak around him. Sighing in frustrated sexual need, she pushed herself up to a sitting position. Ignoring his order, she grunted as she heaved herself off the bed, reaching for her silk robe. Kahlan wrapped her robe around her shoulder, clutching it to her shivering frame. Walking as fast as she could, which to an outsider would look more like a waddle, Kahlan shuffled towards the balcony doors and walked out to stand by her husband.

He was standing tall, his back straight and unruly hair blowing slightly in the breeze. Kahlan shivered and tugged the robe tighter around her. Coming up to stand by his side, she looked out at the city beneath. Technically it was morning, but it was still dark outside, with only the light of the moon shining down on them. She squinted and looked out past the city walls and saw dozens of small lights appear, dotting the horizon. The low incessant drumming was coming from out there. Kahlan furrowed her brow in worry and looked up at Richard to read his expression.

Gone was her Richard, replaced by the Lord Rahl and Seeker of Truth. His shoulders were tense and his jaw was set. His brow was lowered and he had the raptor glare that was a telltale sign of his heritage. Tentatively, not sure if she should interrupt him in such a state, Kahlan reached over and grasped for his hand. He shuddered, but relaxed, and tightened his fingers around hers. She watched as he heaved in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly.

"It's time, Kahlan," he spoke softly at first, his voice hard. "Spirits, look how many lights there are!"

Kahlan absently nodded, terrified by the number of small flickering lights that were manifesting below the horizon. The number was so vast that she could hardly fathom such a force.

"A million strong, said the scouts," Richard murmured. "I would not have believed it if I had not seen it for my own eyes." He paused and racked in a deep breath. "Spirits, I didn't even know there was such a number until now."

Wanting to soothe him, Kahlan inched closer to him and wrapped her arms around his middle, hugging him with all her might, trying to give him some of her own strength. His hand came up and rested on the small of her back, holding her to him.

"Oh, Kahlan," he mumbled softly. "I'm so scared."

"So am I," she whispered back.

Kahlan jumped when she heard the loud knocking coming from the strong oak door back in her bedchambers. She released Richard from her arms as he turned to go back inside to answer it. Staying out on the balcony, Kahlan turned to look out at the glowing lights, ringing her hands together in front of her as she watched more lights join the hundreds that were already there—soon it would be thousands, and then a million. A million lights… a million men, all willing to die in the name of the Imperial Order.

"A grim sight, indeed," she recognized Zedd's shaking voice as Richard and the old wizard, along with Cara and Captain Meiffert stepped out onto the balcony.

Richard immediately went to Kahlan, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her, holding her to his chest. He rested his on her shoulder and watched with her as the lights continued to grow in number.

"Bags! How many are there?" Zedd questioned aloud, though no one answered.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kahlan noticed Cara inch closer to the D'Haran captain of the First File. The captain saw and immediately put an arm over the Mord'Sith's shoulder as Cara leaned into him, trembling slightly. The sight left Kahlan thunderstruck. She had never seen a Mord'Sith tremble in fear, yet now she had. And It was an image she never wanted to see again.