Sitting tall astride my horse, I watched as Richard tossed Rian one last time in the air and then gave him another embrace and kissed his brow before handing him to Cara. He swung himself up into his saddle and turned his mount toward the southern hills of D'hara.
"Keep them safe, Cara."
"On my life, Lord Rahl." She replied and glanced at me sternly. "I'll not let them out of my sight." I knew she meant that there was no chance of me sneaking away to follow Richard.
"I'll be back by nightfall." I said to Cara, as Richard kicked his horse into a slow trot. My horse jerked and began to follow after Richard and I heard General Jameson yell 'ride out' in the distance somewhere behind us.
"I'll skin you alive myself if you even think about it, Mother Confessor." Said Cara with a smirk.
"Don't worry, Richard has an escort of twenty to bring me back" I said rolling my eyes.
"Good for him. It was my suggestion." Rian giggled, clapping his hands in excitement even though he didn't quite understand what was happening. The joy of childhood…I mused to myself. If only things were always so easy, but nothing ever was.
"Three months, Kahlan….that's all I ask."
"Alright." I said softly, not wanting to agree. I had ridden out with him as a final farewell. He had assured me again and again that he would be safe but I had a twisting feeling in the pit of my stomach that wouldn't subside.
I kept my focus pointed at the distant rays of sunlight as they split out from between the clouds. It was so beautiful and so deceiving. Nothing about Richard leaving me behind matched the beauty of the vast landscape in front of us. If only we could walk hand in hand through the wildflowers and follow the rays of the sun, I thought.
"I love you Kahlan." He whispered and I felt his fingertips brush a strand of hair behind my ear. A lone tear escaped and he caught it, smoothing it out on my cheek. "Shh….Don't cry, please don't cry." I continued looking forward as more tears spilled. I couldn't look at him or I would break.
"I hate this."
"Hate what?" He asked.
"This, you leaving me to die." I sobbed against my words.
"Kahlan." He said my name, thick with emotion. "I'm not going to die."
"You don't know that." I whispered my voice too full of anguish to speak. "I won't be there with you…who will protect you the way I would?"
He tilted my face to look at him, but I kept my eyes on the pommel and griped tight to the reins in an attempt to still the damn that was breaking inside of me. "Look at me." He said and I felt both of his hands cradle my face like he often did. When our eyes locked I saw so much love that some of my fear faded. "You are always with me, Kahlan Amnell Rahl. You are part of me and no matter where I am, you protect me. I hear your voice in battle telling me to be careful and I see your face in my mind and it causes me to fight with everything I am because I know you are waiting for me." I smiled my special smile, the one I saved for only him and leaned into his touch.
"How can you always make me feel better in the worst of situations?"
He grinned his cocky, boyish smile that I loved. "I am the Seeker." He winked and we both laughed, the tension quickly draining at long last.
"I love you, so much, Richard." I said as tears continued falling even with our laughter. He kissed me then, slow and passionate, saying everything that words could not but it ended too soon and he was backing away, pulling my hood around my head, tucking the loose strands of my hair inside.
"And I love you my Kahlan." He said. "You know I don't want to leave you but I…."
I reached my finger to his lips, silencing him. "We've said enough about this, Richard. I know why you go and why you want me to stay and even though I hate not being with you I understand, really, I do."
He studied my face intently, searching me. "You know you're not a very good liar?" I opened my mouth to protest but he didn't allow me to speak. "But I know that right now you speak the truth." He said, smiling and taking my fingers in his he brought them to his lips and kissed each one before kissing my palm. I pulled him back for one last kiss and reached for the leather thong that hung around my neck, placing in over Richard's head as we broke from our kiss.
"What's this?" He questioned and reached for the object around it. Tears suddenly filled his eyes and he looked at me, unable to formulate words.
"My ring…I went back that day you tossed it in the woods. I didn't know how to tell you that I still wanted to be yours because I was afraid you didn't want me after everything that happened, but now….."
"Dear spirits….Why didn't you say anything?"
"I knew what you would say. You'd convince me that you wanted me but I didn't believe you and I didn't want to rid myself of everything I had from before because I was afraid that it was lost. But Richard…."I looked down at my hands that were entwined with his. "I know now that your love for me never wavered even when I was afraid it had. I just wanted you to know that I never wanted us to end, even though I said that it was what I wanted. My heart was never taken from you, even when the rest of me was. I just", I looked back into his eyes, "I wanted you to know in case anything happens…..that I'm still yours."
"I know that." He said wiping my tears again with his thumbs. And then he pulled one of my daggers from my boot and cut the string, pulling off the ring. He looked me in the eye as he slipped in on my hand. "This belongs on you, Lady Rahl." He said, closing my hand around the ring. "And I love you, a thousand times, I love you."
I fisted his cloak and pulled him into another kiss and wrapped my arms around him. Our horses snorted at the closeness of each other and Richard and I laughed once more. "You should go, Lord Rahl. They need you out there." I said backing out of our embrace.
"Wait for me."
"Forever." I said and kissed my finger placing it on his cheek. He held my hand to his face for a moment longer, his eyes boring into mine, and then he allowed my hand to slip away as he turned and sent his horse into a gallop. He did not turn back, and I didn't blame him. He may not have had the strength to stay on course if he did. I watched as his form got smaller and smaller in the distance and then I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw his men gather around him that had been waiting ahead for him in the distance.
"Mother Confessor? Are you ready to head back?"
"In a moment." I answered as my escort flanked to each side of me and watched until he disappeared from sight. I smoothed the ring with my thumb, turning it in my hand seeing Richard in my mind's eye as he had placed it on my hand again. Smiling, I spun my horse and led the way back to the palace where I would wait for him forever.
The dust hit my face, making my eyes water and burn as we rode slowly through the empty expanse of rolling desert. It was hot, humid and left the exposed skin of my knuckles burn as they held tight to the pommel of my saddle. I glanced to my left and saw Nicci sitting proud, shoulders back with her thick blonde hair blowing in the hot wind. In everything that had happened in the last few years she had become a trusted friend and advisor to both me and Kahlan. A grin spread on my shadowed face beneath the hood of the cloak that shielded me to the suns rays when I thought of our unexpected friendship.
As if reading my thoughts, she glanced at me and returned a friendly smile, one I had seen often on her porcelain face since she had abandon the Order and joined us. "Not much further." She said indicating the rising slope of sand in front of us. "Just over that rise. I can sense them with my Han." She whispered as if she was afraid they would hear her. "Their gifted shouldn't detect us…yet." She added. "We've set shields 100 feet in all directions to mask our approach."
"How many do you think are there?" I asked, a sense of worry edging into the pit of my stomach.
"It's hard to say, Richard, but I think there may be more than we intended."
"Nicci! Lord Rahl!" It was Belinda and Gladys approaching quickly from the back ranks, seemingly in a state of panic.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
They exchanged glances, and Belinda finally spoke. "There are two forces. One up ahead and one trailing about half a days ride behind. We rode as fast as we could. Jameson and his troops had to turn around to protect our flanks but….Richard….they have us surrounded."
Pushing back my hood, I squinted in the blaring light to get a better look at things as though I could see the approaching armies of the Order myself. I gripped the hilt of my sword, allowing the anger to surge through my veins in an attempt to quell the rising panic. There was nothing to be done. We were trapped.
A sudden jolt vibrated beneath us and shook the ground. As horses tottered back to maintain their balance, I heard a thousand swords being drawn together, leaving a ringing echo in the dusty air.
"What is it, Nicci?." I asked as she sat motionless, a steel hard glare on her face.
"The gifted had the Order cloaked in magic, much like what was used to hide us when Kahlan was a prisoner." She looked at me then with her striking blue gaze and I saw sadness in her.
"Nicci, what happened with Kahlan is done and over…"
"No, its not. Jagang made a promise and he will keep it. I'm sure of it."
"Lord Rahl!" It was Riebisch with Rikka close behind, dust flaring behind them in a cloud. "We have to move….now! They have dragon's breath and some of our other scouts spotted a wagon full of whisperers."
I glanced at Nicci. "Take the gifted up to the ridge and see what you can do to hold back the magic of the whisperers. If you don't….we're all dead. And find Zedd!"
Gladys and Belinda turned at once and rode to the back of the lines that they had just come in from. Nicci said, "You be careful Richard, you promised kahlan. Get yourself out of sight. Jagang wants you." She warned. "May the spirits be with you." She turned her horse and followed after the other sisters.
Rikka was still at my side along with Lahra and Salidhe. They were appointed by Cara to guard me every move I made. Despite the moment of danger, I couldn't help but smile inwardly at the thought of my friend.
We raced off down the hillside smack into the oncoming assault of the Order that was ahead of us. I held my sword high as we barreled through their front ranks toppling them over easily from our vantage point down the hillside. There was no time to plan, having been taken by surprise but it did not stop the ebbing flow of adrenalin that coursed through my body.
My arm swung with reflexive precision as my horse maneuvered me deeper into the flood of the Order. The pounding rumble of the ground never ceased and the loud striking sounds of weapons and screams vibrated in my head. I was in a daze, almost an out of body experience, watching myself kill the enemy as though it were someone else. Richard! Behind you! I whirled around at the sound of Kahlan's voice in my head and met an on coming blow just as it came inches toward my throat. A strange sense of her presence engulfed me as it always did in battle and I fought as in a dance with the enemy that surrounded me.
The ring of red leather surrounded me as I made my way into the belly of the fight. Tightly pressed around me, the battle ensued as I sliced through the chest of an officer standing in the stirrups of a stolen warhorse. He fell to the ground clutching the wound as blood spilled over his fist. He landed face down in the desert sand and shook one last time before stilling forever. I smiled in triumph as I kicked the back of another head of an attacker who was unsuccessfully trying to unseat me.
Then suddenly, my horse reared as a spear drove into his belly and I slid backward, landing on my back onto the hard dusty ground. All I could see was a sward of colors above me and then my world blurred as another rumble shook beneath my body.
"Lord Rahl!" I heard voices calling to me above the din of the roar of battle and I clutched the hand that appeared above my chest and was flung up behind a young D'Haran officer. "Are you alright?"
"Fine! We need to keep going toward the center!" I shouted and he shifted his horse to the right as we made our way closer. I clutched to his back, unwinded from my fall, and attempted to regain my composer. All at once there was a loud cracking sound and the air around us stood still as dust churned to block our view. The warhorse continued to barrel through blindly as though nothing had happened and we saw nothing but the young officer continued to thrash with his sword contacting with the unseen enemy.
When at last the dust lifted, we came to an empty expance of sand and looked around only to see the rest of the D'haran army staring in disbelief back at us.
"What happened?" Shouted Jameson from behind us at the moment Zedd appeared out of the dust on his pale grey horse.
"The Order us using some kind of magic to mask their retreat, it appears." He rode his horse next to mine and gave me a worried look. "Richard, your head is bleeding, best come with me and let me have a look at that."
"I'll follow you Zedd." Said the rider of my horse.
As we followed him, I thanked him for coming to my aide. "You were about to me trampled, my Lord."
"What's your name?"
"Murrough." He said, and I cringed involuntarily, recognizing he was one of Kahlan's confessed.
"Thank you. I owe you one." I said, grateful for his help despite who he was. "I know Lady Rahl will be pleased with you." I forced out for his benefit.
He turned to look at me, beaming with joy at having pleased his mistress. "I only aim to please her." He said and I couldn't fault him. I often felt the same way myself.
We arrived at a patch of small withered trees with a small group of tents neatly tucked together. Murrough helped Zedd assist me from the horse and once I was on my feet the world tilted and I would have stumbled if they weren't there to help me. "Bring him in here, Zedd!" I heard Nicci's urgent voice as she ran to help guide me in. "What happened?"
"It's nothing, really. I'm fine." I tried to persuade them.
"Lie down here." She said as Zedd and Murough laid me down on a bedroll. "Let me take a look." When she pressed a damp cloth to my forehead I cringed at the shock of pain. "Bring me some wallow root Zedd." She said looking into my eyes. "You'll be alright once I stitch you up." She assured, but I saw fear in her continence. I drank the cup as Zedd held me behind the shoulders and in an instant I was asleep.
The soft crackle of a fire awoke me and I panicked for a moment not remembering where I was, but then everything came back to me in a rush. The pain in my head was a dull throb and I risked turning my head and cringed with pain.
"Lie still." Said Nicci from somewhere and I obliged, closing my eyes tight. "You took a bad blow to the head, Richard. It shouldn't be as bad but…." She looked over me then and I could sense the light shifting as she blocked the glow of the flames. "Open your eyes for me?" When I did I saw her face, but it was blurred. "Zedd thinks that there may have been magic in whatever caused this…your vision is fading Richard."
I clenched my eyes shut again trying to refocus, but it didn't work. Small tears ran down my left cheek as I thought of my promise I had made to Kahlan to be careful. I had failed her already.
"Don't you worry, Richard, you'll be alright."
"I promised Kahlan that I would be safe and I've already got myself nearly blinded." I groaned in disappointment.
"We'll fix this, I promise." She said soothingly, wiping my brow again. "And Kahlan won't know, I'll make sure of it." Then I felt her lips on mine for a brief moment and a sense of dread flared inside of me.
"Where's Zedd?" I asked but she didn't answer.
Sorry for the clifhanger guys, but I'm kind of stuck here. I will try my best to update this soon. Hope you guys are still enjoying the story. Please R & R.