Why, hello friends. Hope you don't all hate me too much because you probably will after you read this chapter!

Chapter LV

The moment Aria had received word of Kahlan's arrival, she went sprinting towards the room the guard had directed her to. When she'd arrived, the three men standing guard informed her of Torren's entry. Now, standing just outside the door listening to her sister's cries, she was faced with a decision- enter and protect Kahlan and their newest Confessor from the threat or eliminate it before it even got close enough to touch them. The choice was nonexistent.

"I will return once I've taken care of something. Guard this door with your lives or Spirits help me, you won't have them in the morning." The threat left her lips before she could stop it. One of the guards fidgeted.

"Forgive me, Confessor, but wouldn't it prudent to inform the Mother Confessor of Torren's arrival?"

"No, I don't want her worrying about anything but delivering that baby. Do you understand me?" Aria narrowed her gaze. The man nodded once and placed a hand to his chest.

"Confessor," another guard called as Aria turned her back and drew her weapons, "where are you going?"

"To cut the head off the snake." She replied over her shoulder, voice dripping with hatred and anticipation.

It didn't take long for the Confessor to pick up Torren's trail- all she had to do was follow the corpses he had left behind. Before long she was standing at the entrance to the Deliberation Room which just so happened to be where the Mother Confessor's chair resides. Weapons drawn, her ears perked at the sound of heavy footfalls and clanging chainmail. She closed her eyes briefly, mentally preparing herself to meet Hayden's murderer, and flexed her hands against her Agiel. Her rage, although dulled, had never been forgotten. It took little effort for the Confessor to call it forward and the sound of the monster's footsteps was all she needed to be completely enveloped by it once again. She could feel her magic bristling just beneath her skin and knew that her eyes would be almost entirely black with its power.

"You," a deep voice echoed in the marble room, "must be Aria." The Confessor opened her eyes slowly and took in the tyrant before her. Torren was bigger than she anticipated with large, gleaming teeth like a wolf's and a terrible smile that had undoubtedly frightened many. Her gaze narrowed as she watched him look her up and down. "I am so glad we get to meet in person."

"Finally," Aria's gaze remained unwavering and sharp, "something we agree on." Torren chuckled, a sound that would have made the hairs on the back of any other woman's neck stand- but not Aria's.

"Tell me, Little Confessor," Torren's mocking tone aimed to strike a nerve but Aria was ready, "who's going to protect you this time?"

"I don't need protecting. Especially not from you." Aria's voice was low and threatening. Each passing second in this man's presence served only to enrage her further.

"Well that's good because from where I'm standing, you don't have a lot of family left to take the hits for you anymore." Aria's nostrils flared as she ground her teeth. Calm down. The more he upsets you, the easier you'll be to strike down.

"Don't worry, you won't be standing much longer." She promised. Torren grinned.

"I do enjoy a challenge." The man gripped his sword and slowly drew it from its scabbard. "Although I'd hate to say goodbye so soon. Let's just hope it's not over too quickly."

"Oh, it will be." Aria shifted her stance as the tyrant took several steps forward. She did not hesitate to make the first move. Striking fast and low, Aria aimed for his legs. The blow was parried and Torren recovered instantaneously. He's clearly stronger. You'll have to be smarter. Using her smaller frame and speed to her advantage, Aria tucked and rolled away from the blow aimed at her midsection. Partially behind him, she jabbed at the back of his neck only to have it blocked as Torren anticipated the blow without even seeing it. He crouched and spun on his heels, aiming a well placed fist to Aria's gut as his sword hand pushed hers back. The Confessor stumbled slightly and coughed.

"I have to say, I'm not that impressed." He mocked. "I heard Confessors were fierce fighters- a force to be reckoned with."

"One touch from me and you'll be my groveling slave until the day I chose to put you down like the rabid animal you are." Aria spat as she tilted her head. "Forceful enough for you?"

"Just about." Torren chuckled and advanced with startling speed. Aria blocked several blows as she was forced back towards the Mother Confessor's chair.

"Tell me, Torren," Aria grunted as she continued to switch from the defensive to the offensive, "would you prefer to die here or be confessed for the rest of your life? I promise to take your preference into consideration."

"I would gladly die once I've ridden the world of your kind." Torren jeered. "Unfortunately for you, Confessor, I don't preferences into consideration. I'll keep you alive just long enough so you can watch your daughters and sisters be burned alive. Starting with that bitch, Kahlan Amnell."

"You'll regret ever laying a hand on her and every other innocent you've harmed." Aria prayed she was able to fulfill all of these promises. Spotting an opening, she jabbed her Agiel towards Torren's ribs. The man was caught off guard as the weapon grazed his side. A hiss of pain passed from his lips and Aria relished the sound. However, the moment was gone too soon as Aria felt herself being pulled forward. Torren had grabbed her Agiel and began yanking it out of her hands. Despite the pain on his features, Aria knew his superior strength would see one of her two weapons across the room. He swung, a growl leaving his lips, as Aria slammed against the back of Kahlan's large chair. The Confessor landed several solid kicks to the man's knees and ribs and before long, her Agiel was out of her hands and being tossed halfway across the marble floor. Left with only her dagger, Aria slashed across the man's palm as he attempted to grab her. His other hand moved forward quickly and wrapped itself around her throat. His grip tightened immediately, catching the Confessor off guard. As Aria went to cut his uninjured hand, Torren grab her wrist and began turning the dagger on her. This was exactly the situation Aria was taught to avoid with someone stronger than her. As her own blade eased closer and closer to her neck and her vision darkened from the lack of air, the young Confessor found herself panicking. She shook her head frantically and shut her bloodshot eyes tight.

"I thought you promised this wouldn't be overly brief?" Torren smiled. "Oh well." Aria could feel the blade scraping against her neck and in a last minute attempt to free herself, lifted a knee and struck a solid blow in between the man's legs. Torren released her immediately and hollered as he fell to his knees. Aria wasted no time and spun out of his grasp only to slash a deep cut across this chest. Taking advantage of the man's lowered position, she swung a leg back and kicked him hard across the jaw. The man fell, cradling his wounds, as Aria caught her breath.

"I told myself that you couldn't be as evil as I had imagined." She said hoarsely. "I tried to convice myself that you were nothing more than man who had lost his way. Then you killed Hayden and I lost what little hope I had in redeeming you. You signed your death warrant the moment you ordered his." Torren began to stand and the look on his face was almost all Aria needed to feel the burden of revenge lifted off her shoulders. "But a part of me still wanted an explanation. I wanted to know why you were the way you were. So I went digging…and what I found explained it all."

"What are you talking about?" Torren frowned as he placed a hand over the gash on his chest. Aria's eyes danced from his to a dark corner of the room.

"I'm talking about your family, Torren." She said calmly. "You remember what it's like to have one of those, don't you?" The tyrant remained silent so she continued. "I found your mother and she told me all about your childhood."

"Impossible." He spat. Aria merely shook her head.

"I know about your gift. Use it and tell me that I'm lying." She dared. For a moment, it seemed as if he was doing exactly as she said. His eyes seemed to widen slightly.

"There's nothing she could tell you that would change anything." He insisted.

"I'm not so sure about that, Torren." Aria toyed with him. "She told me about your sister. What was her name again?" she paused to take in his expression. "Ah yes, Hope, wasn't it?"

"Be quiet." He began to caution but Aria continued.

"See, I know about the day Hope went 'missing'. But she isn't missing, is she?" Torren took a threatening step forward only for Aria to raise a hand in warning. "Torren, you and I have something in common. We can both tell when the other is lying. Other than Kahlan, I have very few memories of others with that ability so I'll do you the courtesy of keeping it simple: I know what you did to her."

"You don't know anything." Torren snapped. "Whatever that woman told you, she's a liar and a whore."

"That's not a very nice way to speak about your mother," Aria tsked, "especially when she can hear you."

"Torren?" a small, croaky voice startled the man. Claudia Daye emerged from the corner she had been hiding in since the fight began. Tears were already streaming down her face. Whether it was because she feared her son or because she was about to relive the worst day of her life, Aria did not know. If she was honest with herself, it did not matter. Her very presence would shake Torren enough to bring him down.

"Mother?" the tyrant's face dropped, his expression changing from anger to confusion. "Why are you helping this witch?"

"She is not a witch, Torren." Claudia held back more tears. "You've caused so much death…so much pain. For what?"

"What do you mean, 'for what'?!" Torren cried. "They deserve to suffer! These Confessors, these Mord'Sith and the people who fight for them- none of them deserve to live!"

"Who are you to decide who lives and who dies?" Claudia's tone, although strict, was soft. Aria could tell that she wanted nothing more but to have her baby boy back. It pained her to see another mother suffer so.

"I know what's right! I know what has to be done!" he yelled. Claudia seemed to shrink away from the sound.

"You see, Torren, that's your problem." Aria cut in. "You think you know what's best when in reality, you're more messed up than the rest of us combined." Torren turned his narrowed gaze to her. "Just like you thought you knew what was best for Hope. Correct me if I'm wrong but you were with her the day she went missing, weren't you? The two of you were out gathering firewood by your house. Stop me if I get something wrong but from what I've gathered, I take it there was some kind of altercation between the two of you- an altercation that probably ended with you bashing her head in with a rock." Aria fought hard to ignore the sharp intake of breath that came from Claudia. She would make it a point to apologize the woman later.

"You don't know what happened." Torren's voice dropped dangerously low. Aria merely crossed her arms.

"Then tell us. And remember Torren, you can't lie to a Confessor."

"We were in the woods." He began reluctantly, more for his mother's sake than Aria's. "After we had collected enough wood, she asked me if I wanted to play a game. While we were playing, she tripped over a tree limb and-"

"Liar." Aria interrupted suddenly. "How about I tell you what I think happened? You were in the woods and you asked Hope to do something she didn't want to do, didn't you? When she refused, you tried to force her but she fought back. So you hit her. Hard. When you thought you had killed her, you hid her body where no one would find it and ran back to mommy and daddy with a sob story about how she fell to her death."

"No, no that's not true!" Torren shouted, his hands coming up to cover his ears. Aria frowned as she realized that he was telling the truth.

"What part did I get wrong then, hm?" she proded. "Did you leave her out there to die instead or did you-"

"I knew she was alive!" he spat at her. "After I hit her, I checked and saw that she was still alive but I couldn't let her go back and tell them…"

"Tell them what, Torren?" Aria struggled briefly to understand what the man was trying to say until finally, it dawned on her. "Tell them that you tried to force youself on her?" At the sounds of this, Claudia let out a sob as she wrapped her arms around herself. Aria could hear the woman mumbling 'no' over and over again but ignored it as Torren looked at her.

"I loved her." He said forcefully. Aria scoffed.

"Not in the way a brother is supposed to love his sister, Torren." She tried to explain. "Of course she rejected you, you were her brother!"

"But I loved her!" he insisted. "I was sixteen, old enough to start a life away from my parents and I told her I wanted to take her with me!"

"She was fourteen, Torren- little more than a child.," Aria cried, "and you forced yourself on her. What does that make you?"

"It wasn't my fault." Torren shook his head. "I told her we could have a life together- a life where no one would judge us because no one would even know that we were related. But she laughed. She laughed in my face and told me that I was crazy."

"Is that when you hit her?" Aria pressed.

"I had to make her stop laughing." Torren shrugged. "She fell and there was blood everywhere but I could hear her moaning."

"Where did you take her after that?"

"I picked her up and carried her to my secret cave- where no one would bother me. When she woke up, I tried to make her understand." Any emotion from Torren's face was gone as he looked back up at Aria. "She didn't."

"So you raped and murdered your own sister." Aria concluded. "And now, every woman in the world deserves to suffer because she rejected you." By this point, Claudia was kneeling on the ground, hand pressed tightly against her mouth as she learned the fate of her daughter over twenty years later.

"She deserved it. You all do" Torren tilted his head as he examined Aria once more. "There's not a woman alive that wouldn't go to greater lengths to ruin a man. You whores don't deserve this much power." He motioned to the room around them and the chair that represented so much.

"No one deserves what you did to Hope." Aria's voice trembled with the amount of hatred she bore for the man. "And you have caused more pain and suffering than all the women who have sat in that chair combined. You're done hurting people for your own twisted fantasies, Torren."

"Not before I send you and the Mother of Bitches straight to the Underworld." Torren leapt forward, knocking Aria to the ground and immediately forcing the dagger from her hand. Aria rammed her head forward hard, hitting him in the nose but the blow seemed to have no affect at all. Torren cried out in anger instead of pain and landed a punch to Aria's cheek. Dazed, the Confessor raised her arms to protect her head and face as she thought out an escape from under him. Without warning, the young Confessor reached forward and dug her fingers into Torren's chest wound. The tyrant howled in pain as Aria's nails ripped the gash further apart and blood rained down on her. As she stood over him, she repeatedly introduced her fists to his face. Blow after blow she dealt without the slightest hint of remorse or pain even as she felt her knuckles crack. With a cry, she grabbed his head and connected her knee to his chin. Torren crumbled to the ground as Aria stood panting above him. Her vision narrowed as she realized that she had won. It was over. Blood dripped from her knuckles onto the white floor as she reached forward and grabbed him by the hair. She walked around him, her back to the chair and Claudia, and looked deep into his eyes. Unable to help it, tears streamed down her face as the prospect of fulfilling her promises and completing her revenge comforted her. She pictured Hayden's face as she wrapped a hand around his throat and let her magic swirl to the surface. As Torren realized what was happening, he let out a loud cry of anguish that nearly drowned out the equally pained one his mother let out. As Aria felt her magic leave her and enter Torren, a sharp pain erupted from lower back. Liquid pooled around the area and as Aria released the now confessed Torren, she realized she had been stabbed.

"No!" Torren's voice was shrill as he watched his mother remove the dagger from his mistress' back. Without a second thought, the man took his sword and ran the older woman through. Claudia Daye dropped unceremoniously to the ground besides the now kneeling Aria. "Mistress!" His voice seemed far away as Aria felt herself fall backwards and into his arms. She frowned, the look of concern on his features not suiting him at all.

"Get…help." She managed to utter. Torren blinked away his tears as he gently laid his Confessor on the ground. Aria could hear his rapid footsteps as he sprinted towards anyone who would listen.

"M'sorry." Aria heard. She turned her head slightly and saw that Claudia was still alive. "I couldn't let him live like that. He's my son." Aria reached out and squeezed the woman's hand as their blood mingled together on the marble floor.

"I understand." She practically whispered. Aria watched a silent tear roll down the old woman's cheek as her eyes closed for the final time. The Confessor turned her head and stared at the bright ceiling littered with the flags of the kingdoms. Her vision faltered and she knew she was losing blood too quickly. Her only wish now was that Torren was able to turn himself over before her hold on him was broken.

Aria

The voice appeared out of nowhere and Aria recognized it immediately.

"Hayden." A figure approached her from the left and Aria turned to see the man she loved walking towards her.

My sweet, beautiful Aria. It's time to let go.

"The girls. Are they-"

They're just fine, my love. You've fought so hard for so long. It's time to come home.

"Home." The word felt almost foreign to Aria's lips. Hayden reached out and brushed the single tear that escaped. Aria's breath hitched as she felt his warm touch once again. "I've missed you."

I never left you. Now we'll be together for an eternity.

"So tired." Aria's head lolled to the side and Hayden cradled it gently in his lap. His scent brought more tears to her eyes as Aria completely forgot the burning pain in her back.

Sleep now and when you awake, I'll be right by your side with your mother and Dahlia.

"Dahlia?" Aria's heart tugged at the thought of her sister falling because of her orders. The pain was almost immediately replaced by the thought that they would be together again soon. Her breathing was quick and labored as everything around Hayden turned white. "Emma, Katherine." Tears stained her cheeks as Aria pictured her daughters' beautiful faces and the lives they would live without their mother. "I love you."