Richard knocked on the door lightly, almost afraid that someone else in the palace would hear him. His clothes hadn't yet dried yet, there were muddy footprints through the halls, leading to him. He only hoped that no one would find him until he had time to ask his questions, to find out what had happened and try to make Kahlan feel better. The door opened and a young woman stepped into the opening. She was short, standing no taller than the middle of his chest; her hair was also short, dropping with a hard edge around her jaw. "There is no changing what you have done."

"What?"

"She didn't tell you?" Helen asked almost as confused as he was. "Of course she didn't. She refused to believe that it is true."

"What?" He was nearly standing on her as he grabbed her shoulders and lifted her off of the ground, giving her a light shake.

"You held an agiel to her stomach, did you not?"

He carried her into the room, kicking the door shut behind them before dropping her. "I did this to her?"

She nodded, taking a step back from him as she smoother her hands over her dress. "It caused more damage that the scar reveals."

Pushing his back against the wall, he slid down to the floor and covered his face with his hands. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"I cannot say, but she didn't believe it to be the truth. Before I could finish, she ran from this room."

Peeking between his fingers, he took a deep breath. "I did this to her?" Richard asked once again, wanting to make sure that he was to blame. Once the other woman nodded, he pulled his hands from his face and looked up at her. "How could she allow me to hold her? How could she tell me that it wasn't me? I took away her unborn children!"

"She only sees her love for you. She said that you saved her life, that the Mord'Sith would have had her killed if you had not acted. That is all she sees."

"If I hadn't done it, would she be able to have children?"

"Yes. You may have changed it all if you had simply chosen a different location for the agiel."

Tears fell down his cheeks as he stared up at her, wondering how Kahlan had allowed him to touch her after what he had done. "Is there anything that can be done?"

"I do not believe so. Whoever mended her wound was careless and did not bother to save what she would need. I suspect they thought she wouldn't live long enough to use it." Her frown deepened, "I know of no one who has magic powerful enough to heal her. She will bear no children."

Her words sent his mind spinning. He knew someone who was powerful enough and the rumors that she was still alive echoed through his thoughts. He would make her heal Kahlan. He would not give up until he restored what he had destroyed. She deserved to have children, to not be alone as her race perished. She deserved someone better than him.

Standing up, he wiped his face and took a calming breath, pushing back his emotions as he walked to the door. "Don't tell her that I came, please."

"She will know. The moment she sees you, she will know."

Rushing through the halls, he walked almost every hallway until he found her. "Cara!" he shouted as he ran toward her. She turned around in surprise, "I need you to pack some things. We leave in the morning."

"Where are we going?"

"I'll tell you once we leave. Don't tell Zedd or Kahlan."

Confusion overwhelmed her; he would never keep something from the Confessor. "What?"

"I need to fix something and I can't do it alone. Kahlan would never let me go."

"What's going on?" She asked as she grabbed his arm.

He pushed down the anger, sadness and frustration as he met her eyes. "I- Have you have known an agiel to make a woman unable to have children?"

"What? No. Mord'Sith are trained with agiels for years but they are still able to have children."

Throwing his hands into the air, he sighed. "This doesn't make any sense!" Combing his fingers through his hair, Richard looked at the floor. "Kahlan can't have children." Cara's sympathetic look surprises him. "The midwife says I did it. I destroyed her ability to have children when I pushed Denna's agiel against her stomach."

"Where?"

He pulled up his shirt and motioned to the lower left side of his stomach. "Here."

"How long?"

Shaking his head he sighed in frustration. "I don't know. Until she fell to the ground."

The sadness on the Mord'Sith's face grew as she stepped closer to him. "Were you supposed to kill her the next time you saw her?" He nodded slowly, hoping that Helen was wrong. "They would not have healed her properly. The damage would be too great for her to carry a child."

His fist slammed into the wall, breaking three of his fingers instantly. "How could I have done that?"

"You didn't know," his friend offered softly as she grabbed his hand. "What did she say to you?"

"Nothing! She told me that it was her fault. How could she have taken the blame for what I did to her? Cara, she told me that it had nothing to do with me, that I was not to blame. She let me hold her; she let me try to comfort her when the whole time she knew what I had done!"

She said nothing as she led him down the halls; she didn't know what to say. She had never seen him this upset before, every breath he took seemed to make it worse. She knew that nothing she said would make him feel any better. Only Kahlan could make a difference.

He opened the door quietly, wanting to make sure that if Kahlan was in there, he wouldn't disturb her as he entered. She lay in their bed, naked, clutching his pillow to her chest with her eyes closed. He wondered if she was asleep, if he shouldn't go to her, but his feet wouldn't stop moving toward her. Easing into the bed, he slowly pulled the pillow from her grasp, replacing it with himself. She moved into him, bringing her head to rest on his chest as she wrapped an arm around him. He couldn't understand how she could hold him like this; how she could want to be near him.

"How long have you been in here?" she asked softly, lifting her head to look at him.

"Not long. I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't. I haven't slept longer than a few minutes at a time." She moved to her side, pulling on him to follow before running her hand over his chest.

He wanted to tell her that he knew what he had done and that he would do everything he could to fix it, but the way she looked at him gave him another idea. Kissing her, he moves over her, wanting one last chance to give her a child. She welcomed him against her, for the first time in days forgetting her problems. His touch was gentle, but passionate, making her wither beneath him as she pulled the laces of his pants loose. His shirt was on the floor in seconds, her hands exploring his skin widely as he kicked off his pants. And as he had always done, he lowered himself to her stomach, kissing licking and scraping his teeth over her scar.

It was almost too much for him, he had to squeeze his eyes shut to continue. Kissing his way back to her lips, he traced his fingers over the scar, touching one last time before putting it from his mind. Her gasps filled his ears, her moans echoed throughout the room as she pulled him closer in desire. His mind stopped spinning, lost in the feel of her skin against his and the sweet taste of her lips. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she pulled him harder to her as her head pushed back into the pillow. With a loud cry of release, she was gone and her magic followed instantly, taking him along with her.

Her laugh brought his head from her neck, a smile on his lips as well. "I was afraid that you wouldn't want to do that anymore."

"I will never stop trying."

Her smile widened seductively. "I hope not."

Rolling off of her, he pulled her into his arms and closed his eyes. "Cara and I are going to go hunting tomorrow. I won't be here when you wake up."

"Hunting?" She was leaning on her elbows, looking down at him as she waited for his answer. "No you're not." His eyes opened and found hers. "Cara was packing, but it wasn't for a hunting trip."

"Kahlan, I-"

Shaking her head, she laid her head back against his chest. "You didn't have to lie. If you don't want me to know where you're going, you-"

"I know, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied."

"You-" Jumping up, she grabbed the blanket and pulled it around her. "You went to Helen, didn't you?"

"Yes." Her eyes filled with tears as she lay down on the other side of the bed, facing away from him. He sat up and reached for her, but she pulled away. "Kahlan, I'm sorry. I had to know. I wanted to know if there was anything I could do."

"I didn't want you to know," she said quietly. "You shouldn't have gone to hear her lies."

"They're not lies. Kahlan, I did this to you."

"No you didn't." Her words came out in a soft cry. This had been the conversation she didn't want to have. She never wanted him to think, even for a moment, that it was his fault. "You saved my life. You did not do this to me."

"If I didn't do this, then why won't you look at me?"

She was angry now. How could he think that it was the reason she looked away. Rolling over and sitting up, she pushes him to back. "How could you think that? How could you blame yourself for this?" Dropping the blanket, she crawled over him and brought his hand to her stomach, laying it over the scar. "When you did this, did you know what would happen?"

"No," he said in a breathless whisper.

"When you did this, did you want it to happen?"

"Spirits, no."

She released his hand, but he didn't pull away. Once he moved it, he would be able to see the scar again and he couldn't bare it. "You did not do this to me. You gave me this scar when you saved my life. Anything else that comes as a result, I do not blame you for any of it." Her tears fell onto his chest, pulling his eyes away from his hand and up to hers. "I never wanted you to feel responsible for this. That is why I did not tell you. You should not have to feel this way."

"But I do and I will not rest until I have found a way to give you a child."

"I sent for Ren after we spoke. If he will agree to it, we can have a son."

Pulling her down to him, he hugged her against his chest. "But that doesn't solve your problem."

"Yes it does. Richard, I don't need to continue the line of Confessors. I only want a child with you. Ren could be our child."

As he had told her, Richard was not there when she woke up, but it didn't stop her from looking around the room for him. A part of her had hoped that somehow she had convinced him that Ren would be enough, but she hadn't. She didn't know where he went, but she was sure it was somewhere he hoped to find a way to change what had happened. Turning her head, she saw a small folded piece of paper lying on his pillow. Her heart pounded in fear as she opened it.

It was short, beautiful and comforted her in a way she didn't think was possible. He wrote three things, but the way he had written her name, it had never seen so beautiful to her before. He wrote that he loved her, that he would find a way to undo what he had done and the last thing that comforted her the most were the four simple words 'I will be back.' Bringing the paper to her chest, she closed her eyes, pushing the tears free as she prayed to the spirits to protect him.