The shackles dug into Richard's wrists, blood caking onto his skin. His head was hung low, his eyes following Denna's boots as she circled around him like a hawk. When he had come back with news that was not satisfactory, Denna punished him to the best of her abilities. He had lost consciousness several times, only enraging the Mord'Sith more. His torso was covered in blood and welts, his eyes almost swollen shut, his jaw throbbing from being back handed with her leather clad hand so frequently.
She taunted his incompetence and failure. Despite the torture Richard was being put through, his heart sang with the fact that Kahlan was still alive. The conflicting emotions were evident, and Denna would only strike him more. Richard hoped for death on many occasions, but his never ending love for Kahlan would cause him to wish to live and become free from Denna's grasp. However, Denna was slowly but surely making Richard's heart hard and cold once again. It wouldn't be long before he'd be begging to end the Mother Confessor's life.
Denna traced her fingers along Richard's ribs, causing him to flinch. She smiled wickedly as her gaze returned to his. "We have a very short amount of time to break you once again, my pet. Lord Rahl wishes to see our progress," she lingered closer to his lips. "But I intend to show him the end result."
Richard clenched his eyes shut, preparing for the agiel to hit his skin. He yelled until his throat was hoarse. Denna smiled up at him once again, the back of her hand lightly brushing against his cheek.
"My pet, you will bow to Lord Rahl." Her gaze was soft, her certainty in breaking him unwavering. Richard nodded his head against her hand and she leaned forward to place a kiss on his bloodied lips. "You will do anything for me, won't you?" She purred, her leather creaking as she kicked a lever that caused Richard to be lowered closer to the ground.
"Yes, Mistress." His voice was barely audible, his throat so sore from his constant screaming. Richard felt the emotions for Kahlan start to leave him, his fear of Denna overtaking him. He was just a slave, a simple puppet that Denna commanded. Richard would bend to her will, and this time, she wouldn't need the sword to fuel her commands.
"This is all Kahlan's fault, you are aware of this, are you not?" Denna took a step back, rolling her agiel in her hands. Richard stared at her dumbfounded. She laughed at him. "If she would have never left you alone in those woods, would have never denied your love, then you wouldn't be in this situation at all." Her smile was causing Richard's blood to boil.
"You're wrong," the strength it took for him to hold up his head was enormous, his body wanting to go into comatose. "She loves me."
Denna's facial went sour, as well as her attitude. "Oh, does she?" She hissed.
"I was about to kill her, and then she told me she lied. She dropped my sword, leaving herself defenseless," he looked up at Denna, who was scowling and gripping her agiel tightly in her hand. "Instead of taking the opportunity to do as you commanded, I embraced her, encouraging her to kill me." Denna's jaw dropped. Richard smiled weakly. The Mord'Sith walked towards him, pressing her agiel under his chin, forcing him to look her in the eye.
"If she really loved you, she would have done as you wished instead of leaving you in the hands of someone like myself."
The next few hours were agonizing, Denna torturing him more than he could have thought possible. He longed for death, and she would bring him to the cusp of it before leaving momentarily to allow him to gain a fraction of his strength back. Denna always came back with more of a vengeance than before, beating him more severely each encounter. Pain overwhelmed him, his body growing numb and his mind succumbing to her.
Richard didn't know when exactly he had been broken, but he was fully aware he was now in the palm of her hands once again. His whole mind circulated around Denna now, thoughts of Kahlan long ago abandoned. Denna was his world.
"If I would have known one day of intense training would produce this result, I wouldn't have been so gentle and kind." She was wearing her white leather, her hands clasped behind her back as she sauntered over to him. "Just in time for Lord Rahl as well. You've done well, my pet." Denna placed a kiss on his lips, letting her teeth scrape along his broken flesh. "What are you thinking about, Seeker?"
"Killing the Mother Confessor." Denna smiled as her hand buried itself in his hair, kissing him deeply and violently in approval to his answer.
xx
Kahlan stood nervously in the grand room, the room where the Mother Confessor rules from. She should feel comforted, but instead she was a wreck. It had taken her many days to reach Aydindril, her body and mind spent. The encounter with Richard had taken all of her strength, her body sagging to the ground and clasping his sword for a day before she found the will to stand and begin moving once again.
Now, she was waiting to tell Richard's grandfather that she had failed at keeping him safe.
She closed her eyes, hoping the moisture coming to them would dissolve. Kahlan was quite sick of crying. Despite her constant state of depression and fear, her body always found a way to produce more tears. She swallowed past the lump in her throat as she heard the robes of the wizard shuffle along the marble floor.
"My dear, it's so very nice to see you again! Where is Richard?" Zedd boomed, ignoring her ragged appearance and moving to embrace her in a hug. He stopped short when she wouldn't lift her head in greeting towards him. "Kahlan, dear, is everything alright?"
Kahlan looked up at him with glassy eyes as she shook her head, her lower lip quivering. "I've, I've failed Richard." She choked out, her body already starting to shut down.
"What ever do you mean, child?" Zedd took a step back, attempting to give her more room to breathe and gather herself. It was to no avail.
"He was captured by a Mord'Sith," when her eyes cleared a bit, she saw the old man's jaw agape. "Denna, she broke him. He's been hunting me. He begged me to kill him, I couldn't do it, it's all my fault-"
"A Mord'Sith?" Zedd questioned, his eyes large. "How, how did he get captured by a Mord'Sith?" Kahlan clenched her eyes shut, dreading the question.
"The night before, he kissed me. I pushed him away and told him we could never be," Zedd nodded at Kahlan, but all Kahlan felt was shame and sorrow. "The next morning, I told him I didn't feel anything for him, that he would be safer without me. I left."
"You left the Seeker alone?" Zedd roared, his frame towering over Kahlan as she shut her eyes and tried to keep herself from collapsing to the cold floor.
"You weren't far, I didn't think it would take much time for him to get to you - I didn't think there would be any danger in it." Kahlan shook her head as guilt washed over her again. A few hours before that fateful night with the kiss, Zedd had informed them he had business to attend to in Aydindril. He left shortly after, informing the two to be safe and protect each other as he began out on his journey.
Zedd closed his eyes and Kahlan saw tears on his withered cheeks. "Richard is gone now, my dear." He said sullenly, backing further away from her as if she disgusted him. "I'm assuming Denna sent for Richard to kill you?" Kahlan nodded slightly. "You should have killed him and ended his misery instead of allowing him to wander back to that monster."
Kahlan's mouth fell open as she watched the wizard leave the room. Surprisingly, tears wouldn't come to her eyes. Her body shook as she walked forward and traced her fingers along the wood of the Mother Confessor's chair. Kahlan gently sat down in it, drawing her knees up to her chest.
Although for different reasons, Kahlan was just as broken as Richard.