Ok, I'll try to do better about the cliffhangers, but I'm can't make any promises. I just have to leave off where I have to leave off…

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Reunion (Chapter5)

Kahlan was on her knees, being held by her hair by Phillip, a knife blade pressing into her throat, blood slowly beginning to trickle down her neck. Richard began heaving with the wrath that now permeated his soul and seeped into his veins, the terror on her face clawing at his heart.

"Let her go, Phillip!" Richard roared, his warm brown eyes now ablaze with fury at the site of his lover being held at knife-point by her own father.

"I don't think so, Seeker. You see I need someone with a pure heart to help me get the treasure I'm after and Kahlan has the purest heart I know. Every time I forced her or Dennee to hurt people, she would always cry herself to sleep at night, so distraught over the pain she had inflicted on others. It's a weakness I'm afraid she picked up from her mother. Don't worry; once Kahlan helps me get what I want, I will release her so she can return to you. Until then, she stays with me," he informed Richard and Cara as he pulled his daughter up by her hair, causing her to cry out.

The men surrounding Phillip and Kahlan stood with swords and daggers drawn; some pointed directly at Kahlan, others at Richard and Cara.

Putting his knife back into his belt at his waist, Phillip pressed his lips to Kahlan's ear and whispered, "Try anything and your precious Seeker will be dead."

Phillip pulled rope out of his cloak pocket and dangled it in front of her face. "Remember this, Kahlan?" he teased, grabbing her hands, roughly binding them together.

In horror, Richard took a step towards her before being stopped by Cara's hand on his arm. Anguish began to choke him as he watched a single tear escape and slowly trail down Kahlan's cheek, her blue eyes locked on his.

"You had better make sure those ropes are tight because if I get free, I will kill you," she hissed between panicked gasps for air. Her heart thundered in her chest. Panic attempted to strangle the life out of her as memories of being tied up as a child assaulted her mind.

"Kill me?" Phillip mocked with a boisterous laugh. "As a child, you couldn't even bring yourself to confess me in order to escape. I hardly believe you would be able to kill me."

"Try me!" Kahlan spat out, jaw clenched with rage and fear.

Richard inwardly smiled at his lover's feistiness as he and Cara could only stand helplessly by as Phillip finished binding the Mother Confessor's hands.

"Don't worry, Richard. I'll try my best to make sure Kahlan returns to you in relatively good health, but I of course I can't guarantee anything. And don't even think about following us either. You have no idea what I am capable of. She may be my daughter by blood but I will not hesitate to kill her if needed," Phillip flashed the Seeker a grin as he began to drag her away by the rope, causing her to stumble.

"Kahlan!" Richard screamed as he watched her being taken away. Cara grabbed his arms, struggling to hold him back.

"Cara, let me go!" Richard yelled, trying to pull away from her grip on his arms.

"Richard! Listen to me! You go after her now and he'll kill her before you reach her," Cara stated, trying to talk some sense into the enraged Seeker.

"Kill them," Phillip ordered, dragging Kahlan behind him.

"NO! RICHARD!" Kahlan screamed, turning around, getting one last look at her lover before being pulled around a corner and down a side street.

"KAHLAN!" Richard screamed again, raising his sword to the onslaught that raced towards them.

Unleashing his pent up wrath into the threat he was now confronted with, Richard fought with a vengeance as he cut down one man after another in an attempt to reach his lover. Sword clashed with sword; agiel connecting with flesh. Both delivered the same death sentence as they fought for their lives.

Cara wielded her agiels, eliminating each man that attempted to take her life when she was suddenly grabbed from behind. The man's hulking arms threatened to crush the life out of her as ribs began cracking from the force he was inflicting on her. Cara attempted to gasp for air as she struggled and fought, kicking her legs as she tried to connect with his shins.

Unable to inflict much pain, Cara knew if she didn't do something quick, he'd crush her to death. Doing the only thing she could, Cara threw her head back with as much force as she could muster in the position she was in. Connecting the back of her skull with her attacker's face, the stunned man released his hold on the Mord'Sith, grabbing his broken bloody nose.

Cara fell to the ground, dazed by the force of the hit and the lack of oxygen. Trying to regain her senses, Cara suddenly felt the heat of Wizard's fire exploding beside her. She looked up to see her attacker engulfed in flames.

Blasts of Wizard's fire began exploding around her as Zedd came to his friends' aide. Richard was surrounded by four large men, but blasts of Wizard's fire quickly evened the odds for the Seeker. Seeing Richard and Zedd finish off the remaining attackers, Cara welcomed the blackness that swiftly overtook her.

XXX

Riding on horseback all day, her hands bound to the saddle, Kahlan could scarcely believe she had started out this day so blissfully happy having made love with Richard to now being in the middle of a nightmare orchestrated by her father. Her father was the source of almost all of her nightmares.

Following him now on horseback as he held the reigns of her horse, Kahlan could barely believe this was happening. She had foolishly thought that once the Sisters of the Light had taken her and Dennee from their father that she would be free from him forever, but she hadn't been that fortunate.

Being the Mother Confessor definitely had its drawbacks. Your life was an open book for all to read. It seemed almost everyone in the Midlands knew of her love affair with her Seeker even before it became a physical reality. News and stories of their exploits travelled near and far, spreading faster than wildfire. She should have known that she would never be able to fly below her father's radar for long. Soon or later he would come looking for her to use her again for his own personal gain. And that time had finally come.

Turning around to cast a glance at his daughter, Phillip could read the sorrow and the anger that was so visible on her face. It didn't matter much to him. She would help him get what he wanted and then she could go back to her life. Of course, her Richard would no longer be there but in time she would find another.

He had heard long ago about the love affair between his daughter and the Seeker of Truth. And even if he hadn't heard about it, just seeing them together made it plainly obvious to all that they were passionately in love with one another. He felt a twinge of guilt at having had her lover killed, but he couldn't risk the Seeker coming after her, rescuing her before he had gotten what he wanted.

"Now, Kahlan, don't look so miserable. There will be other Richards in the world to love," he told her, looking back at her now.

"You know nothing about love. Even as a child, you never showed me or Dennee genuine love. You are incapable of love except under confession," she spewed at him, sorrow's deadly claws seizing her heart. She just prayed that Richard was safe. As soon as she was finished with her father, Kahlan swore to herself that she would do whatever it took to get back to him.

"And you cling to an emotion that is useless and only brings anguish!" Phillip barked at her, furious that she would bring up being under confession. "We're stopping here for the night. Remember, don't try anything, Kahlan."

"Or what?" she retorted, no longer caring about herself any more. "If Richard truly is dead, then there is nothing more you could possibly do to hurt me any further."

Pulling their horses to a stop, Phillip dismounted his horse and strode purposefully towards Kahlan. As he unbound her hands from the saddle, his indigo eyes bored into her sapphire ones as he venomously exclaimed, "I'm sure I can come up with other ways to bring you pain."

That night as her father slept, Kahlan sat by the small fire unable to sleep. Bound by rope to a tree, she could only think of Richard and how happy they had been last night. Discovering his love was enough to withstand her powers had been more than a dream come true for both of them. It meant that they could be together forever. Kahlan would not have to marry a man out of duty as her mother had, but she could marry for love.

Kahlan tried desperately to push aside the anxiety that constantly tried to well up within her over Richard. She knew that Cara would protect Richard with her life. She had made Cara promise to protect him if anything ever happened to her. Kahlan held onto that glimmer of hope, praying that Richard was still alive, that all her friends were safe.

As she looked up into the midnight blue sky, the moon shining full and bright, she wondered where Richard was right now. Was he thinking about her? Was he wishing like she was that they were together, wrapped in each other's arms like they had been last night? Or was he injured…or worse?

Tears began to brim in her eyes before finally falling, trailing down her cheeks. She would get through this one way or another. She would be rid of her father forever and then she would get back to Richard and their life together. Thoughts of Richard filled her mind as she cried herself to sleep.

XXX

Sitting by the campfire, Richard stared blankly into the fire watching the orange flames flicker and dance. His heart hurt more than the wound on his arm that Zedd had healed a few hours earlier. One of the men that had attacked them had gotten a slice of his dagger in on him, cutting his arm. Richard had been able to keep fighting, but had been quickly surrounded by four men. Thankfully Zedd had come to their aide just in time, helping him dispose of their attackers.

Cara lay across the campfire from Richard, sleeping soundly. She had been injured fairly badly in the fighting and had been unconscious most of the day. She had only just recently come around a couple of hours ago, mumbling about the fool that had snuck up on her from behind.

From the large knot on the back of her head, Zedd was certain she had a bad concussion not to mention a few broken ribs. Unable to travel with Cara in that condition, they had decided to set up camp outside of town in the direction that Phillip had taken Kahlan.

Richard was relieved that Cara was going to be okay and would be able to travel in the morning but was filled with pent up anxiety and rage over Kahlan being taken by her father. He had no idea what treasure this stone and map led to, but he was certain it was dangerous if it required one with a pure heart in order to obtain it.

Richard ran his hands through his hair as he looked up at the moon shining brightly overhead, the millions of stars that sparkled all over the expanse of dark blue sky. He just prayed that Kahlan was alright as he desperately tried to push aside all of the horrifying things that could be happening to her right now.

Instead, he tried to focus on their love for one another, the love they had experienced last night and this morning. The thought began to bring a smile back to his face. He laughed to himself, glad that Cara was asleep as he was sure she would have another comment to make about the ridiculous grin that Kahlan had once again brought to his face. Laying down on his bedroll, Richard let thoughts of Kahlan play through his mind as exhaustion gradually began to overtake him…