Chapter 1

The man's consciousness began to clear as his surroundings came into focus. He was in a forest, next to a crackling fire, close enough to be warm but not too close as to get hot. As he stirred, another figure came into view. It was a girl, not much younger than himself, five years maximum. She looked at the man and a look of relief passed through her features. As the man looked at her, he tried to remember where he had seen her from but could not place her.

"Good. You're awake." She stated. The man tried to move but an excruciating pain prevented him from doing more than sitting up slightly. The girl looked on at his attempts to move with pity and concern. "You shouldn't be trying to move. You're hurt."

The man didn't want to like this girl and her obvious statements, but he couldn't not like her. She came over and helped him sit up and rested his back against a log. She then moved back to the fire where, for the first time, the man saw a pot cooking something over it. She ladled some of the pot's contents into a bowl and brought it over to the man.

He looked at her questioningly causing the girl to laugh. The sound brought a smile to his lips and created a warm feeling in his stomach. "Don't worry, it's only Spice Soup. Not poison." The man nodded and dug into the soup, relishing its warmth and taste. He was pleasantly surprised at how good the soup was, especially since it was a speciality in the Westlands.

The soup had replenished some of the man's energy and had quenched his parched mouth which had prevented him from talking before."Thank you" he croaked. The girl came forwards and took the bowl from him before offering him her waterskin. The man accepted and drank thirstily before taking another bowl of Spice Soup from the girl. "this is good." He said. The praise made the girl beam with pride.

"Thank you. My father taught me to make it."

"Are you from the Westlands?" the man inquired.

The girl hesitated, seeming to struggle with an internal turmoil. The man realised that his question had been fairly personal and was about to tell the girl that the answer was not important but she answered first. "yes." That simple word seemed to put the man's mind at rest as he felt that he could trust her more now.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The girl looked at the man, deep into his dark brown eyes. He saw that her eyes were so blue that they had taken on a hint of purple. "Lillian. Everyone calls me Lily though." The man smiled. The name suited this girl.

"I'm Richard." He said, "What happened?"

The girl looked at Richard closely before answering. "I found you at the place where the river meets the sea. There were no possessions on you but I could see that you were hurt so I helped you."

Richard nodded, remembering the fight with Darken Rahl and the poisoned arrows. He then realised that Kahlan and the others thought that he was dead. Richards knew that he had to find his friends, and soon, before they named a new Seeker. However, one part of Lily's story did not make sense. "Why were you at the place where the river meets the sea? It's quite a distance from anywhere."

Lily looked pained. "I've lost my brother and I was looking for him on the outskirts of the forest before I came across you."

Richard looked warily into Lily's violet eyes. He had already had a bad experience with another Lily who had lost her brother, only to find himself nearly handed directly over to Darken Rahl. As the Seeker of Truth, Richard always sought answers, but deciphering whether or not someone was lying had always been Kahlan's role. Now more than ever did Richard miss the woman whom he loved. Richard looked hard at Lily, taking in her long, dark, wavy hair and pretty face. She looked so much like someone that it unnerved Richard; even more so that he could not remember who. Richard nodded stiffly. Lily saw the sudden change in Richard's demeanour and frowned, as if unsure of what to say. Finally, she gestured to his chest.

"That should be better in a day or two. Rest and food is all you need." With those final words, she smiled sadly at Richard one last time before standing and disappearing into the surrounding trees.

The next morning, Richard woke to brilliant sunlight streaming through the trees. He groaned and slightly arched his back, having slept against the log all night. To his surprise, Richard found his body was not in pain anymore, rather it was stiff. He managed to stand before looking around for any sign of Lily. He hoped that he hadn't scared her off by being cold to her last night but he couldn't afford to trust anyone anymore. There was no sign of the girl; the fire had been reduced to a smouldering pile of ashes and he could not see any signs of somebody entering the clearing since last night.

Richard sighed and sat down on the log. He had to find his friends. Maybe he could ask Lily for help, if she came back. Or maybe he should just leave immediately. But he couldn't. He could not risk causing further damage to his body. Lily said that it would only take another day before he would be alright to travel. These thoughts all rushed around Richard's head as he sat there. A branch snapped somewhere in the trees and Richard's hand instinctively went to his waist to the Sword of Truth. However, it wasn't there. Richard realised how stupid he had been. Of course it wasn't there. Zedd and Kahlan would never let the sword go, even if he was dead. Richard looked around for any sort of object that he could use as a weapon as he was unarmed. Even if he did acquire something, he doubted that he would be able to use it. At the moment, whilst he was healing, he was useless.

Lily stepped through the trees and smiled at the alert Richard. "Good morning. I see that you're up already." She dumped her bag on the ground before going back into the forest to retrieve firewood.

When Lily had the fire going again, she opened her bag and took out a loaf of bread. Richard stared at it hungrily. Lily laughed at his expression and muttered something about men and their stomachs.

"Why are you helping me?" Richard blurted.

Lily stopped what she was doing but didn't turn to face Richard for a long time. When she finally did, her eyes were distant, remembering memories from another time, "I was always told to help people, even though they might not appreciate it."

Richard smiled. It sounded like something Kahlan would say. Lily saw his smile and returned it with one of her own. She then turned back to preparing the food. She heated up the left-over Spice Soup and cut a chunk of hard cheese that she also had in her bag. She handed Richard a bowl before sitting next to him with a bowl of her own.

Lily seemed to be at ease around Richard, and strangely, he enjoyed being around her as well. "So," Lily said with a mouthful of bread and soup, "what's your story? How did you end up in a river with wounds like that?"

Richard looked into Lily's eyes. He noticed how they were bright with unasked questions. However, he was shocked that Lily didn't know who he was. Almost everybody did; even without the Sword of Truth on his belt. Richard opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before answering, deciding what to say. "I can't remember what happened exactly, but I know I need to find my friends." He felt bad about lying to Lily but he had decided that it was safer to do so. "I was wondering, though, if we should team up and look for your brother and my friends together. It would be safer and maybe even easier."

Richard looked at Lily to find her eyes glistening. "That would be brilliant. That way we will find them in no time."