Richard awoke slowly. First he noticed the steady breathing of the one in the bed next to him. He breathed in the aroma of her hair, savoring the moment while it lasted. Several moments passed before Richard opened his eyes. To his surprise Kahlan was awake and staring adoringly at him already. The two remained in this state for several long moments; each noticing the breathing of the other and not taking their eyes off of one another. "I could get used to this" Kahlan said quietly. Richard smiled broadly reaching his had to her face and running his thumb up and down her cheek. The two remained together for another hour or more. Eventually the door to their chambers opened and a blonde figure walked in. Richard and Kahlan looked up to the intruder. Cara moved to the end of the bed and stared at Richard, but did not speak. Kahlan and Richard exchanged an exasperated look and turned their attention back to Cara. "Do you need something Cara?" Richard asked as nicely as he could, despite his agitation at Cara's presence. The Mord'Sith did not respond but continued to stare at Richard with the same blank stare. Kahlan rose sat up in the bed and courteously as possible asked "Cara why are you in here?" Again Cara did not speak and did not even look at Kahlan. She continued to blankly stare at Richard as if he were to read her mind. Finally annoyed Richard hissed "speak or get out Cara!" To this Cara chuckled but did not move from the end of the bed or stop staring at Richard. Just as Richard got out of the bed the Mord'Sith Cara smiled brightly exclaiming "Oh good Richard you're up! I was wondering if you could get ready so we could take care of business." Still smiling as she finished speaking Cara looked expectantly at Richard as if he would naturally agree to her request. Silence followed as Richard and Kahlan exchanged looks. "What are you talking about Cara?" Kahlan asked dumbfounded. Cara continued to stare at Richard as if waiting for him to ask the question. When he did she answered "I am talking about the important business you have to do as the Lord Rahl." "What do you mean?" Kahlan burst out. Cara still ignored Kahlan and stared at Richard waiting for him. After another moments silence passed Richard moved from his spot to collect his clothes and dress himself. As he did Cara finally left the room but made it obvious that she was just outside the door. Kahlan got out of bed and made to get dressed as well. Richard grabbed her hand and shook his head. Kahlan scoffed but before she could say anything Richard brought her close "that isn't Cara." Richard fastened the belt on his trousers and grabbed his sword, the Sword of Truth.
The person impersonating Cara led Richard to the throne room of the Confessors Palace. She motioned him to sit in the Mother Confessors chair. Richard did not and remained standing like a statue in the throne room glaring at the would-be Cara. Eventually the imposter resigned and faced Richard to speak. In a voice completely unlike the voice of Cara the imposter spoke "I am sincerely sorry for this deception but I had to do it in order to speak with you." The imposter began to change. Slowly the woman's body shrunk inward as if loosing pounds by the second. Her hair turned to a more auburn color and her eyes became hazel. Now standing in the throne room were a shocked Richard and a new woman he had never met before. After her change was completed the woman gave Richard a nervous smile. "Again I'm sorry for the deception." Richard inched the Sword of Truth a bit out of its scabbard. "Who are you? And what have you done with Cara?" The woman lifted her hand as if to say she meant no harm and explained "I have done nothing with Cara. She is asleep in her room. I merely blocked her door so she couldn't interrupt me until I spoke with you." Richard began to speak again but the woman stopped him "Please Lord Rahl just let me explain." The woman breathed in to prepare herself "Lord Rahl my name is Rikka. I am a servant in the People's Palace in D'Hara. I served under your brother Lord Darken Rahl until his demise and have continued to serve there but in a different role now." Richard burst in before Rikka could speak "What does that have to do with-"Rikka stopped Richard from continuing. She spoke from where she ended "Now I serve in the role of finding the new Lord Rahl. I have this responsibility because my family is the only pure blood D'Haran family in the Empire. Because of this we are best suited for using the Bond to find the new Lord Rahl." She did not continue speaking so Richard took that as an invitation to ask a question. "What is the Bond? And how does it have anything to do with me. "Rikka promptly explained "the Bond is the magical connection between the Lord Rahl and his loyal subjects. The Bond protects us from certain magical attacks that would otherwise not be able to be defended against. As for its role in you, you are the Lord Rahl. You are the gifted offspring of the last Lord Rahl. You are therefore the current Lord Rahl." At first Richard did not speak, obviously soaking in this information. Eventually he found a hole in the story "but I don't have the gift anymore, I transferred it to a sorceress in the Old World when I was at the Temple of the Prophets." Rikka smirked at Richard's claim. "You cannot get rid of the wizard's gift, or at least not yours. I can still sense it within you. That sorceress merely took your surface power, which any wizard would have." Richard began to try arguing with the woman but she put her hand up for silence. "That does not matter at the moment, the point of my presence here is that you are the Lord Rahl and you need to claim your throne. If you do not then the Empire will crumble and send everything into darkness." Richard scoffed to this statement turning as if to leave. He stopped after and step and whirled around "You're delusional if you think anything good could come out of D'Hara. It is a breeding ground for tyrants and evil men!" Rikka allowed Richard to breathe for a moment, calming himself after his outburst. After a moment of silence Rikka spoke again in a voice as calm as possible "you're D'Haran." This left Richard silent. He did not speak again but simmered in his own anger. Rikka let him. Finally she continued "I am not saying that the actions of many within the House of Rahl have been good for the world, but the Bond of their rule is necessary. If not for the Rahls we would not be here today." A loud bang echoed through the throne room. Richard turned around to see the door bursting open. Kahlan entered with several guards, Zedd, and the real Cara. The guards surrounded Rikka while Kahlan and Zedd moved to Richard's side. Cara drew her Agiel and moved toward Rikka. "Cara, stop!" Richard commanded of his leather clad protector. She looked to Richard bewildered. Kahlan leaned in to speak with Richard, but he shook his head in response. Then Richard turned to Zedd and asked his grandfather "have you ever heard of the Bond between D'harans and the Rahls?" Zedd stared into Richard's eyes for a brief moment before answering. "Yes, I know of it. This is what gives the Mord'Sith the power over the Agiel." Richard quickly asked "what about protection against certain kinds of magic?" Zedd nodded before explaining further "when it was first created the Bond was intended to protect the people who fought in the Great Wizard War from certain powerful magic used by the other side. It was created by Alric Rahl, the first of the House of Rahl. The idea was that anyone who said the oath of loyalty to the Lord Rahl would be protected by the Bond." Richard absorbed this for a moment then asked "why didn't you ever tell me about this?" Zedd answered simply "I did not think it mattered before I knew you were a Rahl and after I learned the truth I did not want to distract you from finding the Stone of Tears. Had you decided to claim the throne then I would have explained it to you but you chose a different path." Richard fell silent thinking on what Rikka and Zedd told him. Cara stared at Rikka the entire time, obvious anger building up in her eyes. Kahlan kept an eye on Richard still wanting to speak with him but remained silent for now. Finally Richard sighed, turning to Rikka he asked "what exactly do you want me to do?" Rikka smiled "I want you to proclaim your acceptance of the throne of D'Hara. And possibly come to the People's Palace for coronation and to unite your Empire." Kahlan finally spoke unable to restrain herself anymore, "but Richard would have to kill so many of the soldiers to get all the legions to follow him." Zedd consented to this point referencing one of the generals who tried to kill Richard during their search for the Stone of Tears to get rid of opposition for his own claim to the throne of D'Hara. Rikka chuckled rolling her eyes. "No one but a Rahl can rule D'Hara. Pretenders may become a regent for a short time but without a gifted member of the House of Rahl D'Hara will fall into the abyss." Kahlan interjected with Richard's point that he no longer possessed the wizard's gift. Zedd struck down this notion stating "he still has the gift it is merely suppressed by his own will and Nicci's transference of his powers." Richard and Kahlan looked to Zedd in bewilderment. Richard had not believed Rikka's claim that he still possessed his gift but had let the subject die for the time being. Now to hear Zedd say he did still have the wizard's gift was confusing. He wanted to ask why his powers hadn't returned but decided to move on with the current situation. "So if I claim the throne even if some believe me many will resist my rule and fight back." Rikka returned her gaze to Richard. She no longer had a smile on her face and nodded. "Yes, some will resist your claim just as before. That is because they either do not have the Bond or it is not strong in them. True D'Harans will be able to feel that you are a gifted Rahl and will accept you without question, but others will contest your claim. The only way to sway those who would not be otherwise is to prove you are the gifted heir." Kahlan beat Richard to asking how he would do such a thing. Rikka looked grim momentarily "well Darken Rahl used dark magic. In fact many Lord Rahls used dark magic to claim the throne. In your case I suggest doing like the old and just Lord Rahls did and use your gift to avert a catastrophe that would harm D'Harans as well as other lands." Richard and Kahlan exchanged a brief glance into each others eyes. No one spoke for a time that seemed like forever. The guards had not moved from their posts around Rikka. Cara still remained a few paces away from Rikka, anger in her eyes. "How about defeating the Keeper? Would that get the D'Harans attention?" Zedd asked mockingly. Rikka did not smile or laugh at Zedd's statement but answered "that might have, but most soldiers in the Empire were either joining the keeper or fighting under generals trying to take advantage of the power vacuum in D'Hara. I'm afraid now he will actually have to use his gift on his own to prove himself." Zedd took on a grimmer stance then and muttered "that means we have to teach him to use his gift first." Rikka smiled nervously consenting. "First he has to want to access his gift, and then he can learn to harness it."
The congregation in the throne room dispersed after this. Richard informed the guards to set Rikka up in a room on the opposite end of the palace and to keep her under guard. Cara tried to strike Rikka with her Agiel but Richard stopped her, ordering her to come with him. After they exited the throne room Richard, Kahlan, Cara and Zedd went to a conference chamber to discuss the situation further. The entire time they circled around the real issue, would Richard learn to use his gift and ascend to the throne of D'Hara. Zedd was particularly concerned with the darkness Rikka said would follow if the D'Haran Empire did not remain intact. Kahlan didn't seem to care calling them evil brutes. Though he did not want to Richard disagreed with her on this point. He pointed out several honorable D'Harans they came across during their adventures, Cara being chief among them. After another hour of talking they consented to let the matter rest for the time being. At least until they knew more about the situation.