Sitting in her chair, Kahlan waited for them to arrive. Her mind spun as she tried to find the right words to say in hopes of saving her family. Everything her mind thought of was quickly dismissed by her heart.
"Mother Confessor."
Kahlan looked at the young woman, standing on her right, bowing. Moving her eyes to the left, each gave her a bow as they stepped closer. The head of the council, who was last, gave only a small nod of her head.
"The four of you who didn't agree with the decision about my daughter step forward." Instantly, they each stepped forward. "Why did you disagree?"
The woman on her right spoke first, a frown on her face as she began to explain. "There is nothing to suggest the child has wizard's magic. The child, without question, is a Confessor and should not be destroyed."
"You believe removing her magic would destroy her?"
"Yes, Mother Confessor. It is who she is." The woman answered as she stared down at the marble of the floor. "A Confessor is always needed and we shouldn't destroy her because we're afraid."
"And you?" Kahlan nodded to the older man standing next to the woman. "What is your reason?"
"Your husband." He said softly, making Kahlan's blood run cold. "It makes no sense to take the magic of your child when she may have the same of your husband. He has not attacked anyone and we have no reason to think that she would be any different."
"That is your reason?"
He looked up, meeting her eyes. "Yes, Mother Confessor. After everything that yourself and your husband has done for us, it would be wrong to assume that your child would not do the same."
Not wanting to talk about his reasoning any longer, in fear of the other members thinking it through once more, she moved on to the next member or the council, also an older man. "And you?"
He gave her a small bowl, keeping his eyes on the floor. "I believe as they do, Mother Confessor. There is no reason to think that the child would be a danger once she has been trained."
"You?" She asked, turning her head to the last member who had not destroyed her trust in the council.
"I believe in what you said." The woman answered softly. "The first time you brought her in to us. You said that she would be our only hope one day. With her magic, Wizard's power or not, she will be a great help to us."
"Were all of your thoughts heard by the council?" Kahlan asked as she looked back over the four of them.
"No." The young woman said as looked up at her, ignoring the angry stare coming from the head of the council. "The decision had been made before the vote. It is in my opinion that some only voted with the head to keep from being punished."
Anger flowed through her veins as she stood up, looking down at the woman who ran the council. "What is it you would like to say?" The blonde remained silent, her eyes glued to the floor. "You will answer me Hannah!" Kahlan said loudly, making the servants, moving around the room, stop and stare for a moment.
"It was for the safety of our people." She said as she stepped backwards, needing to put space between them. "I will not allow your child to turn into the next Darken Rahl."
Enraged, Kahlan stepped down, from her post, stopping no more than an inch away from the woman. She reached out, taking Hannah's throat in her hand, squeezing it slightly. "You are no longer head of the council." She breathed out, being sure that the others heard her. "We will take another vote," she looked to the rest of the council. "You will vote only on the facts, not on anything she has said. Do you understand?" They nodded, slowly, terrified that they would be next.
"Mother Confessor," The young woman said softly, stepping closer to her as the other moved around them. "I'm sorry, but the facts were not entirely made clear. It would be unwise for us to decide without full knowledge of the child's magic. She may not have the magic of the Wizard's."
The others nodded in agreement, each afraid of making the wrong choice once again. "Alright. What is it you are proposing?"
"We wait until she is of age and find out for sure what she is capable of."
Releasing the woman, Kahlan turned around to completely face the other, younger woman. "Alright. You are now Head of the Council. You will need another member to replace the loss of Hannah."
She stared out into the night, watching the water ripple as she poked a stick into it. Reaching up, Kahlan tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear as she shivered in the wind.
"There you are." Turning her head, Kahlan gave her husband a small smile as he stepped closer. "You missed dinner and the announcement of the new member of the council."
"Who is it?"
"Katharine Holn." He smiled, sitting down beside her. "What happened to Hannah?"
"I removed her."
"Why?"
She looked at him, her smile faded from her lips. "You know why." She said softly, returning her eyes to the water.
His smile widened, "Do I?"
"You do. Bridget would have told you before she made the announcement."
Leaning closer to her, he pressed his shoulder against hers, his warm breath hitting her cheek as he spoke. "She didn't. She informed me that it was your decision, but that it was not hers to explain. That only you should give me an answer. I could see why you picked her."
"Hannah tricked me." Kahlan said softly, continuing to stare out at the water. "There was no vote, Richard. She and she alone decided what would happen to our child. The others followed her without question." Turning to him, she blinked back the tears that collected in her eyes. "I almost allowed them to destroy our child on the thought of one woman in fear. Richard, if you hadn't asked me to talk to them, we never would have known."
He wrapped his arm around her, drawing her close to him. "We know now." he whispered, as she rested her head on his shoulder. "So what happens now?"
"We wait." She said numbly, closing her eyes to rid them of their tears. "We wait until we know for sure that she has the wizard's magic or if she is a threat."
He smiled as he rubbed his head against hers. "And when they realize she's exactly like her mother?" He let out a soft laugh, comforting her. "All other will tremble before her."
His words had the desired effect, she laughed, wrapping her arm around his. "I'm sure the people will love her."
"They will, just as they love you."
Turning her head towards him, she raised an eyebrow. "Not too long ago, you said that I terrified the people."
"No, I said that the council is terrified of you and they are." He smiled widely, "They're terrified, but they love you. Your people, Kahlan, they respect you so much, there's no fear. It's love. Your people love you. They know that you would never hurt them."
Her smile spread across her face as she leaned forward, lightly pressing her lips against his. "Thank you." She whispered as she pulled back, keeping her face close to his, sharing his breath. "I needed that." Laying his forehead to hers, Richard, pushed his nose to hers, pushing it side to side with his. "I don't know what I would do without you."
Smiling, he pulled back, looking her in the eyes. "You would be sitting here, wishing that you had someone who loved you to swim this river with."
"Emma?"
"She's with Zedd. We have the rest of the evening."
Standing up, Kahlan pulled loose the strings of her White Mother Confessor's dress, taking note of the way he watched her move. "Are you going to sit there and let me swim alone?" She mocked with a wide grin. "Remove your pants."
"As you wish."
He followed her into the water, both letting out a small hiss at the coolness of the water around that surrounded them. She stopped instantly, making him walk into her as she turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him to her for a deep, passionate kiss. Reaching up, he entangled his fingers into her thick dark hair, pushing it away from her face and neck. His lips trailed over her chin, along her jaw and down her neck, finding their pleasure on her chest and the tops of her breast. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she allowed him and the water to hold her up as he devoured her.
She held his head to her chest, arching into his mouth as she her breathing turned into pants. His hands moved over her back, sliding up and down as she began to rock herself against him. Pulling his head from her chest, he took in a deep breath before crashing his lips to hers once more. She let out a soft moan as he positioned himself at her entrance, filling her quickly and smoothly. Richard wrapped his arms around her thighs, lifting her over him as they made slow, quiet love in the water. In that moment, everything disappeared and all that existed was them. Alone in their place of love.
Moments passed slowly as they floated in the water. Richard had found a large rock and pushed her against it, using it to help hold her head above the water as his own head rested on her chest, listening to her heart pound. In their moments together, time was their own, never speeding too quickly or too slowly, giving them each the amount of time that was needed for the healing that only the other could provide. Each touch and kiss seemed to bury them both deep into each other, neither wanting it to end and to be brought back to the world around them.
"Emma will be hungry." Kahlan breathed out heavily as she continued to find her breath. "If we don't go back, I'm not going to remember she exists."
Letting out a laugh, he pulled his head from her chest, giving it one more open mouth kiss before moving his arms in the water and floating a small distance away from her. "Alright, but first, you have to tell me something."
"And if I don't?" She teased with a smile.
"Then I come right back to you and never allow you to leave my arms."
"Then why would I answer you?" She laughed. "I would like nothing more than to spend more time in your arms." Moving closer to him, she traced the fingers of her right hand over his left arm.
"Just tell me that you love me." He breathed out, his body aching for hers once more.
Closing the distance between them, Kahlan, pressed herself against him, "Well Richard Cypher," she said softly, bringing her lips to his ear and slowly tracing her tongue over the curve. "I love you."
Instantly, Richard pulled her impossibly closer to him, her breasts now flattened against his chest, his arms encircled her as their lips collided together. She began rubbing herself against him once more, her body desperately trying to bring back the pleasure that only he had been able to give her. That only he she would allow to give her.
"Cara?" Kahlan stopped mid-step at the sight of her friend's red leather standing before them. "What's wrong?"
She looked from Kahlan to Richard, her face hard and unreadable. "They're prepared to come for you."
"How many?" Richard asked as he stepped closer, pulling his wife along with him, keeping her close. "How many Cara?"
"Three, four hundred. That is all they have gathered so far. There are more coming to join them."
"And you are sure they are coming for me- For us?"
"Yes. I took this." She reached out, handing Richard a piece of paper. "Their path is headed here. They leave no room for escape. The palace will be surrounded in a few days' time."
"We're leaving now."
He pulled her along, as he walked into the palace. "Richard, she just said that we're surrounded."
"She said that we will be. Kahlan, I know that you will not go into hiding, so I am going to go with you. I'm not going to let anyone get near you ever again. Not after-" He stopped, turning around to face her. "Not after everything that happened last time. I'm going to protect you."
Grasping his face in her hands, she stepped closer to him. "I know, but Richard, if we run, we will always be running and I don't want to raise Emma like that. We can't. It's not fair to her."
He released a heavy sigh, knowing that she was right. She always was. "What can we do?"
"We do what we do best." She whispered. "We protect the people we love." At his nod, she turned to Cara, who walked after them. "We'll need Nicci."
"What-"
"She can help." she said softly, returning her eyes to his.
"Alright, but what can she do?" He whispered, remembering his previous thoughts.
"She knows your magic. She can tell you what to do." Now understanding, Richard nodded his head once again. "Trust me." She added softer, knowing that he was still unsure of her choice.
"How long are you going to stand there?" Kahlan whispered, looking up from her pillow. Richard stood before the window, his back to her as he unconsciously rocked the bassinet that stood beside him. "The sun will be up soon."
"I know." He turned to her, stepping closer so he wouldn't wake their daughter. "I can't seem to quiet my mind."
"Come here." He didn't hesitate as he walked to the bed, crawling in beside her. Instantly, she moved into his arms, draping her right arm over his chest as she laid her head down on his shoulder. She could feel his heart pounding against her hand, it made her own race to keep up. "Everything will be fine."
"You keep saying that, but I don't understand how you can't be afraid that it won't be."
"I am afraid." She admitted for the first time to herself and to him. "I'm terrified, but I know you, I know us and something inside says that it's going to be alright. That we have nothing to worry about because of everything that we've come up against, we've beaten it. We've survived."
Richard ran his fingers down her arm, using the motion to comfort not only her, but himself. Holding her in his arms filled him with a comfort that nearly made him forget that they were on the brink of war. The feel of her skin against his, was intoxicating. She had stopped wearing her nightgown to bed months ago when she realized that when her husband was next to her, she didn't want anything between them. He never seemed to mind.
"Maybe we've survived on luck." He said after a few moments, his voice tearing through the silence.
"And you think that our luck has run out?" She asked softly.
Closing his eyes, he thought about her question, the answer that lingered on his tongue threatened to run free. "Sometimes." He answered after a moment and a sigh. "Kahlan, we almost lost the small battle with the council about our own family. What if we can't win this too? It would be foolish of us to believe that we will always win. There will be times when we must hide."
She lifted her head from his chest, looking down into the forest eyes that she loved so much. "This isn't one of those times. Richard, when it comes to you and me- to our family, we will win."
"Or we'll die trying." He added softly. "We can't win forever."
Reaching up, she touched the side of his face, his eyes closing to the feeling of safety. "We can try."