At Last (Chapter 10)

"Dear Spirits!"

Richard quickly turned at the sound of her voice to see Aggie standing in the doorway, her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. Jumping to his feet, Richard quickly made his way over to her. "Aggie, we need some bandages and supplies right away. Brey stabbed Cara and has taken Kahlan."

Her gray curls bounced furiously as she nodded her head in understanding. Aggie immediately fled the room to gather the necessary supplies as Richard began searching for any more clues.

"Zedd, I want you to stay here and take care of Cara. I'm going after Kahlan," Richard instructed as he bent over to pick up a piece of cloth lying on the floor.

"Richard, I have to go with you to the Wizard's Keep," Zedd told him, tearing his eyes from the Mord'Sith to look at Richard as he continued to work on Cara's wound.

"No, Zedd. Someone has to take care of Cara," Richard said as he inspected the cloth, bringing it to his face. He wrinkled his nose as he sniffed the piece of material. "Coliandria," he muttered as he threw the cloth on the floor. "That's how he was able to overpower Kahlan. He drugged her."

"Richard, the Wizard's Keep is extremely dangerous. The entire place is spelled with powerful magic. One wrong move and you will be killed," Zedd sternly informed him, his gaze narrowing with the gravity of the situation.

"Yes and Brey has Kahlan in there!" Richard angrily snapped.

Rubbing his hands over his face, Richard drew a deep breath in a desperate attempt to rein in his fury and calm the panic that raged in his heart. Looking down, he noticed something silver lying on the floor. Bending over, he picked up the necklace he had given Kahlan, the delicate silver chain snapped in two. He gently caressed the symbol that represented his love for her with his thumb as tears threatened to rise to the surface.

"I'll be fine…Kahlan's hurt…" Cara began coughing before wincing, grabbing her abdomen in pain. "…the longer she's with Brey…"

Aggie abruptly swept into the room, her arms full of supplies and Edmond in tow. "Dear me!" Edmond cried, his wildly straggled eyebrows shooting up in shock at the site in the room.

"Here, let's get her to her room across the hall. I can take care of her and bandage her wound more easily over there," Aggie firmly instructed, springing into action and taking complete control of the situation. It was in dire circumstances just like these that she really showed why she had been in charge of the Palace all these years.

Leaning over, Richard tenderly gathered his injured friend in his arms, holding her close to him as he took her across the hall to her room. Gently laying her down on the bed, Richard brushed her blonde hair from her face.

"I'm so sorry, Lord Rahl…I failed you…" she bitterly apologized. She was furious with herself for allowing Brey to get the upper hand on her.

"Cara, you have nothing to be sorry for. Just get better. I'll be back with Kahlan as soon as I can," he encouraged her before turning to leave her in the capable hands of Aggie and Edmond.

"Don't worry, Richard. We'll take good care of Cara. Between Edmond and me, we have fixed up more Confessors and staff over the years than we could possibly count," she gently reassured him as she patted his arm.

"Thank you, Aggie," he murmured as he left Cara.

Returning to Kahlan's room, Richard knelt down near a puddle of blood on the floor. He lightly ran his finger through the red liquid, his vision beginning to blur with tears. He had sworn to himself that Kahlan would not have to endure any more horror in her life and now he had allowed her to be taken by a volatile Bender.

"Let's go; even with his magic Brey couldn't have gotten that far ahead of us. You can fill me in on this Sparrow's Eye on the way," Richard stated as he stood to his feet and made his way for the door. He just hoped that when he returned to this room again, Kahlan would be with him and that she would be alright.

XXX

Her head was pounding, her wrist was throbbing fiercely, her body ached all over. She could feel someone gently patting her face and calling her name. Slowly opening her eyes, Kahlan saw Brey leaning over her, a smile stretching across his face.

"Time to wake, my love. We're here," he informed her as he caressed her cheek.

Sitting up, Kahlan held her head in her hand, finding it still wet with blood. Reaching back to brace herself to stand, Kahlan cried out in pain, having momentarily forgotten that her wrist was broken. She instantly pulled it to her, holding it protectively to her abdomen, gasping in pain. Tears rapidly collected in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She would not let him see her crumble.

Between gritted teeth of pain, Kahlan reluctantly said, "Brey, you're going to have to rip off the bottom of my dress to make a sling for my wrist."

"That's all I want to do, KK. I want to take care of you. Forever." Brey excitedly pulled the knife that he'd stabbed Cara with from his belt, the Mord'Sith's blood still coloring the blade. Picking up the hem of her skirt, he began carefully working his way around the material, freeing a generous portion of it to form a sling for his love.

The feel of his hands on her dress made Kahlan nauseous. She attempted to focus her thoughts on anything except this vile man's hands as they brushed against her legs.

Putting away his knife, Brey gingerly wrapped the material around her shattered wrist before tying the remaining piece of cloth up around her shoulder for support.

His close proximity, his leering gaze as it roamed over her body before settling on the swell of her breasts was unnerving. She couldn't believe she'd ever had a crush on him, considered him to be her friend.

As he finished tying the material, Brey tenderly reached up. Kahlan pulled back as Brey began running his fingers lightly over the disheveled ringlets that hung haphazardly around her face. His eyes grew caring as he ran a finger down her face causing Kahlan to shiver. Mistaking it for mutual desire, Brey leaned in, kissing her soft lips.

Quickly pulling away, Kahlan averted her eyes in shame as Brey held her by the back of her head. "I have loved you, Kahlan, since the very first day I saw you," he quietly confessed as he gazed into her startled blue eyes. "I have never stopped loving you KK…not even when the Sisters took you away to Aydindril."

"Brey, what happened to you?" Attempting to keep her Confessor's face firmly in place, Kahlan found her voice betraying her, revealing her rising panic. The wild, crazed look that resided in his eyes was unnerving.

Brey hauled her up to her feet, keeping a tight grasp on her arm. "Nothing, KK. I'm the same Brey you know and love. Now, you just have to help me find the Sparrow's Eye and then we can be together forever." He was almost giddy with excitement. It made Kahlan want to vomit.

"I don't even know what the Sparrow's Eye is let alone where to find it," she insisted as he dragged her down the main corridor, darkness steadily flooding the magical Wizard's Keep.

"The Sparrow's Eye is what is going to allow us to be together forever. With it, I will be immune to your powers. Then Richard won't be the only one who has found a way around your magic."

Pulling something from his pocket, Brey opened his hand for her. In the palm of his hand rested a small shiny black stone, a little larger than a sunflower seed. As Kahlan reached out to touch it, Brey abruptly withdrew his hand.

"I don't think so, KK. Once I have the other stone, then we can be together at last. You have no idea how long I have waited for this day, how long I have searched and what I have been through to find the Sparrow's Eye."

"If you already have the Sparrow's Eye then why are we in the Keep looking for it?" Kahlan was having great difficulty following the rambling logic of this deluded man. Her mind was fuzzy and she was having difficulty connecting her own thoughts without trying to follow his.

"I found one Eye, but you have to have both Eyes in order for the magic to work. One Eye gives you powerful magic and the second Eye makes you immune to the effects of magic. I finally tracked the second Eye here. Once I find it and put the two Eyes together, we can have everything that we have ever dreamed of when we were in Thandor. Together, KK, we will be invincible."

"That was a lifetime ago! Those were just the hopeful daydreams of two children, Brey. You can't believe that I still want those things. I've changed, I've grown up…I have new dreams, dreams that include Richard," Kahlan heatedly replied, attempting to talk some reason into him. They had been close once; she hoped that she could get him to listen to her again.

"NO!" he screamed sadistically, tightening his grip on her arm.

Her boots loudly scuffled backwards across the stone floor as he shoved her against a nearby wall. Releasing her arm, he quickly pinned her shoulders to it, the rough stone digging mercilessly into her back. He bent down, bringing his face mere inches from hers, his angry panting breath like hot razors against her skin. His hostile glare made her blood run cold with the violence and volatile rage she saw residing in the frosty blue orbs.

Swallowing hard, Kahlan tried to turn her head away from his icy stare, but his eyes just continued to follow her. In a fit of desperation, Kahlan forcefully brought her knee up between his legs, slamming hard into his groin. Brey immediately released her, stumbling backwards in agony as he grabbed himself.

Kahlan quickly raced down the dark winding corridor, thankful that Brey had cut the confining material from around her lower legs, allowing her to run. She had the advantage of knowing where she was going; Brey did not. Kahlan knew that she stuck out like a beacon in the darkness in her bright white Confessor's gown. She had to find a hiding place before Brey recovered his senses.

Swiftly turning a corner, Kahlan ducked behind several rows of old books concealed in an alcove. Flattening her back firmly against the end of a row, Kahlan attempted to slow her breathing as she listened intently for sounds of Brey coming after her. She held her useless arm tentatively against her body. If she was going to confess him, she knew she was going to have to catch him by surprise.

Kahlan hated the thought of confessing her friend, but he was not giving her any other choice. Her Confessor's side told her she had to stop him before he got his hands on the other Eye. Her heart told her that Brey had been her friend. Despite what he was doing now, she felt that her friend was still in there, buried deep inside. If she could just reach him, get past the delusional fantasies he had created in his mind, Kahlan was sure she could save him.

The only sound she could hear was the sound of her own hurried breathing, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. Thoughts of Richard began rising to the forefront of her thoughts, causing her heart to constrict with anguish. She couldn't let herself think about him right now. She had to take care of Brey first. Then she would try to repair the horrible damage that she had caused between her and Richard; that was, if Richard would even speak to her again.

Shoving aside the tears that suddenly formed in her eyes, Kahlan tentatively listened as she heard the slow, steady fall of boots striking the floor. Her pulse was racing so fast she thought that her heart would burst. What had happened to Brey? He had never displayed anything close to this when she had been with him in Thandor. She couldn't believe that her leaving for Aydindril could have possibly caused him to become like this.

Kahlan held her breath as the sound of the determined footsteps suddenly came to an abrupt stop, an eerie stillness enveloping the very air around her, threatening to suffocate her. The dark shadows in the Wizard's Keep shifted as clouds passed before the moon that was now shining brightly in the sky, causing a soft glow to creep in through the small windows of the Keep. Moonlight illuminated the thick film of dust that lined the bookshelves and the cobwebs that hung lazily in crooks and corners throughout the Keep.

Kahlan looked up through her eyelashes at the small window that hung high above her. She could see specks of dust floating in the faint light like tiny glitter hovering in the air. She had so many happy memories of being here in the Keep, playing with the Wizards and learning from these invaluable books. They had helped paved the way for her to be the Mother Confessor. And she was just that. She was the Mother Confessor and she had to protect the secrets of the Keep as well as her Seeker from this tyrant regardless of the past they shared.

Quietly, Kahlan carefully shuffled her feet as she turned to her side. She peered warily around the corner, keeping the rest of her body concealed as she waited in breathless anticipation for him to finally show himself. A curly strand of hair suddenly came loose, falling across her brow and hanging annoying in front of her eye. With a trembling hand, she grabbed the offensive strand, hooking it behind her ear.

She had to keep her focus. If she could just get close enough to him, Brey would be hers and this would all be over with. But Brey would no longer be Brey. He would be nothing more than a mindless slave with no free-will. Brey, was no longer Brey now, though, she reminded herself.

After several painfully long moments of nothing, Kahlan softly turned back around to find Brey standing directly in front of her. Before a scream could even escape her lips, Brey had his hand clutched tightly around her throat.

"Why would you hurt me, KK, when I've been working so hard for so long to build our future together?" Brey lethally hissed, his eyes glowing with crude fury, his grip growing tighter around her throat with each word.

Kahlan began writhing wildly against his choke hold on her throat, her eyes growing wide with terror as she gasped desperately for each ragged pull for breath. Using her good hand, she began frantically clawing at his hand around her neck, panic rising as she attempted to pry his fingers off her throat.

"I have worked so hard, endured so much so that we could be together and this is the gratitude you show me?" Brey raged at her, his voice dropping deeply with the intensity of his rage. Pulling her forward by her neck, he slammed her back into the oak bookcase, her head cracking loudly against the wood.

"Brey…" Kahlan faintly choked out between gasps for air, seeing bright sparks of light shower in her vision from having her head slammed into the bookcase. "Please…help me…" Tears began spilling down her face, her future with Richard beginning to flash before her eyes as she could feel the life swiftly draining from her body.

Brey abruptly released the vice-like grip he'd had on her windpipe as his countenance instantly softened. "That's all I want, KK…just a little kindness, a little gratitude for what I've given up for you."

As soon as he released her, Kahlan immediately collapsed to her knees, choking and wheezing as she gulped in much needed air. Leaning over, Kahlan began vomiting as the effects of the concussion she'd received earlier began taking over.

Kneeling down before her, Brey removed a small water skin from his pack and handed it to her. "Here, my love…drink it down. When you're sick, when you bear our children, I will take care of you…I will always take care of you just like I did in Thandor."

Drinking down the cool liquid, Kahlan almost choked on his words. Children? She would never bear this monster's children. She swore she would kill him before it ever came close to that. Handing him back the water skin, Kahlan leaned her back against the bookcase and closed her eyes. Since everything she seemed to say only enraged him and led to further brutality, Kahlan decided she was going to have to try a different approach if she wanted to get out of this alive.

XXX

As they raced up the steps of the Wizard's Keep, panic readily shifted into terror as Richard attempted to absorb what Zedd had told him about the Sparrow's Eye. Zedd's words echoed hauntingly through his mind, his chest constricting with horror for what Kahlan was possibly enduring at the hands of that beast.

"So, once he brings the two Sparrow's Eyes together, Brey will be unstoppable. That is, of course, if we assume he has the other Eye."

"Pretty much. Once he finds that second Eye, Brey will become all-powerful as well as immune to all magic…even Kahlan's magic," he regretfully added as an afterthought.

"Even Kahlan's Confessor powers?" Zedd had failed to mention that part before. Kahlan would be defenseless as well as injured. Gripping the sword tightly in his hand, Richard could feel his rage surging furiously through his blood, feeding off of the magical fury of his weapon. Thoughts of Brey's hands on Kahlan, taking her and making her his caused his stomach to twist into furious knots. He would die before he would allow that to happen to Kahlan.

Standing before the large doors, Richard waited impatiently as Zedd raised his hands, performing the chant that would allow them entrance into the great Wizard's Keep. With a low rumble, the towering doors creaked open, reluctantly bidding them welcome.

Richard raced through the entrance followed closely by Zedd. He began frantically searching for signs of Kahlan as he quickly made his way through the main entrance. The musty smell of the Keep assaulted him as he stopped to inspect the main hall. A tingling sensation of magic permeated the air, causing the Seeker's skin to prickle, the Sword's magic intensifying in the magical Keep as it began to make his blood sing.

With a wave of Zedd's hands, torches instantly burst into flames, seemingly setting the entire corridor on fire. Taking one, Zedd felt a familiar sense of serenity with finally being home despite the fact that he was filled with worry over Kahlan.

Kneeling down, Richard carefully inspected the floor. He immediately noticed the large, determined footsteps of Brey and the smaller, dragging footprints of Kahlan. The obvious way she was being dragged through the Keep like an animal made him tighten his grip on his sword. Standing up, he resumed his search, following the erratic pattern of footprints that stood out like a guiding light in the thick cover of dust that coated the floor.

At one point, hope began to spark in his heart when Richard saw signs that a struggle had taken place until he noticed where it appeared that Kahlan had been shoved against the wall. Richard clenched his jaw, his lips twisted into a sneer. He was growing more desperate to find Kahlan and make Brey pay for what he'd already done to her, terrified of what he was going to do to her…