Chapter 5

It was only a few hours after they had set out when the group finally came to the outskirts of the forest. They found themselves looking upon a wide plain where the grass was almost waist-high in some places. A plain path lead to a small village a few miles away. 'I wouldn't mind sleeping in a real bed for a change. We should stay at an inn tonight.' Zedd said, causing Kahlan and Richard to grin at each other.

'You are right, Zedd. We need to buy some supplies anyway and it will be late afternoon until we get there.' Richard answered.

'If we have to walk over this plain I say we should do it quickly. We are an easy target out here.' Cara said, walking off. The others still followed her and Richard at a leisurely pace, seeing there was nothing on the street apart from a few wagons and peasants.

The group reached the village while the sun was still in the sky and soon found an inn for the night.

After they had divided the rooms, Cara, Rachel, Kahlan and Richard went off to buy supplies. They didn't have to search for long until they found a small food store at the main street. 'Kahlan, why don't you and Cara go fetch everything we need here while Rachel and I will search for a blacksmith?' Richard proposed. Cara didn't seem too happy about having to help with the groceries, but Kahlan nodded: 'Sure, we can meet at the inn for supper; if Zedd has left us anything.' With a smile she turned around and entered the shop.

XXX

Once they were on their way, Rachel instinctively reached for Kahlan's dagger which she had hidden inside one of her boots, but Richard laid his hand on her arm: 'Don't. We would only attract the people's attention.' 'Right, sorry.' Rachel smiled at him remorsefully.

Just a few minutes later they stood in front of a blacksmith's shop. The door opened and a huge man came out, untying the leather apron he wore. 'How can I help you? Speak quickly; I have got a sword in the furnace.' He said in a low, but not too unfriendly voice. 'We need a sword.' Richard answered before Rachel could open her mouth.

'But you already have one…' The man's eyes wandered to the Sword of Truth in its sheath at Richard's side. Realization dawned in his eyes: 'You can't be the Seeker?' Richard grasped the hilt of his sword, ready to defend himself and Rachel, but the blacksmith gestured towards his shop: 'My name is Logan. Come in, please. I would be happy to help you. I've heard what you have done for us.'

Richard relaxed slightly, and, seeing that, Rachel was reassured they could trust the man. They followed him inside and Logan immediately began picking up his best swords. 'If I may ask, Sir: Why do you need another sword?'

'Not me. It's Rachel here who needs one.'

Richard tilted his head in her direction and Logan's eyes widened in surprise; he almost dropped the swords he already held in his hands.

'I guess you'll be needing a lighter one then.' Logan said. He handed a sword to Rachel: 'It's one of the lightest and finest I've ever made.'

Rachel took it and immediately felt comfortable with the blade. 'You can try it out in the court behind my house.' Logan said while pointing to a back door. 'Just come back here if you are done. I have to forge this new sword now.'

Richard and Rachel went through the door. They found themselves in a courtyard that was big enough to try new weapons. 'If you really want to know how good the sword is, there is nothing better to do than a bit of sword fighting.' Richard grinned at Rachel, drawing his sword. Rachel smiled back and was already swinging her sword towards his head before Richard had time to realize what she was doing. He countered at the last moment and the two quickly became engaged in a mock fight.

XXX

Ten minutes later, Rachel was standing in front of Richard, their swords crossed. They put down their weapons at the same moment, realizing they were equal. Richard gave Rachel an admiring smile which showed he was surprised by her fighting skills.

'Did you really think you were no match for a woman like me?' Rachel said, grinning mischievously, looking him straight into the eyes.

'I have to admit you surprised me.' Richard answered, his face still only inches from hers. As Rachel felt his admiration she suddenly couldn't hold herself back anymore and moved forward, driven by the desire to kiss him. But before she could, she felt Richard's lips on hers. A warmth that had nothing to do with their long fight spread from her toes right up to her head, and she began to feel dizzy.

She closed her eyes, but even as she did so, Rachel remembered Kahlan; she forced herself to step back, out of Richard's warm embrace in the same instant as he stepped back, a similiar thought entering his mind. 'This is wrong' she whispered, her eyes still closed. Richard just stood there, thunderstruck, for a few moments before he spoke, his voice trembling: 'I am sorry. You... are right.' But Rachel didn't answer; she turned on her heels and went for the door.

Inside the blacksmith's shop, she almost ran into Logan. 'Are you alright? What do you think of the sword?' 'What... It's good. I will take it, thank you.' Rachel answered absentmindedly. Before she knew what she was doing, she was outside on the street again, fighting back the tears.

This can't be … But why did he kiss me if he loves Kahlan? Is it my fault? Rachel forced herself to concentrate on her surroundings. The tears that filled her eyes blurred her vision and she didn't remember the way back to the inn, but she ran off nonetheless. Rachel didn't want to have to face Richard now.

She was walking quickly through the streets, when suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, just were the arrow had hit her a few nights before. She gasped, black and white spots blurring her sight. Rachel leaned against the nearest wall, breathing heavily, trying to regain control over her body. It took a few moments until the pain subsided, just as fast as it had come, and Rachel found she could go on, if only at a slow pace.

The village was not very big, but there were a lot of ways branching off the main street, some even broader than the main street itself, so it took Rachel a while to get back to the inn. Standing in front of it, Rachel took a deep breath to calm her expression before she went in.

XXX

Richard had followed Rachel through the blacksmith's shop. He thanked Logan briefly for the sword and as he left the house he caught a glimpse of Rachel running down the street. He didn't follow her. Richard walked off into the opposite direction, and wandered through the village aimlessly, trying desperately to work out what had just happened and why.

It was already dark when he finally went back to the inn. Inside, Cara, Zedd and Kahlan were sitting at a table in a quiet corner. He walked up to them, trying to cover his real emotions as best as he could.

When the three looked up at him, Richard let himself fall on a chair. Despite the storm that was raging inside him, he forced himself to ask in a calm voice: 'Isn't Rachel back yet? She said she wanted to look around for a while, so I went off telling her we could meet here.'

'She came back an hour ago, but went to her room. She looked tired.' Kahlan answered, the tension in her voice already evident.

'Oh, alright then,' was all that Richard said; this caused Kahlan to throw an angry glance at him. 'That's all you have to say? Why did you let her go on her own? You know it's dangerous!' she snapped. 'Hey, she isn't exactly defenceless. She had her sword, and after seeing how she can fight, I didn't think she needed that much protection. There's no reason to snap at me.' Richard sounded injured and Kahlan immediately regretted her reaction. 'You're right; I'm sorry. I was just worried about Rachel… and you, because you were gone so long' Richard's expression softened as he took Kahlan's hand in his, a silent promise that he would never do it again.

XXX

About an hour later, Kahlan decided to go to bed. She had been quiet since Richard and Rachel had come back, deep in her own thoughts, trying to find an explanation for their behaviour.

She shared a room with Rachel, so she went in as quietly as she could. Rachel was lying in her bed, her back turned towards the door. She heard Kahlan's soft footsteps, but acted as if she was asleep. The last thing she wanted at the moment was having to talk to the Confessor, knowing she would never be able to hide the events of earlier that day from her.

Kahlan silently put on her night gown and went to her bed, but she couldn't sleep. When Rachel had returned and explained to them she was simply tired and wanted to go to bed, Kahlan hadn't needed her Confessor powers to tell her it wasn't the truth. As Rachel obviously didn't want to talk about it, Kahlan had not argued with her.

And now Kahlan thought about what could have happened to Rachel to cause her to lie to them. It must have happened while she had been with Richard… A thought entered her mind that she didn't like at all: the way Richard had looked at Rachel when he had seen her in the blue dress... Kahlan's heart clenched when she suddenly realized there was only one explanation. She sat upright in her bed, and when she looked at Rachel at the other side of the room, she felt a mixture of sadness and anger at everything and everyone. Kahlan felt she couldn't stay in this room anymore. She needed space and air, so she grabbed her boots standing near her bed along with her travelling cloak and ran out of the room head over heels, not caring if she had woken Rachel.

A/N:

Hey there,

I actually planned to post this yesterday, but couldn't find the time to do it, so here it is.

I hope not too many of you are mad at me for taking this story the way it went now. This is a chapter I didn't revise very often, it more or less 'wrote itself'; it just felt right in a way.

Before many of you stop reading my story, please give me a chance to explain (and from here on I will not avoid spoilers, so if you are open to a new idea like I had and don't want to spoil the fun for yourself, don't read anymore!)

I know how this plot will sound to you: A woman coming along and simply snatching Richard away from Kahlan. But I would like to explain I never intended it to be this simple. Richard is not under any kind of 'love spell'; but I do believe (and I am sure you will agree) there are different kinds of love. And the nature of Richard and Rachel's love is different from Richard and Kahlans. I am confident it will become clear in the upcoming chapters that Richard falls in love with Rachel because he wants to protect her and to show her a new life; I don't think his protective nature is out of character, unless I missunderstood the whole series and the first two books; Rachel in turn falls for him because of her difficult past. This story will be about how Richard, Rachel and Kahlan deal with their feelings (love, guilt, despair, hope...) and about finding out the reasons behind Richard and Rachel falling in love.

I would also like to say I am a great fan of Richard and Kahlan, and I sincerely hope you will find the ending (and the rest) of the story satisfying.
Although I tried to warn about the way this story would go in the summary, I am sorry if any of you don't want to continue reading.

I hope you will give this story a chance and read the rest of it before you judge it like this; after all the idea of Richard or Kahlan falling in love with someone else isn't completely new. Maybe I am wrong here, but I remember a lot of Kahlan/Cara fanfictions and they were mostly appreciated (as far as I can say); I would say the difference between these stories and mine isn't that big. Of course this is all a matter of taste, but if you didn't go against the K/C stories, please give mine a chance, too.

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read this.

Still wishing you a wonderful day,

Alex