"What were your plans, Ryan?" Richard asked, leaning against the stone wall. Ryan was chained on the opposite side of the room. The smell alone was enough to make Richard gag.

"Ryan," the man's gaze looked up at the figure in white, eager to do her bidding. "Answer Richard's questions. It would please me very much." Ryan smiled and nodded vigorously, redirecting his gaze up towards Richard.

"The Sisters of the Dark found me while I was patrolling for the D'Haran army. At first I was terrified and tried to fight them back, but their magic prevented me from doing so. They told me they wanted to make me more powerful than I could imagine by giving me something called han. They said it would make me formidable against any wizard. I asked them why they were doing this and they said they wanted to capture Lord Rahl." He looked up at Kahlan. "Mistress, I'm so sorry." She nodded her head and motioned for him to continue. "This was shortly after you came into power, when no one really believed you were the new Lord Rahl. We were all still devoted to Darken, and I finally agreed to go along with their plans. They gave me quite a bit of this han - I'm not quite sure what it was. The Sisters said it was a man's essential magic, or something of that sort .." he started to trail off and jumped when Kahlan snapped her fingers. His eyes glistened as he started to panic, apologizing again to his mistress. "After a few months, they said I was ready for my mission, and sent me back into the army to get close enough to be able to capture you. See, I never wanted to kill you Lord Rahl, I swear!" He started sobbing when he saw that his mistress was not pleased with him, groveling on the stone floor and curling into himself.

"And what about Kahlan?" He looked up at Richard, seeming happy to have this subject to talk about.

"She's my mistress. She is quite beautiful, the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I'd do anything to please her-"

"That's not what I meant. What about becoming her mate. Was that in the plan?" Richard's impatience was rising. Granted, Ryan was now confessed and of no harm to anyone, Richard still wanted to wring his throat. Ryan shied away, backing into the wall further.

"Answer him." Kahlan hissed, taking a few steps forward. Ryan began groveling again and words started to spew from his mouth.

"It wasn't in the plan. I heard she had come and was looking for a mate - it was spreading throughout the whole camp. It was said she and the Wizard were interviewing men. Most of the soldiers scoffed at men volunteering themselves to become this woman's slave, but I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get close to Lord Rahl. Word was also spreading that the Mother Confessor and Lord Rahl were getting close and a lot of the men were concerned that she would take you as a mate. I was overjoyed to know that she was going to take me as a mate, that I would finally be able to fulfill my part and capture you."

A question burned in the back of Richard's head as he applied pressure to his temples. "What were you going to do after you captured me? About the Mother Confessor?"

Ryan looked around the stone room as if searching for a way out. Tears started to swell in his eyes when he looked at Kahlan. Her face was unreadable.

"I was going to kill her." He choked out, sobbing more as he slumped to the floor.

"When?" Ryan looked up at him, as if pleading with him not to demand an answer - but his mistress told him to answer Richard as if answering her, and the words spewed from his mouth.

"After the first night with her." Richard's blood began to boil. This sorry excuse for a man was going to sleep with her before killing her. Richard wanted nothing more than to run him through with his sword.

"That's impossible." Kahlan turned to look at Richard, her eyebrows furrowing at the statement. "You were to be confessed. Unless she ordered you to kill her, you wouldn't have been able to." Kahlan pursed her lips as she turned to Ryan, expecting a response to Richard's statement. Ryan's eyes were wide.

"I .. I never thought of that." He fell to the floor once again. "Have I pleased you mistress?"

"No." Kahlan's voice was hard. He looked up at her, moving himself towards her on his knees. He grabbed the hem of her dress and started kissing it, begging to know what to do to please her. The sight disgusted Richard. He placed his foot between Ryan and Kahlan's dress, using it to kick his chest and have him fly back to the opposite side of the cellar. Kahlan smirked.

"Don't touch her." Richard barked. He didn't like having Kahlan anywhere near him. He intended on capturing Richard and handing him over to women who obviously wanted to kill him. As far as Richard was concerned, that made Ryan a murderer - whether the deed was done or not. According to him, the intent is just as bad as committing the action. He didn't want Kahlan to have to deal with this man. He was beneath her. Richard was disgusted that she even had to look at him, let alone speak to him and deal with his actions.

"Please, mistress," he started sobbing, staying where he was kicked to, "tell me what I can do to please you. I live to please you. Please-"

"There is nothing you can do to please me, Ryan." She stood tall, arms crossed, chin lifted. Her gaze was deadly. Ryan's eyes grew in shock. "You came here to capture Richard, a man I care deeply about. After that, you were going to use me as your whore before killing me."

"No, no, mistress-"

"Stop." Ryan closed his mouth, stifling back his sobs. "Nothing you do will ever please me." She turned and lifted the heavy handle to the door, letting herself out of the room. Richard followed, closing the door while Ryan wept and begged behind him.

Kahlan was already walking down the corridor when Richard closed the door. He took a few steps forward before leaning on the wall. "A man you care deeply about, hm?" He called out to her. She turned her body before parting her lips slightly and shaking her head. She smiled as she turned around, continuing down the corridor. Richard caught up to her and the two walked side by side without saying a word. Zedd came around the corner and stopped them.

"How is Ryan?" He asked.

Kahlan smirked as she tilted her head. "He's in agonizing pain. Torturing himself, really." Richard turned his head to look at her, his eyebrows scrunched together. Zedd was mirroring the same facial. Kahlan smiled between the two, slightly laughing. "I told him there was nothing he could do to please me. There is nothing worse a confessed man can hear than that." Zedd nodded when he realized what the action actually entailed while Richard stood there just as dumbfounded as if you told him the sky was green. He shook his head, deciding not to ask.

"Why didn't you just tell him to die?" Zedd questioned. Richard's eyebrows shot up. She can do that? Order a man to die? Kahlan looked down, sliding her tongue over the top of her teeth.

"That would have been too easy on him." She looked up, seeing if the wizard understood what she meant. He nodded his head in agreement.

"Good choice, dear one." He moved past them and walked further down the corridor. Richard observed his surroundings. They were in the corridor with the guest rooms, the rooms where they stationed visitors from other parts of the land. He was standing directly in front of a door. Richard was certain they didn't have any guests, a dinner would have been made to welcome them - and since he hadn't been beckoned to any dinners, he was reasonably sure there would be no one in the rooms. He smiled to himself. Kahlan started walking forward, but Richard grabbed her elbow, sliding his hand down to her wrist as he pulled her into the room, guiding her to the wall as he closed the door. He placed a chaste kiss on her lips.

"So," he raised his eyebrows, "the men in my army seem to think you'll take me as a mate."

"And?" She asked, leaning her head forward a bit, smirk dancing on her lips. Richard sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"I suppose I just want to know the probability of that actually occurring." His boyish grin widened as she grabbed onto his vest and pulled him forward, noses touching.

"Higher than you would think."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really." She drawled out as she wrapped her arms around his neck, beckoning him closer. In turn, he wrapped his arms around her waist, closing the little distance they had between them.

"I'm not sure Zedd would like that." He teased, rubbing his nose against hers.

"Hmm," she said as she kissed along his jawline, teasingly running her tongue up to his lips. "I'm not sure I care." She took his bottom lip between her teeth and pulled away slightly, laughing as she released it.

"And what's this about my losing my soul?" He wriggled his eyebrows at her.

"Pesky nonsense. Nothing to concern yourself with." Her eyes were growing dark and her hot breath on his face was making his pants uncomfortably tight.

"Pesky nonsense? Becoming your slave just so we can have a moment of pleasure?" He teased. She pulled away from his face, lips pursed.

"A moment? If that's all your worth then I should seriously reconsider this." His jaw fell open as he scoffed. Her hands were playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. She pouted as her eyebrows scrunched together. "Becoming my slave? You act like you have some sort of self control." Richard threw his head back and laughed, Kahlan leaning forward to place hot kisses along his neck. She worked her way up to his ear and bit his lobe.

"You must admit, Cypher, you are already at my beck and call." Her voice was husky as she whispered into his ear. He leaned down as he picked her up, her legs instinctively wrapping around him. She looked down into his eyes.

"And what do you want, my dear Kahlan?" He spoke into her skin as he kissed along her collarbone. She used a hand that was wrapped around his neck to lift up his chin, focusing his attention on her.

"I beckon you to the bed and I wish to call your name." Her eyebrow raised suggestively and Richard had to stifle a moan. He was certain he was going to lose his soul this very day.

"As you wish." She bit her bottom lip as she leaned in to kiss him. She started to move her hips as he moved them to the bed. Dear spirits, she was trying to kill him. He sat on the edge of the bed knowing fully that she was the one in control. She lightly pushed him down as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, leaning in to kiss him yet again. She broke from the kiss and sat on top of him, reaching for the ties of her dress as she unlaced them. He sat upright, removing her hands and unlacing the dress himself. She shrugged it off her shoulders, the fabric falling to her waist. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her down on top of him, placing hot, sloppy kisses all over her chest - especially at the bulge of her breasts. She started to unbutton his vest, and he picked himself off the bed while she took it off him - lips still working on her chest. She pushed him down again, scooting herself lower onto his body, and she was now straddling right above his knees. She reached for his belt, tugging at it and undoing it excruciatingly slow. She didn't stop when she heard someone crashing through the door. Instead, she continued to strip off his belt before she turned her head to look at the intruder. Richard didn't bother looking up, his head was reeling, his heart hammering.

"And who are you?" Kahlan said as she lifted her eyebrows, looking the person up and down. Richard prayed to the spirits they would leave, that maybe it was just a maidservant. He knew better. Maidservants didn't go crashing through doors of rooms that were supposed to be unoccupied.

The blonde wore a smug smile, arms crossed as her leather slightly creaked. Richard moaned in frustrated. He knew who it was.

"I'm Cara. Lord Rahl's favorite Mord'Sith."