The past two days went by horribly slow.

Richard had hoped since he had given his grandfather and Cara two days to come up with a way for him to be with Kahlan without being confessed, that they would leave the two alone. That was not the case. Cara, not understanding much about magic and asking too many questions, was dismissed by Zedd. She used the free time to supervise the two. Other than a few stolen kisses, he hadn't seen much of Kahlan. Richard could tell Kahlan got incredibly irritated by the Mord'Sith's antics, so she chose to separate herself from the blonde as much as possible.

At this point, Richard didn't blame her.

Zedd had come up with one solution - a solution Richard was refusing to even consider. He held the metal object in his hand, waving it in Richard's face.

"Richard, the Rada'Han can contain her magic. You won't be affected. I'll even give you the key." Zedd was amazed at how easy the solution had come and was now aggravated that Richard wouldn't even consider it. Cara rolled her eyes as she stood by the elder in front of Richard's desk.

"No." Richard looked up at his grandfather, whose face was now red with rage.

"Bags! You give us two days to come up with a solution. We came up with one! Now you won't even consider it! Why!" Zedd dropped the object on the desk, a clanging ringing through the room.

"Because," Richard looked between the two, "this is not a proper solution." Cara dropped her mouth and was about to scream at him. He lifted his hand to silence her. He picked up the Rada'Han with his right hand, gesturing to the two with it. "This is like a collar. Kahlan is not animal. When I wanted a solution, I wanted something that would affect me - not her. Asking her to even consider wearing this is blasphemy." He dropped it on the table. "Asking her to wear this would be telling her that I don't take her for all she is. I don't want her to feel like she has to give up a part of herself to be with me. What you two don't understand is that I'm not scared of her magic." Cara's eyes narrowed as she leaned over the desk. She scoffed.

"Not scared of her magic, you say?" She reached out and grabbed his shirt with her leather clad hand, practically lifting him out of his seat. "You have to be the stupidest man I have ever met, Lord Rahl. This," she picked up the Rada'Han with her other hand as she proceeded to wave it in his face, "answers your problems. This lets you be with her without becoming her slave. If she feels this," her lips pursed, "suppresses her, then you shouldn't be with her anyways. If she would much rather let you lose your soul to her than to wear this simple 'collar' around her neck - she doesn't care about you." She dropped the metal as she shoved him back in his seat, walking out of the room. Richard rubbed his forehead.

"Cara's right." Richard looked up at him.

"I know." Zedd seemed ready to burst at the seems.

"Then why are you refusing this!"

"Cara is right, but we'll never find out for sure." Zedd eyebrows shot up.

"And why is that?"

"Because I wouldn't even dream of asking Kahlan to wear this." He picked up the object and threw it to the side. "I want her for everything she is, magic included. I'm not scared of this, Zedd. You may think we are rushing into this - that we are making decisions based solely on desires. We're not. I'm not." Richard's back straightened as he crossed his arms. He could see Zedd faltering in his anger, his curiosity was about to overwhelm it.

"Bags, Richard! Are you telling me you actually care for the Mother Confessor?" His wrinkled hands rested on the table, leaning closer to Richard.

His hard facials softened as he looked down, grinning. "More than care, Zedd. These past few weeks have been unbelievable. I honestly think I'm in love with her." He heard Zedd sigh.

"My boy, are you sure you aren't just infatuated with her?" Richard shook his head.

"I thought that at first, but I'm not. I mean, I am, but that's not all it's about." His smile was starting to hurt. "It's the way she acts, who she is. She's authoritative and speaks her mind, knows how to get what she wants. She's truthful and playful, sometimes shy. I feel like my heart is going to hammer out of my chest every time that I see her. A simple touch from her sends me reeling for hours. When she first walked in to this room," he turned, gesturing around, "I felt I had known her my whole life. Zedd, I know you are worried about confession - losing me. The truth is, I was confessed the moment she walked through that door. You don't want me to become her slave - I already am. I'd do anything she'd ask of me. Confessing me isn't going to change anything, my feelings for her couldn't be any larger than they already are. It'll still be me."

"A more lovesick, devoted you."

Richard chuckled. "I couldn't get any more lovesick or devoted if I tried,"

Zedd shook his head. "I'm not going to convince you to abandon this, am I?"

"Not for anything." Richard could see Zedd giving up on the prospect of him leaving Kahlan behind. He was glad Cara wasn't in the room, she would have only mocked his feelings and egged on an argument - possibly riling Zedd up more. His grandfather walked around the desk, putting an arm around Richard's shoulders.

"My boy, if this is what you really want," he looked down at Richard, "then I won't stop you. Who am I to get in the way of love? An old fool like me, whose feelings have long ago aged away." Richard smiled as Zedd took away his arm. The old man started to walk out the room.

"Zedd?" He turned, eyes sad.

"Thank you." Richard managed to choke out. He nodded as he reached for the door handle, letting himself out of the room. Richard sighed he rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.

Richard wasn't sure when his feet had started moving, but he was now standing outside of Kahlan's door. He sucked in a breath as he knocked. He heard her shuffling behind the wood, moving to unlatch the lock as she slowly drew it open. His gaze met hers and he broke out into a smile.

"Lord Rahl." Her eyebrow arched up, smirk on her lips.

"Mother Confessor." He replied, putting his hand on the door as he pushed it open, following Kahlan into the room.