"Kahlan?" His voice became shaky. What was she doing here?

"Hello, Richard." She smiled, walking towards him through the green plumes. Her skin was ghastly white, almost matching her dress. A green tint resided on it. The swell of her stomach was gone, her figure as slender as when he first met her. He started panicking.

"What are you doing here, Kahlan?" He walked towards her, wanting nothing more than to embrace her in his arms. She smiled and shook her head.

"I'm here to guide you to the Underworld." The smile on her face was blinding, her brilliant blue eyes laughing. "Surely you know you are dying."

Richard nodded and pressed a hand to his chest, blood still steadily pouring out. She took a step forward, her dress billowing in an imaginary breeze. The bottom of the cloth was dirty, as though she had been treading the expanse for days.

"Are you dying?" Richard's voice was meek. She shook her head and smiled, lightly laughing.

"No, Richard. I am perfectly well."

"And the baby?" His eyes were welling up with tears, the thought that the fight may have caused her to lose another child making him want to buckle to his knees. Maybe he did sink onto her after he died, maybe the pressure crushed the baby.

"The baby is fine, Richard." Her smile was shaking him to the core.

"Why are you here?"

"I told you, to lead you to the Underworld." She lifted a hand to him. "Take my hand and I will show you."

"Why you?"

Kahlan dropped her limb, clasping her hands in front of her as her smile withered. "You see what you wish to see, Richard."

He shook his head. Why would he want to see Kahlan in this forsaken place? Why would he want to see her without his child steadily growing in her womb? This was too much for him to comprehend.

"Why would I want to see you in this place, without our child?"

"That is for you to answer, Richard, not I."

Something was wrong. All of this was wrong. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to collect his thoughts. Something was nagging at him. He lifted his head in understanding. He looked over to her, smile coming back to her face, her head slightly tilted.

"You've blinded me." His brows were furrowing together, his thoughts racing.

"What do you mean, Richard?" Her voice was patronizing. She lifted her hand again. "Come with me." It was a command.

"You don't love me."

"Of course I do, Richard." Her face was distorting, her head shaking as her mouth parted.

"You don't. All of this was just a ploy."

"Richard, this is absurd. Do you want the last words you say to me to be that of malice?" Kahlan's voice was rising now, venom lacing her words.

"You don't love me. You never loved me. You manipulated me. You came to D'Hara with the mindset to take me as a mate, you-"

"Richard, that makes no sense. You weren't confessed, there was no way I could predict that. You are coming up with schemes." Tears starting coming to her eyes and it disgusted Richard.

"It was always me. To protect the Midlands, that has been your goal from the beginning. D'Hara was still a threat that you needed to end. What better way than to claim the Lord Rahl himself? You manipulated your way into my heart-"

"Do not blame me, Richard. I did not lie to you, I did not act towards you any differently than I have acted towards others. You knew a union was my goal, to bring the Midlands and D'Hara to peace."

"You didn't want them at peace, you wanted D'Hara to be enslaved by the Midlands."

Kahlan sighed as she shook her head, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "It does not matter any longer, does it Richard? No one can save you. Make peace with yourself and allow me, the woman you love, to deliver you to the Underworld."

"It didn't matter whether or not I was confessed or not, I would be devoted to you either way. You just needed to keep me alive long enough to provide you a child, then you could kill me and claim D'Hara."

"Do you recall a certain argument we had, Richard? You have no male heir, a distant relative would take your throne. How could I claim it?"

"Because D'Hara already views you as their queen."

Kahlan smirked. "And whose fault is that, my dear Richard?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. How was this even happening? How could he allow himself to be fooled like this? This woman knew she was going to take him as a mate, knew he would give her a child, and then was going to kill him and claim D'Hara - enslaving it to the Midlands as revenge for what D'Hara did to them when Darken Rahl was in rule. All the signs were there, he was just too blind to see it. Her outbursts at quads, her comparing him with Darken, her demeanor in general was enough to give it away. She tugged him along and made him believe she loved him, just so he'd trust her enough to allow her to do as she wished.

She intentionally stabbed him.

His mind didn't want to believe it, but it was true. He did flick both the daggers out of her hands, she was just impossibly quick, grabbing the nearest one and positioning it where she knew he wouldn't be able to be healed. The shock on her face was to convince him she didn't mean to. She wanted it to look like an accident. She had everyone fooled, Zedd and Cara would believe her when she told them they were sparring and it was a fluke accident. His mind reeled. She was going to take over D'Hara and claim it as her own. Zedd and Cara would approve the decision.

"This was all a lie." He whispered, pressing his hand against his wound again. "You never cared, you never loved me."

"You meant nothing to me, Richard. You were a pawn I used to gain what I wanted." Her tone was sharp, and when he looked up at her, she was still wearing her smile. She stepped closer to him, holding out her hand once again.

He took a step back.

"Richard, you loved me. You can not deny that. I had secretive motives, yes, but who you were with was who I really am. Don't dwell on what I did, take my hand."

Richard had never asked her what she meant to do, technically the only lie she had said was that she loved him, and only after he had cornered her about it. He wasn't going to be saved. These thoughts meant nothing, no one else could hear them. He felt his body grow weaker, knowing he was only a few heart beats away from falling into the Underworld by himself. He'd rather have Kahlan lead him there.

She smiled at him. "There is no need to worry, Richard. Soon D'Hara will be joined with the Midlands and all will be well."

"What are you going to do to D'Hara, Kahlan?" He looked up at her, his voice struggling.

"What they had done to us." Her smile grew as she held her hand out closer to him. He shook his head.

He couldn't die.

Countless innocent D'Harans were going to die at the hands of this woman, and he was just supposed to let it happen? He felt his body go numb.