Chapter Eighteen

Kahlan's mind was still reeling over what Richard had said that morning, but after a day to think about it, she was starting to accept it. Richard had never treated her like Rahl had, even if she still wasn't sure if they were the same person or not. Some how, she knew that they weren't the same. Something had changed in him, and Kahlan thought that it had something to do with the Agiel Malfunction.

"So, Mother Confessor, Lord Rahl loves you?" The Captain asked. He was sitting across the fire from her next to Cara. They were so close it almost looked like she was sitting on his lap.

"Well . . . I don't really know what to say, Captain. Richard just – " She was cut off by Cara.

"He's Richard now?" She asked incredulously.

"I guess. I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to you. A lot happened in that two hours when we were getting ready to leave." Kahlan said, still trying to comprehend what Richard had meant by 'Denna was my mistress.'

"Why don't you tell us what happened, Mother Confessor, since Lord Rahl isn't here, and we can talk freely." Cara said.

"Well, first you – " the Captain cut her off, but was looking at Cara.

"What do you mean, 'since Lord Rahl isn't here, and we can talk freely?'" The Captain looked confused, but Kahlan had understood Cara's meaning.

"Benjamin, I can't even call you by your name when he is around." She said.

Kahlan decided that they should know about Richard's discovery. "Actually, Cara. Richard knows that you two are . . . together."

"What?" Cara stood up in a sudden rush. "He's going to kill you." She said to Meiffert, she remained relatively calm considering she was telling her lover he was going to die.

"Cara, what are you talking about? Lord Rahl is not going to kill me." Meiffert looked over to Kahlan pleadingly.

"Cara, he's actually really happy for you. He found out about Berdine and Raina too." Kahlan thought now would be as good a time as ever to tell her that. Her mouth dropped open. "Why don't you sit back down so that I can explain to you what happened while you two were gathering food." She said slightly laughing.

"So, after you left me, Berdine and I went back to my office. Denna was waiting for us. She tried to attack me, but Berdine stopped her." Kahlan heard Cara whisper 'no,' but she continued. "She told me to run. I didn't want to, but when I turned around, Richard was standing in the doorway. Have you seen his grey eyes?" Kahlan asked, suddenly aware that she was very attracted to Richard with grey eyes.

"What?" Cara said. "Lord Rahl has brown eyes. I would know." She discreetly looked to see Meiffert's reaction to her statement.

"Look when he gets back, Cara. You'll see what I'm talking about. Anyways, so Berdine was caught off guard by Richard's sudden entrance and Denna hit her across the face with her Agiel. She fell and Denna went in for another strike, but Richard caught Denna's Agiel in his hand. Then – "

Cara cut her off with an outcry of "Impossible!" She was standing and Meiffert looked up at her confused. "Lord Rahl hasn't been trained in the use of an Agiel. He has never felt the pain in his entire life." She had regained her composure. Kahlan knew that Richard's inexperience with the Agiel bothered Cara for some reason.

"He held the Agiel without making a sound. The only way I knew it was causing him pain was from the way his eyebrows scrunched up." Kahlan thought he looked extremely handsome with his eyebrows scrunched up and his eyes mixed with pain and anger, but didn't think mentioning that to Cara would be helpful. "He took Denna outside and . . . scolded her. It was weird. He came back in and sent Denna for a healer. Raina came and Richard and I left her alone with Berdine.

"Richard told me Denna was his mistress." Kahlan said. She waited for an outburst from Cara, but she was just shaking her head. Kahlan told her the rest of the story, even about when they were spying on Cara and Meiffert.

"I still don't understand how all of this concluded in Lord Rahl saying he loves you." The Captain said. Cara was still shaking her head in disbelief.

"Well, Kahlan left out the best parts." Richard's voice boomed across the clearing. He was carrying two large rabbits. Kahlan noticed how dashing he looked in his simple clothes with grey eyes. She couldn't help but smile at him when he looked at her.

Cara's head had stopped shaking and she had jumped up when Richard had arrived back in to the clearing. Meiffert had noticed Cara's actions and reluctantly followed suit.

Richard handed Kahlan a rabbit and sat down. He looked over to the two D' Haran's who were standing up. "So did you two remember to bring a pan with all that food, or were you going to offer to hold the rabbits over the fire?" Richard said smiling, but the Captain blushed, and Cara looked genuinely freighted for a second before she let her mask fall back across her face.

Meiffert pulled a pot out of his pack. "Here you go, Lord Rahl."

Richard looked over to Kahlan and spoke in a quiet voice. "You do agree that we can't let Cara cook don't you?" Kahlan smiled when Meiffert laughed and Richard gave her a private smile before turning back to the group. Cara still didn't look very comfortable, but Richard and Meiffert seemed to be becoming friends rapidly.

Kahlan grabbed the pot out of Richard's hand and decided to play along. "Yes, Richard. Cara will kill us all if we let her cook." She said in the same quiet voice that he had spoken in.

Cara's mouth opened and she looked like she was about to say something but thought better of it after a quick glance at Richard. Kahlan started preparing the soup while Richard talked to Meiffert.

"So, Lord Rahl. What are these better parts of the story that the Mother Confessor is leaving out?" He asked after sometime. Kahlan had actually gotten Cara to stir the soup while she was collecting herbs and she had just gotten back as the question was asked. Kahlan almost dropped her small bundle.

"We almost kissed, Benjamin." There was a large crash and the light suddenly got less intense. Kahlan looked over to see what had happened.

Cara had knocked the soup pot over into the fire.

"I told you we shouldn't let her cook." Richard said smiling at the astonished Meiffert.