Richard/Kahlan, Cara/Leo, slight Kahlan/Cara
His Quest
Kahlan hated this. It had been bad enough when Richard had first gone with the Sisters of the Light, and she and Cara had followed Zedd—sometimes she and Cara were alone anyway, so it felt normal, almost.
But then they'd found Zedd, and they'd told him of Richard's headaches being strong enough to kill that one Sister of the Light—Kahlan, conscience-stricken, realized they should have done the funeral rights for her, but Cara scoffed, "If she wanted to kill herself—"
"For your Lord Rahl," Kahlan had said dangerously. And Kahlan had gotten her way.
But now—Kahlan walked beside Cara, loving and hating the look in Cara's eyes when they alighted on Leo. Now she knew how Cara must've felt, watching her with Richard.
If Kahlan had her choice, she would have gone with Richard—even into the Underworld. She would make nothing of cooling her heels while Richard learnt to control the magic in his blood—maybe the Sisters of the Light would even have a few tricks they had disdained to teach her as a girl, on controlling magic.
Sometimes Kahlan thought she almost had the trick of it—she could be with Richard and not Confess him. She just had to concentrate.
But Richard's quest was too important. Someone had to save the Land of the Living. Kahlan couldn't let Richard come back, only to find she had failed him.
His quest was what mattered. Kahlan wouldn't let herself blame Leo. She wouldn't let herself blame Zedd. And most especially, she wouldn't let herself blame Richard.
These things happened. It was no one's fault.
"Doesn't the Mother Confessor like me?" Leo complained to Zedd. And Kahlan, brushing back angry tears from her eyes, stopped and waited for them to pass out of earshot.
"Richard," she murmured, as though merely saying his name could bring him closer to her.
Cara, watching her with eyes narrowed, for once had no caustic comment. Instead, she drew Kahlan's arm through hers, and together, they walked on.