TITLE: Marked

AUTHOR: LOTSlove®

CHARACTERS: Richard / Kahlan / Cara / Zedd / Original Characters

RATING: PG-16 / R later

WARNINGS: Author Chooses Not to Use Warnings

TIMELINE: Anything up through S2

DISCLAIMER: I'm completely obsessed with the show Legend of the Seeker and all things Richard and Kahlan. I love to write about them even though they cancelled my show and now I'm fighting to get it back!

SUMMARY: Sequel to my fic Revenge, Richard finally has Kahlan safely back with him, but does he really?

Chapter 1

Outside of the large double doors, two D'Haran soldiers stood guard, their enormous arms bared, their bronzed flesh riddled with unsightly battle scars that were proudly worn badges of honor. It meant that they had survived, the enemy had not. Each had a hand resting on the hilts of their swords, ever ready to defend at a moment's notice, their eyes constantly watching.

Morning sunlight slowly began to illuminate the empty corridors, a sudden sense of quiet tranquility at last blanketing the Palace. It was so incongruous to the endless string of horrifying screams that had been pouring from the suite for the last several hours. Neither had thought that a human being was even capable of making such wretched sounds like that before in their lives. Now they knew different.

Although hardened in battle and tested by steel, the continual cries for help and endless shrieks coming from the woman inside had sent shivers up their spines. It had been difficult to listen to hour after hour even for them, but they knew better than to interfere. Their punishment would have been worse than hers by tenfold at least.

Lord Demos Rahl had taken his frustration out on that poor young woman all night long, pouring all of his rage over the Seeker and Mother Confessor onto her. Her only crime had been having dark hair like Kahlan Amnell, of being untouched before this night.

And now, she'd be lucky if she survived the encounter.

He rolled off of her with a self-satisfied grunt, sweat glistening on his neck and back. Her soft whimpering cry filled his ears, stirring his rage again. He always thrived on their terrified screams, deriving great pleasure from their panic-stricken cries of pain, the way that some of them fought back, but it was their pathetic whining afterwards that always managed to draw his wrath.

If this had been the Mother Confessor instead of just some common girl from the city, she wouldn't be acting like this, so weak and helpless. Kahlan Amnell was strong, an adversary more than worthy of him. He was more than anxious to have her in his bed. He would be the one to tame her, to show her what true ecstasy with a man could be like. He would have her before Richard.

"You may be quite pretty… but you are not Kahlan Amnell," he spat out with great disdain as he fought to catch his breath. "You can lie on the floor like a dog while I sleep."

The young woman shook violently, hot tears leaking from her eyes. She bit her bottom lip as she numbly stared at the ceiling. She felt as though she had literally been ripped in two, blood soaking the sheets beneath her. She didn't know which part of her hurt worse, how much of her was even left anymore. He had taken everything she had, stripped her of everything that she was. There was nothing left for him to take from her.

She felt nauseous. She wanted to vomit, but knew she didn't dare. She didn't want to draw any more of his ire. Even though he had been brutalizing her for hours, she didn't want to find out how much longer he could sustain it.

He had viciously taken at will over and over again, the hellish nightmare never ending with the degrading things that he had done to her, acts that he had forced her to perform for him. She'd been dragged out of her bed in the middle of the night, tearing her away from her family and loved ones.

She swore she could still hear the panic in her mother's cries, her father's threatening demands to let his daughter go. How would she ever be able to face her family again after what had just happened to her?

"I said get out of this bed!" he roared, sitting up. "I don't need you anymore. I've taken what I wanted."

"I…I can't…move…" she hoarsely cried. "Please…help me…I'm bleeding. I need a healer."

"You're pathetic. You don't deserve my help," he hissed. "You're nothing but used goods now. Get out!"

Gritting her teeth, she somehow summoned the strength to move, her limbs trembling as she shifted to the edge of the bed. Her head fell back as agonizing pain raked through her entire body, stealing the breath from her lungs. She bit her bottom lip again, her teeth breaking through the skin as she forced back the sob that suddenly rose up from within.

Her throat was raw from her continuous screams, her head pounding like a hammer on an anvil. Every muscle cried out in pain as she allowed herself to finally just fall off the edge of the bed, landing hard on the floor with a thud.

She opened her mouth to scream from the excruciating pain that seared through her like hot knives, but nothing came out. Tears continued to stream down her face as she fought to catch her breath. She knew several ribs were broken along with other bones. It would take a gifted healer to be able to put her back together again.

With great effort, she lifted her head to finally look down at herself, catching a glimpse of her naked body. She was covered in blood, dark purple bruises already marring her skin. Scratches as well as deep bite marks formed irregular patterns all over her flesh. Had been like a savage animal that had been unleashed upon her.

She laid her head back against the cold marble floor as she softly cried, wanting nothing more than to just die at that moment. There was nothing more degrading or more dehumanizing than this, being completely stripped of who she was as a person. No one would ever want her now, would never want to marry a woman who had been so brutally raped. How could she ever share herself with a man after this?

As a girl, she had always dreamed of the day that she would meet the man that would win her heart, would love her like her father loved her mother. She'd had her wedding day planned out long before she would ever meet the man of her dreams.

Now…now all of that was nothing more than a foolish childhood fantasy, suddenly as dead as she now felt inside.

She gingerly curled up on her side, sucking in a sharp breath as she pulled her aching legs up to her chest in an effort to make herself as small as possible. She wished more than anything that a hole would just split open in the floor and swallow her up, taking her away from this life that had so suddenly gone from hopeful dreams for her future to a living nightmare.

The Lord Rahl had called her Kahlan over and over again as he had hit her, kissed her, and took what was not his to take. She didn't know who this Kahlan woman was, but she was absolutely terrified for her, for the horrifying things that awaited her.

She somehow knew deep inside that what she had just suffered would be nothing compared to the pure torment Lord Demos Rahl had in store for her.

XXX

Richard watched as the sun began to break over the horizon, muted pastel shades of light stretching like fingers as it blanketed the earth in a wash of wondrous colors. It was so beautiful, so unlike the tangle of tormented thoughts that besieged him; dark and foreboding and causing fear like he'd never known before to still churn like a cyclone in his soul despite having his Confessor back with him again.

He gently raked his fingers through her long dark hair as she slept in his arms, pausing to lean down to kiss the top of her head again for the hundredth time since finding her. He had held her all night long, never once letting go of her despite the stiffness that had settled over his body. It had been a sweet reprieve from the hell his life had been for the last week.

Despite holding her, he was still having difficulty believing that this was all real, that she was finally safe from the Underworld and here with him. Her death had haunted his sleep, the painful hollowness that he had felt inside for so long still a faint lingering reminder of what had happened to her. He didn't know if the wounds from losing her would ever truly heal, a painful scar forever etched on his heart, but if anyone could help him heal, it was Kahlan.

The events of the last week had changed him in a way that he couldn't have begun to imagine, hardening his heart with a powerful thirst for revenge, a deep-seated hatred the likes of which he'd never experienced before.

He had never felt anything like it until he had lost Kahlan, had never known such a hunger like this that demanded to be sated. It was almost as if it had coalesced with his rage and his anguish, fusing and morphing into something unrecognizable, taking on a life of its own.

It still terrified him to think that he was even capable of feeling such dark hostile emotions. He had experienced it when he had been with the Minders, but this was different somehow. This was out of a deep-seated necessity to protect the woman who owned his heart. The powerful magic of the sword had awakened the monster inside of him, but Kahlan's death had breathed new life into it.

It didn't help that he couldn't shake the dreadful feeling inside of him that this was far from over. Even when he closed his eyes, he could still see the way that Demos had leered at Kahlan, the vile lust that had suddenly awakened within his brother, his demand that she stay with him echoing in his ears.

He never should have listened to Zedd, leaving his wicked brother alive like he had. He should have killed him when he'd had the chance. Then this would all be over. They wouldn't be looking over their shoulders, wondering when Demos would strike again when they still needed to find the Stone of Tears and stop the Keeper.

"No…stop!" she suddenly cried out in a raspy hiss, her fists clenched tight as she pushed at Richard's chest with what little strength she had left. "Don't…don't touch me!"

"Kahlan, it's me…it's Richard," he calmly tried to soothe her. "You're alright now."

She had fought with him several times throughout the night, battling the Underworld in her sleep and in turn him as well. It hurt him to see her so terrified, fighting so hard to escape something that gripped her in her dreams, something that he had no way of stopping for her. He wanted more than anything to banish the demons that haunted her.

Kahlan seemed to relax then, her breathing evening out again as sleep dragged her further into its depths once more. He gently rubbed her back, hoping that the nightmares wouldn't follow her again this time, but knew that he was truly helpless to prevent it.

His heart was heavy with fear over Kahlan, his mind consumed with stopping Demos and his body beyond exhausted. He had slept little, too afraid that if he closed his eyes for too long, she would disappear.

"You know you two can't lie there together like that all day."

The sardonic tone of Cara's voice suddenly broke through the sweet relief of having Kahlan in his arms again. He wasn't about to give her up any time soon. "Cara, I just got the woman I love more than life itself back from the dead not once, but twice," he softly replied, not wanting to wake Kahlan. "I think I more than deserve this time with her."

"She's not even awake," she pointed out. "Besides, your new brother is planning Creator only knows what right now to get revenge on you. And then there's that other little matter with the Keeper and a certain lost stone."

Closing his eyes, Richard pressed his lips to Kahlan's forehead, concerned with how cold her skin still was to his touch. He reluctantly released his hold on her as he got up, hating to let go of her. With her was where he always wanted to be even more so now than ever.

Kneeling down, he adjusted the blanket around her shoulders, his name a soft sigh in the midst of her restless sleep. It brought a small smile to his face to hear his name on her beautiful lips, warming his heart like only she ever could. He tenderly laid his hand on her head, softly stroking her hair until she finally settled back down once more.

Moving to the other side of the campfire, Richard sat down with a weary sigh. He rubbed his face with his hands, fighting the fatigue that clung to him. He needed to come up with a plan, a way to return to their quest while at the same time avoiding any more interference from his brother.

Cara settled down beside him, watching as he reached for a stick, poking the fire until a fountain of orange sparks shot up into the sky. She could feel his fear rolling off of him in fierce waves, the simmering rage that he was doing his best to control.

There was an edge about him that had been there ever since Kahlan had died in his arms on the way back to the People's Palace, an icy hardness in his eyes that left her feeling a little unnerved for some reason. He was like a man who was about to break, still teetering precariously on the edge of madness even though he had Kahlan safely back.

"Are you alright?" she asked, taking him off guard.

"I'm fine," he frowned, taken aback by her concern for him. "Why?"

Cara pursed her lips as she stared at him. "You don't look fine. You look terrible."

Richard released a ragged breath. "I'm just still worried about Kahlan."

Cara knew that was the majority of it, but there was something more than that was consuming him. "I think we should move soon," she said, keeping her voice low in an effort to keep from waking Kahlan. "We've more than worn out our welcome here. We're pressing our luck the longer we stay here."

"How's Kahlan this morning?" Zedd suddenly asked as he entered the clearing to sit by the campfire.

"She's exhausted," Richard replied as he stared at her sleeping form on the other side of the clearing. "She can't get any decent sleep when she keeps having night terrors all night long."

"It'll take some time for her to fully recover after everything that she's been through," the Wizard told him. "The blood she lost from that arrow alone should've been enough to keep her down, but she refused to stop until we got to you. I'm afraid that everything that happened with the Keeper's spell has only made it that much harder for her to recover."

"How long do you think it'll take?" Richard frowned.

"It's difficult to say when magic is involved like this. It could take a week at the very least, maybe two," he admitted with a regretful sigh. "She shouldn't be using her Confessor's magic either. It'll only sap what little strength she still has left."

"We don't have a couple of weeks," Cara interjected as she knelt down by the fire to start breakfast. "Demos Rahl is going to be coming at us with everything he has especially now that he's got his sights set on the Mother Confessor as well."

"We'll need to stick to the woods, stay away from roads where we can be easily spotted by patrolling soldiers," Zedd suggested. "We aren't going to be able to cover any great distances as weak as Kahlan is right now. Might be wise to find some horses if we can."

Releasing a ragged breath, Richard leaned forward, his elbows coming to rest on his knees as he held his head in his hands. He was exhausted, frustrated, his heart storming with worry about Kahlan and the night terrors that continually haunted her sleep. The last week had been a living breathing nightmare the likes of which he never wanted to see ever again.

It felt as though life was pressing in on them from every angle, threatening to crush them and steal what he loved most. He could feel his resolve beginning to crumble within him, his strength failing him. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to whisk Kahlan away from here, to take her to Westland where they could just hide together in the mountains where no one would ever find them.

He knew those mountains, knew he could protect her there better than anywhere else. They could begin a new life together away from all of the pressure and the deadly dangers that lurked all around them. They could finally be married, start a family and live like an ordinary couple raising their daughters.

Unfortunately, he was far from ordinary, Kahlan nothing but extraordinary in every way imaginable. The heavy mantle of duty laid squarely on both of their shoulders, forcing them down a path that he found he no longer wanted to be on at that moment, knowing it could eventually take Kahlan away from him again.

Would they ever be free? Ever have a life filled with peace for once?

A gentle hand on his back broke through his tormented reverie, drawing him away from his fantasy and back to the trouble at hand. "Richard, whatever is going on, we'll find a way to deal with it," Zedd calmly told him.

The Seeker finally turned to look at him. "Something about this is all wrong," he muttered, his brow knitted together in thought.

"And what would that be?" Cara snorted. "The fact that you have a new brother who's just as evil as the last one or the fact that he now wants Kahlan instead of just you?"

"This!" he hissed as he suddenly leapt to his feet, raising his arms to indicate their surroundings. "This…it's too quiet. There should be D'Haran soldiers swarming through these woods by now, but there hasn't been one so far. Not one. Demos would not give up so easily, just let us go without some sort of fight."

"Would you rather be fighting for your life against an entire D'Haran army right now?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"No, of course not," he scowled as he began to pace. "Demos had planned out an elaborate attack to get to me before. He won't stop until he has what he wants. He wouldn't give up this easily."

Zedd felt cold realization suddenly slice through him with what Richard was saying. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know, but I definitely don't like it," he spat out, knowing deep inside that they were in more trouble than they could possibly begin to imagine. "He's up to something. I can feel it in my bones."