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 5

Sitting with his legs crossed, Richard began grinding the leaves that he had been fortunate enough to find. He hoped that an herbal poultice might help heal the bite mark on Kahlan's arm. He could tell that it was bothering her though she would never complain about it.

He watched as she worked at building the campfire, her blue eyes filled with such a sad distant look that chipped off another piece of his heart. He wanted more than anything to know what was going through her mind at that moment, what it was that was upsetting her the most so he could try to help her, fix it for her.

She had spoken little all day, keeping mostly to herself. It hurt him deeply to see what this was all doing to her. She had avoided him after the incident by the spring when she had turned on him, ready to confess him, ashamed for almost attacking him.

She hadn't been herself since Demos had brought her back to life. Of course, who would be after everything that she had endured?

Even though it had just been yesterday that he had gotten her back, he knew her well enough to know that something was definitely wrong. He hated watching her try to deal with whatever Darken Rahl had done to her on her own, refusing to allow him to help her.

Was she afraid he wouldn't be able to handle what she would tell him? Did she fear that he wouldn't be able to control his rage taking it out on her?

Gathering his things, Richard silently made his way over to her, careful not to startle her again. He hated seeing that look of anger mixed with fear that filled her eyes when she looked at him. It was as if something else was taking over her in those moments, something that kept her from recognizing him.

It was like she was in a trance as she absentmindedly stoked the fire, lost to her tormented thoughts and memories. It was as if a part of her was still trapped in the Underworld with Darken Rahl, unable to break free. But he was not about to allow his brother…either one of them…to hurt her ever again.

"Kahlan," he softly called her name as he settled down beside her.

She turned at the sound of his voice, his special smile momentarily touching her lips before quickly fading away. Fatigue lined her face, her blue eyes missing that bright spark that always resided there. He hated seeing the heavy weight of grief that had gripped her now, replacing the love for life that had always been there before this had all happened.

"I made a poultice for your arm," he told her, resting the bowl in his lap. He carefully scooped up the mixture, placing it in the center of the cloth in his other hand. "It should help take the sting out of it so it can heal."

"You didn't have to do that," she replied, turning her attention back to the fire.

"I wanted to," he insisted. "I want to take care of you, Kahlan. Even the powerful Mother Confessor needs someone in her life to take care of her."

Kahlan finally relented; forcing herself to relax as he gently took hold of her arm. He carefully pulled her sleeve up, earning a gasping hiss from his Confessor. His eyes immediately narrowed at the site of it. The unusual mark had spread over her forearm. It was red and swollen almost as if she had been marked by some sort of branding iron.

"Kahlan," he frowned. "Why didn't you tell me this was getting worse?"

"We needed to keep moving," she said as she stared at her arm. "We have to find the Stone of Tears before Darken Rahl and the Keeper escapes. We can't let that happen, Richard. We can't let him get free to hurt…" Kahlan abruptly stopped, her fear invading her voice as her breathing grew ragged.

"I know we do, but not at your expense," he gently scolded her as he lightly ran his fingertip over the mark, the sudden fear that gripped her not lost on him.

Kahlan grimaced, clenching her jaw against the pain that shot like flames of fire up her arm. Tears pricked her eyes; nausea roiling in her stomach as Richard gently applied the poultice against it. Her head was pounding relentlessly, making it difficult to focus her thoughts.

He could see how much he was hurting her, pain reflecting in her beautiful face, but he hoped it would help her in the end. He hated seeing her in pain or suffering like this. Whatever happened to her, happened to him and seeing her like this was slowly tearing him apart inside.

She watched him as he held the poultice against her skin, his thumb gently brushing back and forth along the inside of her forearm making her pulse race. She loved his hands, the strength he possessed, the innate graceful skill with which he wielded his sword. She wanted his hands on her body more than anything - undressing her, touching and stroking her in places that he had only been allowed to in her dreams.

His mouth always soon followed that heated path his hands had taken as he made love to her, taking her so passionately. She would always wake in a flushed state, her heart racing, her body begging for reality to match fantasy, but it never could be. Not for her...for them.

She felt herself growing warmer with her heated thoughts, her heart beginning to beat a little harder. She bit her bottom lip as he leaned in a little closer to her, tilting his head and lifting the poultice to check on her arm. She wanted to kiss him, to truly kiss him the way that she really wanted to without holding a piece of herself back, always keeping a part of herself safely hidden away from him.

She had hurt him deeply today and she knew it. She wished more than anything they could go back to this morning when she woke up to find him hovering over her. She knew she should talk to him, to tell him everything that he wanted to know, but she just couldn't, not yet at least. She feared losing the love for her that shined like bright stars in his eyes, being replaced with nothing but pity and loathing.

Dipping her head, she could see the worry swimming in his eyes as he pressed the poultice against her arm again. She knew that he was worried about her and if truth be told, she was growing a little concerned herself. She didn't know why she kept reacting like she did whenever he got close to her.

"Is the pain lessening at all?" he asked, his focus on her arm.

"A little," she lied, looking away so he wouldn't notice.

"Kahlan, you don't have to pretend to be alright around me all the time," he said as he looked at her, his free hand coming to rest against her cheek.

"I know, but I've put you through so much already," she softly replied, avoiding his intense gaze, angry with herself for causing him more worry.

"No, you haven't put me through anything," he firmly said lifting her chin to force her to look at him. "None of this has been your fault, Kahlan. Besides, I'd rather be with you going through everything that had happened to us over the last year and half than anywhere else in the world."

She instinctively touched his cheek as she gazed into his eyes, her desire for him beginning to hum through her veins like a sweet vibration. Spirits, she wanted this man more than anything in this world. Unable to bear it a moment longer, she leaned in, kissing him despite herself…despite her fears, her hand slipping down to grasp hold of his shirt and pulling him closer to her.

He eagerly responded to her kiss, his thumb caressing her cheek. He tilted his head, his tongue stroking hers, the need for air becoming more demanding, but he didn't care. He didn't want this moment to ever end.

He wanted her to trust him, to let him in, to believe that his love for her was more powerful than her magic, far greater than whatever it was that had happened to her. He needed her to be okay, to be his Kahlan again.

She finally broke the kiss, pressing her forehead against his as she tried to catch her breath. "You make it harder and harder to stop," she breathlessly murmured, her fingers tightening their hold on his shirt as she stared into his eyes.

"Then don't," he whispered.

Losing himself in those sapphire orbs, his intense brown eyes silently pleaded with her to kiss him again so he could at long last be free to love her the way that he so desperately wanted to. The feel of her warm breath softly pulsating against his face was slowly driving him mad, her fingers sliding inside of his shirt and setting him on fire.

The look of longing for him that blazed in those depths caused his breath to catch in his chest, his pulse beginning to race with anxious anticipation. She was finally beginning to open up to him, her walls dropping ever so subtly. He held still as stone, sharing the same breath and silently willing her to finally come to him. She began to slowly lean in to kiss him again, his heart beginning to hammer wildly in his chest.

"I told you that you shouldn't have used your Wizard's fire to try to catch it!"

"It's just a little singed around the edges. It's still edible."

The sound of Cara and Zedd's voices coming from the forest caused them both to freeze, the moment flitting away like a leaf in the wind. Richard closed his eyes in heated frustration, a low growl escaping his throat as he tried to tamp down on the arousal pumping through his system. He reluctantly released his hold on her, his body still tense with need. He could tell that she wanted him as badly as he wanted her, but fear kept her from fully believing him.

Her walls would never be too high for him to scale, never too thick for him to not break down.

Kahlan pulled back, trying to calm her racing her heart. She had come so close to giving herself to him, so close to freeing herself of the fiery need that seared through her veins every time he was near her. She pulled her hair back behind her ear, guilt forcing her to look away from him, putting a little distance between them once more.

She'd been so close to kissing him again, giving into the passion that had erupted between them. They both knew what it would have meant, the blissful path it would've taken them down. Desire still coursed through her veins, but she knew she could never act on it, could never destroy the man that she loved with her whole heart.

"It's more than singed!" Cara snapped. "It's charred beyond recognition!"

Richard sighed heavily, watching as Kahlan's walls immediately went up around her all over again. He turned his focus back to her arm, swallowing back his heart and doing his best to regain control over his emotions. He wanted to take her some place private where he could just talk to her, hold her. He wanted to kiss her, to tell her how much he loved her. He needed her now more than ever, but instead he had frigid emptiness keeping him from her.

"You can still tell it's a rabbit," Zedd replied as they entered the clearing.

"Only because of what's left of its ears," Cara huffed.

Kahlan chuckled softly at Zedd and Cara, casting a furtive glance at Richard who was equally amused by them despite their poor timing. "Were you able to catch anything that won't taste like ashes?" he asked.

"Thanks to your favorite Mord'Sith, you'll have a decent meal," Cara said, proudly holding up her prize of two rabbits.

"I can start dinner," Kahlan volunteered as she quickly began to stand to her feet, Richard's nearness still affecting her deeply.

"Oh no you don't," Richard retorted, pulling her back down onto the log with him. "I need to keep this poultice on your arm. Besides, you need to rest so you can regain your strength."

"I'm fine…really," she insisted, annoyed by his over-protectiveness. "You worry too much. I just want to forget about what happened and move on."

Richard drew a deep breath, hating how all of this was affecting her. "You need to give yourself some time, Kahlan; take it slow," he told her. "You've been through so much."

Kahlan nodded her head, knowing that he was right, but she wanted everything to be back to normal now. She wanted to be able to sleep without Darken Rahl being there waiting for her in her dreams. She wanted to feel like herself again, to not be so tense or feel so broken inside.

More than anything, she wanted everything to be right again with Richard. She hated the tension that hung so awkwardly between them like a dark specter, the chasm that separated them suddenly seeming so much wider than it had been before everything that had happened.

Her head began to pound harder, making it difficult to keep her eyes open. She wanted to lie down, but feared falling asleep. Blood rushed in her ears, thumping in time with every beat of her heart.

Richard looked up to see the intense pain radiating in her cobalt orbs. She wearily rubbed her forehead as she squeezed her eyes shut, exhaustion permeating her beautiful face. He was so desperate to take away her pain, to heal her every hurt.

"Does your head hurt?"

"A little," she murmured, finding that it hurt to even talk at that moment.

"Why don't you lie down for a little while?" he suggested. "I'll wake you when it's time to eat."

"Alright," she relented, standing to her feet and pausing to look at her Seeker. "Thank you, Richard."

He forced himself to smile in response as he watched her move to the other side of the campsite, his heart sinking into his boots as she laid down on her bedroll with her back to him. He knew it had to be a bad headache for her to surrender so easily without any argument.

Something was definitely going on with her and he was going to find out what it was one way or another. He would not stop until she was finally safe from his brothers.

XXX

Kahlan awoke with a frantic start, lurching forward with a gasp as she fought to catch her breath again. The nightmares had come again just like the night before, growing more intense and more violent each time they came, morphing and shifting and creating a terror deep within her that she couldn't shake.

She couldn't stop the trembling that shook her to the very core of her being. She was beyond exhausted as she fought to gain control of herself once more, knowing that she was never going to regain her strength if she had to fight off Darken Rahl's attacks every time she closed her eyes.

She quickly looked about her, finding Richard lying close beside her in case she needed anything and yet maintaining some distance. He looked so peaceful as he slept, his long eyelashes fluttering softly against his cheekbones. She loved to watch him as he slept, memorizing every detail, every curve of his handsome face.

How many countless nights had she spent over the last year and a half watching him sleep instead of being more mindful of their surroundings, dreaming of what a life spent with him as her husband, her lover would be like?

Reaching out, she gently brushed a strand of hair from his forehead, careful not to wake him. He looked exhausted as well, needing sleep probably just as much as she did if not more. She was just glad that she didn't wake him this time with her nightmares.

She felt sorrow prick deep inside her heart, knowing the pain and anguish that she had caused him, the hurt that he felt with her refusal to tell him all the sordid details of her time to the Underworld. In her heart, she knew it was best this way.

As much as she needed him, ached for him to heal her every hurt, Kahlan knew that telling him would only hurt him more than he already was and she couldn't do that to him. She couldn't risk him hating her in the end. That would kill her more than what she was going through now.

Hearing a rumbling snore, Kahlan looked to find Zedd sleeping on the other side of the campfire, his eyes open and staring at nothing despite his deep slumber. Even though she knew it was the way of the Wizards, it still left an unsettling feeling inside of her.

Absentmindedly scratching her arm, she got to her feet to see if there was anything left from dinner last night. Richard had come to wake her to eat, but she hadn't felt like it at the time, telling him that she was tired. In reality, the headache had still been too bad to even lift her head, the thought of even moving making her nauseous.

Checking their supplies, she pulled an apple from the pack before settling down beside the fire. Her forearm burned like the fire blazing before her, but she couldn't worry about it right now. She had too many other things weighing heavily on her heart and mind.

She had to find a way to stop the nightmares from coming, to ease the tension that had gripped her body since being rescued from the Underworld. She was on edge, a constant feeling as though someone was with her, watching her, lingering just beneath her skin. A chill shivered through her causing her to tremble again. She looked around to find no one there with her except for the sleeping Seeker and Wizard.

Maybe it was just Cara. She had to be nearby, scouting the area for trouble.

Taking a bite of her apple, she chewed softly as she stared into the fire. She wished that Richard was awake to sit with her, to hold her close in his warm embrace, but she couldn't wake him for something as foolish as that.

She felt so alone for some reason, so fearful that something was going on, something that was far beyond her control. She hoped it was just some lingering effects of everything that had happened, her visit to the world of the dead, but she had a growing suspicion that it was more than that.

Something inside of her was different, but she didn't know what it was.

Kahlan gasped as a sudden sharp pain shot through her skull, the headache abruptly returning with full force. Dropping her apple, she grabbed her head, squeezing her eyes closed against the overwhelming pain. It nearly stole her breath away as she rocked back and forth in a futile attempt to make it stop.

A high-pitched ringing filled her ears as she fought to remain conscious. It felt as though something was tearing her apart from the inside out. She wanted to wake Richard and Zedd, but she couldn't even open her mouth to speak or scream. Tears began to leak from her eyes as she somehow managed to crawl back to her bedroll.

Rolling up into a tight ball, Kahlan grabbed her head again, closing her eyes and praying for the pain to finally stop.