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 14

Kahlan sighed softly at the feel of Richard stroking her hair. She loved the feel of his fingers slowly gliding through the strands, the gentle caress of his touch in her hair. It was so unbelievably soothing to her soul, such a simple loving connection to him that she never wanted to end.

For how long she had slept, she didn't know, but she certainly wasn't prepared to open her eyes yet. She was beyond ashamed for the way that she had acted, the terrible things that she'd said to Richard. She had no idea what had come over her except that her anger had gotten a hold of her, blinding her to the words that had sprung so fiercely from her lips as if someone else had been saying them.

It was so unlike her to react that way. She had learned long ago how to temper her emotions, trained to be in complete control at all times. But now…now she was quickly losing that control that had been her constant companion, a comfort to her in a strange way.

It had become her shield, the emotionless mask of the Confessor. It had allowed her to hide so many things, so many emotions from those around her, protecting her and her heart. It had hid her anger and her fears, her hurt as well as her deepest desires.

In the beginning after meeting Richard, it had been her allay in her growing feelings for her Seeker, keeping her heart hidden and guarding her own private secret. But she had fallen for Richard, tumbling headlong into that wonderful freefall called love, relishing the way that he made her heart skip a little faster, beat a little harder.

He made her flush so hot inside, causing her stomach to flutter and her spine to tingle, but she had been able to hide, hide her fear as well as her longing from him. Eventually, though, her feelings had broken through, being drawn out against her will by him. She soon found she could never hide from him for long even behind her mask.

And now was no different.

"Are you feeling better?"

The soft gentle sound of his voice so full of concern, tentative with the fear she knew that possessed him crept into her thoughts. He always knew her, knew her better than she knew herself most times. She could no longer pretend to be asleep.

"Somewhat," she sleepily murmured, not wanting to move yet.

How she had ended up tucked into his lap again, she had no idea, but knew she never wanted to leave. She felt so warm, so safe from the world when she was with him. She was thankful he hadn't stopped stroking her hair. She felt guilty for receiving such tender attention from him after the terrible things that she had said. She couldn't bear to face him just yet, to have to look into those warm brown eyes and see the hurt that she had put there.

After several long minutes of silence, she finally spoke again. "How long did I sleep?"

"Quite some time," he thoughtfully replied. "It's afternoon already."

Stunned, Kahlan sat up despite herself. "What?" she exclaimed. "Has the Council made their decision already?"

"Yes, not long after you fell asleep," he informed her, reaching out to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

"And?" she asked, anxiety rising knowing that her threats against the Council could have earned them a death sentence.

He waited a couple of beats longer than necessary to respond, watching her panic surface. "We're free to leave when we want to," he told her with a soft smile.

Kahlan visibly relaxed with his words as she looked about the Spirit House, trying to gather her thoughts. She saw their packs lying against a far wall, the Sword of Truth and her daggers there as well. "Why didn't you wake me? We could have left hours ago."

It wasn't a stern admonishment and he didn't take it as such, not with her face still laced with so much guilt. "You were finally sleeping so well I didn't want to wake you," he said. "You weren't having nightmares this time, were you?"

Kahlan thought for a long moment before replying. "No," she murmured, softly shaking her head in amazement. "No, I wasn't."

Richard folded his hands in his lap to keep from reaching out to touch her again. He felt he had pushed her enough for one day without adding to her stress. "I'm glad, Kahlan," he sincerely replied. "I hated having to sit back and watch you battle my brother in your sleep knowing there was nothing I could do stop him."

She finally met his gaze again, holding it this time and seeing pure love there still mingled with hurt. The tiny lines around his eyes conveyed his concern, his fear for her, but there was no anger with her. It made her heart skip a beat at the intensity of that love, knowing that it was all for her and none other.

Resting a hand on his knee, she scooted closer again. "Thank you for watching over me," she softly said. "I don't deserve you, Richard Cypher."

Looking down at her hand on his leg, he couldn't resist taking it into his own hand and holding it tightly. "It is I who doesn't deserve you, Kahlan Amnell."

They stared at one another, losing themselves in each other's depths, tension suddenly dissipating if but for only a moment. Both had so many things that they wanted to tell each other, needed so desperately to say, neither knowing where to even begin to heal the hurts that lay bare and open on their hearts.

"We should probably get going…since we're free to leave now," she murmured, her eyes still fixed on his.

Her voice didn't sound very persuasive even to her, the feel of his thumb softly brushing against the back of her hand sending tingles racing up her arm. She felt her pulse quicken as his tongue darted out to wet his lips. She wanted him to kiss her so badly, to feel his tongue in her mouth, but knew that they couldn't.

"I thought we'd wait," he replied. "Allow you to get a little more rest while we wait for Zedd and Cara. I imagine it won't take them very long to find a way around that rift."

"What if they get caught by the Aku hunting party?"

"I've already told Nakunam about them," he informed her. "They will keep a look out for them and escort them here so we can leave together once they arrive."

"What made the Council decide to allow us to live?"

"You scared them half to death," he teased, a lop-sided grin suddenly tugging at his lips. "They were terrified of the beautiful fiery Confessor they said. They're afraid you're going to confess the entire village if they make you too angry."

Richard watched as a blush rose to her cheeks, igniting his need for her that always simmered in his core waiting for release. She dipped her head and averted his eyes, shame veiling her beautiful face. He ached to kiss her, his body begging her to join with him in blissful release.

"Richard," she gently scoffed, pursing her lips. "They didn't really say that, did they?"

"Afraid so," he affirmed, tightening his hold on her hand as she tried to pull it free. "They also agreed that it was vitally important for us to stop the Keeper before he destroys their village as well as the world."

Tears suddenly began to brim in her eyes as she stared into his soulful depths, his heart reflecting so intently there in those orbs. "I'm so sorry I said those things to you, Richard. I know you would do everything to keep me safe."

"It's okay," Richard shook his head.

"No…it's not okay," she heatedly replied, pulling away from him and getting to her feet.

"I let you down, Kahlan. You have every right in the world to be angry with me. I wasn't there for you…wasn't able to keep Darken Rahl and the Keeper from touching you. It's killing me inside knowing that they hurt you and I couldn't stop it."

The extent of his anger and guilt ran so very deep, reflected in the darkening storm gathering in his eyes and the tight set of his jaw as he got to his feet as well. She couldn't help but notice the sudden distance that stretched between them once again as they stood their facing one another.

She wanted to go to him, to throw herself into his arms, but she knew deep down that she didn't deserve it, didn't deserve him. She had purposefully shut him out, keeping him at arm's length and refusing to tell him what he wanted to know. She felt like all she did anymore was hurt him no matter how hard she tried not to.

"There was nothing you could have done to stop him, Richard," she softly murmured, the horror he saw reflecting in her blue eyes rattling him to his very core. "He would've only made you suffer as well and I couldn't handle that."

Richard watched as she wrapped her arms around herself, hugging herself tightly or attempting to hold herself together, he didn't know. He wanted so badly to be the one holding her, to be the one she leaned on to keep her together.

"Kahlan, what…what did he do to you?" he whispered, horrified not to know and yet terrified of hearing her response.

Tears instantly pooled in her eyes again as she stared distantly at him, seeing him and yet not really as memories began to drag her back into that very dark place that she never wanted to return to. She slowly began shaking her head, her bottom lip trembling at the onslaught of memories that rushed to the surface of her mind as she took an unconscious step back.

"Richard…" she softly gasped, closing her eyes against his heated gaze.

"I'm sorry," he quickly said, his shoulders slumping in defeat, realizing what he had just done to her again. "I didn't mean to push you or upset you. You don't have to tell me anything, Kahlan."

"I…I just can't," she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Richard."

Richard watched her shut down right before his eyes again, a cold sense of helplessness washing through him. Swallowing past the thick knot in his throat, he suddenly decided on a different approach, one that would hopefully help things feel a little more normal between them again, help her trust him again.

"Do you want to go for a walk with me?" he asked, hope lacing his voice. "It'll do you some good to get out of here for a little while and I'd like to see what the rest of the village is like."

"I'd like that," she softly smiled, wiping the tears from her face.

"Just promise not to try to confess anyone while we're out in public," he lightly teased, doing his best to calm her fears as well as his own.

"I still don't know what came over me," she muttered as she followed him to the door, covering her face with her hand in embarrassment.

Richard strapped on his sword before quickly taking her hand away from her face, clasping it firmly in his. "I better keep a tight grasp on you just to be safe," he smiled, pleased when she didn't try to pull away from his hold on her.

She paused to look at him, her mouth opening to say something, but quickly thought better of it. She wanted so desperately to tell him everything, allowing him to see the dark ugly stain she felt that she bore now because of what had happened to her, but she so feared that he'd no longer find her beautiful, his love for her vanishing.

She couldn't bear it, wouldn't survive it. He had somehow managed to become her everything, the reason her heart beat and she never wanted it to end.

Richard stopped at the doorway, staring at her for a moment, the terrible struggle warring deep inside of her evident in her blue eyes. How he wished more than anything that he could ease her pain, erase her hurts and fears. No matter what it took, he was going to get through to her one way or another, no matter how long it took.

"It'll be alright, Kahlan," he murmured, his fingers lightly tracing the delicate curve of her face. "No matter what you're going through or how hard you try to push me away, I'm never going to leave you…never."

Kahlan slowly nodded her head in response, her special smile for him finding her lips. She hoped that he was right, that they were going to be able to get past all of this someday and go back to the way things used to be. Without him, her life was nothing.

XXX

Hadi stormed out of the gathering house, curses being muttered under his breath. Mitta and the Council of Elders had no idea what they were doing letting the Seeker and Mother Confessor live let alone roam freely through their village like honored guests.

They were not only outsiders, but very dangerous at that. They posed a deadly threat to their tribe whether the Council agreed or not. They could not be trusted and yet they just handed that deadly sword back over to the Seeker.

He was not going to just sit back and let those two destroy their village. He was going to do something about it one way or another.

"Hadi!"

Hadi spun on his heel to find Temin running to catch up with him. "What's wrong?"

"Mitta and the Council that's what!" Hadi sneered.

"What happened?" he asked, taken aback by the extent of his friend's rage. He'd seen him angry before, losing his temper, but this was almost out of control even for him. "What did the Council say?"

"They let them go," he ground out, turning away from his friend as he stalked through the village, his hands balled up into furious fists.

"Why would they do that?" Temin shook his head as he followed.

"Tolla Nakunam persuaded them, spoke on their behalf."

Temin pulled Hadi to a sudden stop. "The Tolla spoke on their behalf?"

Hadi nodded. "And they sided with him."

Temin stared at him in wide-eyed surprise. "This doesn't make any sense."

"Mitta said that they consulted our ancestors' spirits and they also told them to let the outsiders pass," he informed him. "They are needed to defeat the Keeper or we'll all be destroyed."

"Well then, it must be true if the ancestors' spirits said so," Temin said.

"How do we even know that they contacted the spirits?" Hadi demanded to know. "Maybe the Council just said that they did."

"Mitta and the Elders wouldn't lie about something as sacred as that or knowingly put the Aku in danger."

"All I know is that things aren't like they used to be," Hadi spat out. "Mitta, the Council of Elders, Tolla Nakunam…they've all grown soft. They've lost their will to fight to keep our sacred ways and traditions."

"Maybe there really is something about all this that is true," Temin replied, trying to talk some sense into his friend.

"And maybe we should just kill them both before they have a chance to destroy us."

"Hadi, you can't be serious," Temin snapped. "The Council said not to touch them and their word is final. You can't go against the Council. You could be banished from the tribe…or worse."

"Now even when the Council is being fooled," he hissed. "What if that witch has confessed them and we don't even know it?"

"She did not confess the Council," Temin frowned, crossing his arms against his chest.

"How do you know?"

"We were standing right outside of the gathering house," Temin countered. "We would have known if something had happened in there."

"Temin, they are a threat to us," he said. "That woman could choose to take you as a mate, force you to leave with her. What will happen to Pasha then? Who will take care of your sister?"

"That won't happen," Temin said, anger punctuating his every word. "The woman is already mated with the Seeker. It's obvious they're together."

"How do you know that she won't take several mates to replenish her kind?" Hadi demanded. "I've heard rumors that she is the last of her race of people."

"Hadi…" he scoffed in disbelief.

"Or how do you know the Seeker won't want your sister for his mate?" he pressed. "Pasha is very beautiful. What man would not want more than one woman pleasuring him every night?"

Hadi watched with satisfaction as his words finally struck a chord in his friend, the muscles of his bronzed face tightening with anger. "No one touches my sister," he fumed. "I will be the one to choose her mate when the time comes."

"And what about that magnificent sword that hangs at the Seeker's hip again?" Hadi pointed out. "It should be yours, not his."

Just then, Hadi turned, noticing the Seeker and Mother Confessor walking freely through their village. He felt his stomach tighten with rage, a thirst for their blood demanding to be quenched. "I don't care what the Council says," he stated. "I will not stand for this. I will make sure the entire tribe sees what kind of people they really are before it's too late."

Temin stared at his friend as he stormed away, a nervous chill shivering through him. He had never seen Hadi so worked up before. He didn't know what he had against the strangers, but he was anxious to find out.

While he didn't agree with Mitta and the Council's decision, he also saw no real reason to assume that the outsiders posed any sort of threat to them. When the Seeker had easily disarmed Hadi of his spear, he could have easily killed his friend, but the Seeker hadn't.

Temin had a deep suspicion that the Seeker and Mother Confessor were not people that they should mess with. It was better to leave them be. He just hoped he could convince Hadi of that before it was too late.