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 23
Coming to a stop outside of the gathering hut, Richard and Kahlan waited while Tolla Nakunam and Odo went inside to meet with the Council of Elders first. Looking up, Richard caught sight of Hadi standing in the late morning shadows between some huts watching them.
The look of pure hatred in his eyes caused him to tighten his hold on Kahlan's hand. He was not going to leave Kahlan's side for any reason especially knowing the Aku warrior's intentions towards them. There was no telling what Hadi was capable of.
Sensing Richard's sudden tension, Kahlan leaned closer to him. "What is it?"
"Hadi," the Seeker frowned. "He's standing over there watching us."
"I'm sure he's harmless," Kahlan attempted to reassure him. "I doubt he'll try anything now that he's aware that we know he doesn't like us."
"I don't want you alone with him for any reason," he told her, his raptor gaze leveled on Hadi.
"I'm pretty sure I can handle myself," she reminded him, bristling with his over-protectiveness. "I've dealt with much worse than him long before I met you."
"Zedd doesn't want you using your magic on anyone until you've recovered more of your strength."
"You didn't seem to mind me releasing my magic several times last night or this morning," she snapped, pull her hand free from his and crossing her arms against her chest.
Taken aback, Richard turned to face her, anger suddenly flaring with her words. "Kahlan," he softly said, his brow creased in frustration. He could see the headache there in her eyes, the pain building in her blue depths, but still this wasn't like her. "I didn't mean…"
"I'm not helpless, Richard," she scowled. "Have you forgotten who I am? Kings and Queens kneel before me, regions bow to my authority and power."
"I never said that you were helpless," he replied, trying to rein in his mounting anger. "It's just that I know you're not exactly feeling yourself right now. I just don't want you to get hurt. I can't lose you, Kahlan."
"I'm still me, Richard," she huffed. "I just have a headache. Nothing more."
"Kahlan, something else is going on here," he shook his head, uncertain of where this hostility was suddenly coming from. "I'm afraid for you. This isn't you."
"Don't be…I'm fine," was her clipped response. "Besides, you obviously thought I was well enough last night to make love."
Richard straightened up, her words piercing his heart. "I don't recall you complaining about it," he heatedly replied before he could stop the words from coming. "Besides, you know that I never would've made love to you last night if I'd thought for one moment that..."
"It didn't stop you from taking me when I was torn in two either. You took advantage of that without even blinking an eye."
Richard's hands balled tightly into fists as he stared at her, stunned that she would even bring that up or make it sound as if he had only wanted her for her body and nothing more. She knew how horrible he had felt after he had discovered that it wasn't truly her that he had been with that night.
"You know that I never would have made love to you if I had known," he growled, suddenly gripping her by her shoulders. "What is wrong with you, Kahlan? Why are you saying these things to me?"
Kahlan stared at him, anger mingled with hurt swimming in his brown orbs breaking through the fog that had suddenly gripped her mind. Her head was pounding furiously now, her thinking so clouded by something that she couldn't pinpoint at that moment. She honestly didn't know what had possessed her to say such hurtful things to him.
She roughly pulled free from his hold on her, averting her eyes to avoid his scrutinizing gaze. "I…I just…" she began, searching for the words as she turned her back to him, ashamed.
"We're ready to begin now," Tolla Nakunam announced as he suddenly exited the gathering hut.
Richard stared at Kahlan, his chest beginning to heave with the hurt and anger that stormed inside of him. He didn't know what was happening to her, but he was going to get to the bottom of this one way or another.
Avoiding his intense gaze, Kahlan quickly turned and followed the Tolla inside. She hated feeling as though someone was corrupting her mind, forcing her to say and do things that she never would've done.
Entering, she sat on the empty bench, Richard sitting down beside her. She could feel his anger rolling off of him in hot waves, the hurt that lingered just beneath his skin. His entire body was tense, keeping a bit of distance between them. It hurt her deeply, but she had no one to blame but herself.
She needed to talk to him, to tell him that she didn't mean what she had said. She folded her hands in her lap despite the overwhelming urge to hold his hand, keeping her focus straight ahead of her as the Council each took their seats before them.
Odo sat on another bench to Kahlan's left and Tolla Nakunam to Richard's right forming a large ring. A fire burned in the middle of their circle, blue and green sparks shooting like a fountain towards the hole in the roof. The sweet scent of the burning wood was different from anything that she'd even smelled before. It was making her feel lightheaded.
She absentmindedly rubbed her temples, tears pricking her eyes. She just wanted these headaches to go away, to just lose herself in Richard's passionate embrace again. Why did she keep hurting him like this? Why couldn't she control her anger?
Casting a sidelong glance, Richard could see her struggling, the headache threatening to take over. He wanted more than anything to wrap his arms around her and hold her close, but they needed to find out what was wrong with her. This wasn't his Kahlan. She had been his Kahlan last night as well as this morning when they had made love, but this woman next to him now was no longer her and it terrified him.
His hand slid to the weapon that rested against his hip, his fingers brushing against the steel. He didn't know why he suddenly felt as though he was going to need his sword, but it was a nagging sensation that he couldn't shake. It didn't help that Kahlan was acting so erratic, herself last night and this morning only to turn into something altogether different now.
It terrified him that maybe Kahlan really hadn't been herself last night when he had made love to her. Had he been so blinded by his own wanton desire for her that he had missed that Kahlan wasn't really Kahlan?
He knew that the headaches had been crippling at times, but she had seemed to be a little better, more herself last night. He had hoped that once she had finally talked to him about what had happened to her in the Underworld that she would be alright again…that they would be alright again.
Now, he didn't know what to think.
Mitta slowly stood to her feet, raising her hands out before her as she began to chant words that Richard didn't recognize. He began to feel a little dizzy as the smoke from the fire began to filter through the room, dancing and shimmering before his eyes.
His skin began to tingle, a warmth caressing his body that he didn't quite understand. It felt as if he was suddenly being surrounded, unseen forces pressing in all around him threatening to crush him. He felt disoriented, lost. He didn't like feeling so out of control especially when Kahlan was already in trouble.
His breath quickened, his pulse racing as the room seemed to spin, the smoke growing thicker. Everyone in the large hut seemed to slowly disappear, the smoke distorting and hiding faces leaving him all alone in the thick hazy that surrounded him.
Panic welled up inside of him, not knowing what exactly was going on. He immediately reached beside him, desperate to feel Kahlan there with him. He needed to touch her, ached to hold her and tell her how sorry he was for allowing his need for her to take over last night.
He knew that something was wrong and yet he had still made love to her. He was furious with himself for allowing his own selfish desires to take precedence over her wellbeing, but she had seemed like herself once more. She had even initiated it at times, teasing and tempting him, making love to him and sharing in the passion they had created.
He reached out towards her, searching for her like a blind man searching for a brief glimmer of light. He suddenly found her, seizing her hand and squeezing it tightly as if she was his only life line. He was not about to let her go for anything in this world.
He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, silently begging for her forgiveness. He needed to know that she forgave him, still loved him despite his selfishness. He heard her suddenly gasp, making his heart nearly stop. He turned towards her, searching for her through the hazy smoke. Her hand suddenly slipped free from his, causing him to call out her name.
He could hear her crying, her soft whimpers clawing at his heart. "Kahlan," he called out to her again.
When she didn't respond, he moved towards where she had been sitting, desperate to find her. He finally found her sitting on the floor, her knees bent, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, rocking back and forth. He knelt down before her, wrapping his arms around her in an attempt to soothe her.
"Kahlan, what is it? What's wrong?"
"He…he's here…" she choked out between panicked gasps.
"Who? Who's here?"
"Hello, brother."
Richard froze at the sound of his voice, sudden overwhelming fury causing his heart to thunder in his chest. In one swift motion, he leapt to his feet, turning and drawing his sword, blocking his brother's path to Kahlan.
Darken Rahl suddenly appeared through the thick smoke, a smirk on his lips and a gleam in his dark eyes. All the rage that Richard had been harboring in his heart against his brother for what he had done to Kahlan came out in an enraged guttural scream that seemed to shake the walls of the hut, his sword slashing towards his brother with the need to destroy him once and for all. He wanted him to pay for hurting the woman he loved.
Richard nearly fell forwards as his sword sliced through the image of his dead brother, Rahl laughing at his foolish attack, completely unharmed by the attempt. The Seeker snarled at him, panting heavily as he glared at him.
"You can't kill someone who is already dead, brother," Darken chided him.
"What are you doing here?" Richard growled.
"You summoned me."
"I never asked for you," he hissed.
"Well, I'm here now," Rahl smiled, his eyes finding the Mother Confessor sitting on the floor, her knees drawn. "And how is our precious Kahlan doing? How I have missed you, my love."
"You stay away from her," Richard seethed.
"Ah, so he knows the fun that you and I had together in the Underworld?" he smirked. "It was quite a pity that our time together had been cut so short. I was just starting to really enjoy myself. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Kahlan enjoyed it too."
"If you ever lay a finger on her again…" Richard panted with the white-hot rage pounding through him.
Darken Rahl chuckled. "You'll what?" he asked, cocking a dark eyebrow. "I'm already dead thanks to you. There's nothing more you could possibly do to me. Besides, I should be grateful to you. Because of you two, I discovered that I have a twin brother."
"How?" Kahlan finally asked, forcing herself to stand beside Richard.
Richard immediately wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close against him. He felt her lean into him, her strength beginning to fail her. Tears coursed down her cheeks, her eyes revealing the intense pain that she was in.
The Seeker bristled as he watched Darken Rahl's eyes hungrily roam over Kahlan, the look of lust, of remembering shining so darkly there. He wanted to tear him apart with his bare hands. Rahl slowly licked his lips as his gaze finally met Kahlan's eyes again.
"Demos made himself known to us when he used his magic to bring you back to life," he informed them.
"How did you not know about him before?" Richard asked.
"Someone cast a spell, shielding him from the Keeper. When he used his magic in such a dramatic fashion, it broke the shielding spell, but it was mostly the dark spell that he cast afterwards that really caught the Keeper's attention."
"Spell?" Richard furious gaze further narrowed. "What spell are you talking about?"
"The marking spell he cast over Kahlan," Rahl replied, his lips curling in delight at their stunned expressions. "You didn't know? How unfortunate for you."
"What is a marking spell?" Richard demanded to know, the fury that had seared through him suddenly turning to ice water in his veins.
"Our brother has marked Kahlan as his own," he explained. "She now belongs to him. It starts with an unusual mark on the forearm and then headaches begin to set in. The headaches soon become too painful to withstand. You'll be forced to give into the changes taking place within you just to make the headaches stop."
"What changes?" Kahlan asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Uncontrollable anger and erratic outbursts is just the very beginning," he continued, enjoying the fact that he was the one telling them the horror to come. "You won't be able to control your body or your actions soon. Your thoughts will be linked to Demos's. You won't be able to disobey whatever it is he wants you to do for him. You will be his pawn to use in whatever way he wishes."
"No…" Kahlan gasped, taking an involuntary step back. "I…I won't…"
"I won't let him get near you, Kahlan," Richard firmly said.
"You won't be able to stop it or her," Rahl told him. "If she doesn't give in, the headaches will eventually kill her and then she will be with me in the Underworld again.
"Take your pick, Richard. Which brother would you rather your precious Kahlan end up with? Alive and with Demos or dead and with me? Either way you will lose her."
"No!" Richard screamed, his hands tightly gripping his sword as he pointed it at his brother. "No one will have Kahlan, but me."
Kahlan watched in horror as Richard's whole body trembled with rage, the blade of his sword turning red as blood. She wanted to hold him, to comfort him, but she feared touching him at that moment.
"I'm sorry, brother," Darken replied with a sigh, "but there is nothing that can be done. Only the one who casts the spell has the power to remove it. Your precious Confessor's fate is all but sealed now."
"There has to be a way to save her and I will find it," Richard seethed. "She is mine. She belongs with me."
"You may have her now, but you won't be the Rahl brother who gets to keep her when all is said and done."
With a flash of bright light, Darken Rahl was suddenly gone. Richard quickly looked around, the thick smoke gradually beginning to clear. Kahlan stood paralyzed, tears trickling down her face as she stared in horror at the spot where Darken Rahl had just been.
Richard sheathed his sword, grabbing her by the arms. "Kahlan," he sharply called her name, trying to get her attention. "Kahlan, look at me!"
Kahlan finally turned her attention to her Seeker, her bottom lip trembling. "Richard…I…I'm so sorry…"
"Kahlan, none of this is your fault," he sternly told her, his hand coming up to find her face.
"Are you both alright?"
Richard turned to find Odo and Tolla Nakunam coming to stand beside them, worry lining their faces. "What did you see?" asked Odo.
"Didn't you see him?" the Seeker asked, confused.
"No, only the ones the spirits wish to talk to actually see or hear during the gathering," Odo explained. "The rest of us are lost in a trance."
"It was Darken Rahl," Richard ground out, still fighting to control the rage within. "He used the gathering to come back from the Underworld to see us."
"What did he say?" Tolla Nakunam asked. "Did you tell you what was wrong with Confessor Kahlan?"
"Yes, but I'm afraid it's not good," Richard grimly replied, his focus still on Kahlan. "Demos Rahl has marked her as his. He cast a spell on her that is transforming her into his prisoner to control."
Odo shook his head in dismay, releasing a ragged breath. "I was afraid that something dark and sinister was at work here," he frowned. "I'm afraid that this goes far beyond anything that I've ever dealt with."
Richard raked his fingers back through his hair. "I need to find Zedd," he told them. "My grandfather is a powerful wizard. He'll know what we can do to save her."
"Richard, Darken Rahl said there was nothing that could be done," Kahlan reminded him. "Only Demos can remove the spell and we both know that will never happen."
"I'm not giving up hope, Kahlan," he snapped, his chestnut eyes flashing with anger. "I'm not letting Demos have you."
"You might not be able to stop it," she softly said, her eyes falling.
"I'm not going to give you up, Kahlan," he heatedly said, taking a step closer and forcing her to look at him. "I have finally proven to you that your magic cannot touch me. We can have the life together that we've always wanted and I'm not about to give that up for anything."
Kahlan stared into his heated gaze, so intense and filled with such conviction that she forgot to breathe. She couldn't help but feel the hope that he held so tightly too. She didn't want to lose him either, didn't want to hurt him, but she feared that she might not be able to stop herself if the headaches became more intense or if Demos commanded her to.
Richard pulled her into his arms, holding her close. He fought back the hot tears that welled up inside of him as he tilted his head kiss the top of her head. He could not lose her. The thought of either of his brother's getting their hands on her made him ill to the very core of his being.
He would find a way to stop this. One way or another, Kahlan would forever be his and no one else's.
