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 30

They walked in agonizing silence for well over two hours, neither saying a single word as the crushing tension continued to fester and grow like an ugly virus. Richard was beyond hurt by Kahlan's words despite the fact that he knew that it wasn't really his lover saying those things, but the damn spell that Demos has cast on her.

But it had still been her beautiful mouth he loved to devour that had said those things, her captivating voice that he still heard echoing in his ears. He couldn't help the nagging uncertainty in the back of his mind that kept him wondering if a small part of her had truly always felt that way, feared he would use her and then leave her.

It made the hot anger that rankled inside of him like burning embers flare even hotter, the idea of Kahlan even thinking or believing for a single moment that her body was the only thing he had ever wanted stroking the flames of that fury.

How could she think that he was that kind of a man? Hadn't he proven his love for her over and over again over the last year and a half? Spirits, she was everything to him. Everything.

He felt his chest tighten with the fury that continued to pump through him. He knew this wasn't his Kahlan, but it did little to ease the pain that throbbed with every beat of his heart or cool the burn of his anger.

The things that she had said to him had to have been based on some inner fear, some subconscious insecurity that had laid hidden in the dark recesses of her mind, finally coming to light because of the marking spell, revealing it as a genuine truth she hadn't wanted to voice.

What other things was she hiding from him, other fears and thoughts about him that he didn't know yet?

His fingers absentmindedly circled the hilt of his sword, repeating the familiar pattern his fingertips had unconsciously created since leaving the wayward pine. He knew the magic infused in his weapon was feeding his anger, but he didn't care at that point.

His heart hurt, dark fear consumed his soul and fury was a bitter taste on his tongue as he ground his teeth. If he didn't find a way to break this marking spell soon, Kahlan was going to be lost to him forever, his lover nothing more than a pawn in his brother's hands and a toy to feed his lust in his bed.

Bile rose in the back of his throat as his mind began to wander, taking him to dark sinful places he didn't want to go. Images of Demos on top of her, raping and degrading her flooded his mind causing him to tremble with the fury boiling within.

Nothing would keep him from cutting his brother to pieces with his sword this time. Nothing.

Kahlan cast a nervous sidelong glance at her Seeker. She could feel his fury radiating off of him in fiery undulating waves. She fought the overwhelming urge to put more distance between them, but she knew it would only add to the pain that she'd already carved out in his heart this morning.

She still couldn't believe the horrible things that she had said to him nor would she ever forget the look of grief and utter despair that had seeped into his face at that moment. She had stoked his anger, fueled his insecurities as her own had suddenly been awakened within her.

She didn't know what had possessed her in those moments, what drove her to say such cruel cutting things to him. It was as if she had almost blacked out in those moments, something invading her body and clouding her mind, forcing her to say those things to him.

She wanted to tell him how sorry she was, but the words were beginning to sound hollow even to her, so very empty and meaningless when she just kept driving a dagger into his heart with her hurtful words.

How much longer would it be before it was her hand thrusting that dagger into his chest instead of her tongue?

She internally shuddered with the terrifying thought. She couldn't stand the concept of taking his life or this suffocating tension between them. She felt like she was being smothered, making it difficult to draw air into her lungs. It was driving her crazy, more so than she felt she was already becoming.

"I'm so very sorry, Richard," she softly suddenly heard herself say before she had even realized she had opened her mouth.

Richard hadn't been certain that he'd heard her at first until he glanced at her and saw the tears glistening in the sunlight on her cheeks, the deep anguish that veiled her beautiful face. It pricked his heart.

"It's alright," he coolly replied, his every muscle still drawn tight as he looked straight ahead of him, his jaw clenching and unclenching.

"No…no, it's not, Richard," she began again, her voice strained and tentative, so unlike the powerful authoritative voice of the Mother Confessor.

She felt nothing like her title, nothing but an empty broken shell of the woman she once had been. She was slowly losing her mind, could feel it slipping like grains of sand from her grasp with every breath she drew, drawing her much closer to a man who would use her in ways that she couldn't even begin to imagine nor wanted to.

"Kahlan, you're not yourself," he tightly said, keeping his attention focused straight ahead of him. "I get that."

"It's no excuse for hurting you like that," she replied, wishing he would at least look at her. Her stomach was a rolling, churning sea of nausea and grief, fear and guilt. She wanted to vomit. "All I ever do is hurt you no matter how hard I try not to."

Seconds seemed to run into minutes as she waited for a response from him. She wished that he'd say something…anything, yell at her, scream or cry, anything but this cold, detached presence that was suddenly so distant from her that she feared she'd never get him back.

"Richard, please…say something," she softly cried, wiping a tear from her cheek.

Richard suddenly stopped to look at her, the pain in his brown eyes nearly taking her legs from under her. "Do you really think that I want Cara over her?"

Even though not spoken very loudly, there was no missing the fury that burned deep within, radiating through his eyes. She could practically feel the flames of it licking her skin as he stared at her in utter bewilderment.

Before she could form a response, he spoke again, his voice coming rough and hard and burning like acid. "And how could you even believe for a single moment that I only ever wanted you for your body and nothing more? That all you mean to me is sex and the pleasure I could take from you?"

Kahlan's eyes fell closed as she fought to find her voice, searched for the words that would make everything alright between them again. "Richard, I didn't mean any of those things that I said to you," she managed to say. "I don't even know where it came from or what I've said until it's too late. It's like waking from a nightmare to find it's not a terrible dream but reality."

"They must still hold some truth to it," he bitterly replied, crossing his arms against his chest. "There must be some part of you that believes that I'm the kind of man who would use you like that, take you and throw you away like you were nothing to me."

"I have never thought of you like that," she heatedly responded. "I know you love me, Richard. If you didn't love me so wholly you wouldn't be immune to my magic."

"And what about Cara? What makes you think for even a moment that I want her when all I've ever wanted, ever dreamed about was you?"

His voice was rising, losing a measure of the calmness that it had once held. His words were more painful than a fist could ever deliver, reaching in and wrenching her heart from her chest.

"At one time…I…I feared you did want Cara," she ashamedly admitted as she averted her eyes in embarrassment. "I was scared because Cara's so beautiful and seductive. She could've given you everything that you needed, everything that I couldn't give you."

Richard watched as tears silently slipped down her cheeks, her heartache so palpable as she laid her heart bare before him that he suddenly forgot how to breathe. He instinctively moved closer to stand before her, his hand finding her hair in a desperate need to touch her.

"Yes, Cara is all those things, but, Kahlan…she's not you…no one could ever possibly be you," he told her, his intense gaze sending a shiver up her spine. "You're the only one I love; you're the one who owns my heart. I don't want anyone, but you. And even if I had never found a way around your magic, just having you in my life would've been enough for me."

"But at the time, I didn't think that I could give you what you needed, what you deserved, Richard," she cried. "I didn't think I could give you the family that you wanted to have."

"Kahlan, all I've ever wanted was you," he said, wiping her tears from her cheeks with the tips of his fingers. "I love being able to make love with you," he continued, the glow that suddenly filled his face as he talked about being with her warming her heart. "But you mean more to me than just the incredible physical pleasure we can bring each other."

"It's just that you are such an amazing man and deserve only the very best, Richard," she shook her head. "I didn't want you to settle for something less with me when you could've had it all with someone else…someone like Cara."

"I have the very best," he smiled softly, touched by her words. "I have everything I've ever wanted standing right here in front of me. You are the most beautiful, most seductive woman I have ever met. You set my blood on fire, Kahlan. You do things to me; make me feel things I've never experienced with another woman."

"I love you so much I can hardly breathe sometimes," she choked out. "It's killing me inside to see how I keep hurting you. You have to let me go until this over."

"I know it's not really you, Kahlan," he said, hooking her hair behind her ear. "I won't lie and tell you that it doesn't hurt me when you say things like you did this morning, but it doesn't change my love for you in any way. Nothing could ever touch that, Kahlan. And I refuse to leave you no matter what happens."

She leaned in, kissing him softly. "I'm so terrified of losing you," she murmured against his lips as she absorbed his scent that made her almost delirious with want for him.

"I love you, Kahlan," he confessed, kissing her in return. "You're not going to lose me. We'll stop Demos, find the Stone and then we can have the life that we've dreamed of."

"I'm holding you to that," she smiled her special smile.

Richard watched as Kahlan's smile abruptly faded away, his concern rising as she squeezed her eyes shut. "Kahlan," he said. "Are you alright?"

Kahlan suddenly dropped to her knees in pain, gripping her head in her hands. She quickly turned, vomiting in the grass as Richard quickly knelt beside her, holding her hair back out of her face.

"Give in, Kahlan…let yourself be free…"

"No…no," she softly cried, shaking her head. "Leave me alone!"

"Kahlan, what is it?" Richard asked, fear beginning to swell like a thunderhead in his soul.

"Bring him to me, Kahlan…"

Tears began to brim in her blue eyes again as she held her head, blood beginning to leak from her nose as she gritted her teeth against the incredible pain that lanced through her. She felt her hand begin to reach for her dagger in her boot, her muscles coiled tight in desperate resistance to the orders thrumming through her mind.

"Bring me my brother, my Confessor…"

"NO!" she screamed, her head falling back, her arm held in mid-air as she fought against the urges that were becoming too hard to ignore.

Richard watched in horror as something took control of Kahlan's body, her arm hovering, fingers trembling as she fought to take back control. Blood trickled from her nose, tears leaked from her eyes as she her body strained and shuddered. Her face was ghostly pale, her eyes opening and flashing with something he couldn't even begin to describe.

"Stay with me, Kahlan!" Richard demanded, moving in front of her and gripping her by her arms. "Focus on me, Kahlan. Stay with me!"

"Run…please, Richard…run…" she sobbed. "He…he wants me to hurt you…to bring you to him…"

"I'm not leaving you, Kahlan!" he growled.

"Please, Richard!" she begged as she shook violently. It was as if the ConDar was at war with the marking spell, each fighting for control of the mighty Confessor as her eyes swirled to black to red and back to blue again. "You have to get away from me…now!"

"Damn it, Kahlan!" he angrily yelled. "Fight it! Stay with me!"

"Don't fight it, Kahlan….let go and the pain will stop…"

"I'm so tired, Richard…please, just let me go…" she cried, her teeth chattering. "I can't take it anymore!"

"Don't you dare leave me now," Richard roughly shook her, desperate to keep her with him. "I love you, Kahlan! Don't leave me alone!"

"It's time, Kahlan…"

No longer able to hold it in any longer, Kahlan's magic roared to the surface with a violent concussive blow, knocking Richard several feet back away from her. He landed hard on the ground, knocking the air from his lungs and momentarily dazing him.

He immediately scrambled to his feet, staring in disbelief as Kahlan leapt to her feet as well, her daggers drawn. Her eyes were black as coal now, her teeth clenched tight in a sneer as she glared at him. There was a feral quality to her now, something violent and deadly awakened within her that he had never seen before, not even when she was in the throes of the powerful Blood Rage.

"Kahlan," he cautiously said, holding his hands out before him. "Kahlan..it's me…it's Richard. I don't want to hurt you."

She growled at him, something otherworldly that made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. He carefully began circling her, doing his best to keep his distance from her, not wanting to provoke her into an attack he'd never be able to fend off.

How could he fight his own Confessor? His Kahlan? His lover?

Richard forced back the shiver of dread that threatened to take him to his knees. How was he ever going to be able to fight off the woman that he loved? He refused to draw his sword against her, memories of raising his deadly weapon to Kahlan when they had been with the Minders still haunting him at times. He never wanted to lose control like that ever again, hurt her because of who he was or the blood that flowed through his veins.

"Kahlan, I don't want to fight you!" he yelled.

She flashed him a wicked grin as she suddenly lunged at him, her daggers pointed directly at him. He quickly dodged her attack, turning and pushing her away from him without trying to hurt her.

Kahlan gracefully turned and twisted, narrowly missing slicing the Seeker's arm. She growled in frustration, her chest heaving with rage, her dark hair whipping like vipers in the wind as she spun on her heel for another attack.

"Fight it, Kahlan!" he yelled at her. "Don't make me do this!"

There was a stealthy, lethal intent to her every move, a dark fury that he had never seen in her before. It made his skin crawl and yet he couldn't help but be in complete awe of her as she began to circle him again like a predator stalking their prey.

"You're mine, Seeker. My master has commanded it," she suddenly purred, her voice so sultry like a siren's song that he couldn't help the sudden arousal that grew hot in his belly. This was a side of her he'd never seen before.

She was turning into a mercenary for Demos Rahl, becoming whatever his brother wanted her to be. It was terrifying to see his Confessor, his beloved Kahlan transforming right before his eyes.

She had always been powerful, mesmerizing him with her beauty and graceful skill. She was a deadly warrior, fearless and intelligent. But there was something so very different in her now, something that made his blood turn to ice water in his veins.

It was evil.

There was no honor in her anymore, no conscious, no compassion. The line between right and wrong, good and evil had been severely blurred, the barrier had been breached and the ability to control the rage inside gone. She was being transformed into the perfect weapon, his Kahlan disappearing forever.

Without a second thought, Richard drew his sword, tears threatening to form behind his eyes. "Don't make me do this, Kahlan!" he angrily shouted at her, his every word filled with the heavy anguish that consumed him at that moment.

He felt the magic of his sword inundate him, fusing with the rage that already lived within him for all that had been done to his lover. Now, he had to stop her before she escaped from him or did something that'd she'd only regret.

"I don't want to hurt you, Kahlan!" he growled as she dove at him again, their weapons clashing with a chilling screech that created gooseflesh to ripple over his arms.

They were toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye, his breath hot pulsating blasts against her face, her scent nearly making him lightheaded as he breathed her in. She had sudden unbelievable strength as they both pushed against the other and neither one giving in.

Richard gritted his teeth against her daggers inching closer to his face, sweat forming on his brow. It took every ounce of strength he had to rein in the fury pounding through him as he found himself in a deadly battle with his Confessor.

With a scream of rage, he abruptly shoved her backwards harder than he had intended to, his sword slicing her arm in the process. She stumbled back, falling to the ground. Breathing hard, she got up on all fours, fighting to catch her breath as she glared at him. Blood dripped down her arm and onto her hand.

"Kahlan, I'm sorry," he choked out in horror, fighting the urge to run to her. The sneer on her lips kept his back.

He watched as she finally got to her feet, adjusting his grip on the hilt of his sword. "I don't want to fight you, Kahlan!" he yelled at her. "I love you!"

"How sweet."

The Seeker turned to find a dozen Mord'Sith coming into the clearing, agiels in hand and deadly intent in their eyes. He carefully turned, keeping Kahlan to his right and the Mord'Sith to his left. He no longer had to fight just his Confessor, but now the Mord'Sith bent on taking her away from him as well. He would die before he would ever let that happen.