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 33

"We need to go after them," Cara huffed as she paced back and forth.

"It's better if we stay here and wait," Zedd wearily replied as he watched her. "Richard wanted us to stay here for a reason and I think we better listen to him."

"But they could be in a lot of trouble right now," the agitated Mord'Sith continued to rant. "There's no telling how hard it's going to be to contain Kahlan if the spell has truly taken over. Richard will need our help."

"I have no doubt about that," the Wizard agreed. "But we both know that Richard always has a reason for the things that he does. He wanted us to wait here and see what we could do to find a way to save Kahlan.

"Besides, Kahlan is very powerful and very dangerous even when she is in complete control. Now that the spell is in control of her, no one is safe around her except for Richard. He may be the only one who will be able to get through to her."

"But that was before we knew that Demos was the only way to stop all of this. I think we need to go to the People's Palace and help him stop Demos before they get themselves killed," she scowled as she paused to look at the older man sitting on the bench watching her.

Zedd didn't look well, appeared as if he was aging right before her very eyes. His pale faced looked more haggard and worn than usual; his eyes having lost the spark that used to reside there. She wished Odo would hurry back.

She had hoped that a good night's sleep would help him feel better, but it didn't seem like it had. He looked just as bad as he did when they had arrived here. Frowning, she made her way to him.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked. "You don't look good at all."

"I'll try not to take offense to that remark," he frowned. "I'll be alright. We need to concentrate on a way to save Kahlan. You know if we lose her, we'll lose Richard as well. It won't be good at all."

Cara folded her arms against her chest, her lips pursed in frustration. "Do you really think that Richard will be able to stop Kahlan if he has to?"

"I don't know," Zedd shook his head, his forehead creased with the worry that filled him. "I'd like to think that he would stop her if necessary, but I just don't know. They're both in a very dangerous place right now especially if Richard's struggling with his control again."

"He won't hurt Kahlan," Cara huffed. "He loves her too much to ever hurt her."

"I believe so too, but after everything they've been through together – her death, Demos's interference, and now this spell – I just don't know how much more that poor boy can possibly take. It's enough to make any sane person lose control of their rage."

Cara grew very quiet for several moments, the heated frustration that had gripped her easing into a quiet simmering fear. "I just hope that Kahlan will be able to fight it if Demos orders her to kill Richard."

"I don't think even the Mother Confessor can fight against a marking spell," he informed her. "It'll shatter her memories; turn her into whatever it is that Demos needs her to be. She won't have any control over it. We're in more trouble than either of us can ever begin to realize.

"Demos has just pitted the most powerful Mother Confessor in the world against the Seeker of Truth. If it goes that way, it will be the most catastrophic face-off in history."

"Richard won't fight Kahlan," Cara shook her head in disagreement. "He'd sooner die."

"But if she dies, the Keeper wins and Richard will be as good as dead anyway."

"You're not very good at comforting someone, are you?"

Zedd smiled wearily. "Sorry," he muttered as he moved to lie down on the blanket on the ground. "I'm afraid my hope is as shaken as yours is at the moment. I will tell you this, though. If anyone can find a way to save Kahlan, it'll be Richard."

"I hope so," she murmured as she watched the old Wizard settle down on the ground. "I'm going to go see if I can find Odo for you."

"I'll be alright, my dear," he sighed heavily as he closed his eyes. "Just need to rest my eyes a little."

Cara stared at him for a long moment, not the least bit placated by his attempt to reassure her. Turning to leave the Spirit House, she couldn't help the unsettling feeling that things were steadily going from bad to worse and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

XXX

Richard gently lifted her leg, pulling the rope free from her ankles before carefully slipping her boot on. His fingers brushed along her leg, the feel of her smooth skin beneath his fingers causing his breath to catch in his chest despite himself.

He softly stroked her thigh, his fingers lingering there as memories of being welcomed between her legs flashed erotically through his mind. He loved the strength in her long legs, the way the muscles of her thighs flexed beneath his touch, hugged and stroked his hips as he thrusted deeply into her hot core.

Drawing a deep ragged breath, he checked himself, tamping down on the desire suddenly pulsating through his veins. Moving to the other leg, he fought against the overwhelming loneliness that lived inside of him now, pervading his soul with an ache so powerful he could barely think sometimes.

Kahlan groaned softly in her sleep, her face wincing with the pain that he knew that she was still in. "Shhh…it's alright, Kahlan," he gently told her.

Richard couldn't help but cringe as he studied her. She looked as though she'd already been to the Underworld and back and their nightmare was only truly beginning. Bruises and agiel burns marred her pale skin and pricked his heart. He didn't know how she was even conscious let alone still alive after everything that she'd endured the last couple of days.

He knew it had to be somehow related to the marking spell Demos had put on her. It must have somehow amplified her strength as well as her Confessor's magic. It was the only explanation for her surviving two Mord'Sith attacks as well as confessing four people in quick succession like she had.

In a strange way, he suddenly found himself almost thankful for the spell. If not for it, she'd likely be dead by now.

The knots in his stomach twisted painfully with the thought, his hand finding her cheek, the need to touch her, to hold her too strong to ignore. He wanted so desperately for her to be his again, but he knew that wasn't going to happen until he stopped Demos for good.

He was going to have to go to the People's Palace and end this once and for all. The problem was what he was going to do with Kahlan. He couldn't leave her all alone, not in the condition that she was in now and certainly not with the Mord'Sith hunting her down.

He loathed the idea of taking her with him to stop Demos, not wanting her anywhere near that monster, but he had little choice at this point. He knew he couldn't waste valuable time by taking her back to the Aku to keep her safe until he returned. Besides, he worried about them trying to handle her without him there.

She could easily slip into the ConDar, if she wasn't already teetering there already, and confess the entire tribe in less than a heartbeat. He was the only one alive who was immune to her magic. He was going to have to keep her with him for now until he figured something else out.

Despite the fact he had already hurt her once, Richard knew that for the moment she was safest with him. He deeply feared who he was, loathed the rage that burned so hotly in his core. He was terrified of her hurting her again, but right now he had no other choice.

Kahlan suddenly hissed in pain, abrupt awareness beginning to seep into her consciousness. She moaned at the feel of someone touching her, her forehead creasing in confusion. Exhaustion weighed her every muscle down, her head still throbbing, but she knew that she had to keep going. She had to for her master.

Her eyes slowly flitted open to find the Seeker sitting near her, his sole focus on her arm as he worked at redressing it. It throbbed painfully with every beat of her heart, but she tried to push it from her mind. She had to find a way to break free so she could capture him, bring him to Demos.

She studied his face as he worked, trying to think of a way to gain his trust and force him to untie her. So focused on her injured arm, he didn't seem to even notice that she was awaken now. She did her best to keep her breaths even, her heart beat steady despite the way it seemed to pound harder beneath her breast of its own accord whenever he was near her.

Watching him, Kahlan was struck by how careful he was with her, how attentive he was to her needs despite the fact that she was his prisoner. Memories of her past with him were so tangled, dimly lit shadows of what he actually meant to her. Her life was like a tightly knotted vine of images and emotions balled up inside of her, moments frozen in time with little understanding of what they all truly meant.

She knew this man loved her. It was so obvious in the way that he looked at her, the way his fingers brushed against her skin, lingering there a moment longer than necessary or in the thoughtful way he took care of her. Beyond that, she could remember little else about him except that her master wanted him for some unknown purpose.

If she had loved him at one time, she had no memory of it…at least not at that moment. Every time she tried to remember, tried to fight against the headache that waxed and waned, it felt like firecrackers snapping in her head, each cell in her brain dying painfully only to be reborn, changed into the image of what her master wanted.

She found it was so much easier not to fight it, not to try to remember. The headache seemed to lessen when she didn't struggle against whatever it was that was happening to her, the things inside of her she didn't understand.

It felt at times as though blackness was seeping into the very fiber of her being, slowly taking who she was, erasing her past and deciding her future. She didn't know what she was becoming or why, only that it hurt so much less if she just let it happen instead of trying to fight it.

Just then, Richard looked up from her arm to find himself staring into the piercing black eyes of his Confessor. It sent an icy shiver up his spine to see her blue eyes now blacker than the darkest night, the detached coldness that stared back at him instead of the love and passion he loved to see burning there for him and him alone.

He paused as he carefully studied her, searching her beautiful face for any sign that his Kahlan was still in there somehow, struggling to break free and return to him. There was a sad hopelessness about her expression that made him wonder what she was thinking about, if she could sense that she was losing herself to Demos's will and control…that he was losing her.

He reached out a tentative hand, touching her hair and stroking it gently. "Kahlan," he murmured, staring into her eyes with bated breath. "Please, come back to me. I need you."

His heart skipped a beat as Kahlan seemed to almost melt into his touch for a moment. Her eyes briefly flickered closed, an almost imperceptible sigh escaping her slightly parted lips. His body was drawn taut as he waited, praying that she would find her way back to him through the bleak darkness inside of her.

"Please…untie me," she softly replied. "I'll do anything you want. I'll let you make love to me if that's what you wish. Just please…" she paused, swallowing hard, "please…remove the rope."

She could see the painful struggle inside being played out across the Seeker's handsome face, the inner turmoil that consumed him as he stared deeply into her eyes. She swore she could see straight into his soul, the overwhelming anguish inside almost palpable. It took her breath away despite herself.

Richard's heart as well as his hope shattered with her words. This wasn't his Kahlan, might never be again if he didn't kill Demos. His Kahlan would never "let" him make love to her and he'd never use her body for his own pleasure. He knew it was the spell talking but it didn't lessen the pain any.

"I'm sorry…I can't," he sighed heavily, his hand falling away in defeat. "I love you, Kahlan, but you're not yourself. It's safer for you this way until I can trust you again."

Kahlan growled under her breath, rage flashing like bolts of lightning in her eyes as he got up and moved away from her. "This is not love!" she yelled at him, holding up her bound wrists to him. "This is nothing but cruel punishment. You're just like my father!"

Richard swallowed hard, bristling with her words. The little that she had told him about what her father had done to her made him hate her father for abusing her. Being likened to that worthless excuse for a human being did nothing to lessen the rage that stormed inside of him, desperate for release.

"We're leaving," he frostily stated with his back to her, his hands practically trembling with the fury and hurt within.

"I'm not going back to the Aku," she growled. "I will fight you every step of the way, whatever it takes."

Kahlan watched as his shoulders slumped, his head lowering. "I know," he softly replied. "That's why we're going to the People's Palace."

Stunned, she stared at him long and hard, doing her best to guess what he was really up to, why he was going to the place she most desperately wanted to go. It caused her to grow tense, her body rigid with suspicion and distrust.

"Why?" she finally asked, her gaze searching every inch of him trying to find the truth.

"Because that's the only way I'm ever going to get you back," he told her, leaning over and gathering his things to leave.

"I don't need to be saved," she shot back. "What makes you think that I even want you anymore, want you to save me? I don't love you, remember? I only want to please my master."

Richard finally turned to face her, his face hard with resolve, eyes blazing with so many emotions she couldn't begin to decipher them. He watched as she stared at him, shrinking back away from him against the cave wall. It felt as though another piece of his heart was suddenly carved out, threatening to steal his sanity.

He did his best to keep his voice even, his chest from heaving but it was near impossible now. "Because the real Kahlan would want me to fight for her with everything that I am and that is exactly what I'm going to do," he hissed with a deadly calm voice that sent shivers racing through her.

She swallowed back her hammering heart, suddenly finding herself unable to respond in the wake of his barely restrained fury. There was such a deadly intent in him, a heated resolve that it left her in awe of him despite the fact that he was her enemy now.

She had no doubt that nothing was going to get in the way of him getting what he wanted…and what he wanted most was her.

Richard turned away from her, squeezing his eyes shut against the image of the fear that had briefly flitted through Kahlan's eyes. He hated feeling the fury that used to reside so deep inside of him now running in fierce waves just beneath his skin, struggling to be released. It terrified him to no end.

He just prayed that Kahlan wasn't anywhere near him when it finally broke free.

"We need to leave," he finally said, his tone softening.

Kahlan glared at him as the Seeker came close to her. She clenched her jaw in defiance. "Don't touch me," she sneered. "I don't need you or your help."

Richard internally cringed, but kept his face emotionless as he moved in beside her, wrapping his arm gently around her shoulders. "I know you don't want to admit it, but you need my help," he replied. "The wound in your arm is very deep. Fighting against me will only injure it further."

"Feeling guilty?" she smugly said as he pulled her up onto her feet. "Angry with yourself for being the one to hurt the woman you claim to love?"

Kahlan could tell by the pain that flashed through his eyes that her words had cut deep, hitting its mark. She jerked herself free from his hold on her, huffing a lock of hair out of her face. Richard grabbed her, turning her to him, his lips crashing into hers in a heated rush of fiery emotions that had been besieging him for so very long now.

She fought against the kiss, but his grip only tightened on her, his fingers digging into her arms as he unleashed his passion for her. Her moan never touched the air as he swallowed it, taking her in the only way he could at that moment.

Their tongues danced like twin flames of fire, each fighting for control and neither willing to relinquish it. A fierce battle erupted in her mind, the feel of his passion igniting something inside of her, something that she didn't want to ignore any longer.

She suddenly ached to touch him, to feel his hands all over her body, to feel him moving so deep inside of her. Before she knew it, Richard had her back pressed up against the cave wall, his hands in her hair and his tongue driving her insane as his leg slipped between hers, putting pressure where she needed it.

Richard suddenly pulled back, fighting to catch his breath. He kept her pinned between his body and the cave wall, her beautiful face a breath away from his. Spirits, he loved her so much, needed her more than anything in this world.

"I would rather die than ever hurt you," he whispered against her lips as he carefully slipped his knife between them.

Kahlan stared at him, her heart hammering against her chest wall. She felt a fierce struggle erupt deep within her, something that she didn't understand. She fought to catch her breath, her head suddenly pounding mercilessly and bringing tears to her eyes with its intensity.

"Kahlan, I'm sorry," he murmured, fighting against the fierce need within for her.

Richard reluctantly released his hold on her, raking his fingers back through his hair as he quickly turned away from her. He bent over, gathering both of their packs, his heart in his throat as began to make his way towards the mouth of the cave.

"Let's go," he said, not even pausing to look back at her.

Looking down, Kahlan was stunned to find the rope that had bound her wrists now lying on the ground.

She was free.