Chapter 37
Time seemed to drag to a perilous crawl, movements suddenly slow and laborious. Sweat broke out across his brow, nostrils flaring as the violent wraith within thrummed through him.
Richard growled, his face contorted into a sneer of pure rage. He was no longer in control, but the fury that consumed him as well as the desperation to save Kahlan from this vile monster who wanted to hurt her. He couldn't let that happen, not to his Kahlan.
He pulled harder on the rope as he kept Demos's back pressed firmly against his chest. He bent backwards, arching his back and pulling Demos off of his feet. He could feel his brother fighting, struggling against the rope and kicking his legs furiously.
Past him, Richard could see Kahlan turning, the look of shock mixed with anger framing her face. With a scream of rage, she drew the Sword of Truth, its familiar ring filling the air. He internally cringed at the site of his weapon in her hands. He knew how the magic infused within his sword twisted and perverted his anger, what it cost him to carry it. He didn't want that for her…ever.
Demos continued to kick and struggle, gasping for air and clawing at the rope around his neck. His face was turning red as he tried desperately to break free. In his attempt to humiliate and goad his brother, he had momentarily dropped his guard and it had cost him dearly.
Kahlan ran at the brothers, sword gripped tightly in trembling hands. "Let him go!" she screamed.
"Stay back, Kahlan!" Richard snarled at her, turning so Demos remained between him and his Confessor.
"I won't let you kill my master!" she cried, pointing the sword directly at Demos and Richard. "Let him go now!"
"Kahlan!" Demos gasped, a hand reaching out towards her in desperation as he began to lose consciousness.
Richard's fingers were beginning to tingle and go numb as he gritted his teeth against the aching in his muscles, fatigue quickly settling into every fiber. Even though Demos was almost the same size as his brother, Richard was filled with such blinding rage at that moment there was no stopping or overpowering him now.
"No, he's my master!" Kahlan screamed at him in horror, unsure of how to stop the Seeker. "I love him!"
Her words nearly stopped him cold, hearing Kahlan voice her love for another man ripping painfully at his heart. He could feel the rope loosen ever so subtly in his hands, his soul suddenly drowning in a maddening sea of anguish.
Demos felt the rope slacken a little, allowing him to draw a brief breath and regaining a small measure of strength. He immediately began throwing his elbow back into the Seeker's ribs, desperate for escape.
Richard growled as pain shot through his side, Demos's elbow finding his broken ribs. He panted hard, every exerted breath creating sharp spikes of pain through his side, nearly taking him to his knees, but he tried to block it out.
Demos could feel the rope loosening, giving him hope he was finally getting the upper hand. Gritting his teeth, he threw as much force as he could possible muster into his next blow, his elbow digging in hard and causing Richard to finally release the rope altogether.
Both men fell to the floor, Richard lying on his side curled up in pain and Demos on all fours gasping for air. Kahlan ran to Demos's side, placing her hand on his back, the Sword of Truth still clutched tightly in her other hand.
"My Lord, are you alright?" she gasped in panic.
"I will be…once I've taken care…of my brother," he managed to choke out.
Richard looked to see Kahlan's arm wrapped around Demos, helping him to his feet, completely oblivious to him or the pain that he was in. The worry and love that shown so brightly in her blue eyes for her master made him ill to the very core of his being, the horrible ache in his heart suddenly greater than the pain from his broken ribs.
Getting up onto his knees, Richard did his best to catch his breath as he struggled against the rope that still bound his hands. He needed to break free, retrieve his sword from Kahlan and stop Demos before D'Haran soldiers or Mord'Sith suddenly showed up to help their Lord Rahl.
Demos glared down at his brother, his lips twisted in a hateful sneer. "You will pay dearly for that, brother," he seethed, rubbing his neck. "Or maybe you'd prefer I take my anger out on Kahlan."
"Don't you dare hurt her!" Richard furiously growled, panting heavily against the pain.
"I'm not sure what will be more painful for you– causing you physical agony or hurting your precious Kahlan," he grinned wickedly at him before turning his attention to the beautiful Confessor standing beside him.
Richard fought his way to his feet, near frantic to get his brother away from Kahlan. He would not stand by and allow that depraved animal touch her. He obviously had a twisted infatuation with the fact that he thought Kahlan was still untouched. Little did he know Richard had already been with her several times, explored and reveled in their deep love for one another.
"You should take your anger out on me," Richard suddenly said, forcing his brother's attention back on himself. "I've already made love to Kahlan. She's no longer pure."
Demos's face abruptly hardened, his dark eyes flashing with fury so hot that Richard knew that his words had hit their mark. "You lie," he hissed. "There is no way you could have slept with a Confessor and not be confessed."
"I have…and I'm not," Richard smugly replied, his arm tucked securely against his side in an attempt to brace his broken ribs.
"That's impossible!" Demos shouted, his face reddening with rage as his hands balled up into fists. "She is still untouched and I will be the one to take her virtue, not you!"
"Kahlan and I have made love several times before your marking spell ever took full effect," he told him.
"Is this true?" Demos fumed, turning to Kahlan standing beside him. "Have you been with Richard?"
"I…I don't remember…" Kahlan frowned, suddenly growing confused as she rubbed her forehead. "He told me that we had, but I…I just don't remember. I'm so sorry, my Lord."
"The spell has destroyed her memories, wiped her mind clean. She won't be able to tell you if we made love or not, but I'm telling you we did," Richard coldly stated. "Kahlan is mine, not yours."
"Kahlan belongs to me! I will be the one who takes her virtue…not you!" Demos yelled at him, his chest beginning to heave with the extent of his rage.
"She already gave it to me," he told him with a grin filled with true happiness, remembering that beautiful night so clearly in his mind.
Demos practically shook with the extent of his fury, refusing to believe anything that Richard said. "I am going to take Kahlan to my bed and have her any way I please, as many times I want and there is nothing you can do or say that will change that."
"I will die before I ever let you touch her," the Seeker ground out, his gaze momentarily flickering to Kahlan who stood silently beside Demos.
Her face was fixed with a wash of different emotions – fear, anger, confusion. It chaotically warred right there before him in her blue eyes – the beautiful eyes he loved, the eyes that no longer held any love for him. It was disconcerting to witness, something he wanted to remedy soon before he went mad.
"You may just get your wish, brother," Demos hissed, raising his hand out towards him, releasing a blast of magic that immediately knocked Richard onto his back and the air from his lungs.
Richard cried out in pain, arching his back against the sharp knife-like pricks that ripped through his body like tiny claws tearing at his skin. He grabbed at his head, his fingers digging into his skull as lightning bolts exploded in his head. He clenched his jaw, desperate to keep from screaming uncontrollably, refusing to give Demos satisfaction.
And then, the pain was abruptly gone, his body left quivering in the wake of the horrific attack. He gasped for air, pressing his arm against his side to brace his broken ribs as he coughed violently. Every breath he attempted to draw only increased the stabbing pain in his side and yet he couldn't get enough air.
Demos loomed so large as he stood over him, a dark glower shadowing his features. "If you thought that was painful, just wait until you find out what I really have in store for you," he gloated, his entire body humming with the powerful magic that was ready and waiting to do his bidding.
The rope around his wrists suddenly gave way, falling uselessly to the floor like it had been removed by invisible fingers and finally setting him free. In an instant, Richard was up on all fours, preparing to lunge at Demos and take him down. This was his one opportunity out of this hell, his once chance to save Kahlan and he wasn't going to miss it.
Just as he began to lurch forward, Demos unleashed another wave of powerful magic on him that hit him like a ton of bricks, paralyzing him with the agonizing pain that seemed to rip him apart from the inside out. He couldn't contain the primal scream that tore from his lungs as he fell back down on all fours again.
It felt like he was being burned alive by a thousand agiels, every nerve-ending on fire. He silently begged for unconsciousness to take him, but it would not come no matter how badly he wanted it. His fingers curled into the floor, his nails scraping against the finely polished marble that wouldn't give way to his need to grab onto something for dear life to help him hold on. He had to hold on for Kahlan.
Tears leaked from his eyes as the pressure built to unbearable levels in his head, his limbs trembling and threatening to give out on him. He thought for certain he would explode at any moment, his body unable to sustain the pain much longer, but there was nothing he could do. He was completely at his brother's ruthless mercy.
Knowing death was only moments away, Richard forced himself to lift his head to look at Kahlan just one more time, desperate to see her beautiful face, her breathtaking eyes even though they no longer held any love for him.
He loved her and not just with a superficial love, but something so much deeper, so real and tangible that it filled every fiber of his being, reaching from his head to his toes. He was hers – heart, body, and soul. Always and forever hers. Even if this was to be his end, he would have wanted it no other way, to have known her, love her.
Fighting against the powerful magic that held him hostage, he finally moved his head enough to be able to see Kahlan one last time. Their eyes met in that instant – chestnut brown locking with sapphire blue and time seemed to suddenly grow still, silent. It was as if there was no one with them, only him and her and the love he knew still beat in her heart for him and him for her.
The pain that was ripping him apart seemed to longer be there as he lost himself in those eyes he could so easily drown himself in. He would die a violent death hundred times over just for a glimpse of her smile, to taste her kisses.
Her black eyes were haunting, cold and distant and he found himself begging for just one last look of love from her, one last glimpse of the passion that blazed like a fierce inferno between them.
"I will…always…love you, Kahlan…" he managed to choke out between gasps just before his head finally dropped, unable to fight the force of the magic any longer. "Forever."
Kahlan stared at the man writhing on the floor before them, the man who had sworn his love to her, his life. She felt something inside of her begin to stir as she watched him suffer at the hands of her master, something sharp and warm and soothing deep in the depths of her heart.
"You are going to pay dearly, brother," Demos seethed. "You will beg for death, but I will not allow it to come. You will be mine until I decide you can die. And until then, you are going to bear witness to every little thing I'm going to do to Kahlan. She will finally know what's like to be with a real man, one that can show her unimaginable pain and pleasure."
Richard's guttural screams filled the room, echoing in Kahlan's ears and in her heart. She tore her eyes away from the Seeker to look at her master, the sneer and rage that contorted his face revealing the depths of his dark wickedness.
The severe spiking pain that had been in her constant companion in her head suddenly began to resurface as she looked down at the Sword of Truth gripped tightly in her hand. Her heart began to hammer wildly in her chest as she looked from the sword to the Seeker dying on the floor before her.
Blood began to trickle from her nose as she gritted her teeth against the lightning strikes of pain that shot through her skull, threatening to drop her to her knees. Her body began to tremble, her vision blurring from the fierce battle warring inside of her once again.
Her muscles were coiled tight, fighting against the unexpected urges suddenly surging through her like an electrical current. She bit her bottom lip, drawing blood as her chest began to heave. She squeezed her eyes closed against the violent onslaught erupting within her.
With a sudden scream of pain, Kahlan swiftly turned, thrusting the Sword of Truth into her master's abdomen, burying it deep to the hilt. Demos's eyes immediately widened in utter shock as his hands fell to his side, stunned by Kahlan's betrayal.
Released from Demos's magic, Richard collapsed to the cool marble floor, panting heavily as he fought to regain his strength. He looked up to see Kahlan pull the sword from his brother's body, only to drive it back into him all over again, fury like nothing he'd ever seen before veiling her face.
Demos dropped to his knees, his horrified eyes fixed on the Mother Confessor standing over him now. "Impossible…you…you can't…" he managed to say as blood began to gurgle up in his throat.
Richard forced himself to his feet, wrapping his arm around his middle to brace his ribs as he staggered to stand beside Kahlan. She stood frozen before her fallen master, the Sword of Truth gripped so tightly in her hands her knuckles were white. Her jaw was clenched, her entire body rigid.
"Kahlan," he softly said, gently taking the sword from her trembling hands.
Kahlan slowly turned to look into the warm brown eyes of her Seeker, love and understanding beginning to seep into her mind, slowly starting the process of wiping away the spell that Demos has placed on her.
"It's alright now," Richard murmured, his hand coming to rest gently against her cheek, relieved to see the magnificent blue of her eyes beginning to push away the black that had been there.
"How?" Demos choked out, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he pressed his hands against the wounds that the Mother Confessor had created.
"Because you may have stolen her mind, but I won her heart long ago," Richard seethed as he wrapped an arm around Kahlan, his sword clutched firmly in his other hand.
"She's mine…Kahlan's mine…" Demos gasped as he collapsed to the floor, death claiming him.
Richard and Kahlan stood staring at him for a moment longer, both trying to process what had just happened. Demos was finally dead, the nightmare over at last. Richard knew he had to get Kahlan out of here now before what they had just done was discovered.
"Come," he told her, guiding her away from the dead body lying before them. "We've got to get out here now before we're discovered."
Kahlan allowed him to take her hand in his as she silently went with him, nervously looking back over her shoulder at what she had done. She felt such confusion and conflict still battling within her, knowing that she had done the right thing and yet feeling something else that she couldn't quite understand.
Darting out a side door, she fought back the nausea roiling in her stomach, the way her legs were fighting to cooperate as Richard dragged out of the room through a side door and into a empty passageway.
Memories and images began to gradually knit back together, only adding to her already clouded confusion. Both her mind and heart were fraught with so many surging emotions all battling for control of her that she wasn't sure what she was supposed to think, feel.
The only thing she was certain of at that moment was the man holding her hand and the love that she felt for him. It was the only thing that made sense to her right then. It was all she had to hold onto.
Making his way down the narrow passageway, Richard could still scarcely believe what had just happened, how Kahlan had somehow been able to break free from the powerful marking spell that Demos had placed on her.
Richard fought back tears rising in his throat, tears that refused to be ignored. Kahlan was finally herself again and she was his. Now, he had just had to find a way to get them out of here before they were caught.
