Aydindril, The Early Years
Chapter Six
Kahlan left early in the morning for Galea accompanied by a dozen guards and Alfron. Her mother wanted to make sure she was protected at all times. Richard didn’t get to see her again before she left so he would just have to hope that the hug he had given her conveyed as much of his feelings for her as he thought it had. She had been gone for less than twenty-four hours and he was already aching to hold her in his arms again. These nine months apart were going to be torture for him just as surely as they would be for her.
He needed to get his mind off of Kahlan so he asked Cara if she wanted to go for a walk in town. The hustle and bustle of Aydindril always distracted his mind. He met Cara outside the Confessor’s Palace and his heart started sinking again, silently hoping that everything would be the same between them when she returned.
He and Cara spent most of the morning walking through town, they spoke little. Cara knew it would take Richard awhile to be able to express how much he was hurting right now. But she would keep her promise to Kahlan, she would take care of Richard while she was gone; keep him company until his precious confessor returned. As they walked the sound of a hammer striking metal jolted Richard from his thoughts of Kahlan. He would stop by the blacksmiths and see what new swords they had; he loved seeing all the different blades. Zedd had told him that he was the Seeker of Truth and that someday if the need arises he will be named Seeker and get to carry the sword of truth. He hoped that the need never arose because he knew it would be great trouble for the Midlands but he still couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have such a special sword.
He and Cara walked toward the blacksmith’s shop, the sound of the hammer striking steel getting louder as they approached. When they reached the shop Richard was surprised that the blacksmith wasn’t the one forging the new sword. A young man about the same age as Richard was doing it. He saw them approaching and stopped what he was doing. “Can I help you?” the young man said.
“I just wanted to look at some swords. Where is the blacksmith if you don’t mind me asking?”
“He just stepped out. I’m Leo by the way, the blacksmith’s apprentice,” he said as he extended his hand to Richard.
Richard took it and shook it while introducing himself. “I’m Richard and this is Cara.”
“Nice to meet you both. Now why don’t we see about finding you a sword?”
“I’m not buying I just wanna look. Looking at weapons helps distract my mind.”
“Oh ok follow me,” Leo said as he was looking at Cara.
They followed him into the shop and while Richard was looking at the swords Leo was trying to think of a way to engage Cara in conversation. Finally deciding to just break the ice he started talking to her about boring things but it was working and it was obvious that they were enamored with each other. Once Richard finished looking at the swords he saw Cara and Leo talking and knew immediately that they liked each other and the first thing that popped into his head was that they were reminding him of himself and Kahlan before thinking that he should keep Kahlan away from Leo when she returned because if he liked Cara he would like Kahlan even more, and Richard wasn’t going to lose her to anyone. He wouldn’t risk her, not for anything.
After a while Richard and Cara left the blacksmith’s shop for the Keep. “Well you seemed to have had a good time.”
“Umm I guess so.”
“Well you just seemed to hit it off with that blacksmith’s apprentice. What was his name? Leo?”
“Yes his name is Leo and yes we did hit it off but that isn’t a bad thing.”
“I know Cara I’m just trying to look out for you. Why do you think I’ve never seen him around before?”
“I don’t know you would have to ask him that.”
“I will. Just promise me Cara, you’ll be careful.”
“I will.”
Kahlan was lost without Richard. It had been three months since she last saw him and she wasn’t herself. It was like she was just going through the motions of life not truly living because he wasn’t there with her. She had arrived in Galea with Alfron and her guards but she still felt so alone. She couldn’t wait to be done with her job in Galea and return to Aydindril and Richard, but part of her dreaded it too; knowing that she had most likely lost him to Cara and that she would be near him but it wouldn’t be the same. This thought was breaking her heart.
Even though she was worrying about her own heart she was glad Richard moved on. She didn’t feel betrayed she felt guilty for wishing he would still love her even though she knew they could never be together. At least now he could be happy even if she was miserable. A little part of her would always be happy that he found someone who could give him what she couldn’t.
As she made her way to the dungeon of the palace in Galea she thought about Richard, what he was doing right now, if he was happy, if he was with Cara. She didn’t want to think about that, him being with Cara, it broke her heart. She reached the dungeon and entered the cell of the man condemned, he was yelling at her and backing into the corner, clearly not resigned to his fate. She closed the distance to him and he lunged at her trying to knock her off guard so he might be able to get away. She was too fast for him, grabbing him around the throat and releasing her powers before he had time to think.
“Command me mistress.” The man said as he fell to his knees.
“Tell me the truth of the crimes charged against you.”
“I did it Mistress. I killed those people.”
Kahlan got a sad and distant look on her face. For some reason this man on his knees before her reminded her of Richard and all she could think of was him on his knees confessing his sins to her. She just stood there staring, lost in her thoughts until the man’s worrying over her wishes drew her out of her fog.
“What do you wish of me Mistress?”
She couldn’t shake the feeling she had when she looked at him so she turned away. “I wish to never see you again.”
The pain at his mistress’s displeasure caused him to drop dead on the floor and Kahlan tried to suppress her tears as she left the dungeon.
Alfron knew now that something was bothering Kahlan and when he asked her about it she would put on her Confessor’s face and say everything was fine, to hold on to her sanity even though she was slowly losing her mind with the thoughts of losing Richard to Cara, and now the nightmare of Richard on his knees confessed to her completely haunted her existence.
Cara and Leo grew closer over the months Kahlan was gone. It wasn’t long before Cara’s promise to take care of Richard was all but forgotten. She was spending almost all her time with Leo and Richard was spending most of his time with Zedd trying to bury himself in his studies until Kahlan returned, if she still cared for him when she returned.
Zedd knew how hard this was for him and tried his best to help him by distracting him from thoughts of her, using his wizard’s training as an outlet for Richard’s sadness. He knew it was all but useless but he needed to do something to keep his grandson from depression.
As the day she would return drew closer, Richard became more and more excited but at the same time he was nervous too. What would he do if she got back and didn’t care for him anymore? Or what is she became enamored with Leo? He didn’t think that he would be able to stand losing her heart to someone else and he sincerely hoped he wouldn’t. But he was afraid that these months apart had separated them with more than distance.