DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Legend of The Seeker. All I own is my imagination and the freedom to write.
Cara sighed, it was so boring to just sit and watch something. Why the hell did Kahlan want her to sit up in this stupid watch tower and keep an eye on the festivities going on in the city below? She cared not for any of it, and all the silence was making her go crazy. You would think a festival of this quantity would make some sort of racket but from where Cara sat, all was quiet. She didn't like the soft whispers of the breeze or the sound of nothing. Her thoughts were the only thing she could really hear, and for some reason they were becoming louder as time went by. Aydindril sucked at the moment, everyone in the city loved Kahlan and hated Cara. Some people were daring enough to throw eggs or rotten vegetables at the Mord'sith. She really really wanted to tear all their fucking heads off too. So she guessed that's why Kahlan set her up away from the people so they wouldn't be a nuisance and Cara wouldn't mutilate anyone.
"Fucking hell..."
Muttering to herself seemed to not help the irritation she felt so she remained quiet and focused her attention on her scope and tried to spot the people she knew in the crowds below. She managed to find Zedd first, stupid wizard. He was dressed in something utterly ridiculous, he almost looked like a peacock, that was nearing death. She scanned the crowd again this time coming across Richard. He seemed to be enjoying himself, he had ale in his left hand and the sword of truth in his right, stumbling around like a fool. Cara almost envied him, all she cared for was the drink. She was parched up there, someone was supposed to bring her refreshments but they probably purposefully forgot. She groaned and this time switched the scope around to the left of her scanning for anyone familiar. Not many people seemed familiar in this area, so she switched again. Now all she could see were the backs of people, she could feel everyone was smiling or had expressions of joy on their face, it made Cara even more irritated. She wondered where the Mother Confessor would be in the whole thing. She scanned the crowd moving through the city but to no avail, she didn't see Kahlan at all. There was the Home Guard all around someone, but that was Deenee, why wouldn't Kahlan participate?
"Are you enjoying the view?"
Cara jumped, hands on her agiels ready to strike to only sit back down and pout. Kahlan smirked to herself, Cara hated when someone got the drop on her.
"What are you doing up here?"
Cara barked as she stood up looking away from Kahlan. The Mother Confessor chuckled a bit then sat down in the provided chair and set down the small satchel she was carrying. Cara turned her head slightly to see what she was up to.
"I brought you some food and drink, I thought you might be hungry."
"You could have just sent a servant with it, why are you up here?"
"Why must you question my intentions?"
Kahlan was a bit frustrated, she was only trying to be nice, especially after the way her city treated Cara.
The blonde seemed to drained of energy to continue to argue and sat down across from Kahlan. She took the food Kahlan handed her and the bottle of wine and shrugged in response to the brunette.
"Just thought you'd be in amongst the people is all."
Kahlan's heart hummed at the genuine answer that Cara gave. True she would have been down in the crowd with her sister, not really with Richard or Zedd. They were acting to much of fools for her taste. She actually really wanted to come up to the tower, it was one of her favourite spots since she was a little girl.
"I could be down there, but I chose not to."
Cara took a gulp of wine and munched down on whatever piece of meat Kahlan had prepared for her. She munched in silence wondering if Kahlan fixed it or one of the cooks in the palace.
"This is one of my favorite places in the city, it isn't really open to the public. Just the guards and officials, maybe a few others. It's the highest point besides the Wizards Keep and it's the only way you can see the entire valley. I'd come up here and read when I was younger."
Cara glanced at the brunette and then towards the watch towers walls. She had noticed something earlier about some nicks being in the wall at the entrance, Kahlan must have put them there.
"Those nicks at the door way, did you do that"?"
Kahlan glanced towards the door and blushed.
"How did you even notice them? They're so small, and almost faded away."
Cara smirked, she was very aware of her surroundings. Plus she noted everything, you'd think after running around with the Seeker Kahlan would have noticed her keen awareness. Kahlan caught sight of Cara's smug look and rolled her eyes. Cara had finished her meal and drank the entire bottle of wine, the whole thing! Kahlan stood up and walked to the edge of the balcony to watch the sunset. The sky was a hue of many colors, orange, blue, pink, purple, and white fluffy clouds dotted the rest of it. She honestly thought that it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen from that tower. She felt the coolness of night coming from the East yet still felt the warmth of the day to the West. She heard footsteps behind her and she turned her head to see Cara coming towards her.
"Tis a pretty sight no?"
Cara looked at the sky then towards Kahlan, she shrugged and leaned against one of the pillars on the balcony. Kahlan threw her a questionable look and Cara noticed.
"It's the sky, it will be here tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. Each day it will change somewhat but still look the same."
"But it's still beautiful."
"I can think of something far more beautiful."
Kahlan shifted herself to face Cara, she was looking at Kahlan with a look she hadn't seen before. It was... playful yet... Strange.
"Sure, and what would that be?"
Cara didn't respond, she only smirked. Kahlan tried to read the red-clad warrior, but there was nothing she could see.
"In order to find the answer I will give you a riddle, if you figure it out you will win the game and choose my punishment. If I win, I choose your punishment, fair enough?"
Kahlan thought about it for a second and nodded, she loved word games. Cara grinned mischievously.
"Slick as a raven, pure as a dove, darkness lurks within, a blessing from above. Who am I?"
Cara crossed her arms after she spoke, letting her gaze turn to the sunset. Kahlan looked off and began to think, slick as a raven, maybe that would refer to speed? Or color? Slick like a liquid? Darkness... A blessing from above? This was all to confusing, but she wouldn't let Cara get the best of her. She would figure this out.
"How long do I have?"
Kahlan asked, curious to see if Cara would even give her a time limit. Knowing the impatient blonde, she doubted it. Cara thought for a minute then held up one finger.
"Until midnight, if you don't get it by then, I win. Also, if you guess the wrong answer, you'll have to lose something."
"Lose something? I don't think you can make up rules on the go like that."
Kahlan gulped, she wasn't sure she liked where this was going. She wanted to keep her toes and fingers.
"It is my riddle, you don't have to participate. Hmm how about you lose some clothes if you guess wrong."
"What!? That's too much!"
Kahlan exclaimed as a heat rushed to her face. She covered her face with her hands and peeked at Cara who was grinning evilly at the poor Confessor.
"Then I win by default!" Cara gleamed.
"No that's incorrect. You said if I guessed wrong, then I'd have to remove... Clothing. So if I guess correct then I won't have anything to worry about?"
Cara nodded slowly. She had hoped that the Confessor's brain was running out of power due to the ending of the day, but when you confront a Confessor of Kahlan's degree with a challenge, they'll go through hell or high water to overcome it.
"Fine then I accept."
Score one for Cara Mason, this was gonna be fun.
"Alrighty then, let the game begin. Have you figured it out?"
Cara asked as she watched the brunette return to her seat. Kahlan shook her head no, this was all to frustrating.
"It's just there are so many answers... And it's not like its a complex riddle."
The blonde frowned, that felt like a stab at her intelligence. She squatted and sat herself on the ground then rested her head against the pillar. She remained quiet as the hours past by, the sun had finally disappeared behind the mountains and the stars were beginning to sparkle. Kahlan was muttering to herself and walking around trying to figure which answer she had in her head would be the right one.
"Tell me what answer you have and I'll tell you if its right or not."
The mentally exhausted Confessor sighed and plopped down opposite of Cara.
"Is it royal marble forged in the mountains of Darbough?"
Cara shook her head no and Kahlan groaned in defeat. Royal marble was gorgeous, and slick. The only way to purify it was to add dark jelly found in the Darbough mines. The recipe to make this wonderful stuff was said to have came from the Creator to the king in a dream. All aspects of the riddle were thoroughly thought through, yet still wrong.
"I didn't even know royal marble existed, oh well. Off with it."
Kahlan looked up confused.
"Remove a piece of thy clothing Mother Confessor."
"Oh no! I forgot about that!" Kahlan blushed furiously. Cara bursted into laughter, she had already forgot their wager, that was to be expected. Kahlan looked down, what could she remove?
She felt Cara's eyes on her, it made her uncomfortable to say the least. She took off one of her boots, hoping that would be ok.
"Ah typical."
Kahlan could only blush in response to Cara's snarky remark, she was gonna win this stupid game no mater what.
Kahlan was red as a tomato, she had guessed wrong so many times. It was almost midnight and Kahlan was freezing due to the lack of clothing. Cara had left a few minutes ago. She wasn't going to allow her to leave until it was over. The brunette shivered.
"Another one bites the dust! Seriously, you suck at riddles."
Cara returned and grinned as she saw Kahlan had removed more of her clothes.
"Here, you can use this. One of the guards had it."
Cara handed Kahlan a wool blanket which she quickly wrapped around herself. Ah warmth.
"That's unusual for you."
"What I can't give you a blanket?"
"No not that, you being so thoughtful. It's really sweet."
Kahlan smiled at the blonde who just stood there with a dumb expression on her face. Then quickly turned away from the Confessor.
"You have maybe forty minutes left. Are you confident you will win?"
Kahlan flicked a pebble at Cara who turned around brow furrowed.
"I am sure one of my answers is the correct one. I just wish I had enough time and clothing to guess them all."
"Time is a ticking, better hurry it up."
Kahlan frowned, she had two guesses left before she was completely naked. It's not like she hadn't been naked around Cara before, it just felt different. Cara usually wasn't drunk or fully paying attention when Kahlan had undressed near her in the past, or at least to her knowledge. She thought about the riddle again, what was it?
Wait, Cara said who am I? Insinuating it might be a person or was she just using incorrect grammar?
"Can I ask something?"
"You just did."
Gah, stubborn blonde.
"Is it a thing or a person?"
"Is that a guess?"
"No! It's a question, you asked who am I, not what am I. So are you referring to a person or a thing?"
Cara was silent for a moment giving Kahlan the answer she needed.
"Aha so it is a person! That narrows it down a bunch."
The blonde ignored Kahlan's squeal of delight. Even if she knew it was a person there was no way she would guess it.
"I know, Shota!"
Cara turned green almost barfed and Kahlan keeled over in laughter.
"I'm appalled you would think that I thought that witch was beautiful, why would you guess her?"
Kahlan wiped away laughter's tears and grinned up at the Mord'sith.
"I wanted to see your reaction."
"Well you saw it."
Kahlan stood up quickly and reached under her slip and pulled down her under garments. She pulled them off and flung em at Cara who dodged them and they went flying to the city below.
"Oops, hope no one finds those."
Cara mumbled as Kahlan tried not to die from embarrassment. She flung... FLUNG her underwear at Cara... WHO WAS SHE?
"Ten minutes left dearie."
Kahlan admitted to herself she was bested, more ways than one. She was embarrassed beyond measure, and her smarts couldn't save her against a stupid riddle. She probably shouldn't have ever agreed in the first place, but she was bored. Bored with how everything was so monotone, she wanted a little excitement. Richard was... the same ole Richard. Kahlan walked over to the edge of the balcony, the moon was right in the middle of the sky shining so brightly.
"Five more minutes, unless you want to admit defeat."
Cara's smugness could be felt without looking her way, Kahlan chucked to herself. A thought struck her as she remained fixed on the white object tin the sky. Could it really be the moon? She doubted it, remaining quiet would at least save her dignity. Unless Cara had other plans with the punishment she had up her sleeve.
"Times up! So what do you have for me, this last guess won't be counted as a guess. It's your final answer."
Cara slowly approached Kahlan who still was staring in the sky, she turned and leaned lazily on the railing pulling the blanket around her closely as a cool breeze went by.
"Is it the moon?"
Cara grinned and shook her head softly, Kahlan groaned. Oh well she lost, at least it was fun.
"Close your eyes."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to show you what it was."
"You had it on you this entire time?!"
"Um no, I wish but no I didn't."
Kahlan was confused, but closed her eyes nonetheless.
"Mmkay I'm gonna put it in the palms of my hands, keep your eyes shut."
Kahlan kept her eyes shut tightly, she was unsure of this, Cara's voice had changed. It was soft, almost sultry. She heard what seemed to be the blonde removing her gloves. She could feel how close Cara was, her body heat was heating the air around her, and Kahlan was in it.
Then a feeling of gentleness caressed her cheeks, warmth flooded into Kahlan, she gasped and opened her eyes. Cara grinned and stroked Kahlan's cheek.
"Not fair, I would have nev-"
Kahlan was interrupted by lips pressed against her own. So soft and sweet from the wine. Kahlan involuntarily kissed the blonde, prying further into the uncharted territory until they broke apart both gasping for air.
"Cara?"
Kahlan lifted the younger woman's head up to meet her eye to eye. Cara was blushing.
"What?"
"Was this entire riddle just a gateway into kissing me?"
Cara's blush only deepened. Kahlan hit the nail on the head.
"Hon, why didn't you just do that in the first place?"
Cara looked back up surprised, she didn't expect Kahlan to be so receptive or wanting for that matter. She was absolutely turned on now, more than she was before. Kahlan tilted her head in confusion, apparently still waiting for Cara to speak. Cara decided to use other means of letting one know what one was thinking. The wool blanket came off, and was thrown on the floor. Kahlan was pushed to the nearest wall and Cara closed the distance between their lips once again. Kahlan's face heated as she felt the blondes hands move their way around on her body, fast but gentle. Her mind raced, she couldn't concentrate on what all was happening. Cara's mouth was doing catastrophic things to her own, she was being pushed up against the wall. Kahlan's own hands found themselves trying to free Cara of her leathers. The noises coming from both women were not only loud but constant. Cara suddenly stopped what she was doing, breaking lip contact and shushing Kahlan with her fingers.
"Someone's coming."
Cara managed to grab Kahlan's dress and helped Kahlan get in it and fix her own leathers before the door opened. Kahlan nervously pretended like nothing was happening, even though her heartbeat was going ninety to nothing.
"Err Zedth toll me ya guys were up her'an you shud prolly come down before ya get shlick wilth cold. Buh bye now."
A completely smashed Richard opened the door, he then slammed it shut. Sounds of thumping and hollering ensued.
"The idiot fell."
Kahlan giggled at Cara's remark and picked up the rest of her clothes. Cara only watched and waited by the door, frustrated about the raging itch she had. Kahlan eyed the blonde and came over and kissed her on the cheek.
"Don't worry, the night has only begun."
-fin