Cara forces out a breath; her hands strain tirelessly against the ropes that bind her. Her leather mostly protects her against the sharp bark of the tree she's restrained against, though every once in a while she feels the unwelcome stab of sharp wood when she pulls extraordinarily hard, trying to free herself.
Come on.
The sky above her darkens as roiling clouds obscure the sun. She struggles harder against the ropes.
Come on.
There's a crack of thunder as lightening seems to flash all around her. The wind whips her hair about her face, almost obscuring the sight before her. Cara feels an animalistic growl creep up her throat as she watches Zedd working his magic.
He's lucky my hands are bound.
Almost as quickly as it had begun, it's over. The wizard drops to one knee, visibly exhausted. Cara tugs against the ropes in a small show of victory; the spell hadn't worked. Her lips curl up into a predatory smirk.
"Is that all you've got, Wizard?"
Cara can visibly see the defeat cross Richard and Kahlan's faces.
"It didn't work," she hears Kahlan say, rushing over to help Richard get his feeble, old grandfather to his feet.
"No…it worked."
Cara freezes at the Wizard's words.
What does he mean, 'it worked'. Nothing happened.
She trains her eyes and ears on the trio trying to listen in on their conversation but they've turned their backs on her, conversing in hushed voices.
Even so, she smiles to herself while masking her face with a neutral expression. As the fools talk away her hands go to work. For once, she thanks The Creator that the Wizard is so long-winded.
As she pulls her right hand free of the ropes she hears Richard's voice carry over to her, cutting off Zedd, "Kahlan saved me Zedd! … We know it can be done!"
Cara resists the urge to snort at the Seeker's illogical assumption. She watches as Kahlan tries to placate him only to have him snap at her as well.
"Cara loves!" He turns to face Cara. His weak, pained expression makes her want to vomit as he continues, "I know she does."
When he turns back around to address Kahlan and Zedd, Cara goes to work freeing her other hand. Now that one hand is free, the second goes much faster. She glances down at the loose rope in her hands, contemplating the various ways in which she could use it to her advantage.
There's movement out of the corner of her eye as Kahlan starts to approach her. Cara pulls the rope tight in her free hands and pretends to still be struggling. She arches an eyebrow as Kahlan draws her daggers from her boots, only to toss them aside a moment later.
Kahlan steps up in front of Cara and pauses before taking a few more steps, right past Cara's boundaries and into her personal space.
The Mord'Sith tenses. She stands up a little taller, attempting to sink back into the tree, and away from the Confessor.
As Kahlan takes one final step closer Cara feels herself snap a little. Her hands shoot up and around Kahlan's throat in an instant. She has to give the other woman credit though as Kahlan's hand is wrapped around her own throat before Cara can even begin to tighten her grasp on the Confessor.
Cara's eyes flick over Kahlan's shoulder as Richard makes a sudden move towards them, only to be held back by his grandfather. For her part, Kahlan doesn't seem to register the commotion at all.
Kahlan has always impressed her; secretly Cara has always considered her the strongest of her three traveling companions.
Cara arches an eyebrow in a small silent show of approval.
"Come for your revenge, Mother Confessor?" Cara's voice has an edge of disuse about it; she vaguely wonders why that is.
She watches as Kahlan's eyes slip shut for a moment, "I know you're in there Cara."
Her whispered admission puts Cara on edge, "You know nothing about me." Her words force their way out through her clenched jaw. She exhales deeply, lowering one hand so that she's mirroring Kahlan's stance.
The Confessor smiles, but it's not a happy one, "Do you really think you can crush my windpipe before I can confess you?"
Cara's has no doubts about her ability but she knows she's no match against the speed and deathly force of Kahlan's power. Still, she grips Kahlan's throat a little tighter, "Care to give it a try?"
She's playing with fire and for a moment she revels in the sheer insanity of it.
"Please Cara…" Kahlan's whispered plea is like a kick to the stomach and for a moment Cara feels as if she's had the wind knocked out of her. It's a ridiculous notion, seeing as she hasn't been physically hit but all the same, she recoils a bit. Kahlan's gaze takes on a certain fierceness; a quiet yet confident gleam, "Remember Richard's birthday party?" She asks softly, "Do you remember the tomb?"
Images of that day flash through Cara's mind. Internally she fumes, remembering all that she'd confessed to Kahlan, without the prompting of the other woman's touch.
"I have not gone dumb, Confessor. I still have my memory." Cara's voice is sharp, her anger carrying through to her words. Kahlan's head tilts down just the slightest bit in acknowledgement and she's wearing that same sad smile again.
Cara decides that she hates that smile.
"I guess it just seems like you don't remember," Kahlan murmurs, "because you said, you considered me a friend. Offered to take your own life to save mine—"
Cara remembers perfectly fine, and she certainly doesn't need Kahlan's reminder.
"I told you I was delirious!" Her voice is sharp and bitter; she tightens her hand even more around Kahlan's neck with silent frustration. Kahlan winces and Cara catches the shimmer of tears in her eyes as they begin to water but the Confessor doesn't stop there.
"And you remember Nicci? When she placed the maternity spell on me?"
Why is she asking these fruitless questions?!
"Of course I remember!" Cara feels herself start to crack. All these things, these moments of weakness, she's tried so hard to push them from her mind just to have Kahlan drag them to the forefront again.
"You were always by my side," Kahlan continues on, but she's not the calm collected Confessor she was a few moments ago. Cara can see the emotion churning just beneath the surface as her voice rises, "You comforted me, you protected me, you worried over me!" Cara watches as a few stray tears make their way down Kahlan's face and she feels an indescribable anger surge up from the pit of her stomach.
"I was ordered to serve you as I would serve The Lord Rahl!"
Cara realizes with a jolt; she's angry with herself.
"Do you inspect Richard's wounds? Do you lay his head on your lap? Do you take his hand and lead him away from danger?"
With each question that Kahlan begs of her Cara feels her walls start to crumble. It's unsettling, terrifying even but it's all true. All of it. Forcing herself to look away from Kahlan's pleading gaze, Cara turns her head to the side.
"That is what Richard would have done for you."
She feels Kahlan's hand press gently on her cheek, urging her to turn back, to look at her again. Cara knows she should try to resist; she knows she should be cold and unfeeling but the warmth from Kahlan's hand is inviting and her affectionate gaze welcoming.
"Richard does those things because he loves me."
Cara feels herself snap, "I love you!" Her cry is raw with emotion, almost animalistic. There's a flap a wings as a few birds scatter from the surrounding trees, up into the now clear blue sky.
For a moment, no one says anything but Cara catches the look that crosses over Richard's face at her admission. She hangs her head, clenching her eyes shut; she can't bear to see the look of disbelief and betrayal in his eyes.
"Cara?" Kahlan's soft but ragged voice pulls Cara away from her thoughts of Richard. Cara feels like the world is tumbling down around her. She releases her grip on Kahlan's throat and let's her hand slide down to rest just above Kahlan's heart. She takes solace in the steady rhythm she finds there but it does nothing to stop the flood of emotions welling up from within her.
She feels hot tears start to form in her eyes and clenches them even tighter in an attempt to keep them from falling but it has the opposite affect. It is the taste of salty tears on her lips that finally completely break her down. Her chest heaves with silent sobs that soon enough become wailing pleas for forgivness.
Suddenly the ropes around her legs loosen and she feels herself falling forward. She is greatful for Kahlan's strong embrace as the Confessor guides them both down to their knees. Cara collapses against Kahlan, burying her head against the brunette's shoulder.
Time loses meaning for a while as Kahlan holds her, riding out Cara's sobs until they eventually cease altogether. When Cara can finally take a shaky, yet full breath she lifts her head. Her gaze meets Kahlan's and for a moment she simply searches the other woman's pale blue eyes, as if they hold the answers to the universe and in that moment Cara finally and fully realizes what she's done. She'd turned against these people, her friends; betrayed them. But, seeing the relief and forgivness in Kahlan's eyes, she knows that it will be ok.
"Kahlan?" The name falls from her lips and she's rewarded with a joyous laughter that bubbles from Kahlan's lips as she too begins to cry.
Cara remembers her anger at herself for making Kahlan cry earlier and in that moment vows to never let it happen again.
She pulls Kahlan to her, wrapping her arms around her in a fierce, protective hug. She feels Kahlan cling to her, just a tightly.
"Please, forgive me," Cara begs, her voice is muffled as her face is burried in Kahaln's hair, breathing her in.
She sighs in relief when Kahlan answers, "I do, Cara," her voice is barely a murmur but it rings through Cara's body and soul like a breath of new life, "I do."
A/N: Thus begins the adventure from Cara's POV. If you'd like to read the story from Kahlan's POV check out "Shattered". Both stories are stand alone and Shattered is about 7 more chapters in. I'll try to update this story every few days until it's caught up to "Shattered" and then alternate chapters for each story every Sunday. Anyway, thanks for reading!