"I have a proposition for you, Cara."

Cara stopped, again, and again didn't turn to face Denna. She waited.

"I'd like to find out just how virtuous the Mother Confessor really is."

Now Cara turned. Spun, more like it, eyes hawklike and cautious, fixing Denna with a burning stare. "I don't think I like what you're saying, Denna."

"Madame Denna," Denna replied with a dismissive flick of her wrist, "and it is of little importance to me whether you like what I'm saying."

Cara stepped closer, hand on an Agiel. "What exactly is the proposition?"

A slow smile spread over Denna's crimson-painted lips. "Bring her to me, and I'll show you how virtuous she's not." At Cara's expected protest, she held up a hand. "She will not be harmed."

"And what's in it for me?"

"Come now, Cara. Don't insult me. We both know what would be in it for you. Or have you changed so much since you left the People's Palace?"

Cara smirked, thought it over, and gave a brief nod. "If you try to harm her, she will Confess you," she warned. "And I will agiel you while you're dying."

Denna laughed, mirth reaching all the way to her sparkling blue eyes. "Run along now and bring me my prize."

They were locked in a room together. "Kahlan," Denna said fondly, stepping to the Confessor. "Last time I saw you, you were not quite yourself."

"That I was not," Kahlan replied softly. "And you have my sincerest apology. I can't help but wonder what you want with me now, if not to harm me."

"Water under the bridge," Denna dismissed it. "And you know what I want." Her smile was wicked.

Kahlan glanced nervously to Cara, back to Denna. Ironically, she was afraid Cara would judge her. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean..."

"Oh, Kahlan," Denna said, shaking her head in mock disappointment. "Lying. Such an unbecoming trait in a Confessor."

Another nervous flick of her gaze to Cara, and back. "Why is she here?"

Cara's eyebrows shot up.

Denna gave a lazy smile, her eyes now fixed upon Cara's. "Because she thinks you are virtuous." She became tired of dancing. "Remove your dress."

Cara snorted with laughter, unable to believe Denna thought she could order the Mother Confessor out of her clothes. "I think I've proven my point, Madame Denna."

Denna stepped forward, speaking to Cara, but her eyes were now on Kahlan. "I think you need to give me five more minutes to prove mine."

Kahlan held her head high. "What's in it for me?" she asked, the same question Cara had posed earlier.

Denna whispered something in her ear that Cara couldn't hear, but suddenly piercing green eyes were looking at her in surprise. "She did?"

"She did," Denna confirmed. "And I'm sure she would be more than happy to repeat the experience, with you as her willing victim. But first, you must remove your dress and tell her what we did when I had you in my dungeon."

Cara wanted to ask what it was she was supposed to have done with a willing victim, but her curiosity was piqued more strongly by the fact that Kahlan's fingers went to the laces of her dress and began to undo them. So she stayed quiet, watching, waiting.

When she was in her underclothes, Kahlan folded her hands behind her back and turned to Cara. "When I was in her dungeon, she never tried to break me. Instead I served her sexually."

"Against your will?" Cara asked, anger flaring hotly, her hand itching to draw an Agiel and pierce Denna's heart.

"Oh no, Cara, don't you see what I'm trying to tell you?" Denna said smoothly, moving to Kahlan, placing a hand softly on her stomach, over the intricately designed corset she wore. Her fingers snaked downward, under Kahlan's skirts and the Mother Confessor sighed, leaning her head back on Denna's shoulder. "One proposition and your virtuous Mother Confessor was begging to be on her knees."

Cara's eyes nearly flew out of her head, and she stepped forward to put a stop to it, but surprisingly enough, it was Kahlan who held a hand out to give her pause. So she finally asked what it was she'd done. "And what exactly is my virtuous Mother Confessor expecting me to do, with her as my willing victim?" she asked Denna.

Denna didn't answer, just traced her ruby lips with her tongue, and smiled.

"I have a proposition for you, Cara," Kahlan purred, given confidence by Denna's fingers inside her, and the fact that Cara was still in the room.

Intrigued and suspicious, Cara tilted her head, waiting.

Kahlan bit her lip at a forceful thrust, allowed herself a moment to adjust to Denna's new rhythm, then picked her head up to regard Cara once more. "If you first do to me what you did to Triana... I will allow you to then do anything you wish."

Cara was angry, and she put her face close to Kahlan's, growling at her. "You want me to tie you up and fuck you with my Agiels?" she hissed. Surely Denna hadn't told Kahlan the truth. Kahlan would never ask for something like that.

Kahlan put their lips together, kissed and bit until she drew blood, and moaned in Cara's ear as she answered. "I've been dying to be with you," she confessed. "Since I met you. Since you started traveling with us. But you've always thought me too chaste, and I didn't want to ruin the illusion. Do you accept my proposition?"

Cara watched Denna's fingers move beneath Kahlan's skirts, couldn't help imagining how good the Confessor would feel. Finally she smirked, gripped Kahlan fiercely by the hair with one hand, let her other roam gently over Denna's body, and put her lips to Kahlan's ear. "Yes."