Mirror to the soul
Cara fell to her knees. "Confess me. I deserve it."
Kahlan's hand was on Cara's throat, feeling the soft skin, the steady pulse beating underneath. Kahlan's eyes were locked on Cara's. There was emotion in them, regret, sorrow and a little bit of fear. But also this one thing, this feeling Kahlan had seen in Cara's eyes before. It had been only rare, and Kahlan couldn't really pin a name to it. But it made her heart skip and her spine tingle, and her whole body felt a little fuzzy in those moments. This time it wasn't different.
Kahlan had been wondering if this was some kind of spell Cara cast on her. But she had quickly dismissed that thought, she was sure she would notice any magic tried on her.
And what would Cara get from bespelling her? She couldn't figure it out. There were many things she didn't understand lately. Why Richard had wanted to take Cara along. Why Richard had defended Cara in front of the village jury. Why Cara actually regretted killing her father. Yes, every human being would feel sorrow after this, after learning this. Kahlan couldn't even imagine how a normal human being must feel. But Cara.. .Cara was a Mord' Sith. Which meant she was emotionless, or at least she tried to be.
"Do it!" A man shouted jolting Kahlan back to reality. Cara's eyes, there was something about them. The emotion inside them that for once Kahlan could read, at least partly... She couldn't do it. She could not kill Cara. There was a voice inside of Kahlan that told her she would regret it. And hadn't Cara changed? She had learned so much in the last days, while traveling with them. She had excepted Richard as the new Rahl and that had made an impression on her. She was a better person now.
Kahlan was the mother Confessor, she saw the good in a person. She knew it was there. And Cara had so much potential. She had only lost so much time, the Mord'Sith had taken her life as she was a child. Kahlan couldn't do this to her again. Cara deserved better. And this one emotion... the one she couldn't pin down... it just wouldn't let her go.
"I will not do it." Kahlan declared, and her hand sank. She immediately missed the feel of Cara's pulse, the feeling of power and control. It made her little uneasy. But the look in Cara's eyes shifted from confusion to understanding and finally settled on grateful. And Kahlan knew she had done the right thing.
The villagers ran wild, Cara and Richard fighting against them. Kahlan felt like she was watching from the outside, her soul lost in Cara's eyes. Analyzing that feeling of warmth, of joy at her sight, of the butterflies in her stomach. And suddenly she knew what it was. But she also knew that she wasn't ready to admit it yet. There was still too much that Cara had to learn.