Author's Note: I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! Sorry for the delay in the second chapter, I was away for a few days with no wifi connection. There are a few songs that inspired me to write this story. They are: Innocence By Tarja Turunen, 500 Letters by Tarja Turunen, An Empty Dream by Tarja Turunen and Delirium by Lacuna Coil. As you will all notice, this is where this story takes a different turn from the other Legend of the Seeker stories that are up (at least from what I have seen). I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
As the need for air becomes apparent, the two women end the kiss with a sigh. Cara leans her forehead against Kahlan's as she stares deeply into the Confessor's eyes. "I know I probably should have never done that," she whispers as she runs her hand up Kahlan's side.
"I'm very glad you did," Kahlan replies with a smile. "I wish that I had been able to tell you how I felt about you earlier, Cara. When we were trapped in that tomb, I was so afraid that I would die before I could tell you how I felt about you."
Cara smiles sadly as she remembered that day. "I know, I felt the same as well," she caresses the Confessor's cheek. "But I knew how you felt that day and I am sure you knew how I felt." She pauses as she tries to find the right words to say to the woman in front of her. "I looked into your eyes that day, before the torch-light failed, and saw how much you cared for me. I knew it also mirrored the look I gave you. As you know, Kahlan, I am not a woman of many words and the look I gave you and the look you reciprocated back to me unnerved me that day."
"Why did it scare you, Cara?" Kahlan asks as softly plays with Cara's shoulder-length blonde hair.
Cara huffs slightly and rolls her eyes. "It didn't scare me, it unnerved me. And the reason why is because what I feel for you is not what a Mord'Sith is supposed to feel and she is not to feel this sort of emotion for the woman that the Lord Rahl already staked a claim over."
A branch snaps at the edge of the forest causing both women to jump slightly. They peer into the darkness, but do not see what had caused the movement. Kahlan shakes her head before turning back to face the blonde. "Cara, as I told you before, he has no rights over me. I do not feel the same as he does. I don't think I ever did. I just wish that you would stop thinking of me as..."
Cara's lips cut the rest of Kahlan's sentence off and a soft moan escapes from her mouth instead of the words that had been on the tip of her tongue just seconds before. "I know that now," the Mord'Sith replies with a smile. "I just had to be sure that it wasn't the lack of oxygen speaking before I committed to action what my mind had been hoping for during the months that I had first met you."
"You cared for me back then, even when I nearly had you killed for helping with the assassination of the rest of the Confessors?" Kahlan asks staring at the blonde in front of her incredulously.
Cara shakes her head softly. "Not then, but as I grew to know you. I realised that no one I had ever met in my entire life made me feel like you made feel."
The Mother Confessor raises her hand to cup the blonde's cheek and smiles. "And how do I make you feel?"
Before Cara could reply, a voice booms from beside them. "You make me feel betrayed, bitch."
The two women turn towards the sound of the voice and are stunned to see Richard glaring menacingly, sword in hand, at them. "How could you, Kahlan? You are mine! MINE!" He bellows as he runs towards them with the Sword of Truth raised over his head.
Cara jumps in front of Kahlan as the hilt of Richard's sword swings down. It connects with the side of the blonde's head and she drops to the ground. Blood begins to pool under her as the Seeker steps over her and attempts to grab the Confessor's wrist. He sheathes the sword and reaches behind his back, pulling a Rada'Han free from his belt.
"Cara!" Kahlan shouts as she tries to moves away from Richard. She punches him in the chest causing him to momentarily lose his footing then bends down to retrieve her daggers from her boots.
The metallic ring of the Sword of Truth echoes through the clearing as the Seeker unleashes the weapon from its scabbard. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Kahlan" he says threateningly as he places the tip of the sword against her neck.
She stands up slowly, her hands dropping the daggers on the ground beside her. She lifts her chin in defiance and takes a step closer to Richard, causing the sharp edge of the sword to nick her pale flesh. A bright red pearl of blood beads up along the cut and trickles down her throat. "Kill me, if you must, because I will never surrender to you, Richard," she states calmly as she stares into the man's eyes. As she continues to stare at him, she can see the rage of the sword intermingling with his on anger and pain. It is a deadly combination she thinks to herself as she tries to quell her panic and worry for the Mord'Sith who was still unconscious on the ground.
"Why would I kill you, Kahlan?" Richard asks as a sudden madness flickers behind the anger in his eyes. "I love you. I want us to be together forever," he continues as he still holds the sword to her throat.
A groan escapes from Cara's lips as she struggles to lift her head up from the ground. This movement from the blonde causes Richard to turn towards the Mord'Sith allowing Kahlan to reach for his throat. He immediately removes the blade from her throat and focuses it on the Mord'Sith on the ground. "You wouldn't confess me, Kahlan. Now would you?" He asks as he kicks the Mord'Sith over onto her back and impales the blade into the blonde's shoulder.
"Don't Richard! Please!" Kahlan exclaims as she drops her hand from his throat and falls to her knees beside Cara.
The Mord'Sith grits her teeth against the pain as she and the Mother Confessor try to ease the blade out of her shoulder. "It's okay, Cara," Kahlan whispers softly to the woman as they finally succeed. She presses against the wound to staunch the blood flow. "It's going to be okay. I promise you. I promise I will take..." Her words are cut off when she hears the snick of a metal clasp close around her throat. She reaches up to her neck with her unoccupied hand and feels the smooth cold metal of the Rada'Han encasing her.
Abruptly, she feels herself falling backwards away from the Mord'Sith towards the Seeker behind her. Kahlan reaches behind her neck and feels a chain had been attached to the device. Her hand travels the length of the chain, finally touching the calloused hand of Richard. She closes her eyes as she grips his wrist and drops the thin veneer of self-restraint that normally composed her power. It never came. Panic erupts in her chest as she tries to claw at the hand that kept pulling her back through the forest.
"Richard, stop!" Kahlan shrieks as she tries to dig her boots into the ground, praying to the Creator she could happen upon a tree root.
The man acquiesces as he drops to a knee to stare adoringly at the woman on the ground. The Confessor's stomach churns at the look of madness on the man's smiling face. "Please..." she whimpers as she grips a hold of the Rada'Han and desperately pulls at it.
"Whatever you need, my love," he replies with a smile as he cups her cheek in his hand.
"Please take this off me, Richard," she begs as she tries to put a small smile on her face. "There is no need for this."
His face contorts in rage, but he quickly comports himself. "I can not do that, my dear Kahlan. If I do, you will try to run away. I love you too much to have you run away."
She sees a flicker of red in the woods behind Richard and almost let's out a sigh of relief when she realises that it is Cara, but she holds in her happiness and struggles to think of a way to keep his focus on her. "I promise I won't run away. I will stay with you for... forever, just please take this off of me."
He shakes his head softly. "I can't," he whispers softly as he continues to look on her adoringly. "We just need to keep it there until we can run away together, then you will realise that I am the only one for you."
She tries to smile as tears start to fall down her cheeks. Fighting back the bile that is building in her throat, she bites her lower lip. "We will be together, I promise. Please just allow me to walk?"
He nods his head energetically as he stands up and reaches his hand back down to help the Mother Confessor up from the ground. As soon as he grips her hand, a loud screeching sound pierces the otherwise quiet night. Richard convulses as the agiel continues to stab him in his lower back. "She is her own person," Cara spits out as she makes the Seeker kneel back down on the ground. "Kahlan is allowed to love whomever her heart desires, not who demands to take it from her."
A roar escapes the man's throat as he fights against the pain of the agiel. Richard reaches for the knife in his boot and turns around, stabbing the Mord'Sith in the stomach. The agiel slips from Cara's hand as she grabs the handle of the knife. She falls to her knees and stares at the man in front of her who starts to reach behind his back for his sword.
"No!" Kahlan shouts out as she jumps up from the ground and slams into the Seeker's stomach, knocking him to the ground. She starts pummelling him in the face and chest with her fists.
He reaches up with his hands, effectively blocking her punches, and wraps her slender wrists with his powerful hands. "Stop!" he shouts as he throws her off of him and tackles her to the ground. Richard raises his hand and punches Kahlan in the face, knocking the Confessor unconscious.
Cara watches in horror as he continues to beat Kahlan who is still underneath him. Her blood slicked hands try to vainly pull out the dagger in her abdomen as she stumbles to her feet to save the woman she had fallen in love with. She grits her teeth when she finally grips the dagger and pulls it out. A haggard gasp escapes her chest as she staggers towards the two people on the ground. She tightens the grip on the knife and takes a deep breath, her mind warring over what she is about to do.
'Richard is the Lord Rahl. Without him, D'Hara will succumb to the Keeper... the Midlands will be destroyed as well. He is the Seeker...' She shakes her head roughly to clear it. 'But she is Kahlan... and she said she cares for me.' A new resolve steels her heart and her hand as she plunges the knife deep within Richard's shoulder-blade.
He straightens up quickly and reaches for the dagger in his back as he turns around and back hands the blonde behind him causing her to fall to the ground. She struggles to get back to her feet, but blood loss is making her weak. Richard walks casually toward her and places his boot on the wound in her gut. "What sort of witch craft have you placed on Kahlan?" He growls the question out at Cara like an animal. "What have you done to my beloved?" He pulls the knife out of his back and throws it to the ground. "You have disappointed me... your Lord Rahl. How dare you go against my wishes. You are Mord'Sith, you obey me."
Cara squirms underneath the weight of his foot on her injured stomach, but she continues to stare defiantly at the man she had once followed. Using her remaining strength, she spits in his face. "You are no longer the Lord Rahl that I respected," she seethes. "You showed me to follow my heart and what do you do when I do? You try to kill me and Kahlan. I hope the Keeper takes you!"
Richard casually wipes the blood mixed with saliva off his face and bends down to wipe the concoction on the Mord'Sith's red leather uniform. Using his foot that was still on the blonde's stomach, he straightens himself back to his full height. A sharp gasp of pain leaves Cara's throat as he starts to ground the heel of his boot into her wound. "You need to be disciplined more," he states casually then kicks her in the stomach. He walks back towards the still form of the Mother Confessor and bends down to pick her up.
"You will never leave this forest alive, Richard," Cara states hoarsely as she struggles to her feet, her hands gripping her stomach in pain.
The Seeker lifts the Mother Confessor off the ground and hoists her over his shoulder as if the wound in his back were not even there. He glances back at Cara, who is finally on her feet, and chuckles darkly. "It is you who will never leave this forest alive," he states calmly as he walks towards the Mord'Sith and stares into her eyes.
The next thing Cara sees in Richard's fist flying towards her face. She hits the ground hard, knocking the breath out of her and her eyes close for what she feels could be the very last time. Her last conscious thoughts being of Kahlan's sweet lips upon her own.