Revelations and Realizations
Kahlan moaned softly as she awoke. She looked around, taking in her dreary surroundings. Four grey stonewalls, all seeping mold and slime.
She tried not to think about that too hard.
Kahlan cried out in pain as she attempted to stand. Pressing a hand ever so slightly to her side, she declared her rib broken.
Not one to stop, no matter how much pain she was in, Kahlan plodded to the rotting wooden door, peeking out the small window at the top. Even being as tall as she was, Kahlan had to balance on her tiptoes to see anything.
She could only give the outside of her cell a cursory glance when the prison warden blocked her view, his black beady eyes meeting hers.
"Look who finally came around," the warden turned his head and cupped his hands to his mouth. "Arthur! Come 'ere! Hurry up now!" He turned back to Kahlan. "Wouldn't want the pretty lady 'ere to go hungry, now would we?"
The grimy man's face was replaced by a handsome young man's. He must've been at least 13 or so. His red hair fell softly across his brow, giving him childlike features.
The boy's bright blue eyes caught hers, studying her intently. His eyes lit up in shock, and then he smiled at her, like she was a distant old friend.
Kahlan was about to ask him why he was smiling when the prison warden yelled for him to hurry up already.
The boy smiled wordlessly at her, and bent down.
Kahlan crouches down with him, and his hand pushes a plate of food through a thin slot under the door. When she puts her head sideways on the dusty floor in an attempt to talk to the boy, he scurries away and up the stairs, leaving Kahlan alone again with only a candle outside for light.
She sighed, and she was suddenly seized by hunger. Her stomach growled loudly.
How long had she been unconscious?
Nevertheless, she was still starving. She bit into her bread, although it was a little hard.
As she ate her bread, she thought about the boy, Arthur. When she looked into his eyes, even though it was only a fleeting moment, she sensed his pure sprit.
He reminded her of someone, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
xxx
She sat on her bed, Needle resting on her knees. She had been bored, and had polished her sword at least a dozen times. Nothing could get her mind off the Mother Confessor.
Something about her, her stance, her gait, made Arya envy her. If this woman had the kind of power she said she did, then her world was much, much different than hers.
Arya wasn't even really allowed to play around with her brothers the way she did. Only because she was a royal. Other girls were taught to wash dishes, do chores, and care for their younger brothers and sisters. Even she could not escape these stereotypes. When she was of age, just like Sansa, she would be married off to some snotty prince for a territory, or a large sum of gold.
She hoped Robb wouldn't be so cruel.
Then again, he was a man.
She loved Robb, she really did, but she had a bad taste in her mouth after Joffery forced her to drive away her direwolf, Nymeria. From that day forward, she vowed to redress the sins her wolf, and her best friend suffered at the hands of that privileged Lannister brat.
Hear me roar? Wait till winter comes, then you'll see who roars loudest.
xxx
Kahlan stood up quickly when she heard footsteps clambering the granite stairway. She flew to her small barred window, trying to get a better look at who was down here.
She screamed when a hand grabbed her ankle.
"Mother Confessor! It's me, Arya!" a small voice yelped.
Kahlan immediately lay down on her side, looking out through the slot underneath the door, meant for food. Apparently, it was also of use in conversation.
"Arya! What are you doing down here?" Kahlan whispered. She didn't necessarily dislike the young Stark, but she wasn't her favorite person.
She was hoping it would be Arthur.
Nevertheless, she was good company.
"I wanted to see you, ask you some questions," the girl said, hooking some of her mousy brown hair behind her ear. Kahlan smiled.
"Well, what would you like to know?"
xxx
They spent a long time talking. After awhile, the warden came and gave her lunch. Arya had to hide for a bit, and when he left, Kahlan shared her stale bread with her new friend.
Arya asked so many questions, from the geography of the Midlands, to how each province or territory ruled themselves. She was very curious about Kahlan's Confessor powers, constantly dropping random questions here and there.
Kahlan, although a little uncomfortable, gave her answers. After all, she hadn't asked that sensitive of questions.
When the sun began to set, Arya had to go.
"I'll come back tomorrow, I promise!" she called over her shoulder, starting up the steps. Kahlan waved a hand out the window, and slumped against the wall.
How deprived she had been of human company.
She missed Richard. She missed his smile, his laugh, and the way he ran his fingers through his hair.
What a cruel joke the fates had played on them.
She thought for a while, lost in her mind when a tray of food was pushed under the door. She ran to the window, and called out.
"Arthur! Come back, please?"
He turned his head and trotted over to me, happy to see me. His carrot red hair fell over his eyes, and he comically blew upwards in an attempt to make Kahlan laugh, which she did.
"Arthur, where is your home?" she asked. She wanted to talk with him, but didn't know how.
He looked down at his feet, suddenly embarrassed. Kahlan was confused.
"What's the matter?"
He looked into her eyes, and opened his mouth.
Where his tongue should've been, there was an angry red stump.
Kahlan screamed.