Between
Cara sat at her desk in the queen's chambers, unable to sleep. She was plagued by a restless energy that drove her to work long into the night. At the same time, her mind seemed clouded, her usual sharp intellect muffled by a layer of fleece.
Swaddled.
She placed a hand on her enormous belly, mind drifting to her son, as it often did. She would be allowed to keep him this time. To hold him, to rock him, to watch as he grew into the next Lord Rahl.
The thought was joyous, even as it filled her with dread. She did not think she would be a good mother.
Most likely her son would prefer Jennsen, his aunt.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the soft sound of the door that connected her suite to Darken's opening and closing.
"I awoke to find you gone," came his soft voice, sending a little chill down her spine.
Cara looked over her shoulder, "I couldn't sleep. I decided to go over these reports."
Warm hands massaged her shoulders, and she closed her eyes, groaning as Darken worked muscles she hadn't even known were tense. He moved her hair out of the way, then pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, his breath tickling her ear.
"You could have had Haden attend to this. Come back to bed."
Cara tensed once more. "I have to work Darken."
She wouldn't be his doll, his pretty queen kept on a shelf.
He raised both eyebrows, shocked at the sudden anger in her voice. Instead of answering her with words, he simply continued to massage her shoulders.
He found that when she made comments like that, in that tone, there was nothing he could say that wouldn't result in more anger. Silence was best. No doubt later she would complain to Kahlan or Jennsen about him, but then she would forget her irritation.
It made him supremely grateful to have the two women staying at the palace.
"Kahlan and Richard have not been seen since I gave them the Rada Han," he said a bit smugly, changing the subject.
Cara made a noncommittal sound, still angry and trying to concentrate on the papers before her.
Trying another tact, Darken read over her shoulder, saying, "What is so pressing that it keeps you away from our bed?"
Cara sighed.
"The Mord'Sith we lost in the clash with the Brotherhood. If our order is not to be decimated, we must have new recruits."
Darken nodded, understanding her concern. The Mord'Sith temples were the lynch pin in D'Hara's defenses. With too few warriors, they would be easily overrun.
"Then I will send orders for new girls to be chosen."
Cara stiffened, a hand on her belly, "No."
Darken paused, once more unsure of himself. It was a quality he had always enjoyed about Cara, that she challenged him, kept him on his toes.
But it had been happening far too often as of late.
"No?" he queried, soft seduction in his voice. "Then what do you propose?"
Knowing he wished her to return to bed, and unable to put the complicated feelings she was experiencing into words, Cara pushed herself back from the desk, letting the matter lie for another night.
-l-
Ensconced in his bed in the People's Palace, Zedd dreamed. It was not a dream of his own making, and not quite a message from the Creator.
It was something in between.
When he woke, he could not remember what had happened, just the lingering feeling of peace and a brush of ghostly lips on his cheek.
Placing a hand there now, he felt a spot of warmth. Real or imagined, he didn't care.
Hali.