Human

Darken admired the altered D'Haran uniform Hali had bought for him to replace his ruined shirt. The black and red leather, cut off at the shoulders to expose his muscular arms, embossed with the crest of the empire did much to make him feel his old self again. It was more constraining around the neck than he preferred, but on the whole better than anything he had worn since his return to life.

And better yet, it boded well for his plan.

"Do you like it?" Hali asked.

He lightly caressed her face, running his fingertips along her jaw, pleased that she wished to please him.

He took a moment to take in Hali's attire, the green dress once belonging to the Mother Confessor. Darken had to admit that it was less ragged than her robes, but he did not like it.

It was a reminder of the hold the Confessor now had on her.

Cara stood watching them, looking like she was contemplating swallowing her tongue.

"Something troubles you, Cara?"

Cara refused to rise to his bait.

The events of the past few days had altered the fabric of her reality. Once more, she was trying to find her place and learn new rules.

Lord Rahl had been correct in his assessment of Richard. He was becoming more ruthless, as was befitting of a ruler who had thousands depending on his ability to lead. It should have been an improvement, something for Cara to take pride in, that the new Lord Rahl was learning.

But it wasn't and she didn't and she didn't understand why.

Cara had spent her entire life loving Darken Rahl as much as she was able. He was her protector, her teacher, her lover, and father to her son.

But he had betrayed her. She could forgive him taking Kahlan Amnell as his queen in that time that never was. He believed her dead, and she had never expected fidelity from him. It was not the Mord'Sith way. It had been enough to be his favorite, the one who could question him and live, the one called when he wished comfort, the one trusted to aid in the running of the empire more than any queen would be. She would have still had those things even with Kahlan as his wife, she was sure of it.

But disinheriting her son in favor of that twisted Confessor child that had gone on to erase all of the Mord'Sith, Cara's legacy… That was unforgivable. Her pride, and something else she did not have a name for, would not allow it.

Her son was illegitimate, but that had not stopped previous Lord Rahls from taking the throne. Cara was the mother of a king and she would not allow him to be slighted.

And yet, here she was, watching Lord Rahl – no, Darken – with appreciation and a fire in her loins that only he could quench.

It was odd to think his name. Not exactly uncomfortable, but not familiar. Lord Rahl was her old master in every way. Darken… she did not know.

"How does our son fare?" she asked him, the first time she had ever broached the topic of the boy.

The cave became noticeably more silent as Kahlan and Richard stared back at them from their position by the cave mouth, wearing twin expressions of shock as her voice carried to them.

"I fear for him, Cara," Darken lied smoothly, "I have not been able to find him nor word of him since my return. It is possible that he was killed when the resistance stormed the People's Palace after my death."

"Dead?"

"Yes. Only Egremont would have known for sure, but unfortunately Egremont was… silenced… by the wizard."

Cara was rooted to the spot, unaware until this very moment how much the foundation of her being revolved around the child she had never held.

Lord Rahl –Darken – pulled her into his embrace, his black hair mingling with her gold. She did not return it at first, but after a moment lifted her gloved hands to grip at his leather clad back, his touch tension fraught and painful and altogether familiar in a way that reassured her soul.

Kahlan squinted at Rahl, wishing that she could read the truth in his words. But he was like the Mord'Sith. Unreadable.

They waited until noon, and still Zedd had not returned from his search for the missing horses.

"We should go look for him," said Richard, gazing worriedly into the forest.

They split up to cover more ground, Cara and Rahl understandably insisting on keeping Hali with them.

Richard watched them go toward the village, trusting Cara to keep Darken and Hali from causing trouble.

Just an hour ago he would have insisted on splitting Cara and Rahl up, but something had changed when he heard of their son.

They were a family, one that had been together long before Richard had known Cara. They had a child together, and though he did not know why he thought so, Richard doubted that the child had been conceived by rape. It seemed too straightforward for Darken Rahl, and Richard imagined that Cara would have fought and died before she allowed that final degradation.

He thought of the death of his father. Both of them.

As he turned the horse to search for Zedd in the woods, Kahlan mounted behind him, Richard, for the first time, considered that Darken Rahl was human.

Sorry if I made your author alerts go crazy with my uploading and deleting. I put this chapter up and then realized I had made a huge mistake, so I took it down to fix it... and now here it is again!

Also: If you've read this before, you'll note I've changed "Agremon" to "Egremont" - that is because I learned the correct spelling. It's still the same person. If you see any "Agremon"s that I haven't changed, don't be shy about letting me know.