Chapter Twenty-Eight
Richard easily tracked Cara through the woods. She was going to no trouble to hide her tracks, and stopping off into the forest wasn't a very stealthy form of transportation. He was very aware that she was angry with him and he knew why she was angry, but he hadn't committed the crime that she was angry about.
He followed her for at least an hour before she stopped moving. She had found a beautiful place to stare at. It was a lake surrounded by the green of the forest, and the light hit the water just right, making it sparkle. Richard found himself forgetting why he was there for a second, wishing Kahlan could see the beauty of this place.
Cara was standing at the edge of the lake, staring into the water. Her hand was twirling her hair, and her stance was relaxed, but somehow he knew that she was being torn up in side. The only other time he'd seen her play with her hair was when Dahlia had come to tell her the news of her son. At the time, Richard had thought the presence of Dahlia had brought on the odd habit, but now he thought it was her son.
Richard approached, and he saw her head move a fraction of an inch. She didn't turn to look who it was, but he was sure that she knew it was him. He didn't really know what to do. Cara, from any world, didn't seem like she liked to be touched by most people. He walked up and stood next to her, waiting to see if she would break the silence.
When she didn't, Richard stepped in. "It's beautiful." He said, referring to the lake.
"I wouldn't really know." Cara said her voice held an edge of sarcasm to it.
Richard was stunned that she had said that, but contained his surprised. "Cara, I didn't kill your son." He said softly.
"How do I know that?" She wouldn't look at him. "Even if you're from a different . . . a different reality, how do I know that you aren't the same? How do I know that you didn't kill my child?" She asked softly.
"Cara, I would never kill a baby, especially if it was you're baby." Richard said.
"He wasn't a baby when he died."
"Oh." All Richard could think about was how Darken Rahl had had Cara and his child killed at birth. "Cara, I . . . I'm truly sorry for what happened to your son. I wish he hadn't been killed." Richard said.
Cara looked over to him, and he could see how this affected her. "I didn't even know him." She wiped her eyes even though there was no evidence of tears. "I don't think he even knew I was his mother. Darken Rahl took him from me. I saw him grow up, but Darken would never let me get close to him. Even when he needed an escort and no other Mord – Sith were available. His trip would be delayed by some unforeseen event. Never something to implicate Darken, but I knew." Cara sighed.
"I was just angry because you didn't know, and you were angry that I had tried to save Darken." Cara looked into his eyes with longing. "I only did it for my child Richard."
Richard gave her a soft smile, "I understand Cara. I don't know why you were punished for that – "
"He was a threat to Lord Rahl." Cara was talking about Richard and the other Richard like two distinct people now. "He died before his father. That's how I knew Lord Rahl planed to kill Darken. My son would have been the next Lord Rahl if he had not died that night."
Richard moved closer to her. "I'm sorry that I told Benjamin that you had a son." He said, finally understanding why she was truly upset. He knew it was partly reliving the death of her son, but the look on Benjamin's face when Richard had said that was pure betrayal.
Then Cara hugged him. "I forgive you."
Author's Note: Sorry for the shortish chapter, I was kind of busy today and didn't get much of a chance to write. I'll make it longer tomorrow. I might do a flashback chapter tomorrow, some back ground on Cara and her son. Tell me if that is something you want or not.
