Sorry that it's been a while. Uni and life getting in the way. Hopefully I've made it worth your while! :]
Cara had woken up from the quiet yet forceful rustling of Richard packing his things. She sat up slowly and looked around, seeing only the Wizard quietly sat on a log nearby, his eyes boring into his grandson. Kahlan was nowhere to be seen and Cara stared pointedly at Richard.
"What in the name of the Creator is going on?"
Richard didn't meet her eyes and only spoke after a long moment.
"Zedd and I are continuing on the quest. You will escort the Mother Confessor to Aydindril."
"No. I will be joining you on the quest. It's my job to pro-"
"I command you as your Lord Rahl."
Cara snapped her mouth shut, but only for a brief second. She was and forever would be a Mord'Sith. Any command from her Lord Rahl she must obey.
"Yes. Of course Lord Rahl," she spit out, a hint of contempt laced her voice, "And what shall I do after escorting the Mother Confessor?"
"I don't care. Just do not find me."
Hurt crossed her face before she quickly adjusted her expression. Being with these people really had made her soft.
Richard couldn't help but ease for a minute. Cara was someone he used to trust with his life and she honestly didn't seem to know what was going on. He was hurt, but the least he could do for the confused Mord'Sith was be polite.
"Cara I-" Richard finally looked her in the eye. "You will understand soon enough. She will tell you in her own time. Maybe someday we will meet again." He strode over to her and embraced her gently.
Cara froze, not knowing how to react. Before she could decide what to do it was over and Richard was walking into the thick forest.
"Zedd I won't get too far ahead. I'll let you say your goodbyes."
Cara gazed after him, more confused than ever. Despite the way she acted these people were her friends and she couldn't understand what could have happened to cause this.
Zedd gently cleared his throat to get her attention.
"I'm sorry Cara. I will see you again and I'm sure then everyone will be in much better spirits."
"I don't see how that could be Wizard. The Seeker is acting like a child. Rarely does he get over that."
Zedd just sighed and shook his head a little. "Take care of Kahlan."
That's when it hit her. Kahlan. Not only was Richard leaving her behind, he was making Kahlan return home. Her mind fluttered through all the possibilities. Surely they haven't- She didn't let her mind go there.
"Yes of course. As if she were Lord Rahl."
"No. Even better than that."
And with that Zedd followed after where Richard had disappeared and she was alone.
Where in the world was the Mother Confessor anyway?
/
Kahlan removed the last of her clothing and carefully stepped into the hot spring. This was exactly what she needed after all the stress of today. Her muscles immediately untensed as soon as she was submerged and she breathed out a sigh of relief. It was unusual, she felt a lot of things, but the most unexpected one was relief. She did not now have to put up the pretence of wanting to be with Richard and maybe, just maybe, Cara would have feelings for her too. That was going to be the toughest subject to broach. Cara wasn't the most open about her feelings and her loyalty to Richard was steadfast. The most real she had ever seen Cara was in that tomb and she longed for her to be that honest once again just for the sake of her aching heart. Thinking about extremely attractive blonde Mord'Sith apparently made them appear as just then Cara emerged from the trees.
"Would you like to explain to me just exactly what is going on? Who has time for a bath when Richard and Zedd have just left us here and continued on with the quest?"
"Nice to see you too Cara." How in the world did she find her somehow cute when she was so stroppy like this?
"I want some kind of explanation Mother Confessor."
"Kahlan is fine Cara. We are at least friends now."
"Well Kahlan stop being evasive and explain." Cara tried to avert her eyes when she spoke to Kahlan. She was finding it very difficult to remain angry when she could see Kahlan's bare pale skin shimmering with drips of water and- Oh she was speaking.
"right now because-"
"Wait what?"
"Cara were you listening at all?"
"Of course I was. Continue."
"Right.. well.. I was just saying how there's no rush to get to Aydindril right now as they're not even expecting me back so soon so I thought that maybe-"
"This does not sound remotely like an explanation."
"I ended things with Richard." Kahlan had to stifle a laugh at the look on Cara's face. Such a mix of emotions was rarely ever seen on a Mord'Sith, let alone Cara.
"I can only assume this is some sort of self-sacrifice on your part. You and the Seeker's love being as utterly ridiculous as it is."
"I don't love him like that anymore." Kahlan tried to convey so much more to her with only her eyes, but it was difficult to get through to Cara on matters of the heart.
"I am sorry to hear that. I hope you will not be weeping over any more swords." Cara smirked despite herself. And for some reason she was finding it exceptionally challenging to not just undress herself and join the Mother Confessor in the water. She imagined her mouth and body firmly pressed against the other woman, she imagined-
"No I think it's safe to say that won't be happening. Would you like to join me?" Kahlan asked pointedly.
Cara was shocked, but did not allow her face to show it. Is the Mother Confessor suddenly able to read minds? That could be a dangerous skill.
"Someone has to keep watch. I cannot simply frolic in the water with you."
Kahlan beamed at her while Cara scowled. She refused to let her mind wander to the possibilities of being alone with Kahlan and she especially didn't think about how Kahlan was now unattached. All of these thoughts would lead nowhere good. Even if Kahlan did somehow want to be with her it could never happen. Everyone knew that Mord'Sith and Confessors were mortal enemies. And yet.. they were sort of friends… Still, it's not like they could even have sex, what with the fact that that would definitely kill her from the confession that would inevitably follow the most spectacular orgasm of Kahlan's life Cara was bound to give her. And now Cara had been sitting here in silence for ages thinking about ravishing Kahlan when her intention had been to focus on getting her home. And then what? Clearly Richard did not want her back. Although she still did not know what she had done to bring that on. She would get an explanation from Kahlan even if it killed her.
Kahlan could see Cara was lost in thought and she wondered what the Mord'Sith could possibly be thinking so hard about. The water still felt amazing and she wished Cara had taken her up on her offer to join. Then at least she might have relaxed enough for Kahlan to assess if and when she should tell Cara about her feelings. Kahlan sunk down further into the water and decided not to think about it anymore. For now.
/
Cara had always assumed it was Richard's fault they were never able to get anywhere nearly as quickly as they should have, but she was starting to wonder if Kahlan had any part in this. She had been patiently (as patiently as she could handle) trying to follow the river up to Aydindril to bring the Mother Confessor back to her homeland, but Kahlan seemed hell-bent on making that impossible. Any small distraction would ignite the woman's interest and there they would be, assisting some local townsfolk, tasting whatever cuisine was supposed to be 'the best you will try in all the Midlands', or simply sitting around listening to tales told to them by weathered old men. She supposed this was how they ended up where they were now: shacked up in some small room in an inn after a long day helping the people of the village fight off some raiders who were giving them trouble. She did not know why she went along with these things. What worried Cara most was that she was sort of enjoying doing these things with Kahlan. It almost took a little bit of effort to make sarcastic retorts about them returning to Aydindril in their old age and how Kahlan's people would not even recognise her by the time they actually got there.
At least today she had worked off some of the sexual energy she couldn't seem to get rid of. On top of everything else, Kahlan was looking particularly desirable with every passing sun. Cara wasn't the type of woman to not notice how sexy Kahlan was after a good battle and sharing quarters with her allowed her the privilege of sneaking glances as she undressed. Not that being able to appreciate a delectable woman means anything more, Cara thought. She was sure that the way her heartbeat sped up about the most inane things Kahlan would do and how she would literally do anything for the Mother Confessor even if it was painfully dull meant absolutely nothing. With Kahlan now no longer being involved with the Seeker it was getting more difficult for her to ignore what she may be feeling. She had to remind herself on several occasions that her loyalties were still to the Lord Rahl. Above anything else, she was a Mord'Sith and Mord'Sith simply do not love anyone. Not that I'm saying I love her. That's the opposite of what I'm saying. And yet, just hearing the sound of Kahlan's voice seemed to have an effect on her these days.
"You don't mind sharing a bed tonight, do you Cara?"
"Well seeing as saving these people did not get us any better than a single room I guess it will have to do. I could always sleep on the floor though."
"Don't be silly. We're friends. We can share."
Cara was about to protest further, but Kahlan gave her a look saying it would do no good to fight her on this. Cara had learned to pick her battles with the Mother Confessor. Well, mostly.
So she climbed into the bed, being sure that their bodies weren't touching in any way and was finally able to fall asleep after leaning over to briefly grasp one of her agiels. The pain that coursed through her body was comfortable, unlike the small gap between herself and Kahlan that had her thinking things she simply could not think, and allowed her to focus on the pain long enough to fall asleep.
/
Kahlan opened her eyes slowly and relaxed into the arms that held her until she realised just whose arms those were. Sometime in the night Cara must have unknowingly wound her arms around Kahlan's body. Kahlan stayed as still as she could, wanting to be revel in this moment for as long as possible before Cara could wake up and return to acting like she didn't have any feelings. She breathed in deeply, the feeling of Cara's strong arms was intoxicating. She felt at once relaxed and aroused. Today is the day, she thought, no longer able to hold back what she was feeling. For better or for worse she would be the one confessing truths today instead of the other way around. Her biggest hope was that Cara wouldn't shut down completely. She knew the Mord'Sith wasn't the best with feelings and that this would be difficult, but she just prayed that Cara would give her something to work with.
Cara awoke with a start and noticed the position of her body right away, pulling back almost immediately. Without a word she quickly stood up and started to put on her leathers.
Kahlan sat up slowly, admiring Cara's toned body before speaking.
"Cara, I need to speak to you about something."
"Are you going to finally explain why Richard and Zedd took off so abruptly?"
"No. Well, yes, actually, but it's more than that."
"Get on with it then." Cara relaxed her face into a somewhat bored and slightly annoyed expression even though she was worried about what 'more' could possibly be referring to.
"I- well, I… find you very attractive Cara."
Cara scoffed, "Well that's not surprising." Although maybe it was, just a little bit.
"Cara please try not to be so…"
"So what? My physical attractiveness is not a secret. Nor is yours Mother Confessor." It made her feel better to use Kahlan's title when admitting something like this even if it was only a minor concession.
Kahlan couldn't help but smile just a little bit at the acknowledgement that Cara was in fact attracted to her. It gave her the added confidence to continue.
"Richard left because he knew I had feelings for someone else. And that person is you."
Cara spoke quickly without thinking, "That's nonsense. Don't confuse your desire to be friends with me with something else."
"That's not what this is! Cara I have been feeling this way about you for a long time now and I just can't hide it from you any longer."
Cara roughly pulled Kahlan in a heated kiss. Kahlan, shocked at first, returned the kiss, sliding her lips against the Mord'Sith's and tangling her hands into Cara's hair. When a small moan escaped Kahlan's mouth Cara quickly pulled away.
What was I thinking?
"Kahlan," Cara breathed. "I am a Mord'Sith. Whatever this is, it cannot be. You know that. I don't have… feelings. I want you physically. But we cannot even have that. It would kill me."
"Please just… Admit there is more than that. What are you so afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid of anything."
"Then stop being such a coward and kiss me again."
Cara raised one eyebrow coyly at Kahlan. "You're playing with fire Mother Confessor."
Kahlan stared Cara down. "Surely a Mord'Sith such as yourself is not a coward."
There it was, that word again. And Cara rose to the bait as she pulled Kahlan into another fiery kiss. Cara felt like Kahlan's lips were charged with some sort of magical energy. Every touch was like lightening. Kahlan felt the kiss everywhere. All the way down to the tips of her toes, within her fast-beating heart, and the tingling sensation she felt deep in her gut grew stronger the longer the kiss went on. They were both lost in this one moment, their lips on each other's, their bodies flush, their arms wrapped around one another. For just this moment they were not the Mother Confessor and a Mord'Sith, but two women in a small room, consumed in each other.
More to come! Your reviews/subscriptions/favourites are greatly appreciated as always!