AN: I have yet to do a disclaimer on any of these chapters and since I don't want to be sued, and since the next few chapters are going to draw directly from the show, I figured I had better. I do NOT own Legend of the Seeker or any of these characters.
If I did, Cara and Kahlan would definitely be closer.
Just saying.
Cara let fall the blade of the axe, splitting the knobby log in half. Just behind her, the Mother Confessor gathered small twigs to feed the slowly growing fire. Cara kept her back to Kahlan, refusing to turn and catch those gentle blue eyes watching her.
Richard and Zedd were murmuring over the cauldron of stew on the fire. Kahlan smiled fondly at them as she dumped her twigs on the cleared-off ground. Cara also refused to look at that smile that was stuck in her head anyway.
Since the attack she had barely said anything. Kahlan had watched her from afar, but that was quickly becoming the norm. Richard and Zedd had both tried goading her into her old mood, but they were unsuccessful. She could tell they were worried. But there were far more important things she needed to give thought to.
Richard made an appreciative sound as he sipped from a spoon Zedd offered him. Kahlan ruffled his thick, dark hair. "Look at this. The big, strong Seeker of Truth and Zeddicus Zu'ul Zorander, First Wizard, fussing over the cooking while the women chop and gather wood. What would your mothers think?" She smiled at them, softening the light teasing.
Richard, after meeting Kahlan's gaze with a matching smile, reached over to the cauldron and dropped a few shredded leaves in, peering over the rim as they fell to the bubbling liquid within. He grinned, glancing up at Cara through his lashes. "If you'd had Cara's corn cake last time she made the attempt, you'd tell her to stick to chopping, too."
Cara spared a moment to shoot him a glare before continuing her chopping. She knew he would be pleased with himself for eliciting that much.
After that quick glare, everything seemed to happen very fast.
The Mother Confessor took a single step outside the circle of the clearing, stooping to pick up a twig.
A rapidly approaching screech pierced the night, ringing in Cara's ears and jarring the smiles from their faces.
Richard's hand flew to his sword, the ring of its steel punctuating the call.
Moonlight was blocked for a split second, and Cara felt something solid slam hard into her back. She lurched forward and was wrenched upward. Her breath left her.
Something clenched around her shoulders and she felt her feet leave the ground. Her shin smacked into a tree; she could hear nothing but the rushing of air and see nothing but the fast-coming night sky.
"NO!"
The voice was Richard's. Cara strained and twisted her middle, trying to look at the ground. There was another screech and she was jolted violently. The muscles of her shoulders strained and pulled, sharp aches raking her joints. It was obvious she was not allowed to squirm.
She looked down, craning her neck to see over her kicking feet. She could just see the sea of trees falling rapidly away. She was being flown somewhere. She had been taken.
She could not move her arms.
She couldn't reach her Agiel.
She was helpless.
Panic raced through her veins, like a heavy weight on her chest. It had been a long time since Cara had felt so completely and utterly useless. Even chained in prison, awaiting trial by a village with a grudge, it had been her terms, her confessions, her choices. This was no choice - this was no way to die.
She had no idea how long she remained like that - suspended in the air, suspended in a permanent state of mental uncertainty - before the scenery beneath her swinging feet changed. She passed through something - a barrier of some sort. She felt something, deep in her heart, as if something had been cut off, as if her connection to the outside world had been severed. She kicked and struggled, letting out a cry from between clenched teeth. She was desperate. The thing carrying her - she had determined it was some kind of gar-like creature - shook her, but she would not relent, no matter the pain.
"Cara! Cara, calm down!" came a voice from somewhere off to her left. A very familiar voice.
No.
Oh no.
This could not be happening.
XXX
"This cannot be happening." Cara moaned as Kahlan settled her onto the hard stone floor of the filthy dungeon. They were in the bowels of a huge white palace amidst what was probably a quite bustling city.
"It's alright, Cara. We can get out of here, I know we can. And even if we can't, Richard will come for us, you know he will." Kahlan said soothingly, laying one of her cool, smooth hands on Cara's brow.
Cara shook it off. "That's not quite what I was talking about, Mother Confessor, but thank you for the motivation." she snapped.
Kahlan didn't appear bothered. "You should let me take a look at your shoulder. And your ribs."
"I'm fine." Cara growled, pulling herself to her feet. The pain racked her body, but she strived not to show it. The bleeding lip on that handsy guard had been reward enough for a few bruised ribs. It was only too bad her Agiels didn't work in this place.
"You didn't have to protect me, Cara." Kahlan said quietly. "I could've handled it."
Cara turned her head slightly, not looking at the kneeling Mother Confessor, at those blue eyes that, if she was honest with herself, haunted her every dream. "Richard would want me to look after you." she finally barked. "Your power is useless here. I cannot fail him."
"You could never disappoint Richard, Cara. You know that."
Cara looked back at the floor, staring as hard as she could, trying to avoid thinking about the soft voice and its tantalizing words. "We should get some sleep. We don't know what they have planned for us."
Kahlan looked around, her dirt-streaked face somehow still looking as though it belonged on a painting in some great palace, not in a dirty, stinking dungeon. "I think I am too cold to sleep."
Cara lifted her chin, desperate to remain aloof. "I will stay close, then. For... warmth."
Kahlan met her eyes - forced Cara with the intensity of her gaze to make eye contact. "Thank you, Cara."
"You're welcome, Mother Confessor."
This would be an interesting night.
XXX
The moonlight lit Richard's way as he knelt on the edge of a sharp, rocky rise, the smooth white walls of the city rising up before them. This is where the creatures had taken Cara and Kahlan.
"Rothenburg," Zedd said gravely from behind Richard. "The Margrave's city. He is the only one within a thousand leagues who commands creatures such as those that took Kahlan and Cara."
Richard's eyes zeroed in on the wall, searching it for weaknesses. He found none. Upon first, second, and however many other glances, the wall seemed impregnable. "And you say magic will be no help to us?"
"No." Zedd said. "Within the walls of Rothenburg there is no magic powerful enough to have effect."
"So Kahlan's power and Cara's Agiels are useless." Richard said with a sigh, pressing his hands to his eyes. "How did I let this happen."
"This is through no fault of yours, my boy." Zedd said gently, squeezing Richard's shoulder in a comforting manner. "I will go see what I can discover. You will be safe here, if you keep your sword at hand." With that, the wizard disappeared into the deepening night, leaving Richard in brooding silence.
"I will find you, Kahlan. And you, Cara. No matter what it takes, I will find you." Richard whispered to the darkness. But he was all alone.
XXX
Cara had never spent a more absolutely nerve-racking night anywhere. And that counted her training dungeons.
The Mother Confessor slept so softly and gently that Cara nearly locked every muscle in her body and almost attempted not to breathe in the efforts of staying completely motionless. And yet the discomfort was... oddly comforting. The rhythm of Kahlan's breath almost made her feel safe, secure. The simple evidence of the Mother Confessor's existence was more than enough to urge Cara on.
She could not sleep - that was not an option. She beat the odd rat away from them with the armored back of her glove, but that was nothing - rats had ceased to scare her a long time ago. And she waited for the sound of the approaching guards.
That sound came as soon as - if Cara was correct - day broke. She nudged the Mother Confessor, who was less than an inch away from her. "Cara...!" Kahlan said abruptly, sitting up. "You were supposed to wake me at my watch...!"
"You were tired." Cara said gently. "I was not. I saw no reason to wake you."
The stopped in front of their cell, turning their heavy key in the lock. Cara rushed forward, intending on hurting someone at the very least, but, predictably, was forced back by the second guard and earned herself a good smack for her troubles. "Stay back, D'Haran wench." he spat. "Bring the Mother Confessor ou' f'st, ri' then." He gripped Cara's chin with bruising strength. "You and I can have a bi' of a chat when the Margrave's had 'is words wiv ya." He grinned with missing teeth.
Cara spit in his eye.
He jumped, pulling back. He scowled and glared at her with stormy rage as he wiped the saliva from his eye. "Careful wiv this'un, lads, she's a feisty one." The guards pulled Cara roughly to her feet, jarring her strained shoulder. She gritted her teeth and pulled against their hold all the way up to a throne room, struggling as they fought to bind her hands, which they eventually did after the two throne room guards joined the fight.
The guards pushed Kahlan and Cara down before an empty chair, onto their knees. Kahlan's hood was up and her chin was down. There was a man facing a large bay window behind this ornate chair, clothed in rich white and gold. His dark hair was flecked with gray and fell to his shoulders. With his hands laced loosely behind his back, her turned and strode to his chair, sitting down, a thoughtful look on his face. At a flick of his hand, a guard tore Kahlan's hood off and yanked her head back by her hair. At the same time, another guard reached for Cara's hair - she yanked her head away.
"Leave them be, boys." The man in the chair said, crossing his legs. He almost looked to be enjoying himself. "They are guests in my home."
"Are all your guests wounded, starved, and left in the dungeons to rot?" Cara snarled. "If so, I spit upon your hospitality." she paused just long enough to make an insult. "My Lord."
The man did not seem to mind Cara much. His eyes were on Kahlan. "Do you know how much the Sisters of the Dark are willing to pay for your head, Mother Confessor?" he said. "Astronomical rewards."
"I'm sure." Kahlan said smoothly. Her face was devoid of emotion.
The man raised a hand. "But I'm not going to give them your head. Do you know why, Mother Confessor?"
"I cannot imagine why a man like you would turn down easy power, Margrave." Kahlan said.
"Because we've struck a better deal..." he waggled his index finger in Cara's direction. "That involves your lovely little wildcat in red leather."
Cara felt a vein jumping in her neck. At that moment, she could've matched the Keeper himself glare for glare.
"And what is it, Margrave of Rothenburg, that you want with a Mord-Sith?" Kahlan said, her voice unexpectedly sharp.
"Not just any Mord-Sith." the Margrave stood, clapping his hands together. "It is this particular Mord-Sith." He circled Cara, staring down his nose at her.
"If you're going to kill me, get on with it." she stated boldly.
"Me? Kill you? Oh, no no no, my misguided child. I'm giving you to the Sisters of the Dark - and in exchange, I get eternal life... and a wife to spend it with." He moved away from Cara and knelt before Kahlan, gripping her chin before she could move away. "We'll be married before your friend's blood has even run cold.
AN: I had a severe case of insomnia when I wrote the majority of this, and the whole story has so far been unbeta'd, as this is. If it seems erratic, that's why. Leave a review and I'll eat a skittle in your honor. Pinky promise.