"RRAHH!"
The bars of their prison cell shook beneath Cara's unyielding rage. Her un-injured shoulder slammed into them, the rattle echoing in the arched, empty hall. She pounded her fist against the metal, adding to the noise, the bruising pain so familiar. Pain was all Cara knew. Pain was comforting. It was all she had. All she could ever have.
"Cara, please..."
With another snarl, Cara flung herself against the bars again, lashing out at a passing guard who didn't even turn to look at her.
"Cara..."
"No!" Cara whirled on Kahlan. "You stop. The Seeker is out there, alone, unprotected. Exposed. How can you just stand there and look at me?! Aren't you the one who supposedly loves him?!"
If nothing else Cara had said had gotten to Kahlan, this did. She took a step back, looking down at her own feet. "Supposedly, yes."
Cara stopped her useless railing, giving a large sigh and putting her hands on her hips. "Now isn't the time for a crisis in faith, Mother Confessor."
Kahlan took a few more steps back, sitting, leaning back against the wall. "I have every faith in Richard, Cara. I always have."
Cara stared for a moment. "If that's true, then help me. You want to get back to him as much as I do, if for different reasons."
Kahlan didn't move. "It isn't my faith that's in crisis, Cara. It's my emotions."
Cara's stare turned into a puzzled analyzing. "I don't see how that matters in the slightest."
"You wouldn't understand, Cara - you would venture into the mouth of the underworld before you kept your thoughts to yourself, if you thought they were important." Kahlan fiddled with the hem of her dress.
"Right now, it's getting out that's important." Cara continued. She felt like they were going in circles. "So... let's do that." She was becoming impatient. "What did they teach you in the Confessor's Palace? Thoughts and feelings are irrelevant when there's a job to be done. So get up and help me do it."
Kahlan looked from Cara to the cell door. "We can't."
Her tolerance was to its boiling point. The Mother Confessor was enigmatic, infuriating. A complete mystery to Cara. And she absolutely did not need a mystery right now. "And why not?" Cara said, as calmly as possible, clenching her jaw to stop herself from yelling.
Kahlan crossed her legs and adjusted the dress over her lap. "Because that wall is made of smoothed and sanded stone, backed by a sheet of a special rock that traps our voices inside, and then another layer of smoothed and sanded stone. Those bars are iron, filled with lead, and that lock has been crafted specifically for the purpose of denying entry to anything but the true key. There are guards crawling up and down the stairs, at the foot of the stairs, and at the top, where the only door opens into a corridor that is visible from the guard's bunker. My power doesn't work, nor do your Agiels. We have no weapons to fight them with." Kahlan met Cara's eyes. "This jail is all but impregnable. We cannot escape from here. We must wait for our chance, when they bring us out."
Cara opened her mouth to splutter, but no sound came out.
Kahlan's face was placidly calm. "So we need to just sit here and wait."
After a moment, Cara sat down with a huff. Sit here and wait. She could think of nothing she wanted to do less than sit here while the Seeker could be anywhere getting into all sorts of trouble, and here she was, sitting and waiting, listening to the Mother Confessor drag on about her emotions.
Cara tried and failed not to soften at the gentle sadness in those ocean-blue eyes.
XXX
Richard couldn't eat. His sleep had been troubled last night, and eventually he had told Zedd to go back to bed, and that he would take watch for the rest of the night. The old wizard was worried, but he kept his opinions to himself. Richard was a young man, full of fire and passion, and to have two of the people he loved so dearly snatched from under his nose couldn't be easy. Zedd knew this kind of pain; Richard was new to it.
His inquiries in the outlying taverns of Rothenburg had been fruitless. No one seemed to know anything. Gossip seemed to be virtually nonexistent, almost as if the people were afraid to talk. Maybe they were. And that gave Richard all the information he needed about the Margrave. He had to get in to Kahlan and Cara.
But how?
He turned his sword in his hands, letting its magic seep through his skin and into his veins. He let it live within him, accompanying him, his silent watchman, a dark passenger. His only comfort.
A rustling came from the trees just behind him. Richard sprang to his feet, the Sword of Truth flashing in the sunlight, his eyes cutting through the undergrowth.
"Stop! Stop, don't hurt us, disarm!"
A frightened looking man about Richard's age, maybe a little older, stepped into the camp. He had dark, curly hair and a round, boyish face with eyes as fearful as a child's during a thunderstorm. His clothes and soft belly gave Richard the impression this man was very well off - but the dirt on his hands and the tear in his sleeve spoke otherwise. Behind him there was a woman. An older woman, more filthy than the man, with a wide jaw and a tangle of dark hair. She was cowering in fear.
"Who are you?" Richard barked. He was in no mood for stragglers.
"We come from Rothenburg, sir!" the woman squeaked. She was staring at the ground.
"You..." the man said, having gotten a good look at Richard's sword. His eyes bulged out of his head. "You are the Seeker!"
"Who I am isn't the question." Richard stated.
"But you can help us!" the man sputtered, lurching forward. "My name is Jebediah!"
"Jebediah." Richard nodded and turned to the woman, finally lowering his sword. "And you are?"
The woman half-glanced from the corner of her eye at Jebediah.
"This is my mother, Mary." Jebediah said dismissively, as if it didn't really matter who she was.
"What is it you need help with, boy? Speak quickly, our patience is severely depleted lately." Zedd had appeared behind Richard, his arms crossed.
Jebediah gathered himself, his chest swelling outward with a sudden self-importance. "My father is the Margrave of Rothenburg. We need you to kill him."
XXX
"So, your father had your mother locked up and ready for execution just so he can spend eternity with Kahlan?" Richard spoke almost an hour of explanation later. He was horrified, not only with the terrible thought of Kahlan married to another man, specifically that man, but of the cruelty of the whole situation.
"That is correct." Jebediah said. His mother hadn't spoken at all during her son's long-winded monologue, and remained quiet even now.
"And you broke her out of the dungeons?" Richard tried to keep the incredulity out of his voice. From what he had seen and heard from Jebediah, the boy was lazy and incompetent, with an ego so out-of-proportion to his abilities it was a wonder he could walk.
"With the help of a few loyal guards." Jebediah shrugged. "They fled Rothenburg shortly after we did."
"What exactly were you planning to do, had you not run into me?" Richard asked, leaning forward to rest his chin on the hilt of his sword. "What was your plan?"
Jebediah puffed out his chest again. "We were going to hire mercenaries." he sniffed.
"And what will killing your father accomplish?" Zedd said shrewdly.
Jebediah got righteous then. Richard liked him less and less with every word he spoke. He didn't seem like the type of man who would save his mother purely for her sake. In fact, he almost seemed cold towards her. She had barely said a word since arriving. The boy must have an ulterior motive. There was no other explanation.
"He's a tyrant. His reign must end!" Jebediah raised a fist to shake at them, his round face flushed with emotion. "The injustices he has dealt -"
"And are you the sole heir to the throne, or will we be killing anyone else?" Richard interrupted. Jebediah's talk of the fight against tyranny was the biggest crock of lies he had ever heard.
"No."
The strength of the injection was almost as shocking as the mouth it came from. Mary stood, her jaw clenched. She still didn't make eye contact, but Richard felt the force of her gaze nonetheless. "None of my sons will be harmed in this - sir."
Jebediah turned purple. "Sit down, Mother!" he ordered. She obeyed immediately.
Richard kept his gaze on her. "Alright. You get us in to Rothenburg, and we'll take care of your father."
"You'll kill him?" Jebediah said, squinting at Richard with piggy eyes.
Richard stood. "I said we'll take care of it. You hold up your end, I'll hold up mine."
"Wait," Zedd put in. "What about Cara? What do they want with Cara?"
"The Mord-Sith?" Jebediah said blankly. "I've no clue. I thought they just drug her in as extra, to tell you the truth."
Richard thought back to the attack. Cara's pick up had not been random or a mistake. It had been as deliberate as Kahlan's.
One way or the other, he was going to find out what all this was about.
XXX
The newly-resurrected Sister Nicci crossed the wide expanse of meadow, her dark hood pulled up around her fair hair, watching the ground. She was not used to such pale coloring, standing out against the night which had been her disguise. The limbs that belonged to her now were long and slender, more graceful than she was used to. She had yet to look in the mirror and not jump just a little bit, wondering where the strange face had come from. But it was a body, a vessel in which to serve her master, and her discomfort didn't matter.
Her sisters awaited her in the damp stone cave. Sister Bretta at the entrance gave her a nod, and Nicci removed the hood of her cloak. The red-robed women all sat in a circle, their hands folded piously on their laps, their heads bowed. The entire scene was lit with a greenish light.
"Any word from the Margrave?" Nicci said, sweeping into the circle, instantly commanding the attention of everyone present. She ignored the steady drip-drip of water somewhere off behind her and stared hard at each sister, awaiting her answer.
"He has been successful." Sister Remi said quietly. "Both the Mother Confessor and the Mord-Sith are in his grasp."
Nicci's jaw tightened. "And the Seeker?"
The title caused a slight ripple of discomfort throughout the sisters, but Remi pressed on. "The Margrave assures us the Seeker will never gain access to even his city, much less his dungeons."
"The Margrave is too arrogant for his own good." Nicci murmured. There was a general sound of agreement. None of the sisters were very fond of dealing with the man and his lecherous eyes. "He underestimates the Seeker. Haste is our greatest priority. We must go tonight."
Nicci turned to the source of the greenish light, her hands clasped behind her back. "And with the Mother Confessor trapped in Rothenburg, the plan will proceed. Nothing will stand in our way."
Nicci trembled with excitement at the thought. The prophecy - both prophecies - would be overcome. And the Master of the Underworld would reign supreme.
XXX
Cara leaned her head against the back wall of the cell, bending her empty lunch tray along the middle. She had no idea what time it was. They had brought lunch maybe an hour ago - at least, she thought it was lunch. It might have been supper. When the guards dropped it off, Cara had snarled that a rat generally ate better. They had sneered in a very nasty way and told her if she wanted a better supper, she had better be prepared to sing for it, laughing evilly as they left with no explanation. Cara didn't think much of it.
The Mother Confessor was curled up on their single, ratty blanket, her dark hair a tangled mess. Finally, Cara huffed and flicked the disfigured lunch tray across the floor and stood. She began to pace like a caged predator. "I'm going crazy in here." she growled. "What do they want with us? What could they possibly want with me?"
Kahlan's thoughtful, still expression never wavered. "I don't know."
Cara turned on her heel and marched back across the cell, her movements jerky and unrestrained. She expelled a huff. "When will the Seeker do something? Has he forgotten us?"
Kahlan didn't blink. "I don't know."
Cara felt her restlessness and irritation rising to the surface, boiling under her skin with her blood. "What exactly do you know?" she snapped.
The Mother Confessor remained silent.
Cara gave up and plopped down back in her vigil against the wall. The Mother Confessor often got into the kinds of moods - around Cara, anyway - where silence and tension were mainstream and communication was a rare commodity. That had stopped after the incident in Cara's hometown, though. Or so she had thought. Perhaps the Mother Confessor was questioning her loyalty yet again. Maybe that was what she had meant by her emotions being in crisis. Strangely, the thought of her fidelity being questioned brought her no rage, as it would have not too long before. Only sadness and a little disappointment. Cara opened her mouth to say something, anything, but at that very moment, guards pushed open their cell door. Cara jumped and cursed herself. She hadn't even heard them coming.
"C'me on, wench. Up on ye feet. Time to sing for yer supper, lass." The guard's rough hand gripped Cara's upper arm and yanked her to her feet. Cara winced and pushed against him, scrabbling to get away, but without her Agiels, and as underfed and sleep-depraved as she was, his bulk was enough to overcome her.
"Cara - no!" The Mother Confessor cried with more energy than Cara expected. She lurched forward at the guard as he took Cara away, beating at him with her fists.
The other guard, the one holding open the cell door, shoved Kahlan back. "Don't you worry, doll face - your girl will be right back." As they shoved Cara away, the other guard called over his shoulder, "though maybe not in one piece!" to a hail of dim-witted guffaws.
Kahlan banged on the bars, a strangled cry escaping from her lips, for the first time understanding Cara's restless rage. It was not only being alone - though that was definitely some of it - her worry for Cara almost immediately eclipsed everything else. Where are they taking her...?
Cara fell onto her hands and knees on the dirt floor of an arena. Cheers echoed from all around her. The stands rising on all sides of her were filled. The grate behind her slid closed, the guards behind it still laughing. Laughing at her. Laughing at Kahlan.
Cara stood as quickly as she could, not wanting anyone to see her on her knees. The Margrave reclined in a place of honor, looking to be in high spirits as he clapped. "Friends, countrymen!" he proclaimed as he stood. The arena instantly fell silent. Cara noticed it was almost completely dominated by men, and the few women present sat docile, staring at their laps. "Today we will observe the greatest form of entertainment." he paused for the hoots and claps. "On one side - we have the starving Mord-Sith! Desperate for survival, trained for endurance -"
"Tired of listening to you talk!" Cara spat, speaking as loudly as she could.
The Margrave turned a nasty shade of purple. His next words were especially spiteful. "And on the other side - the fearsome long-tailed gar."
A huge, scaly-and-furry creature was wrested from the other grate. As soon as the bulk of the creature resided within the arena, the guards dropped his chains and ran like mad. Cara noticed the creatures wings were clipped in order to keep it from flying away.
"In order to receive her next meal, this Mord-Sith must defeat the gar." the Margrave said, gleefully watching Cara for her reaction as the stands erupted. "Let the match begin!" Somewhere far off, a bell gonged.
Cara lurched out of the way as the gar, obviously trained to attack at this sound, struck. "Outstanding." she growled.
AN: I'm sorry this took so long... I've been super duper busy. Many apologies. Reviews and advice are welcome - I don't particularly like this chapter, so, yeah. This time I'll eat an M&M for you. Moving up in the world, guys ;)