Fic: Maestra (Part 1)
Title: Maestra
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Author: cakeandqpm1138
Rating/s | Content: PG-13
Word Count: 2838
Summary: Set immediately after 'Tears.' By performing the Spells of Undoing, Zedd greviously altered the course of history. Now, Richard, Kahlan, Cara and Zedd must team up with Nicci and Rahl to find a way to appease the Maestra, the Goddess of Time, before she decides to correct the problem by destroying the entire universe, past, present and future. This, however, will be no easy task; Zedd's spells split the course of history into three paths. Which one, if any, will be saved?
Warnings: Spoilers through 'Tears'
Author's Notes: Written for the Legend of the Seeker Big Bang Challenge. Feedback is craved!
Cara stood alone on a vast expanse of pebble-strewn beach, watching as the sun set behind the Pillars of Creation. In the fading light the patchy clouds burned impossibly pink and yellow without, Cara noted, the tinge of eerie green cast by the tear in the veil between the Underworld and the world of the living. Cara bent down and picked a stone up off the beach. She let it roll around in her palm a few times before tossing it into the surf just like every other stone she’d picked up over the course of the past few hours. She’d spent the afternoon wandering the beaches east of the Pillars of Creation, lost in thought. After months of questing and traveling and fighting and running and feeling, the rift was finally sealed. The Keeper had been defeated, just as the prophecies had foretold. The prophecies, however, had nothing to say about what was supposed to happen next.
Cara had pointed this out to her companions earlier in the afternoon, once the elation of victory had ebbed. Zedd had suggested a meal and immediately began preparations for one. The four of them had eaten in next to complete silence, Richard and Kahlan sitting knee to knee, occasionally meeting one another’s eyes and grinning as if every care the two of them had ever had in the world had suddenly vanished. It had occurred to Cara that that was exactly what had just happened. The thought was unsettling, to say the least.
After their meal, Zedd had stretched out in the patchy sunshine for a nap while Richard and Kahlan set out to explore the ruins. They’d asked Cara to join them but she’d declined, choosing instead to head to the beach for a bath. She’d peeled off her sweaty, dusty, bloodstained leathers and bounded eagerly into the surf only to find it freezing beyond even a Mord’Sith’s tolerance. She’d momentarily considered joining Richard and Kahlan back at the pillars, but the thought of spending the afternoon watching the two of them kiss and caress crushed the air from her lungs in much the same way the icy water had. Instead, she’d taken to hurling rocks for the afternoon. It had seemed a sensible thing to do at the time.
Hours later, Cara still couldn’t figure out why she felt so restless. She thought maybe it had something to with the abrupt and anti-climactic end to the battle with the Keeper, but the problem seemed to defy such a simple explanation. She threw another stone. Perhaps it also had something to do with the way Kahlan and Richard looked at one another. It seemed likely but still didn’t feel like the whole truth. She picked up another stone.
“I wouldn’t throw that one if I were you.” a voice chuckled from behind her. It was Zedd. Cara let her arm drop and studied the stone in the palm of her hand. It was rough and unremarkable except maybe for its blue color and slight sparkle.
“It’s a sapphire.” Zedd explained. “The beaches are littered with them and other gems as well. They must have been formed when the rift was sealed. Get that thing cut and polished and it could fetch quite a sum.”
Cara tucked the stone securely under her belt and said nothing. Zedd smiled at her and gingerly lowered himself down onto the sand, motioning for her to join him. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the sun set.
“I was beginning to think we’d never see another sunset untainted by the green glow of the Underworld.” Zedd remarked conversationally. “It’s a relief to know the Keeper is trapped there forever. We’ll camp among the pillars tonight and depart in the morning. I’m sure Kahlan will want to reach Aydendril as soon as possible. She has her work cut out for her, what with the chaos of Rahl’s overthrow and the Keeper’s war and everything.”
Cara made an unintelligible sound deep in her throat.
“It should be a beautiful night.” Zedd continued, unruffled by Cara’s obvious lack of interest in conversation. “You see that cloud to the south? It’s hanging lower in the sky than the others, which means…”
“Something is wrong.” she interrupted, glowering at the waves as they broke along the shore.
She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she felt Zedd shift uncomfortably next to her before he spoke. “Nothing is wrong, Cara.” he placated gently. “The rift is sealed, the world of the living saved. I restored Richard’s vision, Kahlan is no longer confessed to that she-devil Nicci and we all have our lives. Your uneasiness is most likely the result of a feeling you haven’t encountered in awhile: calm. Most people crave it. You’ll learn to appreciate it too, in time.”
“I know what the aftermath of victory feels like, Wizard, and this is nothing like it.” Cara responded, forcing her tone to sound belligerent and not as apprehensive as she felt. “I’ve been thinking it over all afternoon.” she continued, more gently. “All is right in the world, and yet I feel like something is wrong. The obvious conclusion is that there’s something wrong with me.” She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. “Ours is a complete victory, as you said. When I joined this quest, I fully expected to die serving the Lord Rahl and I would have done so without hesitation. But I didn’t and I am thankful for that. Thankful that I will live to see Richard lauded as a hero, proud to have made it possible for Kahlan to restore justice.” Cara’s chin rose and her eyes flashed. “Victory. Loyalty. Pride. I should feel stronger now than ever before.” She stared Zedd down long enough to make him shrink away uncertainly. The corner of her lip twitched into the smallest of smirks before her gaze faltered and she allowed her shoulders to sag. “So why do I feel… incomplete?”
“You were given a taste of what it would be like to return to your former life and then it was taken away from you with the deaths of your sisters. That can’t have been easy for you.” Zedd offered.
Cara shook her head dismissively. “I’ve long since come to terms with the fact that I will never again be able to return to my old life. The Mord’Sith under Darken Rahl’s command cast me out. I serve Richard now. Besides, I don’t even know how many of us are left.”
“A lone Mord’Sith is as absurd as a lone Night Wisp.” Zedd countered. “Perhaps you should go seek out the rest of your sisters. You could convince them to set aside the ancient feud and offer their services to the Mother Confessor as a force for good.”
“I’m sure most would rather die.”
“The desire to defend life rather than destroy it is not something to be ashamed of.”
Cara leaped to her feet and wheeled on the wizard, eyes igniting with rage. “Don’t start that again, Wizard. You know nothing of that it means to be Mord’Sith. We all have the desire to preserve life, each and every one of us. We’re taught to control our emotions so we can torture and kill without being destroyed mentally and emotionally but that doesn’t mean we enjoy killing. Even under the command of Lord Rahl, our objective was rarely to kill. That’s what the Dragon Corps was for. Why else would we have been given the power to bestow the breath of life? We are capable of the most unimaginable torture only because we are strong enough and brave enough to shoulder that kind of pain ourselves. Once a man is broken, he will never again face such torment in his lifetime. A Mord’Sith endures three breakings of her own and then is broken again and again each time she undertakes another training. My powers bind people to me just as surely as Kahlan’s bind people to her. The only difference is I myself am bound just as closely to the ones I break. I feel every crumb of the pain I inflict. I have died a thousand deaths with the lives I’ve taken. Don’t you dare believe, even for a moment, that I couldn’t kill Kahlan because something was inherently different about me. I couldn’t kill her because something is inherently different about her. I couldn’t kill her because I l--“
“Don’t say it.” Zedd snapped, standing so he towered over Cara. “It isn’t true. It can’t be true. You’ve been deluding yourself for months with the ridiculous notion that you’re in love with her.” The way he sneered to emphasize ‘love’ made Cara’s stomach wrench and her eyes sting with anger. “You’re only making yourself look foolish. The love Kahlan has for Richard can never be stopped or diverted. It can withstand the tests of time and space. It has saved the very world on more than one occasion. I have never known such powerful magic. Next to the strength of their love for one another, your little infatuation looks like a parlor magician pulling coins out of ears at a child’s birthday party. If you insist on following Richard around from here on out, I suggest you either abandon this delusion or learn to suffer your jealousy in silence. You can never be what the Mother Confessor needs. You can never give Kahlan what she wants. Richard can do both of these things. There is no place for a disgraced and confused Mord’Sith in the legendary love story of Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell. If I catch you looking at her with lust in your eyes again, I’ll…”
But Cara didn’t find out what, exactly, Zedd was planning to do to her. She was preoccupied trying to figure out why the backs of her knuckles smarted and her breath was painful and ragged in her lungs. Zedd stared at her in astonishment, rubbing his cheek and shifting his jaw back and forth. It slowly occurred to her that she’d backhanded him across the face, though she did not recall feeling the desire to, let alone letting her hand fly. She stared back, breathing heavily, before turning her back on him and walking away.
“Cara, I…”
She silenced him with a glare over her shoulder, tacitly warning him not to follow her. She continued on down the beach, leaving the shocked wizard behind.
As soon as she’d made it past a tall, rocky outcropping and safely out of Zedd’s sight, Cara broke into a run. Her boots left deep impressions in the soft sand, making it hard to gain speed but she didn’t care. She only needed to keep running, keep moving to keep up with her racing mind. Her thoughts were jumbled and the feeling of being so out of control brought her close to panic. She pulled her Agiels out of their holster and gripped them tight, the pain shooting through her arms clearing her head. She veered closer to the water’s edge where the sand was wet and did not slip out from under her feet. Her frantic scrambling gave way to the familiar pattern of running and her breathing calmed to match.
Cara thought about what Zedd had said. As much as she resented the old wizard for his harsh tone and his blind faith in the power of Richard’s love for Kahlan, she had to admit he was right. She had lost track of the number of times she’d told herself the same things he had said to her. Kahlan loved Richard. She’d loved him long before Cara had met either of them and she continued to love him for the entirety of their time together. Cara knew it was not wrong of her to have feelings for the Mother Confessor: indeed it would be difficult for a woman as strong and as beautiful as Kahlan not to attract Cara’s attention and earn her respect. There was also no reason for Cara to be ashamed of lusting after Kahlan: she was not the first woman Cara had desired. For months, Cara had contented herself with the occasional illicit fantasy, safe (if not satisfied) in the knowledge that, had Richard never come into her life, Kahlan would have some other man on her arm and in her heart.
Then Leo had come along. Cara remembered how infuriating it had been to have Kahlan smiling that wicked, intoxicating smile at her, only to coax her into the arms of the first man who’d come their way since they’d set out on their quest. Cara could not deny that losing Leo had been hard, but the way Kahlan had carried on about her losing a chance at true love had been almost unbearable. Cara had resolved, then and there, to stamp out her infatuation for yet another straight woman who would never understand how she felt.
For a few weeks it had worked, but her victory was short lived. It took only a playful shove, a lingering glance and an offhanded comment about the cut of her neckline for Cara to allow herself to hope. In her weakness she’d even managed to convince herself that Kahlan would understand if she told her how she felt about her. She had even tried to do just that, in her own halting way, when the two of them were trapped and marked for death inside that tomb. But no, Kahlan’s knight in shining armor had rescued her, wiping away all thoughts of their previous conversation and leaving Cara to pick herself and her pride up off the floor. She had been certain then that Kahlan only had eyes for Richard. She’d buried her feelings again, this time determined to keep them subdued.
Yet again she’d failed. Though she knew it was only the result of her confession that made it happen, the pain of seeing Kahlan look at Nicci with such passion in her eyes tore open that particular wound once more. The thought that Kahlan could have feelings for someone other than Richard - another woman no less - but still not for Cara caused her more pain than she could bear. And then on top of that for Kahlan to be freed from confession only to beg her to bring Richard back from the Underworld so the two of them could be reunited, with Zedd’s blessing…
‘Perhaps he’s right’ she thought to herself, slowing from a run to a jog. ‘Perhaps there is no place for me with them anymore.’ She slowed to a walk and then to a standstill. ‘But where would I go?’ She thought about her sisters and how they would not want her after all this time. She thought about returning to Stowcroft but dismissed the idea almost immediately; she’d caused enough damage the last time she was there. Whatever she decided to do, she’d need money since she had no skills that would be of use to anyone, nor was anyone likely to hire a former Mord’Sith any time soon. Then she remembered the sapphire she’d tucked into her belt. She pulled it out and examined it in the light of the newly risen moon. It was good of Zedd to tell her of the rough stone’s worth. The thought took some of the sting away from the words the wizard had thrown at her earlier. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she spun on her heel and began to make her way back up the beach towards the pillars, barely visible in the moonlight. She would, of course, stay with Richard and Kahlan and Zedd, for as long as they would keep her around. Her job was to protect the Lord Rahl and the Spirits knew it was only a matter of time before he stirred up new and life-threatening trouble for himself. As she walked, she realized Zedd had been right about another thing: the beach really was littered with large, rough gemstones. She bent and picked up the more interesting-looking ones to bring back in case she needed them later.
By the time Cara reached the pillars, the moon was high in the sky. The sounds of snoring reached her long before she reached her sleeping companions. The corners of her mouth were tugged slightly upward at the familiar sound, one she’d come to associate with comfort and safety. When the guttering campfire came into view, however, she could see Zedd sprawled on the ground near the place where Kahlan lay asleep, wrapped tightly in Richard’s arms. Though the night had grown cold, she stayed within the fire’s warm circle only long enough to deposit her handfuls of stones into her pack and grab her blanket before moving to the opposite side of a large pillar. She wrapped herself in her blanket, sank miserably to the ground, and soon enough the exhaustion that had been building over the last few days overcame her and she slept.
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Author: cakeandqpm1138
Rating/s | Content: PG-13
Word Count: 2838
Summary: Set immediately after 'Tears.' By performing the Spells of Undoing, Zedd greviously altered the course of history. Now, Richard, Kahlan, Cara and Zedd must team up with Nicci and Rahl to find a way to appease the Maestra, the Goddess of Time, before she decides to correct the problem by destroying the entire universe, past, present and future. This, however, will be no easy task; Zedd's spells split the course of history into three paths. Which one, if any, will be saved?
Warnings: Spoilers through 'Tears'
Author's Notes: Written for the Legend of the Seeker Big Bang Challenge. Feedback is craved!
Cara stood alone on a vast expanse of pebble-strewn beach, watching as the sun set behind the Pillars of Creation. In the fading light the patchy clouds burned impossibly pink and yellow without, Cara noted, the tinge of eerie green cast by the tear in the veil between the Underworld and the world of the living. Cara bent down and picked a stone up off the beach. She let it roll around in her palm a few times before tossing it into the surf just like every other stone she’d picked up over the course of the past few hours. She’d spent the afternoon wandering the beaches east of the Pillars of Creation, lost in thought. After months of questing and traveling and fighting and running and feeling, the rift was finally sealed. The Keeper had been defeated, just as the prophecies had foretold. The prophecies, however, had nothing to say about what was supposed to happen next.
Cara had pointed this out to her companions earlier in the afternoon, once the elation of victory had ebbed. Zedd had suggested a meal and immediately began preparations for one. The four of them had eaten in next to complete silence, Richard and Kahlan sitting knee to knee, occasionally meeting one another’s eyes and grinning as if every care the two of them had ever had in the world had suddenly vanished. It had occurred to Cara that that was exactly what had just happened. The thought was unsettling, to say the least.
After their meal, Zedd had stretched out in the patchy sunshine for a nap while Richard and Kahlan set out to explore the ruins. They’d asked Cara to join them but she’d declined, choosing instead to head to the beach for a bath. She’d peeled off her sweaty, dusty, bloodstained leathers and bounded eagerly into the surf only to find it freezing beyond even a Mord’Sith’s tolerance. She’d momentarily considered joining Richard and Kahlan back at the pillars, but the thought of spending the afternoon watching the two of them kiss and caress crushed the air from her lungs in much the same way the icy water had. Instead, she’d taken to hurling rocks for the afternoon. It had seemed a sensible thing to do at the time.
Hours later, Cara still couldn’t figure out why she felt so restless. She thought maybe it had something to with the abrupt and anti-climactic end to the battle with the Keeper, but the problem seemed to defy such a simple explanation. She threw another stone. Perhaps it also had something to do with the way Kahlan and Richard looked at one another. It seemed likely but still didn’t feel like the whole truth. She picked up another stone.
“I wouldn’t throw that one if I were you.” a voice chuckled from behind her. It was Zedd. Cara let her arm drop and studied the stone in the palm of her hand. It was rough and unremarkable except maybe for its blue color and slight sparkle.
“It’s a sapphire.” Zedd explained. “The beaches are littered with them and other gems as well. They must have been formed when the rift was sealed. Get that thing cut and polished and it could fetch quite a sum.”
Cara tucked the stone securely under her belt and said nothing. Zedd smiled at her and gingerly lowered himself down onto the sand, motioning for her to join him. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the sun set.
“I was beginning to think we’d never see another sunset untainted by the green glow of the Underworld.” Zedd remarked conversationally. “It’s a relief to know the Keeper is trapped there forever. We’ll camp among the pillars tonight and depart in the morning. I’m sure Kahlan will want to reach Aydendril as soon as possible. She has her work cut out for her, what with the chaos of Rahl’s overthrow and the Keeper’s war and everything.”
Cara made an unintelligible sound deep in her throat.
“It should be a beautiful night.” Zedd continued, unruffled by Cara’s obvious lack of interest in conversation. “You see that cloud to the south? It’s hanging lower in the sky than the others, which means…”
“Something is wrong.” she interrupted, glowering at the waves as they broke along the shore.
She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she felt Zedd shift uncomfortably next to her before he spoke. “Nothing is wrong, Cara.” he placated gently. “The rift is sealed, the world of the living saved. I restored Richard’s vision, Kahlan is no longer confessed to that she-devil Nicci and we all have our lives. Your uneasiness is most likely the result of a feeling you haven’t encountered in awhile: calm. Most people crave it. You’ll learn to appreciate it too, in time.”
“I know what the aftermath of victory feels like, Wizard, and this is nothing like it.” Cara responded, forcing her tone to sound belligerent and not as apprehensive as she felt. “I’ve been thinking it over all afternoon.” she continued, more gently. “All is right in the world, and yet I feel like something is wrong. The obvious conclusion is that there’s something wrong with me.” She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. “Ours is a complete victory, as you said. When I joined this quest, I fully expected to die serving the Lord Rahl and I would have done so without hesitation. But I didn’t and I am thankful for that. Thankful that I will live to see Richard lauded as a hero, proud to have made it possible for Kahlan to restore justice.” Cara’s chin rose and her eyes flashed. “Victory. Loyalty. Pride. I should feel stronger now than ever before.” She stared Zedd down long enough to make him shrink away uncertainly. The corner of her lip twitched into the smallest of smirks before her gaze faltered and she allowed her shoulders to sag. “So why do I feel… incomplete?”
“You were given a taste of what it would be like to return to your former life and then it was taken away from you with the deaths of your sisters. That can’t have been easy for you.” Zedd offered.
Cara shook her head dismissively. “I’ve long since come to terms with the fact that I will never again be able to return to my old life. The Mord’Sith under Darken Rahl’s command cast me out. I serve Richard now. Besides, I don’t even know how many of us are left.”
“A lone Mord’Sith is as absurd as a lone Night Wisp.” Zedd countered. “Perhaps you should go seek out the rest of your sisters. You could convince them to set aside the ancient feud and offer their services to the Mother Confessor as a force for good.”
“I’m sure most would rather die.”
“The desire to defend life rather than destroy it is not something to be ashamed of.”
Cara leaped to her feet and wheeled on the wizard, eyes igniting with rage. “Don’t start that again, Wizard. You know nothing of that it means to be Mord’Sith. We all have the desire to preserve life, each and every one of us. We’re taught to control our emotions so we can torture and kill without being destroyed mentally and emotionally but that doesn’t mean we enjoy killing. Even under the command of Lord Rahl, our objective was rarely to kill. That’s what the Dragon Corps was for. Why else would we have been given the power to bestow the breath of life? We are capable of the most unimaginable torture only because we are strong enough and brave enough to shoulder that kind of pain ourselves. Once a man is broken, he will never again face such torment in his lifetime. A Mord’Sith endures three breakings of her own and then is broken again and again each time she undertakes another training. My powers bind people to me just as surely as Kahlan’s bind people to her. The only difference is I myself am bound just as closely to the ones I break. I feel every crumb of the pain I inflict. I have died a thousand deaths with the lives I’ve taken. Don’t you dare believe, even for a moment, that I couldn’t kill Kahlan because something was inherently different about me. I couldn’t kill her because something is inherently different about her. I couldn’t kill her because I l--“
“Don’t say it.” Zedd snapped, standing so he towered over Cara. “It isn’t true. It can’t be true. You’ve been deluding yourself for months with the ridiculous notion that you’re in love with her.” The way he sneered to emphasize ‘love’ made Cara’s stomach wrench and her eyes sting with anger. “You’re only making yourself look foolish. The love Kahlan has for Richard can never be stopped or diverted. It can withstand the tests of time and space. It has saved the very world on more than one occasion. I have never known such powerful magic. Next to the strength of their love for one another, your little infatuation looks like a parlor magician pulling coins out of ears at a child’s birthday party. If you insist on following Richard around from here on out, I suggest you either abandon this delusion or learn to suffer your jealousy in silence. You can never be what the Mother Confessor needs. You can never give Kahlan what she wants. Richard can do both of these things. There is no place for a disgraced and confused Mord’Sith in the legendary love story of Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell. If I catch you looking at her with lust in your eyes again, I’ll…”
But Cara didn’t find out what, exactly, Zedd was planning to do to her. She was preoccupied trying to figure out why the backs of her knuckles smarted and her breath was painful and ragged in her lungs. Zedd stared at her in astonishment, rubbing his cheek and shifting his jaw back and forth. It slowly occurred to her that she’d backhanded him across the face, though she did not recall feeling the desire to, let alone letting her hand fly. She stared back, breathing heavily, before turning her back on him and walking away.
“Cara, I…”
She silenced him with a glare over her shoulder, tacitly warning him not to follow her. She continued on down the beach, leaving the shocked wizard behind.
As soon as she’d made it past a tall, rocky outcropping and safely out of Zedd’s sight, Cara broke into a run. Her boots left deep impressions in the soft sand, making it hard to gain speed but she didn’t care. She only needed to keep running, keep moving to keep up with her racing mind. Her thoughts were jumbled and the feeling of being so out of control brought her close to panic. She pulled her Agiels out of their holster and gripped them tight, the pain shooting through her arms clearing her head. She veered closer to the water’s edge where the sand was wet and did not slip out from under her feet. Her frantic scrambling gave way to the familiar pattern of running and her breathing calmed to match.
Cara thought about what Zedd had said. As much as she resented the old wizard for his harsh tone and his blind faith in the power of Richard’s love for Kahlan, she had to admit he was right. She had lost track of the number of times she’d told herself the same things he had said to her. Kahlan loved Richard. She’d loved him long before Cara had met either of them and she continued to love him for the entirety of their time together. Cara knew it was not wrong of her to have feelings for the Mother Confessor: indeed it would be difficult for a woman as strong and as beautiful as Kahlan not to attract Cara’s attention and earn her respect. There was also no reason for Cara to be ashamed of lusting after Kahlan: she was not the first woman Cara had desired. For months, Cara had contented herself with the occasional illicit fantasy, safe (if not satisfied) in the knowledge that, had Richard never come into her life, Kahlan would have some other man on her arm and in her heart.
Then Leo had come along. Cara remembered how infuriating it had been to have Kahlan smiling that wicked, intoxicating smile at her, only to coax her into the arms of the first man who’d come their way since they’d set out on their quest. Cara could not deny that losing Leo had been hard, but the way Kahlan had carried on about her losing a chance at true love had been almost unbearable. Cara had resolved, then and there, to stamp out her infatuation for yet another straight woman who would never understand how she felt.
For a few weeks it had worked, but her victory was short lived. It took only a playful shove, a lingering glance and an offhanded comment about the cut of her neckline for Cara to allow herself to hope. In her weakness she’d even managed to convince herself that Kahlan would understand if she told her how she felt about her. She had even tried to do just that, in her own halting way, when the two of them were trapped and marked for death inside that tomb. But no, Kahlan’s knight in shining armor had rescued her, wiping away all thoughts of their previous conversation and leaving Cara to pick herself and her pride up off the floor. She had been certain then that Kahlan only had eyes for Richard. She’d buried her feelings again, this time determined to keep them subdued.
Yet again she’d failed. Though she knew it was only the result of her confession that made it happen, the pain of seeing Kahlan look at Nicci with such passion in her eyes tore open that particular wound once more. The thought that Kahlan could have feelings for someone other than Richard - another woman no less - but still not for Cara caused her more pain than she could bear. And then on top of that for Kahlan to be freed from confession only to beg her to bring Richard back from the Underworld so the two of them could be reunited, with Zedd’s blessing…
‘Perhaps he’s right’ she thought to herself, slowing from a run to a jog. ‘Perhaps there is no place for me with them anymore.’ She slowed to a walk and then to a standstill. ‘But where would I go?’ She thought about her sisters and how they would not want her after all this time. She thought about returning to Stowcroft but dismissed the idea almost immediately; she’d caused enough damage the last time she was there. Whatever she decided to do, she’d need money since she had no skills that would be of use to anyone, nor was anyone likely to hire a former Mord’Sith any time soon. Then she remembered the sapphire she’d tucked into her belt. She pulled it out and examined it in the light of the newly risen moon. It was good of Zedd to tell her of the rough stone’s worth. The thought took some of the sting away from the words the wizard had thrown at her earlier. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she spun on her heel and began to make her way back up the beach towards the pillars, barely visible in the moonlight. She would, of course, stay with Richard and Kahlan and Zedd, for as long as they would keep her around. Her job was to protect the Lord Rahl and the Spirits knew it was only a matter of time before he stirred up new and life-threatening trouble for himself. As she walked, she realized Zedd had been right about another thing: the beach really was littered with large, rough gemstones. She bent and picked up the more interesting-looking ones to bring back in case she needed them later.
By the time Cara reached the pillars, the moon was high in the sky. The sounds of snoring reached her long before she reached her sleeping companions. The corners of her mouth were tugged slightly upward at the familiar sound, one she’d come to associate with comfort and safety. When the guttering campfire came into view, however, she could see Zedd sprawled on the ground near the place where Kahlan lay asleep, wrapped tightly in Richard’s arms. Though the night had grown cold, she stayed within the fire’s warm circle only long enough to deposit her handfuls of stones into her pack and grab her blanket before moving to the opposite side of a large pillar. She wrapped herself in her blanket, sank miserably to the ground, and soon enough the exhaustion that had been building over the last few days overcame her and she slept.