Pride&Destiny - Chapter 7
Author: chickinwhite
Pairing: Kahlan/Cara
Rating: PG 17
Word account: 4500
Summary: End of Season 1 - And the beginning of an unexpected future for two sworn enemies, who have to learn to have faith in each other while trying to survive in a hostile world...
Disclaimer: Nothing of LotS belongs to me (such a pity!) - no business, just fan-fun
AN: Sometimes it is just a tiny little detail that holds sway over your fate... Remember Reckoning? Cara struck Richard, who was sitting close to the edge... Well, I asked myself how things would have turned out if not Richard but Kahlan had sit first in her way when Cara arrived...
Previously: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6
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Cara did not grant them a rest. Not until she heard Haron yell at her; his voice hitching in panic.
“Please! By the Keeper´s darkness! Stop! Do you want to kill her?”
Clenching her jaw she reined the horse, just in time to feel Kahlan slipping to the right and she would have fallen from the horse, if not for Haron, who had hurriedly dismounted; he caught her and carefully put her down.
He was grimacing as if in pain himself, but Cara knew it was Kahlan´s pain that tormented him.
“Mistress! I got you. Breathe, please just breathe!”
Cara had dismounted, too and now sank to her knees beside them.
Kahlan´s eyes fluttered open, a tiny twitch in the corner of her lips assuring Haron that she was still alive, but her gaze sought Cara´s. Her lips moved.
“Have... you... killed him?”
Cara didn´t need to ask whom she should have killed. This “Todd”-man, who had recognized Haron from former times..
She clenched her jaw and shook her head once.
“Your pet has let him slip through his fingers.” She turned and glared at the man, who held Kahlan´s head carefully in his lap. A deep sigh fell from Kahlan´s lips.
“Then... it´s too late... He will...oh Haron...”
“Maybe he did not want to hurt an old friend?” Cara´s voice was razor-sharp as she didn´t hold back her anger. It was clear that if she had taken care of Todd, he would most certainly not be able now to run to his master and report what he had come to know - that the Confessor had returned and a Mord Sith was at her side...
Haron didn´t even twitch a muscle at her words, for Kahlan gave a pained groan in this moment and he had only eyes for her.
Wheezing, the Confessor tried to sit up, but sacked back with a moan and his hands held her down.
“You´re bleeding, Mistress. You should not move.”
The deep frown on Cara´s face only deepened as she looked the brunette over. Blood was seeping from her shoulder and her white gown had already taken a deep red dye where the arrow had pierced her. The Mord Sith chewed on her lip, considering to remove the already broken arrow right here and now. But she decided against it. Standing, she looked down at Haron and Kahlan, whose eyes fluttered again before she fainted with a sigh. Cara´s eyes were flashing dark green daggers at Haron.
“You will carry her. I will distract them, but you need to hurry. Do not touch the broken end of the arrow. As long as it stays stuck, it will reduce the bleeding” Rising her brows she waited for his short not of understanding. Only when she received it, she turned and looked around.
In their back was the village, and soon enough there would all the soldiers be coming that had been in town, that was for sure. Further on the road they had been on, she would flee with the two horses, hoping they wouldn´t take the time to examine her tracks and discover this was a trick. So, Haron would need to take another route to hide his Mistress...
Though there was no road. He would have to run through the woods...
Cara thought about the risks, but at least she shrugged to herself. They had no great choice. And no time.
“Do you see that hill with the three trees on its top?” Haron followed her pointing finger and nodded.
“I will meet you on the other side. Search for a hole in the rocks, maybe a small cave or a few trees standing closely together... and stay there. See to it that she drinks some water...I will find you.”
He stared at her wide-eyed, then at Kahlan and whispered anxiously:
“Will she live?”
The blonde rolled her eyes. There was this mountain of a man and held the heart of a frightened child, scared to death that his Mistress would die, while he should hope she did, for that would mean his freedom...
Though, while her eyes settled on Kahlan´s pale face and studied the slight trembling of her lips as she hardly breathed, the Mord Sith hesitated. What if he was right in his fear?
What if Kahlan died?
For a tiny moment Cara felt her chest tightening a little, her brows furrowing while her eyes narrowed on the unconscious woman; but quickly her lips pressed into a small line, defiance written on her features. The Confessor would not dare to die, not if she had a word in it. She straightened and nodded curtly.
“She will. If only you hurry up! Now go!”
Not looking back she mounted her horse, grabbing the reins of the second beast and put spurs to the steed. It let out a snort, but it willingly turned around and galloped away.
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After riding for one more candle-mark to put their followers off the scent, Cara stopped shortly to bind the horses together, fixing a not too small branch to one of their tails to make them run. She herself returned to Haron and Kahlan not long after sun had set. Haron had been hiding in a tiny hole in the rocks, not daring to light a fire, and if Cara hadn´t been looking out for them, she would have possibly missed them. He said Kahlan had been conscious a few times soon after he had settled here, but she passed out again and again. Cara had seen a sheltered cavern on her way and so they moved to find it and finally settled there. The blonde was almost sure that the soldiers they had met in Oakfell wouldn´t search for them that far away from the road...
Well, almost sure... Though, there was a tension she was feeling, listening to the sounds of nature that increased as night became darker, as her uneasiness grew with each shallow breath the Confessor took.
Hardly restraining herself she interrogated him sharply, demanding answers about his past and his quest when they had found him, while she carefully examined Kahlan´s wound. All the while she felt her anger eating her up. Wanting to stab her agiel into Haron´s balls for he was the one who had caused this mess.
Haron had been one of Rahl´s best men. He was the son of a duke, who had sold him to Lord Rahl before he had reached his tenth year. Putting him into one of his education camps, Rahl had quickly discovered that Haron had a marked preference for bullying his companions. He was strong, with a readiness of mind that was quite unprecedented. And, seeing his rude and reckless attempts to get his attention, he soon became Rahl´s favorite pupil. Though, since he was an exceptionally gifted actor, Rahl had sent him several times to be his eyes and his ears when he felt trouble rising in a particular region. And Haron had thoroughly proven his loyalty. For Rahl he had killed Kelton´s leader together with his whole family, women and children included; until people admitted Rahl´s claim on their lands; and single-handedly he had extinguished a whole spawn of rebels in the forests of Clearwater. Killing each and every one and putting their heads on spikes so that people could see them and think twice before they planned another rebellion...
And without showing any emotion, he had told her of the quest he had been sent on before his confession.
He had been ordered to find the rebellion´s heart, the Fox Den, as it was called;
Rahl had searched for a few gawks, silly enough to not look behind his disguise and had given them a hard time, while some of his spies pitched a life with the rebellion to them. Until their leader had been worn down and announced their departure. Asking who would join him, Haron had been only one out of seven and no one assumed him a spy.
His task had been to worm his way into the Fox Den and their leader´s confidence, which no one had succeeded before.
Obviously the rebels had a keen sense for rats in their rows. The few spies who had managed to find their hideout had been returned to him, their dead bodies nakedly bound to a horse and besmirched with muck all over. Never had a spy returned to give him any information...
Though, Haron had known that his Master had put great expectations into him. And Haron had been sure he would deliver...And then, having gathered enough information, he would have sent for Rahl to finally get them and erase them.
But before it had come so far, he had met Kahlan.
Haron answered all her questions without hesitation. He even shown her Rahl´s brand, the sword of truth, that graced his upper biceps. Emotionless. His eyes being glued to the face of his mistress. And Cara slowly recognized that he would have answered before, if only they had asked him. But, being bound to Kahlan as he was, he had done whatever his new goddess had asked him, putting everything else, including his former life, aside. But they had never thought of asking him about his own, personal life. All they had wanted to know had been about Rahl, about how people lived these times, about politics and history. Not his own experiences...
Her anger boiled, but she knew better than to let him eat her agiel as it had been her first intention. Confessed as he was, he would not betray them. Not for his own life... And she possibly needed him to carry Kahlan while she was too weak to walk.
So she demanded him to watch out while she took care of the Confessor.
With her jaw set - and much more regard than she would have thought herself - she stripped Kahlan from the white gown that was drenched with her blood; having repeatedly dried and soaked again, as her wound had started bleeding again and again while she had been moved.
Cara new how to treat wounds. All her life she had been a warrior, and her sisters as much as she herself had been in need of thorough treatments after a fight sometimes. She knew the pain one felt when an arrow had to be ripped out of their flesh. And as far as she had come to know the Confessor, she was quite sure Kahlan knew many truths about these pains, too.
Though she was glad that the woman was unconscious.
Though, she would probably faint anyway.
Catching herself with that slight feeling of concern, the blonde narrowed her eyes on her own hands and bit her lower lip.
The skin below the gown was of a paleness as Cara had never seen one before. Glowing in an almost creamy white, like the most precious porcelain she had seen in the People´s Palace, and occupied by tiny freckles. The touch to it so soft and warm that a frown crossed her forehead while she moved her fingers over her shoulder.
Thoughtfully Cara stared at that skin. Sparks of memories running through her mind. She remembered the days, when stripping a sister would have promised a night filled with pleasure or pain, or perhaps both of it...
The beauty of a female body was something she had always appreciated. And to say Kahlan was beautiful did not even touch the truth. Which she had noticed long before she had seen it in nothing more than the leather corset that hid her chest and stomach now. These past weeks in the company of that woman, the blonde had more than once more or less openly eyed her slender form, her strong and well defined limbs, the litheness of her moves. Thinking to herself that the confessor was a beauty. And thinking about beautiful women sometimes stirred some sort of heat in the Mord Sith. Her sisters had shared that feeling with her. Pleasure had been their bond as much as pain had been.
Suddenly she felt very aware of all the time that had passed since she had last felt the pleasure in the arms of one of her sisters. With her eyes still narrowed, showing an expression that was rather riled, her eyes slid over Kahlan´s chest, along her neckline, resting on her face, following a tiny pearl of sweat that made its way from her forehead down along her temple...
When a low moan fell from the Confessor´s lips Cara briefly winced. Feeling slightly embarrassed as if caught with the hand in a cooky-box.
For a moment her lips pressed into a small line; derisively scolding herself for letting her mind get lost if ever so slightly.
She´s a Confessor! Confessors are not beautiful - They are deadly!
And forcing herself to focus on the task at hand she grabbed it tightly and quickly jerked the broken end of the arrow out of Kahlan´s shoulder. Ignoring her pained groan as much as she ignored Haron´s mad eyes while she applied a scanty bandage. Cara wrapped the brunette in one of their blankets and stood, dropping the gown at Haron´s feet.
“Go. Clean it for your Mistress.”
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The hill had long since fallen into darkness. A pale moon sighed its bashful light through the trees, barely lightening her way as she slowly and carefully approached the man at the fire. She had watched him for almost half a candle mark. He was unaware of her, his gaze never loosening its hold on the pale face of the woman he held in his arms and gently cradled back and forth, whispering his sorries for something. She didn´t know what he had done but wondered why he was so sad over the injured woman.
She had quickly identified him as Rahl´s man. Not only had she seen his west, which was ragged and tattered, but still held the color of Rahl under all its filth. It could have been the loot of a gambling, or even the price of a fight, but she had seen the small brand on his upper arm. It was not a tattoo like she had seen some on the skin of some men of the resistance. It was formed like a sword and if one looked closely they would see the letters I A Y T.
“I AM YOUR TRUTH”
Lord Rahl only put it onto his most staunchly men. On those, who had proved their loyalty in the most atrocious tasks; who saw it as an honor to carry his sign...
If he carried the brand, he was most certainly one of the monsters she had sworn to kill whenever she got the chance.
Though she hesitated.
The question at hands was:
Was it possible that a man from Rahl´s inner circle hold the Confessor in his arms, almost weeping in despair?
A sudden low, threatening growl to her right warned her just in time to let herself fall down and roll quickly to the left.
The agiel that came striking with an eerie whine just grazed her thigh, but she heard her own howl at the sudden pain. Immediately another growl answered and Cara, standing over the girl she had just attacked and already grinning smugly, found herself attacked in return.
Though, her opponent was not human...
“Stop!”
The girl yelled shortly.
The large grey wolf, already leaping through the air towards the Mord Sith, wasn´t able to interrupt its attack; it´s momentum took the beast forward and it landed heavily on Cara, scratching at the leather over her belly and pulling her to the ground. Growling threateningly, it picked itself up immediately and retreated a few steps, before Cara´s agiel could touch it.
The blonde shortly held her breath, shocked; lying perfectly still, carefully watching the animal retreat and standing with its whole body tense and its lips drawn up, hackles risen, showing sharp white fangs, a few steps away.
“It´s okay. She will not attack you again.” The girl´s voice was low and guarded and held a dark timbre. Cara stared at the wolf as if she was seeing a ghost. Slowly she stood, her eyes still being glued to the beast, not trusting that the animal wouldn´t try another move.
“Who are you?”
“A friend.”
“A friend? ... lurking in the shadows of the night? For what? Killing us with the help of this beast?”
The girl smiled leniently. Cara could hear it in her voice as she stepped with her back to the Mord Sith and gently laid her hand on the large wolf´s head. Her red hair shimmered in the weak light of the fire burning behind a few trees.
“If we wanted to kill you, you would be dead by now. But we don´t. We were sent to help you.”
She turned and lifted her hands, a gesture, well known in all the lands for a sign of being unarmed and peaceful.
She´s a child! What in the Keeper´s name...
Cara´s eyes had widened. Her eyebrows climbed up her forehead, but she didn´t say a word. Instead, after a few heartbeats, she turned as if that girl wasn´t worth her attention and dared to show them her back as she walked back to the fire.
Much to her surprise Haron had put Kahlan to the ground as he had heard the little noises caused by their short fight. He had pulled his ax and now stood rooted to the spot, his eyes staring at a second wolf that threatened him with its muzzle half opened, its sharp teeth sparkling and a deep dark growl following every slight twitch of one of his muscles.
“Take it away. If you want it to live, take the beast away. I will strike it dead if it comes closer!”
He didn´t sound as if scared. Not for himself. But it was obvious, that he wouldn´t hesitate to defend his mistress...
A low hiss came from the girl and the wolf´s ears twitched once, before the threatening tension left its body and it turned around to run to the girl.
Haron sighed relieved. Though, since the beast didn´t threat him nor Kahlan any more, he left it to Cara to take care of their visitor and sat down again, letting his ax drop to the ground and watching carefully Kahlan´s face for any change.
The Confessor breathed shallowly, a low moan escaped her lips time and again.
Cara threw a glare at the girl before she kneeled beside Kahlan, pushing a water-skin to her lips and waiting for her to swallow some of the liquid.
“What happened to her?”
“She caught an arrow.”
“In Oakfell?”
Cara looked over her shoulder, frowning suspiciously.
“How do you...?”
“We have spies in town. Your flight has been watched and reported when I came along.” She stepped closer. “May I?”
Only reluctantly Cara skidded a little side wards and allowed the strange girl to sit beside Kahlan, watching every move she made. The two wolves had lain down beside their fire, observing them attentively.
The Mord Sith had her eyes narrowed. She searched her mind for any sign why she should mistrust the girl, but didn´t find a reason. With two wolves at her side, that seemed to obey her unconditionally, she could have attacked them much earlier. And could have killed them even, perhaps.
Though, Cara had sensed someone being somewhere in the bushes and, knowing that it was rather a foe than a friend, had pretended to go to relieve herself. And as she circled the girl´s position to attack her from behind, she had felt someone following her. That it had been a tamed wolf, had been quite a shock. Even a Mord Sith was not used to be attacked by a beast like that...
The girl carefully peeled the bandage and examined Kahlan´s wound, nodding and murmuring words to herself that Cara couldn´t hear clearly. Than she pulled the bag she wore twined round her shoulder and rummaged through its insides. The box she pulled out and opened smelled of herbs and something keen that reminded Cara of the balm they had used in their temples to ease the pain after a training day in the dungeons.
This girl knew how to treat wounds, so much was clear.
Vigilantly Haron watched her every move, his hand clenching the heel of his ax, just in case...
Cara let her eyes wander to the beasts, that seemed wary and cautious, their stiff bodies speaking a language that she knew all too well. The one that had jumped on her met her gaze and pulled its lips up. The blonde understood the warning immediately. She would not risk to nettle them as long as the girl didn´t provoke it...
Who was she?
She had approached with the skills of someone who was used to sneak up on strangers. The Mord Sith was sure, if it had been Haron or the Confessor alone, they wouldn´t have caught the slight crack of a twig or the tension that had suddenly lain in the air, as she had. She had long red curls, that were loosely tied into a pony tail. Some stubborn strands dangling before her face as she bit her lower lip in concentration. They shimmered like tiny flames. Her brown eyes had shown a trace of mistrust while watching Haron, though as soon as she had set eyes on Kahlan the blonde had seen a warm, relieved smile playing on her lips. She was young, hardly a woman; Cara thought her in her seventeenth year. She traveled alone with two wolves and purported to be a friend; sent to help them. And obviously she had searched for Kahlan.
Though, who in the Keeper´s name would send help for a woman of whom it was said that she had died almost forty years ago?
The Mord Sith glared at her. Impatiently waiting until their visitor finished Kahlan´s treatment.
Finally the girl eyed her work satisfied and gave Haron a brief, stern nod, allowing him to appraise the new bandage.
Standing, she glanced at Cara from warm brown eyes, that held a sparkle of gold. Shrugging almost apologetically, she adumbrated a small, unsure smile.
“She needs to rest. Probably she will fall into a fever. But that will help to fight the infection she already caught. I just hope it won´t be too serious. Though... I am afraid that we can´t stay here. Here we are still too close to Oakfell. We must fear that a drunken soldier might stumble into our light. I... There is a cave where we will find supplies and horses, just 2 leagues from here.”
Cara gave her a stare. Her hand had clenched around the hilt of her weapon as if she hardly overcame the temptation to use it.
Who was this girl thinking she was, that she dared telling her what to do? And why would she even consider to follow a strange girl into a cave, with two wild beasts possibly?
Folding her arms she glared at her, tilting her head; snarling sarcastically:
“And why was it exactly that I should trust you?”
She pointed at the wolves. The large grey one, that had jumped on her before, just yawned intensely.
“You - or your beasts? Who tried to attack us in the darkness?” The look from her eyes was cold and keen. She literally dared the girl to do a wrong move.
Chewing on her lower lip the red haired looked into her eyes. Her expression was calm, but stern. Much too stern for a girl of her age, as Cara thought. It felt as if in her eyes there lay a wisdom that came from struggling years after years to survive. She showed no fear. Not because she would not sense the danger that emanated from the blonde Mord Sith, but because she had lived through too much fear before to be scared by this woman any more...
Finally a small smile that didn´t reach her eyes settled on her features. She sighed and sat down, looking up at Cara.
“You are right. There is no reason for you to trust me. I´ve been warned that you wouldn´t. But as you´ve already noticed: I am young, and I wear no weapons except for that knife you can see at my hip.” She turned a little, to show Cara that knife, but carefully kept her hands away from it.
“I am just an ambassador. We knew you were coming, we just didn´t know when exactly. The rebellion awaits her. I´ve been living in that cave I spoke of for almost half a year now; waiting. And watching out for her. It was planned that I bring her into the Fox Den before anyone becomes aware that she´s returned.” She shook her head, sending Cara a sheepish glance. “I am sorry I failed. I just didn´t expect you to run into every small village to confess young leaders. Maybe I should have known better... They told me you are quite... unpredictable.”
“Who told you?”
“My friends. - Her friends.”
“How did they know about us?”
“Prophecy. Foreseeing. Whatever. But it was the only hope we have had all these years.”
“It is the Confessor you´ve waited for!?”
The girl nodded, and Cara saw a trace of amusement glinting in her eyes.
“It was for sure that the Mord Sith that vanished together with her, would arrive together with her. Though the chance that you would come to traveling together was...tiny. But I am happy you decided to become friends. You and your kind were known for being famous warriors with great skills...”
“Mord Sith never had friends...” Cara dropped coldly.
“That might be one reason why they are no more...” The deadly glare she received only caused her to shrug.
“Never mind. Though...” she inhaled deeply.
“My name is Renée. I am member of the Fox Den, and I am here to invite you to join us and fight Lord Rahl. It´s our goal to destroy him, to finally put an end to his rein of pain and pressure, to free our lands from the tyrant.”
Cara pursed her lips, watching Renée straightening and setting her jaw. This girl owned some courage, and that she appreciated. She saw her proud, decided expression and couldn´t help a smug grin.
Looking back at Kahlan, she thought about their choices...
“Than be it. We will bring the Confessor into that cave and wait until she´s better. I am sure she will have a say in your plans, too.
Come on, Haron, move! We´re leaving. You will carry your mistress...”
Glaring at Renée she grinned coldly.
“Though, if this is a trap, I will make you regret it. And even your pets won´t hinder me. Am I clear?”
Renée nodded sternly, but the she-wolf at her side pulled its lips up and Cara could have sworn it grinned derisively...
t.b.c.
Pairing: Kahlan/Cara
Rating: PG 17
Word account: 4500
Summary: End of Season 1 - And the beginning of an unexpected future for two sworn enemies, who have to learn to have faith in each other while trying to survive in a hostile world...
Disclaimer: Nothing of LotS belongs to me (such a pity!) - no business, just fan-fun
AN: Sometimes it is just a tiny little detail that holds sway over your fate... Remember Reckoning? Cara struck Richard, who was sitting close to the edge... Well, I asked myself how things would have turned out if not Richard but Kahlan had sit first in her way when Cara arrived...
Previously: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6
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Cara did not grant them a rest. Not until she heard Haron yell at her; his voice hitching in panic.
“Please! By the Keeper´s darkness! Stop! Do you want to kill her?”
Clenching her jaw she reined the horse, just in time to feel Kahlan slipping to the right and she would have fallen from the horse, if not for Haron, who had hurriedly dismounted; he caught her and carefully put her down.
He was grimacing as if in pain himself, but Cara knew it was Kahlan´s pain that tormented him.
“Mistress! I got you. Breathe, please just breathe!”
Cara had dismounted, too and now sank to her knees beside them.
Kahlan´s eyes fluttered open, a tiny twitch in the corner of her lips assuring Haron that she was still alive, but her gaze sought Cara´s. Her lips moved.
“Have... you... killed him?”
Cara didn´t need to ask whom she should have killed. This “Todd”-man, who had recognized Haron from former times..
She clenched her jaw and shook her head once.
“Your pet has let him slip through his fingers.” She turned and glared at the man, who held Kahlan´s head carefully in his lap. A deep sigh fell from Kahlan´s lips.
“Then... it´s too late... He will...oh Haron...”
“Maybe he did not want to hurt an old friend?” Cara´s voice was razor-sharp as she didn´t hold back her anger. It was clear that if she had taken care of Todd, he would most certainly not be able now to run to his master and report what he had come to know - that the Confessor had returned and a Mord Sith was at her side...
Haron didn´t even twitch a muscle at her words, for Kahlan gave a pained groan in this moment and he had only eyes for her.
Wheezing, the Confessor tried to sit up, but sacked back with a moan and his hands held her down.
“You´re bleeding, Mistress. You should not move.”
The deep frown on Cara´s face only deepened as she looked the brunette over. Blood was seeping from her shoulder and her white gown had already taken a deep red dye where the arrow had pierced her. The Mord Sith chewed on her lip, considering to remove the already broken arrow right here and now. But she decided against it. Standing, she looked down at Haron and Kahlan, whose eyes fluttered again before she fainted with a sigh. Cara´s eyes were flashing dark green daggers at Haron.
“You will carry her. I will distract them, but you need to hurry. Do not touch the broken end of the arrow. As long as it stays stuck, it will reduce the bleeding” Rising her brows she waited for his short not of understanding. Only when she received it, she turned and looked around.
In their back was the village, and soon enough there would all the soldiers be coming that had been in town, that was for sure. Further on the road they had been on, she would flee with the two horses, hoping they wouldn´t take the time to examine her tracks and discover this was a trick. So, Haron would need to take another route to hide his Mistress...
Though there was no road. He would have to run through the woods...
Cara thought about the risks, but at least she shrugged to herself. They had no great choice. And no time.
“Do you see that hill with the three trees on its top?” Haron followed her pointing finger and nodded.
“I will meet you on the other side. Search for a hole in the rocks, maybe a small cave or a few trees standing closely together... and stay there. See to it that she drinks some water...I will find you.”
He stared at her wide-eyed, then at Kahlan and whispered anxiously:
“Will she live?”
The blonde rolled her eyes. There was this mountain of a man and held the heart of a frightened child, scared to death that his Mistress would die, while he should hope she did, for that would mean his freedom...
Though, while her eyes settled on Kahlan´s pale face and studied the slight trembling of her lips as she hardly breathed, the Mord Sith hesitated. What if he was right in his fear?
What if Kahlan died?
For a tiny moment Cara felt her chest tightening a little, her brows furrowing while her eyes narrowed on the unconscious woman; but quickly her lips pressed into a small line, defiance written on her features. The Confessor would not dare to die, not if she had a word in it. She straightened and nodded curtly.
“She will. If only you hurry up! Now go!”
Not looking back she mounted her horse, grabbing the reins of the second beast and put spurs to the steed. It let out a snort, but it willingly turned around and galloped away.
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After riding for one more candle-mark to put their followers off the scent, Cara stopped shortly to bind the horses together, fixing a not too small branch to one of their tails to make them run. She herself returned to Haron and Kahlan not long after sun had set. Haron had been hiding in a tiny hole in the rocks, not daring to light a fire, and if Cara hadn´t been looking out for them, she would have possibly missed them. He said Kahlan had been conscious a few times soon after he had settled here, but she passed out again and again. Cara had seen a sheltered cavern on her way and so they moved to find it and finally settled there. The blonde was almost sure that the soldiers they had met in Oakfell wouldn´t search for them that far away from the road...
Well, almost sure... Though, there was a tension she was feeling, listening to the sounds of nature that increased as night became darker, as her uneasiness grew with each shallow breath the Confessor took.
Hardly restraining herself she interrogated him sharply, demanding answers about his past and his quest when they had found him, while she carefully examined Kahlan´s wound. All the while she felt her anger eating her up. Wanting to stab her agiel into Haron´s balls for he was the one who had caused this mess.
Haron had been one of Rahl´s best men. He was the son of a duke, who had sold him to Lord Rahl before he had reached his tenth year. Putting him into one of his education camps, Rahl had quickly discovered that Haron had a marked preference for bullying his companions. He was strong, with a readiness of mind that was quite unprecedented. And, seeing his rude and reckless attempts to get his attention, he soon became Rahl´s favorite pupil. Though, since he was an exceptionally gifted actor, Rahl had sent him several times to be his eyes and his ears when he felt trouble rising in a particular region. And Haron had thoroughly proven his loyalty. For Rahl he had killed Kelton´s leader together with his whole family, women and children included; until people admitted Rahl´s claim on their lands; and single-handedly he had extinguished a whole spawn of rebels in the forests of Clearwater. Killing each and every one and putting their heads on spikes so that people could see them and think twice before they planned another rebellion...
And without showing any emotion, he had told her of the quest he had been sent on before his confession.
He had been ordered to find the rebellion´s heart, the Fox Den, as it was called;
Rahl had searched for a few gawks, silly enough to not look behind his disguise and had given them a hard time, while some of his spies pitched a life with the rebellion to them. Until their leader had been worn down and announced their departure. Asking who would join him, Haron had been only one out of seven and no one assumed him a spy.
His task had been to worm his way into the Fox Den and their leader´s confidence, which no one had succeeded before.
Obviously the rebels had a keen sense for rats in their rows. The few spies who had managed to find their hideout had been returned to him, their dead bodies nakedly bound to a horse and besmirched with muck all over. Never had a spy returned to give him any information...
Though, Haron had known that his Master had put great expectations into him. And Haron had been sure he would deliver...And then, having gathered enough information, he would have sent for Rahl to finally get them and erase them.
But before it had come so far, he had met Kahlan.
Haron answered all her questions without hesitation. He even shown her Rahl´s brand, the sword of truth, that graced his upper biceps. Emotionless. His eyes being glued to the face of his mistress. And Cara slowly recognized that he would have answered before, if only they had asked him. But, being bound to Kahlan as he was, he had done whatever his new goddess had asked him, putting everything else, including his former life, aside. But they had never thought of asking him about his own, personal life. All they had wanted to know had been about Rahl, about how people lived these times, about politics and history. Not his own experiences...
Her anger boiled, but she knew better than to let him eat her agiel as it had been her first intention. Confessed as he was, he would not betray them. Not for his own life... And she possibly needed him to carry Kahlan while she was too weak to walk.
So she demanded him to watch out while she took care of the Confessor.
With her jaw set - and much more regard than she would have thought herself - she stripped Kahlan from the white gown that was drenched with her blood; having repeatedly dried and soaked again, as her wound had started bleeding again and again while she had been moved.
Cara new how to treat wounds. All her life she had been a warrior, and her sisters as much as she herself had been in need of thorough treatments after a fight sometimes. She knew the pain one felt when an arrow had to be ripped out of their flesh. And as far as she had come to know the Confessor, she was quite sure Kahlan knew many truths about these pains, too.
Though she was glad that the woman was unconscious.
Though, she would probably faint anyway.
Catching herself with that slight feeling of concern, the blonde narrowed her eyes on her own hands and bit her lower lip.
The skin below the gown was of a paleness as Cara had never seen one before. Glowing in an almost creamy white, like the most precious porcelain she had seen in the People´s Palace, and occupied by tiny freckles. The touch to it so soft and warm that a frown crossed her forehead while she moved her fingers over her shoulder.
Thoughtfully Cara stared at that skin. Sparks of memories running through her mind. She remembered the days, when stripping a sister would have promised a night filled with pleasure or pain, or perhaps both of it...
The beauty of a female body was something she had always appreciated. And to say Kahlan was beautiful did not even touch the truth. Which she had noticed long before she had seen it in nothing more than the leather corset that hid her chest and stomach now. These past weeks in the company of that woman, the blonde had more than once more or less openly eyed her slender form, her strong and well defined limbs, the litheness of her moves. Thinking to herself that the confessor was a beauty. And thinking about beautiful women sometimes stirred some sort of heat in the Mord Sith. Her sisters had shared that feeling with her. Pleasure had been their bond as much as pain had been.
Suddenly she felt very aware of all the time that had passed since she had last felt the pleasure in the arms of one of her sisters. With her eyes still narrowed, showing an expression that was rather riled, her eyes slid over Kahlan´s chest, along her neckline, resting on her face, following a tiny pearl of sweat that made its way from her forehead down along her temple...
When a low moan fell from the Confessor´s lips Cara briefly winced. Feeling slightly embarrassed as if caught with the hand in a cooky-box.
For a moment her lips pressed into a small line; derisively scolding herself for letting her mind get lost if ever so slightly.
She´s a Confessor! Confessors are not beautiful - They are deadly!
And forcing herself to focus on the task at hand she grabbed it tightly and quickly jerked the broken end of the arrow out of Kahlan´s shoulder. Ignoring her pained groan as much as she ignored Haron´s mad eyes while she applied a scanty bandage. Cara wrapped the brunette in one of their blankets and stood, dropping the gown at Haron´s feet.
“Go. Clean it for your Mistress.”
::::::::::::
The hill had long since fallen into darkness. A pale moon sighed its bashful light through the trees, barely lightening her way as she slowly and carefully approached the man at the fire. She had watched him for almost half a candle mark. He was unaware of her, his gaze never loosening its hold on the pale face of the woman he held in his arms and gently cradled back and forth, whispering his sorries for something. She didn´t know what he had done but wondered why he was so sad over the injured woman.
She had quickly identified him as Rahl´s man. Not only had she seen his west, which was ragged and tattered, but still held the color of Rahl under all its filth. It could have been the loot of a gambling, or even the price of a fight, but she had seen the small brand on his upper arm. It was not a tattoo like she had seen some on the skin of some men of the resistance. It was formed like a sword and if one looked closely they would see the letters I A Y T.
“I AM YOUR TRUTH”
Lord Rahl only put it onto his most staunchly men. On those, who had proved their loyalty in the most atrocious tasks; who saw it as an honor to carry his sign...
If he carried the brand, he was most certainly one of the monsters she had sworn to kill whenever she got the chance.
Though she hesitated.
The question at hands was:
Was it possible that a man from Rahl´s inner circle hold the Confessor in his arms, almost weeping in despair?
A sudden low, threatening growl to her right warned her just in time to let herself fall down and roll quickly to the left.
The agiel that came striking with an eerie whine just grazed her thigh, but she heard her own howl at the sudden pain. Immediately another growl answered and Cara, standing over the girl she had just attacked and already grinning smugly, found herself attacked in return.
Though, her opponent was not human...
“Stop!”
The girl yelled shortly.
The large grey wolf, already leaping through the air towards the Mord Sith, wasn´t able to interrupt its attack; it´s momentum took the beast forward and it landed heavily on Cara, scratching at the leather over her belly and pulling her to the ground. Growling threateningly, it picked itself up immediately and retreated a few steps, before Cara´s agiel could touch it.
The blonde shortly held her breath, shocked; lying perfectly still, carefully watching the animal retreat and standing with its whole body tense and its lips drawn up, hackles risen, showing sharp white fangs, a few steps away.
“It´s okay. She will not attack you again.” The girl´s voice was low and guarded and held a dark timbre. Cara stared at the wolf as if she was seeing a ghost. Slowly she stood, her eyes still being glued to the beast, not trusting that the animal wouldn´t try another move.
“Who are you?”
“A friend.”
“A friend? ... lurking in the shadows of the night? For what? Killing us with the help of this beast?”
The girl smiled leniently. Cara could hear it in her voice as she stepped with her back to the Mord Sith and gently laid her hand on the large wolf´s head. Her red hair shimmered in the weak light of the fire burning behind a few trees.
“If we wanted to kill you, you would be dead by now. But we don´t. We were sent to help you.”
She turned and lifted her hands, a gesture, well known in all the lands for a sign of being unarmed and peaceful.
She´s a child! What in the Keeper´s name...
Cara´s eyes had widened. Her eyebrows climbed up her forehead, but she didn´t say a word. Instead, after a few heartbeats, she turned as if that girl wasn´t worth her attention and dared to show them her back as she walked back to the fire.
Much to her surprise Haron had put Kahlan to the ground as he had heard the little noises caused by their short fight. He had pulled his ax and now stood rooted to the spot, his eyes staring at a second wolf that threatened him with its muzzle half opened, its sharp teeth sparkling and a deep dark growl following every slight twitch of one of his muscles.
“Take it away. If you want it to live, take the beast away. I will strike it dead if it comes closer!”
He didn´t sound as if scared. Not for himself. But it was obvious, that he wouldn´t hesitate to defend his mistress...
A low hiss came from the girl and the wolf´s ears twitched once, before the threatening tension left its body and it turned around to run to the girl.
Haron sighed relieved. Though, since the beast didn´t threat him nor Kahlan any more, he left it to Cara to take care of their visitor and sat down again, letting his ax drop to the ground and watching carefully Kahlan´s face for any change.
The Confessor breathed shallowly, a low moan escaped her lips time and again.
Cara threw a glare at the girl before she kneeled beside Kahlan, pushing a water-skin to her lips and waiting for her to swallow some of the liquid.
“What happened to her?”
“She caught an arrow.”
“In Oakfell?”
Cara looked over her shoulder, frowning suspiciously.
“How do you...?”
“We have spies in town. Your flight has been watched and reported when I came along.” She stepped closer. “May I?”
Only reluctantly Cara skidded a little side wards and allowed the strange girl to sit beside Kahlan, watching every move she made. The two wolves had lain down beside their fire, observing them attentively.
The Mord Sith had her eyes narrowed. She searched her mind for any sign why she should mistrust the girl, but didn´t find a reason. With two wolves at her side, that seemed to obey her unconditionally, she could have attacked them much earlier. And could have killed them even, perhaps.
Though, Cara had sensed someone being somewhere in the bushes and, knowing that it was rather a foe than a friend, had pretended to go to relieve herself. And as she circled the girl´s position to attack her from behind, she had felt someone following her. That it had been a tamed wolf, had been quite a shock. Even a Mord Sith was not used to be attacked by a beast like that...
The girl carefully peeled the bandage and examined Kahlan´s wound, nodding and murmuring words to herself that Cara couldn´t hear clearly. Than she pulled the bag she wore twined round her shoulder and rummaged through its insides. The box she pulled out and opened smelled of herbs and something keen that reminded Cara of the balm they had used in their temples to ease the pain after a training day in the dungeons.
This girl knew how to treat wounds, so much was clear.
Vigilantly Haron watched her every move, his hand clenching the heel of his ax, just in case...
Cara let her eyes wander to the beasts, that seemed wary and cautious, their stiff bodies speaking a language that she knew all too well. The one that had jumped on her met her gaze and pulled its lips up. The blonde understood the warning immediately. She would not risk to nettle them as long as the girl didn´t provoke it...
Who was she?
She had approached with the skills of someone who was used to sneak up on strangers. The Mord Sith was sure, if it had been Haron or the Confessor alone, they wouldn´t have caught the slight crack of a twig or the tension that had suddenly lain in the air, as she had. She had long red curls, that were loosely tied into a pony tail. Some stubborn strands dangling before her face as she bit her lower lip in concentration. They shimmered like tiny flames. Her brown eyes had shown a trace of mistrust while watching Haron, though as soon as she had set eyes on Kahlan the blonde had seen a warm, relieved smile playing on her lips. She was young, hardly a woman; Cara thought her in her seventeenth year. She traveled alone with two wolves and purported to be a friend; sent to help them. And obviously she had searched for Kahlan.
Though, who in the Keeper´s name would send help for a woman of whom it was said that she had died almost forty years ago?
The Mord Sith glared at her. Impatiently waiting until their visitor finished Kahlan´s treatment.
Finally the girl eyed her work satisfied and gave Haron a brief, stern nod, allowing him to appraise the new bandage.
Standing, she glanced at Cara from warm brown eyes, that held a sparkle of gold. Shrugging almost apologetically, she adumbrated a small, unsure smile.
“She needs to rest. Probably she will fall into a fever. But that will help to fight the infection she already caught. I just hope it won´t be too serious. Though... I am afraid that we can´t stay here. Here we are still too close to Oakfell. We must fear that a drunken soldier might stumble into our light. I... There is a cave where we will find supplies and horses, just 2 leagues from here.”
Cara gave her a stare. Her hand had clenched around the hilt of her weapon as if she hardly overcame the temptation to use it.
Who was this girl thinking she was, that she dared telling her what to do? And why would she even consider to follow a strange girl into a cave, with two wild beasts possibly?
Folding her arms she glared at her, tilting her head; snarling sarcastically:
“And why was it exactly that I should trust you?”
She pointed at the wolves. The large grey one, that had jumped on her before, just yawned intensely.
“You - or your beasts? Who tried to attack us in the darkness?” The look from her eyes was cold and keen. She literally dared the girl to do a wrong move.
Chewing on her lower lip the red haired looked into her eyes. Her expression was calm, but stern. Much too stern for a girl of her age, as Cara thought. It felt as if in her eyes there lay a wisdom that came from struggling years after years to survive. She showed no fear. Not because she would not sense the danger that emanated from the blonde Mord Sith, but because she had lived through too much fear before to be scared by this woman any more...
Finally a small smile that didn´t reach her eyes settled on her features. She sighed and sat down, looking up at Cara.
“You are right. There is no reason for you to trust me. I´ve been warned that you wouldn´t. But as you´ve already noticed: I am young, and I wear no weapons except for that knife you can see at my hip.” She turned a little, to show Cara that knife, but carefully kept her hands away from it.
“I am just an ambassador. We knew you were coming, we just didn´t know when exactly. The rebellion awaits her. I´ve been living in that cave I spoke of for almost half a year now; waiting. And watching out for her. It was planned that I bring her into the Fox Den before anyone becomes aware that she´s returned.” She shook her head, sending Cara a sheepish glance. “I am sorry I failed. I just didn´t expect you to run into every small village to confess young leaders. Maybe I should have known better... They told me you are quite... unpredictable.”
“Who told you?”
“My friends. - Her friends.”
“How did they know about us?”
“Prophecy. Foreseeing. Whatever. But it was the only hope we have had all these years.”
“It is the Confessor you´ve waited for!?”
The girl nodded, and Cara saw a trace of amusement glinting in her eyes.
“It was for sure that the Mord Sith that vanished together with her, would arrive together with her. Though the chance that you would come to traveling together was...tiny. But I am happy you decided to become friends. You and your kind were known for being famous warriors with great skills...”
“Mord Sith never had friends...” Cara dropped coldly.
“That might be one reason why they are no more...” The deadly glare she received only caused her to shrug.
“Never mind. Though...” she inhaled deeply.
“My name is Renée. I am member of the Fox Den, and I am here to invite you to join us and fight Lord Rahl. It´s our goal to destroy him, to finally put an end to his rein of pain and pressure, to free our lands from the tyrant.”
Cara pursed her lips, watching Renée straightening and setting her jaw. This girl owned some courage, and that she appreciated. She saw her proud, decided expression and couldn´t help a smug grin.
Looking back at Kahlan, she thought about their choices...
“Than be it. We will bring the Confessor into that cave and wait until she´s better. I am sure she will have a say in your plans, too.
Come on, Haron, move! We´re leaving. You will carry your mistress...”
Glaring at Renée she grinned coldly.
“Though, if this is a trap, I will make you regret it. And even your pets won´t hinder me. Am I clear?”
Renée nodded sternly, but the she-wolf at her side pulled its lips up and Cara could have sworn it grinned derisively...
t.b.c.