Uncertainty (17/?) part 2
Title: Uncertainty (17/?)
Author: misanagy
Pairing: Cara/Kahlan
Rating: R
Length: 10.584 words
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Terry Goodkind and ABC/Disney.
Summary: After “Desecrated”, the merry band continues the search for the Stone of Tears, but along the way other things will be discovered and new people will appear in their lives.
AN: Yes, I’m still alive. I’m so sorry it took me SO long to post this chapter, but between writing it and getting it beated, well… all this time passed. But this story will surely be finished. I want to thank you guys for my award at the 2012 Lot Seekerfic Awards, I was so excited and happy about it! I also want to thank aww_frak_it for beating this chapter for me: thank you kitten, for betaing and for supporting my writing always :)
"You failed me," Darken Rahl hissed menacingly, putting the soul of the once baneling on fire.
"I'm sorry, my Lord, we didn't stand a chance," he apologized in between screams of agony. "They bested us all in combat and that Mord'Sith looked like she was possessed, she came at us with a rage only matched by savage animals."
"I see, Cara always did have a temper," Darken Rahl agreed conversationally, renewing the flames on the dead man's absentmindedly. "And I'm sure she didn't appreciate you threatening her new lady love," he said disgustingly. "For some reason blonde Mord'Sith were always the feistiest ones," he smirked, turning away as if bored with the torture he was inflicting on the dead man's soul.
"I'm not talking about the blonde," the man corrected weakly, surrounding himself with his arms as if trying to protect himself from the flames. "I'm talking about the other one - the brunette with a rage problem."
"A brunette Mord'Sith?" Darken swiveled quickly towards the man, a threatening ball of fire forming again in his hand. "A name?"
"I heard them call her Sarah," the man quickly replied, eyeing the ball of fire with terror in his eyes.
"Sarah," Darken rolled the name on his tongue and glanced away thoughtfully. "I'm sure my new acquainted friend Farkas will like to hear this detail."
Kahlan served Alys a bowl of the hot stew Zedd had just made for dinner and smiled at the grateful blonde. Looking at the group gathered around the fire, welcoming the warmth and light, she noticed that there was still one absence.
Cara.
Looking in the direction of the trees, she could see the Mord'Sith's straight back, alert to any possible danger. Kahlan smiled tiredly and put some stew in another bowl, and with one last glance at the chatting group she approached Cara with the steaming food.
"At least eat something," Kahlan said as she offered the bowl to Cara, who smiled slightly and took it in her hands. "We haven't been attacked again since this morning, why don't you come sit by the fire and rest?" Kahlan suggested to the stubborn Mord'Sith.
"I don't want to risk it," Cara said, scanning the night around them. "That maniac of a wizard wants you dead and I'm not going to let that happen," she added, turning to look into Kahlan's eyes.
"He won't get to me," Kahlan brushed blonde locks from Cara's face tenderly. "Not when I'm surrounded by all of you," the Confessor pointedly looked at the circle of people eating and conversing around the fire.
"Okay, I'll eat this sitting down," Cara agreed after a moment, looking down doubtfully at the stew. "What weird root did the wizard put in today?" she asked with a scrunched nose.
Kahlan chuckled fondly and cupped the Mord'Sith's chin, kissing Cara's lips gently. She felt Cara's gloved hand on her waist, warm from holding the bowl. Parting her lips slightly, the brunette let her tongue tease her lover's full lips until Cara let her own tongue meet Kahlan's for a slow and sensual kiss.
After a few moments of tender reassurance, Kahlan pulled back from the kiss and rested her forehead on Cara's. Sighing with a content smile, the Confessor couldn't help but peck Cara's lips again and grinned when Cara placed a series of small kisses along her jaw.
"Let's sit with the others," Kahlan whispered, turning slightly to kiss Cara's cheek. "Alys was telling Sarah about her adventures since she got here," Kahlan chuckled, looking at her daughter and noticing that Sarah was gently scolding the little blonde about something.
"We still have to discover a few things about those two," Cara said as she too looked at the two girls bickering by the fire. "I'm getting tired of their half explanations," she drawled and placed one hand on Kahlan's lower back to gently guide the brunette towards the others.
"Maybe you could use your bluntness to ask a few questions," Kahlan suggested with a teasing glint in her eyes as she looked at Cara's smirking face. "Just don't overdo it," she added, chuckling when Cara's expression noticeably fell.
As they got close to the fire, they looked at each other and shared a knowing look as they heard Sarah bluntly ask Alys some questions, her expression resembling Cara's a lot. Sitting down side by side, both women joined Zedd and Richard in listening the conversation between the two girls.
"What were you doing in the Wizard's Keep that time of the day?" Sarah asked Alys suspiciously. "Weren't you supposed to be in the throne room, watching the Mother Confessor in her hearings and learning how to be a Confessor?" she grinned as Alys started to squirm awkwardly in her seat.
"I was in the throne room," Alys stammered, not fully meeting Sarah's eyes. "But she told me I could leave," Alys clarified, nodding in Kahlan's direction.
"She would never just let you skip the hearings," Sarah mused skeptically. "How did you get out of there, midget?" Sarah pressed with a grin, knowing that the little blonde wasn't telling her everything.
"Stop calling me that!" Alys whined and hit Sarah in the arm, making the older girl chuckle. "I just told her I had to go to the bathroom," she shrugged in fake innocence.
"So you walked all the way to the Wizard's Keep just to go to the bathroom?" Sarah said with a raised eyebrow. "You little liar," Sarah chuckled. "You're not supposed to deceive the Mother Confessor like that," she mock admonished.
"I didn't lie," Alys shook her head. "If I had lied she would have known and I wouldn't leave the room for the rest of the day," she said as her eyes widened in slight horror.
"When did you get so cunning?" Sarah nudged the blonde Confessor with her shoulder.
"From watching you do it all the time," Alys deadpanned with a shrug, effectively wiping Sarah's grin from the older girl's face and making the adults laugh.
"Clever," Cara commented. "Lying with the truth is the only way to lie to a Confessor," she added, nodding approvingly at Alys, which got her shocked looks from both girls before they burst out laughing.
"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to encourage that type of behavior," Kahlan reprimanded Cara, but wasn't able to hide her smile as Cara actually considered this.
"Sitting hours on end while listening to people whine about anything and everything would bore me to death," the blonde Mord'Sith said with raised eyebrows. "I can't really blame Alys," she shrugged.
"I love it when you talk," Sarah grinned widely and looked at Cara with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Yep," Alys agreed, enthusiastically nodding her head. "I love the way you think," she added, giggling when she saw Cara sigh in understanding and roll her eyes.
"Something tells me you'll regret those words in the future," Kahlan told Cara and chuckled when the older blonde shot her a mock stern look.
"Anyway, I don't have to put so much trouble anymore into deceiving you," Sarah said smugly at Kahlan. "Now I can't just lie, because you can't read me," she said and looked victoriously at a frowning Alys.
"Since you both are disclosing your sneaky ways in front of me, doesn't that mean that I will remember and probably do something about it in the future?" Kahlan pointed out with a grin.
Alys's eyes widened and she quickly clamped her mouth shut with both hands, looking up at Sarah worriedly. The brunette Mord'Sith just stared at Kahlan for a moment, the cogs in her head working at full speed.
"I guess," Sarah said finally, turning to look questioningly at Zedd. "But you don't remember this, otherwise you would never let me or Alys get sucked into the past, you would have prevented it from happening," she justified her reasoning and looked back at Kahlan.
"As I explained before," Zedd chimed in. "The Triangle of Anuyr severs the space continuum, making our actions have no repercussion in the future until the time line is restored once again," he said calmly. "Until that happens, our future selves won't remember what happened here and no changes done here will happen in the future. We are as if in a limbo and I'm guessing we'll stay like that until Farkas completes his mission and get's back to the future to use the Triangle to fix the tear he made in the fabric of time."
"Either that, or," Sarah mused. "We get back to the future to a day before all of this happened; that way we avoid it and we never come here in the first place," she explained, convinced that that was the best option.
"That's impossible my child," Zedd shook his head. "That's not how the Triangle of Anuyr works; you can only travel in time in periods of years, so when you do go back to the future, the days you spent here would have passed in the future too. You'll appear in the future exactly twenty years from the day we open the portal."
"Wait, that means that whatever happened in the future since Alys and I got into the portal would still have happened?" Sarah asked nervously, her voice clearly quivering with each word and attracting worried glances from everyone. "We can't go back and erase those days?"
"The only way you could try to prevent this from happening is by going to the future one year previous to the accident and warn someone about it." The wizard theorized. "But that's a dangerous thing to do, there's no way to predict how that would interfere with the natural course of things," Zedd frowned, clearly not inclined to pursue that option.
"I don't care about the 'course of things'," Sarah said angrily, getting up from her seat and pacing back and forth as her voice got firmer from the anger building inside her. "If it's possible to do, that's what we'll do," she stated assertively.
"What does it matter anyway?" Cara interrupted, wondering why Sarah was getting so upset about this. "Isn't getting to your time the most important thing? What difference does a few weeks make?" Cara asked, standing from her seat.
"It makes all the difference," Sarah shouted back, the tears visible sliding down her face.
Cara took a few steps towards the girl and grabbed her upper arm. "Are you going to tell us why it's such a big deal?" Cara asked, a little annoyed by the girl's secrecy but also increasingly worried.
Sarah turned brusquely, shoving Cara's arm off her arm in the process, and pushed forcibly in the blonde's stomach, making Cara take a step back.
"You died in my arms that day," Sarah said in a strangled whisper, tears falling freely down her face.
Cara stood looking in shock at the distressed teen. Instinctively the blonde embraced Sarah and held her daughter securely in her arms as the brunette cried. Looking back at Kahlan, the Mord'Sith could see a similar look of shock on the Confessor's eyes. Kahlan swallowed hard, Sarah's whisper being heard loud and clear in the silence of the night.
"Why did you die?" she pleaded desperately, hitting Cara on the shoulder. "Why weren't you more careful? You are always telling me to not rush into things and you just went there without thinking and let the arrows pierce you!" she cried, hitting Cara repeatedly.
"You're lying!" Alys shouted and ran towards Sarah before Kahlan could get a hold of her. "Tell me you're lying!" the blonde girl begged as sunk her fingers in the teen's leather.
"I'm so sorry, Alys," Sarah whispered, kneeling down to be at the child's eye level. "You have every right to me mad at me-"
"I am!" Alys sobbed and pushed Sarah angrily. "You hide this from me!" she shook her head; still not knowing if this was really happening or was just a really bad dream.
"Because I thought it could be fixed," Sarah justified weakly, clearly hurt by seeing Alys so upset. "I thought we could-"
"She's really…?" Alys interrupted in a strangled whisper and glanced at Cara, not able to utter the dreaded word.
Sarah just nodded slightly and opened her arms invitingly, to what the young Confessor wasted no time in falling in, sobbing painfully.
Kahlan swallowed her own tears, knowing by looking at the completely distraught girls and at a still stunned Cara that she had to be strong for them. The Confessor noticed Richard standing up to approach the girls, but she made him stop with a kind gesture and a grateful smile. Turning back to her lover, the brunette grabbed Cara's hand and squeezed it tightly, showing the blonde that she was there for her and that Cara could lean on her. After Cara had squeezed her hand back with as much force, Kahlan kissed the Mord'Sith's shoulder knowing that the blonde was not taking this news lightly.
Without letting go of Cara's hand, Kahlan rubbed Alys's back soothingly and shared a look of understanding when Sarah looked up at her. Nodding silently to the fire, Kahlan let Sarah know that they should sit and talk about what happened to Cara in the future. Knowing that the teen understood her plea, Kahlan whispered a few reassuring nothings to Alys and watched as Sarah effortlessly picked up the blonde child and carried her to sit on a log next to the fire.
"We'll hear what happened from Sarah and then find out what we can do to prevent it from happening," Kahlan told Cara in a clear but slighty shaky voice.
Cara looked into Kahlan's eyes for a moment, drawing the strength she surprised herself by needing. The thought of dying had never bothered her before; actually at times she had welcomed it. But now, with Kahlan by her side and looking at Sarah, the thought of dying terrified her more than she dared to admit even to herself. Nodding slightly to acknowledge Kahlan's words, Cara squeezed the brunette's hand one more time and followed Kahlan to sit back by the fire.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Cara asked Sarah as she sat beside the girl.
Sarah just nodded and sniffled, kissing Alys' head as Kahlan took the blonde child in her arms and sat down on Sarah's other side. With one last look at Alys, Sarah turned to face Cara with eyes full of sorrow.
"You and I were there when Farkas shoved Alys into the portal," Sarah started, her unfocused gaze shifting to the fire as she recalled what had happened. "We were walking through the halls of the Wizard's Keep when we heard muffled noises coming from a chamber," she paused for a second and glanced at Cara. "You told me to wait for you while you went to check on it, but I only waited for five seconds before I followed you," she confessed and shrugged apologetically, making Cara nod encouragingly for her to continue. "When I turned a corner I heard you scream Alys's name and ran towards the sound. I saw when you were about to pass the threshold of the door…" her voice stated to quiver again. "Three arrows came out of nowhere and carved into you," Sarah sobbed, relieving her mother's death making the pain almost unbearable.
Cara pulled Sarah against her side into a comforting hug, letting the girl calm down a little before continuing. Lifting her eyes to Kahlan she could see the shimmering tear tracks on the Confessor's apparently calm face as Kahlan repeatedly stroked her daughter's golden hair. Shifting her eyes to Zedd, Cara noticed the pursed lips that often were a sign of the wizard being in deep thought about something. And Richard… she had to smile inwardly as she also spotted tear tracks on her friend's face; hurt or not, Richard still cared a great deal about her. The blonde turned her attention back to her daughter and Sarah cleared her throat to continue speaking.
"Farkas threw Alys into the portal, following right behind her," Sarah continued and looked back at Cara. "I caught you before you hit the floor… there was so much blood," she shook her head as her eyes glazed with the memory. "You told me to help Alys and that you were proud of me, then you died in my arms," she sobbed again, her voice becoming louder as she got more and more upset. "You just died and left me there. So I did what you asked of me… I just jumped into the portal as it was closing to find Alys and get her home; so that you could be proud of me, because how could you be in that moment? I never saved you, I was too late, I let you die in my arms and all I did was watch you die," she rambled as she sobbed, her desperation at not being able to save her mother clear in every word.
"I'm sure there was nothing you could do," Cara tried to reassure, but Sarah was having none of it.
"We tried before to see if I could give the Breath of Life and I couldn't, but I didn't even try it," Sarah shouted frantically. "I watched you die and I didn't even try to bring you back, I just jumped in the portal before it could close," she explained, shaking Cara's arm as if trying to convey the gravity of it with the gesture.
"You jumped to help Alys," Cara grabbed Sarah's arms and fixed her with her eyes.
"I left you, I didn't try to bring you back.," Sarah repeated, shaking her head. "I have to try now, so what can we do to prevent it?" she desperately asked Zedd.
"I've been here thinking hard about it, my child," Zedd said somberly, his eyes shining from the tears he was holding back. "There's no 'preventing it', because it already happened," he explained, his eyes trying to convey hope he couldn't find anywhere. "We can't avoid Cara's death," he stated sorrowfully.
"No! Think harder!" Sarah stood, her hands balling into tight fists. "There has to be something we can do," she said, gritting her teeth as Zedd shook his head. "I don't care what you say! Whatever it takes and however hard it may seem, I have to try," she insisted defiantly. "I have to," she whispered as a sob broke from her chest.
"You don't understand sweetie," Kahlan said jumped in, trying to calm Sarah. "There're some things we can't mess with," she said in a strangled voice, the thought of doing nothing to prevent Cara's death breaking her, but if Zedd didn't have an answer the hopes of one existing were very low.
"No," Sarah refused to be consoled. "You're the one who doesn't understand," she turned and pointed at Kahlan. "You think you feel bad now?" she asked. "Twenty years from now you'll be miserable after losing your family," she forced out with a sob while pointing at Alys. "And I can't leave you feeling like that, can't you see? I have to help you too," she said sadly, leaving Kahlan speechless.
"Sarah, this is not your weight to bear alone," Richard interjected softly, trying to reassure the girl that she was not alone, although she seemed to think otherwise. "We'll help you and Alys to get back-"
"Will you help me bring my mother back to me?" Sarah interrupted harshly. Richard looked reluctantly at her, his lips pursed helplessly. "Then don't say that you'll help me, because getting home it's not my biggest problem," she shook he head with sadness filling her eyes.
"Kahlan is right child," Zedd affirmed. "There's just some things that, even if we can, we shouldn't mess with," he said under Sarah's piercing gaze.
"You're hiding something from me," Sarah said surely. "What do you know, Zedd?" the teen insisted, her green eyes, even young, pinning Zedd to his seat.
"Zedd," Kahlan said almost in warning, letting the wizard know her powers also had let her know with certainty that he was not sharing the whole truth of his knowledge.
"I suppose there's always ways to bend time to our own liking," Zedd admitted reluctantly, adding quickly as Sarah's eyes lit up. "But those ways are dangerous and often do more damage than good," he warned strictly. "Only someone as mad as Shota would attempt them," he muttered almost to himself.
"Shota?" Sarah frowned, thinking why that name was so familiar.
"The Agaden Reach witch!" Alys jumped up from Kahlan's lap in excitement.
"Agaden Reach," Sarah muttered. "That's in the Rang'Shada Mountains; we can go there," Sarah turned to Cara with a hopeful smile.
"You're talking madness, my child," Zedd reprimanded. "Shota is not to be trusted!"
"But if she knows a way we have to try!" Sarah stubbornly replied to the wizard.
"Sarah," Cara said calmly. "Zedd's right, that woman is a snake," the blonde agreed, watching as Sarah and Alys's face fell.
"I think we all need to cool our heads and rest," Kahlan advised, resting her hands on Sarah's shoulders. "Tomorrow we'll see what we can come up with," she assured the teen, relieved when the young brunette nodded.
"I'll take the first shift," Richard said with a sad smile. "You guys should rest," he added as he walked towards the tree line, squeezing Cara's shoulder in a show of companionship as he passed her and whispering. "We'll find a way," he promised, earning him a grateful nod.
She was still looking at Richard's retreating form as a small body slammed against her legs. Looking down, she found Alys surrounding her legs with her arms and looking up at her with big eyes.
"Can I sleep with you?" the young Confessor asked, making Cara smile.
"I'm still not tired," Cara said as knelt down and continued as Alys pouted, "but I promise I'll lay down next to you when I do feel tired, okay?" she promised and smiled again as Alys nodded with a small smile and went to Sarah's side.
"Go sleep now, baby girl," Kahlan cupped Alys' chin and kissed her daughter's face. "And you too sweetie," she stuck a strand of hair behind Sarah's ear. "You're exhausted, aren't you?" she pointed out as Sarah nodded.
"We're not done talking about this," Sarah warned, looking from Kahlan to Cara and ended up staring at Zedd.
"The light of the day shall illuminate our minds," Zedd agreed in his own way, making Sarah raise one eyebrow but ending up walking to her own bedroll, taking Alys with her.
"You should rest too, Zedd," Kahlan said, noticing the wizard's heavy expression due to the bad news.
"I should," Zedd nodded. "My dear…" he hesitated as he addressed Cara.
"Not holding my breath for miracles, wizard," Cara drawled and crossed her arms, knowing that Zedd wanted to comfort her and oddly enough, she welcomed it even if she wouldn't let him finish.
"You're certainly wiser than I gave you credit for when I first met you," Zedd chuckled lightly and tapped Cara's back amicably as he passed her by.
"Don't hold your breath for a 'thank you' either," Cara shot back and chuckled when all Zedd did was snort and lay down on his bedroll.
Kahlan rested her hands on the Mord'Sith's crossed arms and got closer to the blonde. In the silence of the night, Kahlan looked into Cara's eyes and told her with one look what a thousand words couldn't even began to express.
"We'll save you," she promised, her throat closing from emotion. "I'm not going to loose you," she shook her head in denial.
"I'm here with you now," Cara replied, uncrossing her arms and circling Kahlan's waist to pull the Confessor's shivering body to her. "And I was never afraid of death," Cara added with what she hoped was a serious tone.
"But you are now," Kahlan stated softly as she circled Cara's neck with one arm and stroked the blonde's face with her hand.
"I don't want to lose you either," the Mord'Sith replied with a light shrug. "I don't know what's going to happen in the future," she paused. "Except for my death," she added in an attempt at bad humor, earning a soft glare from Kahlan. "All I know is that I don't want to lose you," she said and kissed Kahlan gently.
Kahlan tightened her hold on Cara and kissed the blonde back with more intensity. She could feel a tear falling down her cheek and smiled into the kiss as she felt Cara's hand come up and swipe the tear away tenderly. Ending the kiss, the Confessor stood for a few moments, just looking into the green orbs she loved so much.
"We still didn't clear up our suspicions about Alys and Sarah," Kahlan said softly, stroking the back of the blonde's neck. "One thing is safe to say, Alys was as upset as Sarah about your…" she trailed off, not comfortable with the subject.
"I noticed too," Cara nodded, caressing Kahlan's back slowly with one hand. "But I guess our questions will have to wait for tomorrow," she said. "When the light of the day shines and fries our brains or whatever the wizard said," Cara reminded, making Kahlan chuckle lightly.
"When the light of the day illuminates our minds," Kahlan corrected with a smile, shaking her head fondly as the blonde rolled her eyes. "I love you," she whispered adoringly.
"I love you too," Cara vowed back as a true smile of happiness reached her lips before she captured Kahlan's into a deep kiss.
Kahlan gave herself to the kiss, letting Cara feel her love with the sweet caress. Kahlan too had no idea what would happen in the future, but right here and now, all she needed to know is that Cara was safe in her arms.
Zedd was focusing on the books in front of him when he felt a something burn his chest. Alarmed, the wizard pulled at the necklace around his neck and brought out the amulet dangling from the thin golden chain. The amulet - a small orb - was glowing bright red and emitting heat.
"Berdine, quickly, sound the alarm," he commanded to the already moving Mord'Sith. "Farkas is back," he breathed out.
Berdine exited the Wizard's Keep at high speed, reaching the doors she shouted to the nearby guard to sound the alarm. The soldier nodded curtly and immediately picked up a mace from the wall and banged the huge bell that was hanging from a wooden contraption. Only a couple of seconds after the first bang, another similar one was heard closer to the Palace, signifying that the message was spreading. In a matter of minutes the bang of bells could be heard throughout Aydindril.
The deafening sound of the warning bells brought Kahlan to the window of the throne room. Outside, a mass of moving bodies and the sound of hurried steps and clicking metal could be heard as everyone rushed to their positions. Kahlan made a move towards the door, her mind telling her that she had to find Zedd when a body stopped her.
"You won't leave this room, Mother Confessor," Raina warned respectfully, preparing herself for the protests that were sure to follow her advice.
"I can't stay here and do nothing," Kahlan protested as expected. "Who knows what that wizard is up to-"
"Exactly, we don't know what he's up to; so protocol demands that you stay here surrounded by the Home Guard," Raina pointed out. "I have orders to follow, Mother Confessor," Raina raised a knowing eyebrow. "You know what will happen to me if I fail, so please, let me keep you safe and avoid my certain punishment in case you walk through that door," Raina said, managing to get a small smile from Kahlan.
Berdine busted through the door of the throne room without any care, approaching Kahlan quickly with a map in her gloved hand. The Mother Confessor quickly approached the out of breath Mord'Sith and took the piece of paper from her. The map showed all the Midlands; Aydindril proudly designed at the top, a small light clearly visible above it. Kahlan hurriedly discarded that map and looked at the other one, the one that showed Aydindril in more detail; sure enough, the same light could be visible a few yards outside the city walls.
"You know what to do," Kahlan said simply as she looked at Berdine and Raina. The two Mord'Sith hurried to exit the room, not before Raina shouted orders at the Home Guard for them to keep the Mother Confessor safe.
Kahlan watched from her window as the party of guards and Mord'Sith rode as fast as the wind out of the city. After waiting for what felt like a lifetime, she finally saw the search party come back. Noticing that they only had with them what looked like to a peasant man, Kahlan anxiously waited for the Mord'Sith to bring the prisoner to her presence.
The prisoner entered the throne room flanked by two Mord'Sith, who didn't seem to shy away from poking him with their agiels, effectively hurting and unnerving the man. Seeing his red robes, Kahlan immediately recognized him as belonging to the Blood of the Fold. The smirk he had on his lips was already tauntingly showing her that he knew something but wasn't going to tell her. Despite this, she looked questioningly at Raina and when the Mord'Sith shook her head in denial, Kahlan had her confirmation that he didn't tell them anything.
Unfortunately for him, she had her way to discover the truth. Without giving the man a chance to open his mouth and say something that would certainly get him killed, she advanced upon him and closed her hand around his throat. Her blues eyes spiraled into black as she released her power, squeezing his neck with unnecessary force as she felt her power rob him of his free will and leave him a weeping mess on the floor.
"I'm sorry Mistress," he cried. "He made me-"
"Silence," Kahlan ordered, making the man whimper in fear. "Tell me everything you know about Farkas and his intentions," she commanded firmly.
"He came here looking for Sarah. He wanted to know were she was and wanted the book," the shivering man explained. "He wants you dead, Mistress. And I was helping him, I'm so sorry, please forgive me-"
"He wanted to know where Sarah is?" Kahlan's eyes widened in surprise, ignoring his pleas.
The man nodded and was about to launch himself in a new round of apologies when Kahlan cut him off.
"What book are you talking about?" the Mother Confessor demanded.
"It's a magically sealed book where the leader of the Blood of the Fold writes what's going on here in Aydindril," the enslaved man explained. "That way Farkas can come to this time to pick up the information and spend the minimum time here, preventing you from catching him."
"And what was in that book?" Kahlan continued her interrogation.
"I don't know, Mistress," he shook his head desolately, upset that he could not give his Mistress the answers she wants. "I'm only in charge of giving it to him," he said apologetically.
"He's just the delivery man," Raina voiced in frustration, she already suspected it since they had caught him in a small cabin outside the walls.
The Mother Confessor was about to condemn him to death when an angry agiel was viciously thrust against the man's heart. The agiel was held against his chest for a few agonizing moments and only after his voice cracked from screaming did the weapon twist painfully on his chest and stop his heart mercifully.
Kahlan wanted to think that the brief torture the man suffered before he died was a little too much, but the truth was that she couldn't bring herself to do it. She had no agiel to her heart, but the pain she was feeling surpassed that which one a thousand agiels could ever cause her, and for that she couldn't feel anything but loathing for the ones who aided, even in the smallest of ways, in provoking the things that made her heart ache.
"If he didn't know where Sarah was, that means he doesn't have her," Berdine pointed out. "That means she's safe," she added optimistically.
"I really hope she is," Kahlan swallowed hard, running her palm over her forehead in a gesture that was half worry and half relief. "Creator help me, I really hope she is," she breathed out as her chest constricted once again at the lack of news.
The camp was alive with activity as everyone packed their things to get ready for one more day on the road towards Aydindril. The morning light had brought nothing but a headache to Cara, contrary to Zedd's promises about enlightening. She had spent all night awake, her mind going through new and old information. Cara smiled as she recalled Kahlan's tenacious will of staying awake as long as Cara was awake but after they had both snuggled next to Alys's bedroll, as Cara had promised, and the blonde had stroked Kahlan's long hair repeatedly, the Confessor ended up fast asleep in her lover's arms.
Being the first to pack her bag, Cara walked towards the horses to load them with the extra cargo. As she approached the animals, the Mord'Sith noticed that Sarah was rummaging through the saddle bags, taking out one piece of paper and searching it intently. Looking closely, the blonde identified the paper as being one of Richard's maps. Suspecting what coven hidden deep in the Rang'Shada Mountains Sarah was looking for, Cara approached her daughter and made her presence known.
"What do you think you're doing?" the blonde asked suspiciously, startling Sarah out of her concentration.
"I was just looking at the map," Sarah shrugged. "Curiosity," she justified, meeting Cara's eyes defiantly.
"You know, a Confessor can't read a Mord'Sith," Cara started calmly. "But a Mord'Sith sure can spot another Mord'Sith's bullshit from a mile away," she said, ripping the map from Sarah's hands, knowing perfectly well what the girl was up to.
"What's wrong with you?" Sarah shot back frustratingly. "Don't you want to prevent your own death?" she asked in disbelief.
"I've been dead and I dislike the filth of the Underworld as much as anyone else, but some things, when messed with, do more harm than good," Cara warned, pointedly lifting the map to Sarah's eyes as she pointed to the lines representing the Mountains of Agaden Reach. "If you go to that woman, alone above all, you could get yourself killed," she said sternly, hardening her stare when Sarah rolled her eyes arrogantly. "And don't you dare think you're invincible; because that will only get you killed faster," Cara admonished as she shook Sarah's arm.
"But I have to try," Sarah argued, desperately trying to convince Cara that they should go talk to Shota.
"You are trying," Cara said, once again lifting the map meaningfully. "That doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to let you accomplish it."
"But she could know a way to-"
"To take advantage of your foolish eagerness and grief to gain something," Cara completed before Sarah could, sighing when the brunette frowned and looked away. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid," Cara asked in a softer voice.
"Okay," Sarah muttered, eyes glued to the ground.
"Look at me and promise you won't do anything without consulting one of us first," Cara stressed. "Or else I can guarantee you won't leave my sight for anything," the blonde's eyes widening as she started to feel helpless before Sarah's stubbornness.
"I promise," Sarah shouted, meeting Cara's gaze with teary eyes. "Happy now?" she said in a trembling voice, biting her lips to keep from crying.
"I'm a little more at ease," Cara said softly, eyeing Sarah carefully. "We'll figure something out, Sarah," she said reassuringly, cupping the girls chin and brushing the tears away. "But we'll do it the right way, with you alive to see it, okay?"
Sarah hiccupped and buried herself in Cara's familiar arms. Unbeknownst to Cara, Sarah noticed with a sad smile that even if the blonde was twenty years younger and seemed to have an aversion to touch, she still hugged Sarah the exact same way; strongly and affectionately, managing to convey to the distressed girl that she would always be there for her, even when Cara wasn't aware of that herself.
Kahlan looked at Cara and Sarah and smiled as she helped Alys to get up on her horse. She couldn't deny that she loved to see this side of the blonde, a side the tough Mord'Sith rarely showed and that both girls seemed to bring out. She shared a smile with Zedd and Richard, both men also noticing the way Cara was with Sarah. Richard was about to make a teasing comment to lighten the mood when a rustling sound was heard.
Everyone stood at attention and turned towards the sound. Sure enough, a group of rotten bodies could be seen emerging from behind the trees.
"Banelings," Cara cursed as she let go of Sarah and readied her agiels.
"These disgusting things just keep coming," Sarah commented as she reached behind her back for her own agiels.
"Oh, hello there murderer," one of the banelings spoke right at Sarah. "Your mother asked me to say 'hi'," he smirked tauntingly as the color drained from Sarah's face at the image of her mother in the Underworld.
But before anyone could utter a word or make a move, an arrow pierced the banelings throat.
"Like she would ever ask," Alys quipped and winked at Sarah as the brunette looked back, reloading the crossbow she had found strapped to the horse.
Sarah chuckled and sent a mental thanks to Alys; the little girl had managed to fill Sarah with confidence and the strength needed to not let her enemies get to her and fight them to the ground instead. As she charged against the banelings, she saw from the corner of her eye as everyone except Alys joined her in the fight. But she had to grin when she spotted the young Confessor expertly shooting arrows from the top of the horse.
As the banelings kept coming, the group had to disperse a little as they carved their victory body by body. Cara killed the last one facing her and looked over her shoulder to see Kahlan at her back, fighting the last of her opponents as Zedd scorched his way through the last of the undead. Cara looked frantically around to find Richard protecting Sarah's back; but her eyes widened in fear as she witnessed a baneling disarm Sarah. The man was massive and quickly pinned Sarah to the ground; but before Cara could scream to get Richard's attention, the young Mord'Sith somehow managed to reach for the baneling's throat and flip them over.
"Do you know where Farkas is?" Sarah asked with rage, coughing as her chest was still recovering from having a giant man pinning her to the ground.
"No, Mistress," the baneling said shakily, but before he could utter another word Sarah plunged her agiel in his heart, killing him in seconds.
"Useless," Sarah spat, as she noticed Richard behind her. "He didn't know anything," she got up and turned to walk away.
"He called you 'Mistress'," Richard pointed out pensively, making Sarah stop in her tracks.
"I'm Mord'Sith," Sarah stated simply while she turned around to face Richard. "What else would he call me?" she reasoned and forced herself to hold Richard's curious look.
"Right," the Seeker relented after a brief intense moment that seemed to last longer than it actually did. "Mistress Sarah," he nodded slowly, his keen eyes never stopping searching Sarah's face.
The teen just nodded curtly and hurriedly turned away without a glance back, but she did feel the Seeker's eyes burning on her back.
After making sure every baneling was dead, Alys slid down the horse, happy that she could help this time, and ran towards her mother. But suddenly a chill went down her spine and she looked up to see a similar expression of worry and doubt cross Cara's face. The child turned around to pinpoint what was causing this unsettling sensation.
"Something's wron-"
A metal snap could be heard as a Rada'Han, seemingly coming from thin air, was placed around Alys's throat and forcedly shut up the girl.
"Alys!" Kahlan screamed and ran towards her daughter, but Cara's hand on her arm stopped her.
"I knew I had felt magic," Cara said through gritted teeth while a knife pointed at Alys's throat materialized in front of them, followed by a laughing Farkas.
"Well, well," Farkas snarled. "We finally meet, Mother Confessor," he spat as he menacingly tightened his hold on Alys.
Kahlan froze as she finally faced the man who wanted to kill her. Looking right into the wizard's eyes, she could see she was dealing with a mad man and she had to tread very carefuly, or the one suffering would be the innocent little girl currently at the mercy of Farkas's knife.
Author: misanagy
Pairing: Cara/Kahlan
Rating: R
Length: 10.584 words
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Terry Goodkind and ABC/Disney.
Summary: After “Desecrated”, the merry band continues the search for the Stone of Tears, but along the way other things will be discovered and new people will appear in their lives.
AN: Yes, I’m still alive. I’m so sorry it took me SO long to post this chapter, but between writing it and getting it beated, well… all this time passed. But this story will surely be finished. I want to thank you guys for my award at the 2012 Lot Seekerfic Awards, I was so excited and happy about it! I also want to thank aww_frak_it for beating this chapter for me: thank you kitten, for betaing and for supporting my writing always :)
"You failed me," Darken Rahl hissed menacingly, putting the soul of the once baneling on fire.
"I'm sorry, my Lord, we didn't stand a chance," he apologized in between screams of agony. "They bested us all in combat and that Mord'Sith looked like she was possessed, she came at us with a rage only matched by savage animals."
"I see, Cara always did have a temper," Darken Rahl agreed conversationally, renewing the flames on the dead man's absentmindedly. "And I'm sure she didn't appreciate you threatening her new lady love," he said disgustingly. "For some reason blonde Mord'Sith were always the feistiest ones," he smirked, turning away as if bored with the torture he was inflicting on the dead man's soul.
"I'm not talking about the blonde," the man corrected weakly, surrounding himself with his arms as if trying to protect himself from the flames. "I'm talking about the other one - the brunette with a rage problem."
"A brunette Mord'Sith?" Darken swiveled quickly towards the man, a threatening ball of fire forming again in his hand. "A name?"
"I heard them call her Sarah," the man quickly replied, eyeing the ball of fire with terror in his eyes.
"Sarah," Darken rolled the name on his tongue and glanced away thoughtfully. "I'm sure my new acquainted friend Farkas will like to hear this detail."
Kahlan served Alys a bowl of the hot stew Zedd had just made for dinner and smiled at the grateful blonde. Looking at the group gathered around the fire, welcoming the warmth and light, she noticed that there was still one absence.
Cara.
Looking in the direction of the trees, she could see the Mord'Sith's straight back, alert to any possible danger. Kahlan smiled tiredly and put some stew in another bowl, and with one last glance at the chatting group she approached Cara with the steaming food.
"At least eat something," Kahlan said as she offered the bowl to Cara, who smiled slightly and took it in her hands. "We haven't been attacked again since this morning, why don't you come sit by the fire and rest?" Kahlan suggested to the stubborn Mord'Sith.
"I don't want to risk it," Cara said, scanning the night around them. "That maniac of a wizard wants you dead and I'm not going to let that happen," she added, turning to look into Kahlan's eyes.
"He won't get to me," Kahlan brushed blonde locks from Cara's face tenderly. "Not when I'm surrounded by all of you," the Confessor pointedly looked at the circle of people eating and conversing around the fire.
"Okay, I'll eat this sitting down," Cara agreed after a moment, looking down doubtfully at the stew. "What weird root did the wizard put in today?" she asked with a scrunched nose.
Kahlan chuckled fondly and cupped the Mord'Sith's chin, kissing Cara's lips gently. She felt Cara's gloved hand on her waist, warm from holding the bowl. Parting her lips slightly, the brunette let her tongue tease her lover's full lips until Cara let her own tongue meet Kahlan's for a slow and sensual kiss.
After a few moments of tender reassurance, Kahlan pulled back from the kiss and rested her forehead on Cara's. Sighing with a content smile, the Confessor couldn't help but peck Cara's lips again and grinned when Cara placed a series of small kisses along her jaw.
"Let's sit with the others," Kahlan whispered, turning slightly to kiss Cara's cheek. "Alys was telling Sarah about her adventures since she got here," Kahlan chuckled, looking at her daughter and noticing that Sarah was gently scolding the little blonde about something.
"We still have to discover a few things about those two," Cara said as she too looked at the two girls bickering by the fire. "I'm getting tired of their half explanations," she drawled and placed one hand on Kahlan's lower back to gently guide the brunette towards the others.
"Maybe you could use your bluntness to ask a few questions," Kahlan suggested with a teasing glint in her eyes as she looked at Cara's smirking face. "Just don't overdo it," she added, chuckling when Cara's expression noticeably fell.
As they got close to the fire, they looked at each other and shared a knowing look as they heard Sarah bluntly ask Alys some questions, her expression resembling Cara's a lot. Sitting down side by side, both women joined Zedd and Richard in listening the conversation between the two girls.
"What were you doing in the Wizard's Keep that time of the day?" Sarah asked Alys suspiciously. "Weren't you supposed to be in the throne room, watching the Mother Confessor in her hearings and learning how to be a Confessor?" she grinned as Alys started to squirm awkwardly in her seat.
"I was in the throne room," Alys stammered, not fully meeting Sarah's eyes. "But she told me I could leave," Alys clarified, nodding in Kahlan's direction.
"She would never just let you skip the hearings," Sarah mused skeptically. "How did you get out of there, midget?" Sarah pressed with a grin, knowing that the little blonde wasn't telling her everything.
"Stop calling me that!" Alys whined and hit Sarah in the arm, making the older girl chuckle. "I just told her I had to go to the bathroom," she shrugged in fake innocence.
"So you walked all the way to the Wizard's Keep just to go to the bathroom?" Sarah said with a raised eyebrow. "You little liar," Sarah chuckled. "You're not supposed to deceive the Mother Confessor like that," she mock admonished.
"I didn't lie," Alys shook her head. "If I had lied she would have known and I wouldn't leave the room for the rest of the day," she said as her eyes widened in slight horror.
"When did you get so cunning?" Sarah nudged the blonde Confessor with her shoulder.
"From watching you do it all the time," Alys deadpanned with a shrug, effectively wiping Sarah's grin from the older girl's face and making the adults laugh.
"Clever," Cara commented. "Lying with the truth is the only way to lie to a Confessor," she added, nodding approvingly at Alys, which got her shocked looks from both girls before they burst out laughing.
"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to encourage that type of behavior," Kahlan reprimanded Cara, but wasn't able to hide her smile as Cara actually considered this.
"Sitting hours on end while listening to people whine about anything and everything would bore me to death," the blonde Mord'Sith said with raised eyebrows. "I can't really blame Alys," she shrugged.
"I love it when you talk," Sarah grinned widely and looked at Cara with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Yep," Alys agreed, enthusiastically nodding her head. "I love the way you think," she added, giggling when she saw Cara sigh in understanding and roll her eyes.
"Something tells me you'll regret those words in the future," Kahlan told Cara and chuckled when the older blonde shot her a mock stern look.
"Anyway, I don't have to put so much trouble anymore into deceiving you," Sarah said smugly at Kahlan. "Now I can't just lie, because you can't read me," she said and looked victoriously at a frowning Alys.
"Since you both are disclosing your sneaky ways in front of me, doesn't that mean that I will remember and probably do something about it in the future?" Kahlan pointed out with a grin.
Alys's eyes widened and she quickly clamped her mouth shut with both hands, looking up at Sarah worriedly. The brunette Mord'Sith just stared at Kahlan for a moment, the cogs in her head working at full speed.
"I guess," Sarah said finally, turning to look questioningly at Zedd. "But you don't remember this, otherwise you would never let me or Alys get sucked into the past, you would have prevented it from happening," she justified her reasoning and looked back at Kahlan.
"As I explained before," Zedd chimed in. "The Triangle of Anuyr severs the space continuum, making our actions have no repercussion in the future until the time line is restored once again," he said calmly. "Until that happens, our future selves won't remember what happened here and no changes done here will happen in the future. We are as if in a limbo and I'm guessing we'll stay like that until Farkas completes his mission and get's back to the future to use the Triangle to fix the tear he made in the fabric of time."
"Either that, or," Sarah mused. "We get back to the future to a day before all of this happened; that way we avoid it and we never come here in the first place," she explained, convinced that that was the best option.
"That's impossible my child," Zedd shook his head. "That's not how the Triangle of Anuyr works; you can only travel in time in periods of years, so when you do go back to the future, the days you spent here would have passed in the future too. You'll appear in the future exactly twenty years from the day we open the portal."
"Wait, that means that whatever happened in the future since Alys and I got into the portal would still have happened?" Sarah asked nervously, her voice clearly quivering with each word and attracting worried glances from everyone. "We can't go back and erase those days?"
"The only way you could try to prevent this from happening is by going to the future one year previous to the accident and warn someone about it." The wizard theorized. "But that's a dangerous thing to do, there's no way to predict how that would interfere with the natural course of things," Zedd frowned, clearly not inclined to pursue that option.
"I don't care about the 'course of things'," Sarah said angrily, getting up from her seat and pacing back and forth as her voice got firmer from the anger building inside her. "If it's possible to do, that's what we'll do," she stated assertively.
"What does it matter anyway?" Cara interrupted, wondering why Sarah was getting so upset about this. "Isn't getting to your time the most important thing? What difference does a few weeks make?" Cara asked, standing from her seat.
"It makes all the difference," Sarah shouted back, the tears visible sliding down her face.
Cara took a few steps towards the girl and grabbed her upper arm. "Are you going to tell us why it's such a big deal?" Cara asked, a little annoyed by the girl's secrecy but also increasingly worried.
Sarah turned brusquely, shoving Cara's arm off her arm in the process, and pushed forcibly in the blonde's stomach, making Cara take a step back.
"You died in my arms that day," Sarah said in a strangled whisper, tears falling freely down her face.
Cara stood looking in shock at the distressed teen. Instinctively the blonde embraced Sarah and held her daughter securely in her arms as the brunette cried. Looking back at Kahlan, the Mord'Sith could see a similar look of shock on the Confessor's eyes. Kahlan swallowed hard, Sarah's whisper being heard loud and clear in the silence of the night.
"Why did you die?" she pleaded desperately, hitting Cara on the shoulder. "Why weren't you more careful? You are always telling me to not rush into things and you just went there without thinking and let the arrows pierce you!" she cried, hitting Cara repeatedly.
"You're lying!" Alys shouted and ran towards Sarah before Kahlan could get a hold of her. "Tell me you're lying!" the blonde girl begged as sunk her fingers in the teen's leather.
"I'm so sorry, Alys," Sarah whispered, kneeling down to be at the child's eye level. "You have every right to me mad at me-"
"I am!" Alys sobbed and pushed Sarah angrily. "You hide this from me!" she shook her head; still not knowing if this was really happening or was just a really bad dream.
"Because I thought it could be fixed," Sarah justified weakly, clearly hurt by seeing Alys so upset. "I thought we could-"
"She's really…?" Alys interrupted in a strangled whisper and glanced at Cara, not able to utter the dreaded word.
Sarah just nodded slightly and opened her arms invitingly, to what the young Confessor wasted no time in falling in, sobbing painfully.
Kahlan swallowed her own tears, knowing by looking at the completely distraught girls and at a still stunned Cara that she had to be strong for them. The Confessor noticed Richard standing up to approach the girls, but she made him stop with a kind gesture and a grateful smile. Turning back to her lover, the brunette grabbed Cara's hand and squeezed it tightly, showing the blonde that she was there for her and that Cara could lean on her. After Cara had squeezed her hand back with as much force, Kahlan kissed the Mord'Sith's shoulder knowing that the blonde was not taking this news lightly.
Without letting go of Cara's hand, Kahlan rubbed Alys's back soothingly and shared a look of understanding when Sarah looked up at her. Nodding silently to the fire, Kahlan let Sarah know that they should sit and talk about what happened to Cara in the future. Knowing that the teen understood her plea, Kahlan whispered a few reassuring nothings to Alys and watched as Sarah effortlessly picked up the blonde child and carried her to sit on a log next to the fire.
"We'll hear what happened from Sarah and then find out what we can do to prevent it from happening," Kahlan told Cara in a clear but slighty shaky voice.
Cara looked into Kahlan's eyes for a moment, drawing the strength she surprised herself by needing. The thought of dying had never bothered her before; actually at times she had welcomed it. But now, with Kahlan by her side and looking at Sarah, the thought of dying terrified her more than she dared to admit even to herself. Nodding slightly to acknowledge Kahlan's words, Cara squeezed the brunette's hand one more time and followed Kahlan to sit back by the fire.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Cara asked Sarah as she sat beside the girl.
Sarah just nodded and sniffled, kissing Alys' head as Kahlan took the blonde child in her arms and sat down on Sarah's other side. With one last look at Alys, Sarah turned to face Cara with eyes full of sorrow.
"You and I were there when Farkas shoved Alys into the portal," Sarah started, her unfocused gaze shifting to the fire as she recalled what had happened. "We were walking through the halls of the Wizard's Keep when we heard muffled noises coming from a chamber," she paused for a second and glanced at Cara. "You told me to wait for you while you went to check on it, but I only waited for five seconds before I followed you," she confessed and shrugged apologetically, making Cara nod encouragingly for her to continue. "When I turned a corner I heard you scream Alys's name and ran towards the sound. I saw when you were about to pass the threshold of the door…" her voice stated to quiver again. "Three arrows came out of nowhere and carved into you," Sarah sobbed, relieving her mother's death making the pain almost unbearable.
Cara pulled Sarah against her side into a comforting hug, letting the girl calm down a little before continuing. Lifting her eyes to Kahlan she could see the shimmering tear tracks on the Confessor's apparently calm face as Kahlan repeatedly stroked her daughter's golden hair. Shifting her eyes to Zedd, Cara noticed the pursed lips that often were a sign of the wizard being in deep thought about something. And Richard… she had to smile inwardly as she also spotted tear tracks on her friend's face; hurt or not, Richard still cared a great deal about her. The blonde turned her attention back to her daughter and Sarah cleared her throat to continue speaking.
"Farkas threw Alys into the portal, following right behind her," Sarah continued and looked back at Cara. "I caught you before you hit the floor… there was so much blood," she shook her head as her eyes glazed with the memory. "You told me to help Alys and that you were proud of me, then you died in my arms," she sobbed again, her voice becoming louder as she got more and more upset. "You just died and left me there. So I did what you asked of me… I just jumped into the portal as it was closing to find Alys and get her home; so that you could be proud of me, because how could you be in that moment? I never saved you, I was too late, I let you die in my arms and all I did was watch you die," she rambled as she sobbed, her desperation at not being able to save her mother clear in every word.
"I'm sure there was nothing you could do," Cara tried to reassure, but Sarah was having none of it.
"We tried before to see if I could give the Breath of Life and I couldn't, but I didn't even try it," Sarah shouted frantically. "I watched you die and I didn't even try to bring you back, I just jumped in the portal before it could close," she explained, shaking Cara's arm as if trying to convey the gravity of it with the gesture.
"You jumped to help Alys," Cara grabbed Sarah's arms and fixed her with her eyes.
"I left you, I didn't try to bring you back.," Sarah repeated, shaking her head. "I have to try now, so what can we do to prevent it?" she desperately asked Zedd.
"I've been here thinking hard about it, my child," Zedd said somberly, his eyes shining from the tears he was holding back. "There's no 'preventing it', because it already happened," he explained, his eyes trying to convey hope he couldn't find anywhere. "We can't avoid Cara's death," he stated sorrowfully.
"No! Think harder!" Sarah stood, her hands balling into tight fists. "There has to be something we can do," she said, gritting her teeth as Zedd shook his head. "I don't care what you say! Whatever it takes and however hard it may seem, I have to try," she insisted defiantly. "I have to," she whispered as a sob broke from her chest.
"You don't understand sweetie," Kahlan said jumped in, trying to calm Sarah. "There're some things we can't mess with," she said in a strangled voice, the thought of doing nothing to prevent Cara's death breaking her, but if Zedd didn't have an answer the hopes of one existing were very low.
"No," Sarah refused to be consoled. "You're the one who doesn't understand," she turned and pointed at Kahlan. "You think you feel bad now?" she asked. "Twenty years from now you'll be miserable after losing your family," she forced out with a sob while pointing at Alys. "And I can't leave you feeling like that, can't you see? I have to help you too," she said sadly, leaving Kahlan speechless.
"Sarah, this is not your weight to bear alone," Richard interjected softly, trying to reassure the girl that she was not alone, although she seemed to think otherwise. "We'll help you and Alys to get back-"
"Will you help me bring my mother back to me?" Sarah interrupted harshly. Richard looked reluctantly at her, his lips pursed helplessly. "Then don't say that you'll help me, because getting home it's not my biggest problem," she shook he head with sadness filling her eyes.
"Kahlan is right child," Zedd affirmed. "There's just some things that, even if we can, we shouldn't mess with," he said under Sarah's piercing gaze.
"You're hiding something from me," Sarah said surely. "What do you know, Zedd?" the teen insisted, her green eyes, even young, pinning Zedd to his seat.
"Zedd," Kahlan said almost in warning, letting the wizard know her powers also had let her know with certainty that he was not sharing the whole truth of his knowledge.
"I suppose there's always ways to bend time to our own liking," Zedd admitted reluctantly, adding quickly as Sarah's eyes lit up. "But those ways are dangerous and often do more damage than good," he warned strictly. "Only someone as mad as Shota would attempt them," he muttered almost to himself.
"Shota?" Sarah frowned, thinking why that name was so familiar.
"The Agaden Reach witch!" Alys jumped up from Kahlan's lap in excitement.
"Agaden Reach," Sarah muttered. "That's in the Rang'Shada Mountains; we can go there," Sarah turned to Cara with a hopeful smile.
"You're talking madness, my child," Zedd reprimanded. "Shota is not to be trusted!"
"But if she knows a way we have to try!" Sarah stubbornly replied to the wizard.
"Sarah," Cara said calmly. "Zedd's right, that woman is a snake," the blonde agreed, watching as Sarah and Alys's face fell.
"I think we all need to cool our heads and rest," Kahlan advised, resting her hands on Sarah's shoulders. "Tomorrow we'll see what we can come up with," she assured the teen, relieved when the young brunette nodded.
"I'll take the first shift," Richard said with a sad smile. "You guys should rest," he added as he walked towards the tree line, squeezing Cara's shoulder in a show of companionship as he passed her and whispering. "We'll find a way," he promised, earning him a grateful nod.
She was still looking at Richard's retreating form as a small body slammed against her legs. Looking down, she found Alys surrounding her legs with her arms and looking up at her with big eyes.
"Can I sleep with you?" the young Confessor asked, making Cara smile.
"I'm still not tired," Cara said as knelt down and continued as Alys pouted, "but I promise I'll lay down next to you when I do feel tired, okay?" she promised and smiled again as Alys nodded with a small smile and went to Sarah's side.
"Go sleep now, baby girl," Kahlan cupped Alys' chin and kissed her daughter's face. "And you too sweetie," she stuck a strand of hair behind Sarah's ear. "You're exhausted, aren't you?" she pointed out as Sarah nodded.
"We're not done talking about this," Sarah warned, looking from Kahlan to Cara and ended up staring at Zedd.
"The light of the day shall illuminate our minds," Zedd agreed in his own way, making Sarah raise one eyebrow but ending up walking to her own bedroll, taking Alys with her.
"You should rest too, Zedd," Kahlan said, noticing the wizard's heavy expression due to the bad news.
"I should," Zedd nodded. "My dear…" he hesitated as he addressed Cara.
"Not holding my breath for miracles, wizard," Cara drawled and crossed her arms, knowing that Zedd wanted to comfort her and oddly enough, she welcomed it even if she wouldn't let him finish.
"You're certainly wiser than I gave you credit for when I first met you," Zedd chuckled lightly and tapped Cara's back amicably as he passed her by.
"Don't hold your breath for a 'thank you' either," Cara shot back and chuckled when all Zedd did was snort and lay down on his bedroll.
Kahlan rested her hands on the Mord'Sith's crossed arms and got closer to the blonde. In the silence of the night, Kahlan looked into Cara's eyes and told her with one look what a thousand words couldn't even began to express.
"We'll save you," she promised, her throat closing from emotion. "I'm not going to loose you," she shook her head in denial.
"I'm here with you now," Cara replied, uncrossing her arms and circling Kahlan's waist to pull the Confessor's shivering body to her. "And I was never afraid of death," Cara added with what she hoped was a serious tone.
"But you are now," Kahlan stated softly as she circled Cara's neck with one arm and stroked the blonde's face with her hand.
"I don't want to lose you either," the Mord'Sith replied with a light shrug. "I don't know what's going to happen in the future," she paused. "Except for my death," she added in an attempt at bad humor, earning a soft glare from Kahlan. "All I know is that I don't want to lose you," she said and kissed Kahlan gently.
Kahlan tightened her hold on Cara and kissed the blonde back with more intensity. She could feel a tear falling down her cheek and smiled into the kiss as she felt Cara's hand come up and swipe the tear away tenderly. Ending the kiss, the Confessor stood for a few moments, just looking into the green orbs she loved so much.
"We still didn't clear up our suspicions about Alys and Sarah," Kahlan said softly, stroking the back of the blonde's neck. "One thing is safe to say, Alys was as upset as Sarah about your…" she trailed off, not comfortable with the subject.
"I noticed too," Cara nodded, caressing Kahlan's back slowly with one hand. "But I guess our questions will have to wait for tomorrow," she said. "When the light of the day shines and fries our brains or whatever the wizard said," Cara reminded, making Kahlan chuckle lightly.
"When the light of the day illuminates our minds," Kahlan corrected with a smile, shaking her head fondly as the blonde rolled her eyes. "I love you," she whispered adoringly.
"I love you too," Cara vowed back as a true smile of happiness reached her lips before she captured Kahlan's into a deep kiss.
Kahlan gave herself to the kiss, letting Cara feel her love with the sweet caress. Kahlan too had no idea what would happen in the future, but right here and now, all she needed to know is that Cara was safe in her arms.
Zedd was focusing on the books in front of him when he felt a something burn his chest. Alarmed, the wizard pulled at the necklace around his neck and brought out the amulet dangling from the thin golden chain. The amulet - a small orb - was glowing bright red and emitting heat.
"Berdine, quickly, sound the alarm," he commanded to the already moving Mord'Sith. "Farkas is back," he breathed out.
Berdine exited the Wizard's Keep at high speed, reaching the doors she shouted to the nearby guard to sound the alarm. The soldier nodded curtly and immediately picked up a mace from the wall and banged the huge bell that was hanging from a wooden contraption. Only a couple of seconds after the first bang, another similar one was heard closer to the Palace, signifying that the message was spreading. In a matter of minutes the bang of bells could be heard throughout Aydindril.
The deafening sound of the warning bells brought Kahlan to the window of the throne room. Outside, a mass of moving bodies and the sound of hurried steps and clicking metal could be heard as everyone rushed to their positions. Kahlan made a move towards the door, her mind telling her that she had to find Zedd when a body stopped her.
"You won't leave this room, Mother Confessor," Raina warned respectfully, preparing herself for the protests that were sure to follow her advice.
"I can't stay here and do nothing," Kahlan protested as expected. "Who knows what that wizard is up to-"
"Exactly, we don't know what he's up to; so protocol demands that you stay here surrounded by the Home Guard," Raina pointed out. "I have orders to follow, Mother Confessor," Raina raised a knowing eyebrow. "You know what will happen to me if I fail, so please, let me keep you safe and avoid my certain punishment in case you walk through that door," Raina said, managing to get a small smile from Kahlan.
Berdine busted through the door of the throne room without any care, approaching Kahlan quickly with a map in her gloved hand. The Mother Confessor quickly approached the out of breath Mord'Sith and took the piece of paper from her. The map showed all the Midlands; Aydindril proudly designed at the top, a small light clearly visible above it. Kahlan hurriedly discarded that map and looked at the other one, the one that showed Aydindril in more detail; sure enough, the same light could be visible a few yards outside the city walls.
"You know what to do," Kahlan said simply as she looked at Berdine and Raina. The two Mord'Sith hurried to exit the room, not before Raina shouted orders at the Home Guard for them to keep the Mother Confessor safe.
Kahlan watched from her window as the party of guards and Mord'Sith rode as fast as the wind out of the city. After waiting for what felt like a lifetime, she finally saw the search party come back. Noticing that they only had with them what looked like to a peasant man, Kahlan anxiously waited for the Mord'Sith to bring the prisoner to her presence.
The prisoner entered the throne room flanked by two Mord'Sith, who didn't seem to shy away from poking him with their agiels, effectively hurting and unnerving the man. Seeing his red robes, Kahlan immediately recognized him as belonging to the Blood of the Fold. The smirk he had on his lips was already tauntingly showing her that he knew something but wasn't going to tell her. Despite this, she looked questioningly at Raina and when the Mord'Sith shook her head in denial, Kahlan had her confirmation that he didn't tell them anything.
Unfortunately for him, she had her way to discover the truth. Without giving the man a chance to open his mouth and say something that would certainly get him killed, she advanced upon him and closed her hand around his throat. Her blues eyes spiraled into black as she released her power, squeezing his neck with unnecessary force as she felt her power rob him of his free will and leave him a weeping mess on the floor.
"I'm sorry Mistress," he cried. "He made me-"
"Silence," Kahlan ordered, making the man whimper in fear. "Tell me everything you know about Farkas and his intentions," she commanded firmly.
"He came here looking for Sarah. He wanted to know were she was and wanted the book," the shivering man explained. "He wants you dead, Mistress. And I was helping him, I'm so sorry, please forgive me-"
"He wanted to know where Sarah is?" Kahlan's eyes widened in surprise, ignoring his pleas.
The man nodded and was about to launch himself in a new round of apologies when Kahlan cut him off.
"What book are you talking about?" the Mother Confessor demanded.
"It's a magically sealed book where the leader of the Blood of the Fold writes what's going on here in Aydindril," the enslaved man explained. "That way Farkas can come to this time to pick up the information and spend the minimum time here, preventing you from catching him."
"And what was in that book?" Kahlan continued her interrogation.
"I don't know, Mistress," he shook his head desolately, upset that he could not give his Mistress the answers she wants. "I'm only in charge of giving it to him," he said apologetically.
"He's just the delivery man," Raina voiced in frustration, she already suspected it since they had caught him in a small cabin outside the walls.
The Mother Confessor was about to condemn him to death when an angry agiel was viciously thrust against the man's heart. The agiel was held against his chest for a few agonizing moments and only after his voice cracked from screaming did the weapon twist painfully on his chest and stop his heart mercifully.
Kahlan wanted to think that the brief torture the man suffered before he died was a little too much, but the truth was that she couldn't bring herself to do it. She had no agiel to her heart, but the pain she was feeling surpassed that which one a thousand agiels could ever cause her, and for that she couldn't feel anything but loathing for the ones who aided, even in the smallest of ways, in provoking the things that made her heart ache.
"If he didn't know where Sarah was, that means he doesn't have her," Berdine pointed out. "That means she's safe," she added optimistically.
"I really hope she is," Kahlan swallowed hard, running her palm over her forehead in a gesture that was half worry and half relief. "Creator help me, I really hope she is," she breathed out as her chest constricted once again at the lack of news.
The camp was alive with activity as everyone packed their things to get ready for one more day on the road towards Aydindril. The morning light had brought nothing but a headache to Cara, contrary to Zedd's promises about enlightening. She had spent all night awake, her mind going through new and old information. Cara smiled as she recalled Kahlan's tenacious will of staying awake as long as Cara was awake but after they had both snuggled next to Alys's bedroll, as Cara had promised, and the blonde had stroked Kahlan's long hair repeatedly, the Confessor ended up fast asleep in her lover's arms.
Being the first to pack her bag, Cara walked towards the horses to load them with the extra cargo. As she approached the animals, the Mord'Sith noticed that Sarah was rummaging through the saddle bags, taking out one piece of paper and searching it intently. Looking closely, the blonde identified the paper as being one of Richard's maps. Suspecting what coven hidden deep in the Rang'Shada Mountains Sarah was looking for, Cara approached her daughter and made her presence known.
"What do you think you're doing?" the blonde asked suspiciously, startling Sarah out of her concentration.
"I was just looking at the map," Sarah shrugged. "Curiosity," she justified, meeting Cara's eyes defiantly.
"You know, a Confessor can't read a Mord'Sith," Cara started calmly. "But a Mord'Sith sure can spot another Mord'Sith's bullshit from a mile away," she said, ripping the map from Sarah's hands, knowing perfectly well what the girl was up to.
"What's wrong with you?" Sarah shot back frustratingly. "Don't you want to prevent your own death?" she asked in disbelief.
"I've been dead and I dislike the filth of the Underworld as much as anyone else, but some things, when messed with, do more harm than good," Cara warned, pointedly lifting the map to Sarah's eyes as she pointed to the lines representing the Mountains of Agaden Reach. "If you go to that woman, alone above all, you could get yourself killed," she said sternly, hardening her stare when Sarah rolled her eyes arrogantly. "And don't you dare think you're invincible; because that will only get you killed faster," Cara admonished as she shook Sarah's arm.
"But I have to try," Sarah argued, desperately trying to convince Cara that they should go talk to Shota.
"You are trying," Cara said, once again lifting the map meaningfully. "That doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to let you accomplish it."
"But she could know a way to-"
"To take advantage of your foolish eagerness and grief to gain something," Cara completed before Sarah could, sighing when the brunette frowned and looked away. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid," Cara asked in a softer voice.
"Okay," Sarah muttered, eyes glued to the ground.
"Look at me and promise you won't do anything without consulting one of us first," Cara stressed. "Or else I can guarantee you won't leave my sight for anything," the blonde's eyes widening as she started to feel helpless before Sarah's stubbornness.
"I promise," Sarah shouted, meeting Cara's gaze with teary eyes. "Happy now?" she said in a trembling voice, biting her lips to keep from crying.
"I'm a little more at ease," Cara said softly, eyeing Sarah carefully. "We'll figure something out, Sarah," she said reassuringly, cupping the girls chin and brushing the tears away. "But we'll do it the right way, with you alive to see it, okay?"
Sarah hiccupped and buried herself in Cara's familiar arms. Unbeknownst to Cara, Sarah noticed with a sad smile that even if the blonde was twenty years younger and seemed to have an aversion to touch, she still hugged Sarah the exact same way; strongly and affectionately, managing to convey to the distressed girl that she would always be there for her, even when Cara wasn't aware of that herself.
Kahlan looked at Cara and Sarah and smiled as she helped Alys to get up on her horse. She couldn't deny that she loved to see this side of the blonde, a side the tough Mord'Sith rarely showed and that both girls seemed to bring out. She shared a smile with Zedd and Richard, both men also noticing the way Cara was with Sarah. Richard was about to make a teasing comment to lighten the mood when a rustling sound was heard.
Everyone stood at attention and turned towards the sound. Sure enough, a group of rotten bodies could be seen emerging from behind the trees.
"Banelings," Cara cursed as she let go of Sarah and readied her agiels.
"These disgusting things just keep coming," Sarah commented as she reached behind her back for her own agiels.
"Oh, hello there murderer," one of the banelings spoke right at Sarah. "Your mother asked me to say 'hi'," he smirked tauntingly as the color drained from Sarah's face at the image of her mother in the Underworld.
But before anyone could utter a word or make a move, an arrow pierced the banelings throat.
"Like she would ever ask," Alys quipped and winked at Sarah as the brunette looked back, reloading the crossbow she had found strapped to the horse.
Sarah chuckled and sent a mental thanks to Alys; the little girl had managed to fill Sarah with confidence and the strength needed to not let her enemies get to her and fight them to the ground instead. As she charged against the banelings, she saw from the corner of her eye as everyone except Alys joined her in the fight. But she had to grin when she spotted the young Confessor expertly shooting arrows from the top of the horse.
As the banelings kept coming, the group had to disperse a little as they carved their victory body by body. Cara killed the last one facing her and looked over her shoulder to see Kahlan at her back, fighting the last of her opponents as Zedd scorched his way through the last of the undead. Cara looked frantically around to find Richard protecting Sarah's back; but her eyes widened in fear as she witnessed a baneling disarm Sarah. The man was massive and quickly pinned Sarah to the ground; but before Cara could scream to get Richard's attention, the young Mord'Sith somehow managed to reach for the baneling's throat and flip them over.
"Do you know where Farkas is?" Sarah asked with rage, coughing as her chest was still recovering from having a giant man pinning her to the ground.
"No, Mistress," the baneling said shakily, but before he could utter another word Sarah plunged her agiel in his heart, killing him in seconds.
"Useless," Sarah spat, as she noticed Richard behind her. "He didn't know anything," she got up and turned to walk away.
"He called you 'Mistress'," Richard pointed out pensively, making Sarah stop in her tracks.
"I'm Mord'Sith," Sarah stated simply while she turned around to face Richard. "What else would he call me?" she reasoned and forced herself to hold Richard's curious look.
"Right," the Seeker relented after a brief intense moment that seemed to last longer than it actually did. "Mistress Sarah," he nodded slowly, his keen eyes never stopping searching Sarah's face.
The teen just nodded curtly and hurriedly turned away without a glance back, but she did feel the Seeker's eyes burning on her back.
After making sure every baneling was dead, Alys slid down the horse, happy that she could help this time, and ran towards her mother. But suddenly a chill went down her spine and she looked up to see a similar expression of worry and doubt cross Cara's face. The child turned around to pinpoint what was causing this unsettling sensation.
"Something's wron-"
A metal snap could be heard as a Rada'Han, seemingly coming from thin air, was placed around Alys's throat and forcedly shut up the girl.
"Alys!" Kahlan screamed and ran towards her daughter, but Cara's hand on her arm stopped her.
"I knew I had felt magic," Cara said through gritted teeth while a knife pointed at Alys's throat materialized in front of them, followed by a laughing Farkas.
"Well, well," Farkas snarled. "We finally meet, Mother Confessor," he spat as he menacingly tightened his hold on Alys.
Kahlan froze as she finally faced the man who wanted to kill her. Looking right into the wizard's eyes, she could see she was dealing with a mad man and she had to tread very carefuly, or the one suffering would be the innocent little girl currently at the mercy of Farkas's knife.