Fic: "Perfect Knots" 1/? (Cara/Kahlan, Legend of the Seeker)
Title: Perfect Knots
Author: orange_creative
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker/Sword of Truth
Pairing(s): Cara/Kahlan (main), scenes with Cara/OC, Cara/Kahlan/Richard
Rating: R (will become NC-17)
Summary: "Kahlan understood that Cara found pleasure in pain, but she didn't actually understand it."
Warnings: Mord-Sith sexytimes aka S&M.
word count: 2,746
Author's Note: To create the story I wanted to write, I mixed up aspects of the book-verse, teevee-verse, and my own ideas to make it happen. Just go with it. It's set in a vague timeline somewhere in Season 2 of LotS. Also, I suppose it's worth noting that while I do write (yay!poetry :D), this is my first venture into fanfiction. Also, unbeta'ed, but I love wallowing in my own mistakes.
Disclaimer: Copyrights associated with Legend of the Seeker and the Sword of Truth do not belong to me.
-------
After a week of harsh traveling, everyone but Cara had decided that it would be a good idea to treat themselves to a full day of rest at the next town. Cara's protests that it was a full day out of our way to get a full day of rest before we have to travel another day to get back on to where we are fell on the deaf ears of Richard's do-good whimsy, Zedd's rumbling tummy, and Kahlan's desire to make sure whatever hole-in-the-ground town was doing peachy-keen. Comfort and leisure were a privilege she didn't think they earned just yet.
Sometimes, Cara felt like she was the only one that remember that their quest had something to do with saving the world.
-------
They made it to the town of Questhaven just as night fell. There were few people out, but before they approached anyone for directions to an inn, Cara nudged her horse in front of the group.
"There's an inn this way." Cara simply said as her horse passed the others.
Curious, Richard spoke, albeit to her back, "You've been here before?"
"Once or twice." Cara responded quickly, never turning around, her tone clipped.
The Mord-Sith could feel three pairs of eyes boring into her back, but she did not elaborate. She had been to Questhaven before and she knew the rest assumed she had come here to kidnap young girls for Mord-Sith training.
A tense silence settled over them, broken only by the soft clattering of their horses. Kahlan took in Cara's straight and rigid back and the tightness in her jaw. She knew that while Cara didn't feel the need to explain or defend herself, the blonde still harbored insecurities that the Seeker, the Mother Confessor, and the wizard despised her for what she was and what she had done. It was hard for her to trust their forgiveness and acceptance without accompanying physical punishment. Yet, she was trying.
The inn came into view, a rather well-kept sign hanging above the front entrance naming it as The Red Whip. Kahlan rose a brow, at once surprised and not that Cara would take them to an inn so suitably named. The sign was even painted red with gold lettering, though the appearance of the rest of the building was like any other.
"Who would name their inn that?" Zedd muttered quietly, just loud enough for Kahlan's ears. She grinned and shook her head, but there was a seed of curiousness planting itself at the back of her mind.
They headed first to a side stable and a brunette, eighteen or nineteen, came out to greet them. "Hallo, travelers, staying the night? Need your horses... Oh."
The girl's eyes landed on Cara's red leather. It was not an unusual reaction. Then she saw Zedd with his plain wizard robes, Kahlan's white Mother Confessor dress, and Richard with his sword strapped to his back.
The girl's eyes fell to the ground. "R-right. Well, you must be... Please, this way."
She led them into the stables, where the comfortably pungent smell of horse and hay filled their noses, and directed them to take their horses to individual stalls. Kahlan noticed that Cara still hadn't said anything since when they arrived in town. With her mind set, she turned to Richard and told him to go ahead and arrange rooms and food for their stay.
"Cara and I will take care of the horses." Kahlan smiled at him. "We'll be in shortly."
Richard gave her his ever pleasant grin, his hand coming up and affectionately rubbing her arm. "Want me to see if they can draw a bath?"
"That'd be great." Kahlan loved how thoughtful Richard was and gave him a chaste kiss before he headed off.
Zedd followed in hopes of getting food served sooner than later.
Kahlan walked to the stall she saw Cara lead her horse into, hoping to talk her out of her brooding mood. Just as she entered, the young stable girl rushed out, nearly crashing straight into Kahlan.
The girl squeaked in surprise. "Oh! M-mother Confessor, I'm so sorry!"
Kahlan laughed good-naturedly. "It's quite alright, child. No harm done."
"Ah, right, thank you." The girl stepped to the side, glancing back and forth between Cara and Kahlan before her gaze settled on the Mord-Sith. "I'll speak with my father."
Cara nodded and the girl rushed off. Kahlan watched her go, speculatively. "What was that about?"
"She had some questions regarding my purpose here." Cara replied, but she turned her attention to her horse, working on the buckles to remove the saddle.
"Afraid the big, scary Mord-Sith was going to take her away?" Kahlan tried to joke, hoping that injecting some humor about the situation would let Cara know that it was all okay.
Cara stopped what she was doing and turned to face the brunette, raising a blonde brow. "Has it ever occurred to you that not everyone fears the sight of me?"
Kahlan smirked. "Once. I think there were some stocks involved."
Cara huffed and turned back to the horse, but not before Kahlan caught the way she was pursing her lips whenever she was trying not to smile.
-------
They finished soon enough with the horses and headed to the inn, which was also part tavern. It wasn't overly loud when they walked in, but there was a comfortable level of ambient noise created by the clinking of glasses and other patrons enjoying drink and food. However, not three steps in, the noise level dropped dramatically. Several heads turned to watch the Mother Confessor and a Mord-Sith approach the two men, Richard and Zedd, who were standing at the bar. Kahlan and Cara, unfazed by the response of the other tavern goers, sidled up next to their male companions. Slowly, the noise level rose again.
"Kahlan, Cara, just in time. We have two rooms being readied for us and they're running hot water up for baths for all of us." Richard grinned, proud of himself. "I figure we could all use a little relaxing before dinner."
"I'll take my bath after dinner, thank you." Zedd chipped in.
Cara looked at the two men. "Why are we just standing here then?"
Richard pointed to a man at the doorway to the kitchen. He was speaking to the young, female stablehand. "I was setting it all up with the innkeeper, but his daughter came in and pulled him away. She was kind of in a rush. Did something happen with the horses?"
"No. The horses are fine." Kahlan replied.
"Well, they both keep looking over here." It was true, though the innkeeper was speculative compared to the smiling young woman. "You're sure nothing happened?"
Kahlan looked over at Cara with a bantering smile. "I think seeing Cara might have given her a fright." Cara rolled her eyes, turning her body away slightly from their circle.
"I did not." Everyone chuckled in response and Cara turned back to properly scowled at them.
The innkeeper came over then, by himself. He was a fit man with friendly, but observant eyes, his dark brown beard fully grown but well groomed. He was only a few inches taller than Richard.
"Greetings, Mother Confessor." He bowed very, very low.
Kahlan was surprised by the man's formality in such a small, out of the way town.
"Rise, my child." It was more than easy to fall into her role as the ultimate authority of the land. It was a comfortable cloak as it was heavy shackles of duty. "But please, proper titles will not be necessary."
"As you wish. I am Balthazar, proud owner of The Red Whip. My daughter, Elina, should just about be finished bringing up your baths. When would you like your meals ready?"
Zedd replied immediately. "Now, please."
"Now for our friend here, the rest of us should be ready in about half a candle-mark." Richard added.
Balthazar grinned. "Of course."
Cara insisted that Kahlan bathe first and Kahlan went with compliance, eager to scrap a week's worth of dirt from her skin. She did not hear the following conversation.
"Lord Rahl, if I could speak with you privately?"
-------
When Kahlan was finished with her bath, surrounded by the pleasurable glow of being clean, she walked downstairs to the tavern area. She spotted Richard and Zedd at one of the tables, scarfing down a steaming, deliciously meal. Cara wasn't at the table and Kahlan didn't recall passing her on the way from their room.
"Where's Cara? I wanted to tell her that a fresh bath was being drawn up to the room." Kahlan's eyes scanned the corners of the room. She wouldn't have been surprised if Cara decided that it was unacceptable to be anywhere else but the best vantage point to see oncoming attacks.
"She said she wanted to make sure the horses were stabled properly. She said she didn't want to be bothered." Richard informed and added thoughtfully, "I think she just wants some time alone because of earlier."
Kahlan shook her head dismissively, wondering why Cara was still brooding. The movement of her still drying hair dazzled Richard momentarily, "She's never in a mood to be bothered. I'll be back to eat in a moment."
There was a faint light coming from the end of the stables when Kahlan approached, but she stopped just beyond the last stable when she heard the faint murmur of Cara's voice.
Cara was speaking with a husky timbre that Kahlan associated more with Cara shoving her agiel into someone's throat than with soothe talking horses. "You'll be a good girl for me, won't you?" But then Kahlan remembered that was ridiculously because she knew Cara thought talking to horses was silly and preferred to use gentle strokes and her Mord-Sith stare to guide the animals into calm obedience.
Kahlan jumped at a sharp, slapping noise that was quickly followed by a keening wail, female, who was decidedly not Cara. Instinctively, Kahlan wrenched open the stable gate to enter, but quickly stopped short at what she saw.
Elina, Balthazar's daughter, didn't have a stitch of clothing on, if you didn't count the strap of cloth that was in her mouth and tied at the back of her neck. Her hands were bound together and tied to the wood framework that separated the stalls, keeping her arms slightly raised above her head while she was slightly bent over. Cara was standing behind her, still encased in her red leather. She was a stark contrast next to all the pale, exposed skin, but Kahlan's eyes were drawn to the horse whip in Cara's hand. Both of Elina's buttocks had a sparse lattice-work of distinct, pink welts. There were a few on her back and the back of her thighs as well.
"Cara!" Kahlan shouted in shock, "What-"
Cara interrupted. "Get out."
Kahlan's head jerked back, Cara's confident commanding words feeling like a blow. She looked at the restrained girl. She was breathing heavily and her head was hanging down between her arms, her medium length, mousy brown hair disheveled about her shoulders and face. She was not looking toward the other two, but Kahlan could see the shine of tears on the girl's flushed cheeks.
Kahlan felt the familiar weight of her Confessor mask, determination and authority with no room for argument. "No."
Cara rolled her eyes. "Get out, please." The Mord'Sith gestured to the bound girl like it was a Very Important Task she needed to get back too.
It probably was, but Kahlan didn't think that Cara was still capable of treating other people so despicably. Yet, she was looking at Kahlan like Kahlan looked at her whenever Kahlan thought that she needed to be more compassionate. She understood why Cara rolled her eyes at the rest of them so much. It was very annoying when it was directed at you instead of the reverse. Cara looked like she expected Kahlan to understand something and Kahlan knew that she didn't. She wasn't sure if she wanted to.
"I can't believe you're doing this. Release her at once." Kahlan watched the other woman's green-blue eyes darkened with a gray overtone as Cara's head dipped down, away from the light. Kahlan knew that the Mord-Sith was about to refuse. "Please, Cara."
Cara's jaw moved, as if tasting the different words she might deliver. "Kahlan, this is at her request." She spoke slowly, calmly, but there was an edge of impatience in her tone.
"How could she want this?"
Elina wriggled against her bonds at that exact moment, as if proving Kahlan's point. Cara put a hand against the small of the girl's back.
"Be still, Elina." The blonde hadn't spoken loudly, but the firm command caused the girl to stop her movements immediately.
"She doesn't just want this." Cara's face was still a mask of seriousness, but there was a slight quirk at her lips. "She needs this. Look."
Cara brought the end of the horse whip between the girl's legs, making Kahlan's teeth clench in anger at what might follow, but Cara merely trailed it up the inside of one thigh. Elina whimpered. Cara held the end in Kahlan's direction and the Mother Confessor saw that the leather was wet. Kahlan's brows furrowed, but then she felt a blush rise like a tidal wave to her face. She cast a quick glance at the girl's thighs before she looked up and met Cara's, who's eyes had watched the brunette's expression change from confusion to surprise. If the copious amount of wetness were an indication, then Elina was very, very aroused.
Kahlan understood that Cara found pleasure in pain, but she didn't actually understand it. She had assumed that it was tragic symptom of being so thoroughly abused and twisted into a Mord-Sith. It didn't occur to her that other people could be the same way.
"You're saying this is consen-" Kahlan stopped herself and took a deep breath, letting it out in a frustrated sigh. Willing or not, Kahlan couldn't resolve it with herself to just walk away and leave the inn owner's daughter tied up at the mercy of a Mord-Sith. Even if she considered that Mord-Sith her friend. "I can't just leave."
"Then don't."
"What?" Kahlan said sharply.
"Stay. You know what I am, what I do, and what I've done. Stay and watch. You can make sure I don't do anything that she doesn't want."
"How am I supposed to know? She's can't exactly say 'stop,' now can she?" The Mother Confessor couldn't believe Cara was suggesting something so inane.
Cara looked at Kahlan, patiently choosing her next words. She tilted her chin up slightly, the lamplight filling her irises with color again. "You are the Mother Confessor. Glean the truth from her eyes."
Kahlan felt something pass between them. This was not about Elina or standing guard for her well being. This was a challenge to step into Cara's world, her domain of pain. If she accepted, she would no longer be able to turn a blissfully ignorant eye to Cara's sadism. Kahlan didn't want to think too deeply about what would happen if this went badly, but Cara was giving Kahlan a chance to understand the part of herself she had refused to let the rest of them see. Kahlan was still trying to get Cara to open up more. She just imagined it differently.
Cara waited patiently for her answer. Kahlan swallowed. "Okay."
Cara nodded and Kahlan saw her eyes glimmer with something like happiness or gratitude, maybe pleasure, or maybe some combination of the three. The Mord-Sith tilted her head to the corner of the stall. "Stand there. Close the gate."
Just like Cara could deftly tie rope or cloth into perfect bindings, Kahlan felt the Mord-Sith artfully wrapping those words around her, restraining her to the corner of the stall as an observer even though her limbs were free. She could stay, she could watch. She could do this. Kahlan turned, barely taking her gaze away from Cara and Elina to close and latch the stable gate. She moved to the corner, faced the two, and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Cara turned her blue-green eyes to the younger brunette, filled with intent. "Did you hear all of that, Elina?" The younger girl nodded, something sounding like agreement escaping past the gag. "Good."
It started very quickly.
To Be Continued...
Author: orange_creative
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker/Sword of Truth
Pairing(s): Cara/Kahlan (main), scenes with Cara/OC, Cara/Kahlan/Richard
Rating: R (will become NC-17)
Summary: "Kahlan understood that Cara found pleasure in pain, but she didn't actually understand it."
Warnings: Mord-Sith sexytimes aka S&M.
word count: 2,746
Author's Note: To create the story I wanted to write, I mixed up aspects of the book-verse, teevee-verse, and my own ideas to make it happen. Just go with it. It's set in a vague timeline somewhere in Season 2 of LotS. Also, I suppose it's worth noting that while I do write (yay!poetry :D), this is my first venture into fanfiction. Also, unbeta'ed, but I love wallowing in my own mistakes.
Disclaimer: Copyrights associated with Legend of the Seeker and the Sword of Truth do not belong to me.
-------
After a week of harsh traveling, everyone but Cara had decided that it would be a good idea to treat themselves to a full day of rest at the next town. Cara's protests that it was a full day out of our way to get a full day of rest before we have to travel another day to get back on to where we are fell on the deaf ears of Richard's do-good whimsy, Zedd's rumbling tummy, and Kahlan's desire to make sure whatever hole-in-the-ground town was doing peachy-keen. Comfort and leisure were a privilege she didn't think they earned just yet.
Sometimes, Cara felt like she was the only one that remember that their quest had something to do with saving the world.
-------
They made it to the town of Questhaven just as night fell. There were few people out, but before they approached anyone for directions to an inn, Cara nudged her horse in front of the group.
"There's an inn this way." Cara simply said as her horse passed the others.
Curious, Richard spoke, albeit to her back, "You've been here before?"
"Once or twice." Cara responded quickly, never turning around, her tone clipped.
The Mord-Sith could feel three pairs of eyes boring into her back, but she did not elaborate. She had been to Questhaven before and she knew the rest assumed she had come here to kidnap young girls for Mord-Sith training.
A tense silence settled over them, broken only by the soft clattering of their horses. Kahlan took in Cara's straight and rigid back and the tightness in her jaw. She knew that while Cara didn't feel the need to explain or defend herself, the blonde still harbored insecurities that the Seeker, the Mother Confessor, and the wizard despised her for what she was and what she had done. It was hard for her to trust their forgiveness and acceptance without accompanying physical punishment. Yet, she was trying.
The inn came into view, a rather well-kept sign hanging above the front entrance naming it as The Red Whip. Kahlan rose a brow, at once surprised and not that Cara would take them to an inn so suitably named. The sign was even painted red with gold lettering, though the appearance of the rest of the building was like any other.
"Who would name their inn that?" Zedd muttered quietly, just loud enough for Kahlan's ears. She grinned and shook her head, but there was a seed of curiousness planting itself at the back of her mind.
They headed first to a side stable and a brunette, eighteen or nineteen, came out to greet them. "Hallo, travelers, staying the night? Need your horses... Oh."
The girl's eyes landed on Cara's red leather. It was not an unusual reaction. Then she saw Zedd with his plain wizard robes, Kahlan's white Mother Confessor dress, and Richard with his sword strapped to his back.
The girl's eyes fell to the ground. "R-right. Well, you must be... Please, this way."
She led them into the stables, where the comfortably pungent smell of horse and hay filled their noses, and directed them to take their horses to individual stalls. Kahlan noticed that Cara still hadn't said anything since when they arrived in town. With her mind set, she turned to Richard and told him to go ahead and arrange rooms and food for their stay.
"Cara and I will take care of the horses." Kahlan smiled at him. "We'll be in shortly."
Richard gave her his ever pleasant grin, his hand coming up and affectionately rubbing her arm. "Want me to see if they can draw a bath?"
"That'd be great." Kahlan loved how thoughtful Richard was and gave him a chaste kiss before he headed off.
Zedd followed in hopes of getting food served sooner than later.
Kahlan walked to the stall she saw Cara lead her horse into, hoping to talk her out of her brooding mood. Just as she entered, the young stable girl rushed out, nearly crashing straight into Kahlan.
The girl squeaked in surprise. "Oh! M-mother Confessor, I'm so sorry!"
Kahlan laughed good-naturedly. "It's quite alright, child. No harm done."
"Ah, right, thank you." The girl stepped to the side, glancing back and forth between Cara and Kahlan before her gaze settled on the Mord-Sith. "I'll speak with my father."
Cara nodded and the girl rushed off. Kahlan watched her go, speculatively. "What was that about?"
"She had some questions regarding my purpose here." Cara replied, but she turned her attention to her horse, working on the buckles to remove the saddle.
"Afraid the big, scary Mord-Sith was going to take her away?" Kahlan tried to joke, hoping that injecting some humor about the situation would let Cara know that it was all okay.
Cara stopped what she was doing and turned to face the brunette, raising a blonde brow. "Has it ever occurred to you that not everyone fears the sight of me?"
Kahlan smirked. "Once. I think there were some stocks involved."
Cara huffed and turned back to the horse, but not before Kahlan caught the way she was pursing her lips whenever she was trying not to smile.
-------
They finished soon enough with the horses and headed to the inn, which was also part tavern. It wasn't overly loud when they walked in, but there was a comfortable level of ambient noise created by the clinking of glasses and other patrons enjoying drink and food. However, not three steps in, the noise level dropped dramatically. Several heads turned to watch the Mother Confessor and a Mord-Sith approach the two men, Richard and Zedd, who were standing at the bar. Kahlan and Cara, unfazed by the response of the other tavern goers, sidled up next to their male companions. Slowly, the noise level rose again.
"Kahlan, Cara, just in time. We have two rooms being readied for us and they're running hot water up for baths for all of us." Richard grinned, proud of himself. "I figure we could all use a little relaxing before dinner."
"I'll take my bath after dinner, thank you." Zedd chipped in.
Cara looked at the two men. "Why are we just standing here then?"
Richard pointed to a man at the doorway to the kitchen. He was speaking to the young, female stablehand. "I was setting it all up with the innkeeper, but his daughter came in and pulled him away. She was kind of in a rush. Did something happen with the horses?"
"No. The horses are fine." Kahlan replied.
"Well, they both keep looking over here." It was true, though the innkeeper was speculative compared to the smiling young woman. "You're sure nothing happened?"
Kahlan looked over at Cara with a bantering smile. "I think seeing Cara might have given her a fright." Cara rolled her eyes, turning her body away slightly from their circle.
"I did not." Everyone chuckled in response and Cara turned back to properly scowled at them.
The innkeeper came over then, by himself. He was a fit man with friendly, but observant eyes, his dark brown beard fully grown but well groomed. He was only a few inches taller than Richard.
"Greetings, Mother Confessor." He bowed very, very low.
Kahlan was surprised by the man's formality in such a small, out of the way town.
"Rise, my child." It was more than easy to fall into her role as the ultimate authority of the land. It was a comfortable cloak as it was heavy shackles of duty. "But please, proper titles will not be necessary."
"As you wish. I am Balthazar, proud owner of The Red Whip. My daughter, Elina, should just about be finished bringing up your baths. When would you like your meals ready?"
Zedd replied immediately. "Now, please."
"Now for our friend here, the rest of us should be ready in about half a candle-mark." Richard added.
Balthazar grinned. "Of course."
Cara insisted that Kahlan bathe first and Kahlan went with compliance, eager to scrap a week's worth of dirt from her skin. She did not hear the following conversation.
"Lord Rahl, if I could speak with you privately?"
-------
When Kahlan was finished with her bath, surrounded by the pleasurable glow of being clean, she walked downstairs to the tavern area. She spotted Richard and Zedd at one of the tables, scarfing down a steaming, deliciously meal. Cara wasn't at the table and Kahlan didn't recall passing her on the way from their room.
"Where's Cara? I wanted to tell her that a fresh bath was being drawn up to the room." Kahlan's eyes scanned the corners of the room. She wouldn't have been surprised if Cara decided that it was unacceptable to be anywhere else but the best vantage point to see oncoming attacks.
"She said she wanted to make sure the horses were stabled properly. She said she didn't want to be bothered." Richard informed and added thoughtfully, "I think she just wants some time alone because of earlier."
Kahlan shook her head dismissively, wondering why Cara was still brooding. The movement of her still drying hair dazzled Richard momentarily, "She's never in a mood to be bothered. I'll be back to eat in a moment."
There was a faint light coming from the end of the stables when Kahlan approached, but she stopped just beyond the last stable when she heard the faint murmur of Cara's voice.
Cara was speaking with a husky timbre that Kahlan associated more with Cara shoving her agiel into someone's throat than with soothe talking horses. "You'll be a good girl for me, won't you?" But then Kahlan remembered that was ridiculously because she knew Cara thought talking to horses was silly and preferred to use gentle strokes and her Mord-Sith stare to guide the animals into calm obedience.
Kahlan jumped at a sharp, slapping noise that was quickly followed by a keening wail, female, who was decidedly not Cara. Instinctively, Kahlan wrenched open the stable gate to enter, but quickly stopped short at what she saw.
Elina, Balthazar's daughter, didn't have a stitch of clothing on, if you didn't count the strap of cloth that was in her mouth and tied at the back of her neck. Her hands were bound together and tied to the wood framework that separated the stalls, keeping her arms slightly raised above her head while she was slightly bent over. Cara was standing behind her, still encased in her red leather. She was a stark contrast next to all the pale, exposed skin, but Kahlan's eyes were drawn to the horse whip in Cara's hand. Both of Elina's buttocks had a sparse lattice-work of distinct, pink welts. There were a few on her back and the back of her thighs as well.
"Cara!" Kahlan shouted in shock, "What-"
Cara interrupted. "Get out."
Kahlan's head jerked back, Cara's confident commanding words feeling like a blow. She looked at the restrained girl. She was breathing heavily and her head was hanging down between her arms, her medium length, mousy brown hair disheveled about her shoulders and face. She was not looking toward the other two, but Kahlan could see the shine of tears on the girl's flushed cheeks.
Kahlan felt the familiar weight of her Confessor mask, determination and authority with no room for argument. "No."
Cara rolled her eyes. "Get out, please." The Mord'Sith gestured to the bound girl like it was a Very Important Task she needed to get back too.
It probably was, but Kahlan didn't think that Cara was still capable of treating other people so despicably. Yet, she was looking at Kahlan like Kahlan looked at her whenever Kahlan thought that she needed to be more compassionate. She understood why Cara rolled her eyes at the rest of them so much. It was very annoying when it was directed at you instead of the reverse. Cara looked like she expected Kahlan to understand something and Kahlan knew that she didn't. She wasn't sure if she wanted to.
"I can't believe you're doing this. Release her at once." Kahlan watched the other woman's green-blue eyes darkened with a gray overtone as Cara's head dipped down, away from the light. Kahlan knew that the Mord-Sith was about to refuse. "Please, Cara."
Cara's jaw moved, as if tasting the different words she might deliver. "Kahlan, this is at her request." She spoke slowly, calmly, but there was an edge of impatience in her tone.
"How could she want this?"
Elina wriggled against her bonds at that exact moment, as if proving Kahlan's point. Cara put a hand against the small of the girl's back.
"Be still, Elina." The blonde hadn't spoken loudly, but the firm command caused the girl to stop her movements immediately.
"She doesn't just want this." Cara's face was still a mask of seriousness, but there was a slight quirk at her lips. "She needs this. Look."
Cara brought the end of the horse whip between the girl's legs, making Kahlan's teeth clench in anger at what might follow, but Cara merely trailed it up the inside of one thigh. Elina whimpered. Cara held the end in Kahlan's direction and the Mother Confessor saw that the leather was wet. Kahlan's brows furrowed, but then she felt a blush rise like a tidal wave to her face. She cast a quick glance at the girl's thighs before she looked up and met Cara's, who's eyes had watched the brunette's expression change from confusion to surprise. If the copious amount of wetness were an indication, then Elina was very, very aroused.
Kahlan understood that Cara found pleasure in pain, but she didn't actually understand it. She had assumed that it was tragic symptom of being so thoroughly abused and twisted into a Mord-Sith. It didn't occur to her that other people could be the same way.
"You're saying this is consen-" Kahlan stopped herself and took a deep breath, letting it out in a frustrated sigh. Willing or not, Kahlan couldn't resolve it with herself to just walk away and leave the inn owner's daughter tied up at the mercy of a Mord-Sith. Even if she considered that Mord-Sith her friend. "I can't just leave."
"Then don't."
"What?" Kahlan said sharply.
"Stay. You know what I am, what I do, and what I've done. Stay and watch. You can make sure I don't do anything that she doesn't want."
"How am I supposed to know? She's can't exactly say 'stop,' now can she?" The Mother Confessor couldn't believe Cara was suggesting something so inane.
Cara looked at Kahlan, patiently choosing her next words. She tilted her chin up slightly, the lamplight filling her irises with color again. "You are the Mother Confessor. Glean the truth from her eyes."
Kahlan felt something pass between them. This was not about Elina or standing guard for her well being. This was a challenge to step into Cara's world, her domain of pain. If she accepted, she would no longer be able to turn a blissfully ignorant eye to Cara's sadism. Kahlan didn't want to think too deeply about what would happen if this went badly, but Cara was giving Kahlan a chance to understand the part of herself she had refused to let the rest of them see. Kahlan was still trying to get Cara to open up more. She just imagined it differently.
Cara waited patiently for her answer. Kahlan swallowed. "Okay."
Cara nodded and Kahlan saw her eyes glimmer with something like happiness or gratitude, maybe pleasure, or maybe some combination of the three. The Mord-Sith tilted her head to the corner of the stall. "Stand there. Close the gate."
Just like Cara could deftly tie rope or cloth into perfect bindings, Kahlan felt the Mord-Sith artfully wrapping those words around her, restraining her to the corner of the stall as an observer even though her limbs were free. She could stay, she could watch. She could do this. Kahlan turned, barely taking her gaze away from Cara and Elina to close and latch the stable gate. She moved to the corner, faced the two, and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Cara turned her blue-green eyes to the younger brunette, filled with intent. "Did you hear all of that, Elina?" The younger girl nodded, something sounding like agreement escaping past the gag. "Good."
It started very quickly.
To Be Continued...