Fic: Shadows (3/?) (Cara/Kahlan)
Title: Shadows (3/?)
Author: soulsearchr
Characters/ Pairings: Cara/Kahlan
Rating: T
Warnings: Adult Situations
Disclaimer: "Legend of the Seeker", its characters and situations from the show are property of ABC Studios, Disney, et al, as well as Terry Goodkind. This story can't be sold or used for profit.
Summary: This is my first attempt at fanfic of any kind, so please bear with me. Of course, it involves our two girls and some of the trouble they can get into. Oh... and some feelings along the way?
A/N: This chapter is "the discussion".
Chapter 3
“Kahlan, what are you doing?” Cara asked suspiciously as she settled back against the edge of the tub.
The sound of Cara’s voice seemed to rouse the brunette out of her daze, and she quickly averted her gaze to the floor. “I was… uh…,” was all Kahlan could manage. A light blush rose in her cheeks. As she regained her composure she finally said, “Our meals just arrived and I didn’t want your food to get cold.” Her eyes made their way back to the blonde who was staring at her in complete disbelief.
Cara looked as though she was about to say something, but then changed her mind. She looked intently at Kahlan before she made her decision and then dropped her eyes away. With a slight sigh and without hesitation she stood up and swiftly stepped from the water. She could hear the deep intake of breath from the doorway but she didn‘t venture a look in that direction. If she had she would have seen the deep red crimson on the Confessor’s face as she watched helplessly. She also would have noticed how the other woman’s eyes traveled the length of her naked body. But instead the Mord’Sith made her way to where the towels had been placed and began to dry herself. Cara refused to look toward the door but she could feel those haunting blue eyes on her nonetheless.
Suddenly, as if slapped in the face, Kahlan straightened her back and tilted her head. “I’ll just go make sure everything is…,” she stopped mid-sentence when she noticed where the blonde was drying, then blinked and continued, “ready.”
As the dark haired woman turned to leave, Cara couldn’t help but smirk at the other woman’s odd behavior. As much as she was loathe to admit it though, something about this woman watching her the way she was gave her the strangest feeling. It was somewhere between shame and desire, but both equally exciting. She had no idea why Kahlan had acted this way. She even wondered if it was some kind of magic, but she felt sure the wizard would have told them immediately if he had felt anything out of the ordinary. Her stomach gave a small growl of protest to remind her of her task at hand. She quickly finished drying and slipped on a long white shirt she had procured from the last village where they had stayed. It would do until she could get her leathers properly cleaned and oiled. She stepped from the tiny room to see the Confessor busying herself with the meals that had been placed on the modest table in one corner of the room.
Pale blue eyes turned to greet emerald pools with such intensity that Cara was almost forced to look away. For a few brief minutes, the two women seemed lost in the profoundness of the moment. Kahlan broke the look first and offered a small, genuine smile. She motioned for the blonde to have a seat and then took her own place on the other side of the table. They sat quietly eating for a long time.
Cara wanted so badly to ask the brunette a myriad of questions but wasn’t quite sure how to broach the subject. As she tasted her wine, she fought every urge to blurt out her concerns and questions. Self control was like second nature for a Mord’Sith and Cara found it incredibly annoying that she was having to expend this much effort to maintain that control.
When they had finished their meals, they pushed their plates aside and just sat across from each other, sipping their wine in silence. As the moments lingered on it was Kahlan who finally broke the lull. “I think we should talk,” she said earnestly.
Cara sighed audibly and rolled her eyes, but they both knew it was mainly for appearance’s sake. She took another deep swallow of wine before she met the patient stare of the Mother Confessor. As she searched the placid face adjacent to hers, an overwhelming need to reach out pierced through her defenses. She lifted her hand and as it began to propel forward, toward that beautiful face, she caught herself and quickly diverted it to the bottle of wine between the two women. She deftly poured more of the sweet liquid into her own glass and then shot a questioning look to the brunette, who nodded slightly. Cara repeated the action with the other wine glass and then replaced the bottle in the middle of the table.
It was painfully obvious that the Mord’Sith was not going to share her thoughts without a great deal of persuasion, so Kahlan took a small sip and then hesitantly began. “I need to know why you kissed me,” she said, opting for the direct approach. Kahlan was sure the blonde would look away or even leave but she just sat there with a volume of emotions betrayed by her eyes. The betrayal was not lost on the Confessor.
It seemed like ages had passed when Cara finally blurted, “It was a mistake.” As her mouth formed those words her heart clenched at the untruth. She could only hope the other woman did not notice her discomfort.
“That doesn’t explain why, Cara.” A brief sorrowful expression flashed in the Confessor’s face before it was replaced by a challenging glare.
Cara met the icy gaze and found herself struggling to preserve her remaining composure. Several times the Mord’Sith tried to speak, to put voice to the torment in her soul, but the words eluded her. She simply had no idea how to speak of such things, nor could she even fabricate a proper deflection. Like a caged animal, Cara was trapped within the confines of her own mind. Frustration rippled below the surface of her seemingly placid demeanor and her muscles twitched in apprehension. All of the emotions she tried so hard to conceal bombarded her at once and even with all of her Mord’Sith training she was ill-equipped to handle the flood that threatened to engulf her. She growled in annoyance. Finally, she succumbed to the anger roiling beneath her skin. “What do you want me to say?” she shouted as she rose from the table.
Kahlan remained calm, ever the picture of composure. “I just want to know why… the truth. I’m not angry. I just need to know.”
“And if my truth is more than you can handle?” the blonde retorted with a smirk.
“I still want to know,” Kahlan said decisively.
A sigh of defeat left the blonde’s tense body as she sank down into the chair once again. “I can’t… I don’t know how.”
“Please… just try,” the Confessor’s words pierced the Mord’Sith’s carefully placed barricades. “Cara, you can trust me.”
Cara looked deeply into the blue eyes staring at her. “Because you… you make me feel things. Things that I shouldn’t.”
Kahlan knew that it had taken all of Cara’s inner strength to make that admission and she respected her all the more for it. Her heart melted at the sight of the broken woman in front of her. She reached out to stroke her cheek gently and smiled softly as the blonde leaned into her touch. Much to even her own surprise, Kahlan did something very unexpected. She stretched across the table and found herself pressing into the softness of Cara’s lips. The pressure was gently returned and a slender hand came up to tangle into the mass of raven hair. Warm, wet lips were parted in invitation, and Kahlan responded by slipping her tongue in to explore the blonde’s hot mouth. Cara challenged with her own tongue and the heat of the kiss exploded into a fireball of passion.
It was only when Cara quickly pulled away that Kahlan heard the knock on the door. She was still stretched across the table trying to catch her breath when it resounded through the room again. Cara had retreated to the other side of the room and stood in a corner that was barely illuminated by the lamps in the room. She stood there in her Mord’Sith mask trying to look as though what happened hadn’t just happened.
“Just a minute,” Kahlan choked out as she slid on her Confessor face with a look that matched the blonde’s. There was just a hint of annoyance that caught Cara’s eye for the briefest of moments. “Who is it?” she asked when she was almost to the door.
“It’s Richard… and Zedd,” came the muffled reply. Kahlan sighed quietly and then opened the door just a crack.
“What is it Richard? I’m really not dressed for company. We were just finishing our meals and…”
“Kahlan, I’m sorry but this is important. Some travelers from the east were telling us of some disturbing news from there.” His voice sounded urgent.
Kahlan let out a slight breath and then asked them to wait a minute for the girls to change into more presentable attire. Cara couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she slid into her leathers as swiftly as she could. When they were both ready, Kahlan swung the door open and let the men inside. Richard went straight to the table and spread an aged, wrinkled map across the top, nearly spilling the bottle of wine in his haste. Cara had already made her way there and caught it from the other side of the table before it could do any damage. Ignoring the near blunder he began pointing to an area on the map that was slightly southeast of the little village they were now in. Everyone gathered around to listen.
“Here… just a few miles from the Kern River is where the man and his family were from. They told us that Darken Rahl came to their small town about two weeks ago with a handful of Mord’Sith and he was asking a lot of questions.”
Zedd continued, “When we asked what kind of questions, the man revealed that he was inquiring about the Seeker and his friends and their whereabouts.”
“That was around the time we made that detour to the west to help those farmers. But why would he be looking for us? He knows we’ve already sealed the rift. What’s his motive?” Kahlan wondered aloud from her position to the left of Cara.
The Mord‘Sith lifted her eyes to the ceiling at the mention of the detour and folded her arms across her chest. “Perhaps he knows something we do not,” Cara offered flatly.
“There’s something else,” Richard announced as he glanced up, his brows furrowed with concern. The women glanced at each other and then to the wizard before settling on the Seeker’s face. “The traveler also said that he was traveling in the company of a beautiful, blonde woman. He said he could tell she was a sorceress because she wore a rada’han around her neck. And they both seemed very interested in finding the Mother Confessor.”
“Nicci…,” both women affirmed simultaneously.
Cara bristled, flexing her gloved hands into fists. “I should have slit her throat when I had the chance,” she growled. Kahlan gave her shoulder a slight squeeze to calm her.
“I think it’s safe to say that we need to be very careful from here on out,” Zedd offered, watching the interaction between the two women from under his bushy white brows.
“I’m not just going to sit here and wait for him to find us. The traveler’s wife also said that Rahl sent his Mord’Sith north, while he and the sorceress headed west. Zedd, I think you and I should take a little trip and see what my brother is up to. Kahlan, you and Cara should continue on to Aydindril and we’ll catch up as soon as we can.” The Seeker saw the protest on Kahlan‘s face and added, “At least there you will have the Home Guard to protect you as well.”
“My place is with the Lord Rahl,” Cara began dryly only to be silenced with a hand from the Seeker.
“I need you to stay with Kahlan and keep her safe. You’re the only one I can trust against the Mord’Sith. Zedd and I can handle Nicci‘s magic, especially if she‘s wearing a rada‘han. And I think we should leave tonight. There’s no telling how close they are.” He turned to look at Kahlan. “The sooner you get to Aydindril the safer you’ll be.” He moved around the table to stand beside the brunette. As he raised his hand to stroke Kahlan‘s face, Cara retreated surreptitiously to the darkened corner of the room. She watched in stony silence as Richard leaned in to kiss the Confessor. When they broke, he grinned and then whispered, “I’ll be there before you know it and we’ll begin planning our wedding. I love you.”
Kahlan closed her eyes and smiled weakly, “I love you, too. We’ll be fine.”
The next hour was spent repacking and making preparations for their respective journeys. Richard gave Cara a journey book so that they could keep in contact and instructed her to write if they ran into trouble. “Obviously, “she stated as she rolled her eyes upward.
Finally, everything was ready and the foursome found themselves standing beneath the pale sign of the inn. Zedd and Richard stood facing Kahlan and the front of the inn while Cara was standing off to the side, in the shadows of the night, waiting impatiently to be on their way. Farewells were said and each pair departed in the direction of their mission, wizard and Seeker to the west and the Mother Confessor and Mord’Sith heading northward to Aydindril, and hopefully safety.