Fic: Privacy, A Series of Scenes
Title: Privacy, A Series of Scenes
Author: AngelicSinner / VixenRaign
Pairing: Kahlan/Cara (pre-slash for now), Richard/Kahlan, Dahlia
Rating: G - R (PG-13 for now, maybe R later)
Warnings: Contains Femslash, and my rampant reinterpretation of how things may have gone after the end of Season 2.
Disclaimer: I do not own “Legend of the Seeker”, not do I even own copies of the “Sword of Truth” book series. They belong to Terry Goodkind, ABC and Disney TV. I make no profit, nor would I like to. This is all in good fun.
Author’s Note: I’ve always been fascinated by people, the way they are when they are alone with just one other person; who they allow themselves to be in the company of a trusted friend. The secret parts of themselves they reveal to just one, the way that brings them closer and allows them to understand each other in ways others could not…
Summery: Post “Tears”/Season 2. Life is complicated. So are people. And to quote a great comic book, “The thing about changing the world? Once you do it, the world’s all different.”
Time Line:
angelicsinner.livejournal.com/9250.html
Takes place after (maybe just a couple of days after) “Bed Times”
Warm Beds in Cold Rooms
Scene Summery: Winter is a hard season for the soft-hearted and lonely. Sometimes though, a cold room can make a warm bed all the more irresistible.
The winter that would close the end of Lilly’s third year seemed to come on all at once, almost overnight. One afternoon Cara and Kahlan had taken the child to see the horses at the stables, the air crisp and so were the leaves, and the next there was a bite that left one’s nose stinging after a short walk outside. Kahlan had a couple large fireplaces in her rooms, even one in her bedchamber, and they were kept stoked all through the winter months. However, the Confessor had learned over the past couple years that, no matter the size of the hearth or the fire within it, her rooms always possessed a lingering cold. This year was something different entirely.
One morning when Kahlan woke to begin her day, she gasped into consciousness when abruptly met with the freezing cold of the world awake. She dressed in her traditional white Confessor’s dress, a thicker pair of breaches underneath to keep her legs warm, and had her snow-fox fur mantle brought out from the depths of the closet. When she entered the receiving hall, she noticed that many of the petitioners who’d traveled to see her had not been prepared for the sudden, harsh weather. She’d asked that spare cloaks be provided for those that needed them, especially the elderly and the very young, and had large, raised bowls of coals set about the room to help stave off the chill. Her people were very thankful.
That night, the temperature dropped so far that ice was forming in the puddles on the streets, people were becoming sick from the sudden change in temperature, and several farmers had lost livestock they’d not yet brought in from pasture. Kahlan had not slept more than a few minutes at a time, her cold so profound, even under her thick top-quilt of fine duck feathers, she’d spent much of the night shivering and chattering. When she’d gone to collect Lilly for the morning meal, she saw Cara was helping the child into her thicker sweater and had dressed her in boots that had sheep’s-wool lining the insides. Kahlan gave her a thankful smile, knowing her tiredness must have shown on her face. Cara just nodded.
As Lilly skipped along in front of them, singing a song in her nonsense-language and hopping from one stone in the floor to the next in a pattern only the child could follow, Cara walked beside the Mother Confessor. She leaned forward to catch the brunette’s eye, her expression obviously mildly concerned and curious. Kahlan just shook her head and waved her hand, saying it was nothing. The blonde didn’t look nearly convinced.
After breakfast, when Lilly was collected by Valga for her morning lessons (which were not going well, her teacher was struggling with understanding the child, so Lilly’s lessons were not progressing), Cara walked Kahlan to her small office off the main receiving hall through her usual side-door. Kahlan’s eyes were already tired before they even began to review her papers for the coming morning.
“You have not slept well.” Cara said. It was not a question. “If illness isn’t what’s disrupting your sleep, it may soon disrupt your life in general.” She warned gently. The Confessor just sighed.
“It is this weather. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a winter like this since I was a child. And luckily, I wasn’t even in Aydindril that year, I was at school.” Kahlan sighed and looked out the narrow window behind her desk. The harsh, gray light gave everything a stark sharpness. “This will be a tough season to get through. For everyone, I imagine.”
“You will find the best solution.” Cara shrugged, so sure she seemed unconcerned. “You usually do.” Kahlan shot her a brief, genuine smile. The Mord’Sith smiled back briefly, though her eyes did drift to take in the tiredness on her face, and Kahlan noticed. “I will look after your fire tonight.” Cara offered, though it was more like a promise.
“It is not the fire. The fire seems to do nothing.” The Brunette sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Nor my blankets, what I sleep in or anything. I cannot keep warm in that room and I fear the winter will only get more fierce.” She let out a mirthless chuckle. “And I had thought last winter was bad.” She muttered. When she glanced back up, she saw that Cara’s expression was one of thought, almost as though she were scheming. “What?” Kahlan asked, interested.
“I will think on it, Mother Confessor.” Cara offered, moving to the door to the main room so that she may inspect the crowd with her shrewd eye before Kahlan entered. “I will let you know what I come up with.”
…
By the time Kahlan was back in her rooms at the end of the day, she was barely standing. She felt as though if she so much as sat down she would probably fall asleep wherever that might be. Kahlan mocked herself, and reminded herself that just a few short years ago she could walk leagues on end for days, with hardly any rest, on far less to eat. She thought she must be aging quickly, but the thought was not at all comforting to the brunette. She opened the door into her daughter’s room and found Lilly at her little play table. She had four petite seats put out with her little tea set, filled with real tea that steamed lightly, and in one sat Lilly and another sat Bernice, her stuffed cow.
“It’s good to see you Darling,” Kahlan said, walking over and kissing her child’s dark curls. “What’s all this?”
Lilly pointed to a seat across from her, telling her mother that place had been set for her. The Mother Confessor smiled and seated herself, a brief fear of falling asleep facedown on her child’s table shooting through her momentarily, before she shook it off. Lilly then explained she was waiting for her Ahba. Kahlan nodded, having thought that was whom the last seat was for.
“Do you know where she is?” Kahlan asked lightly. She tried to suppress a yawn, and barely succeeded.
Whatever Lilly had tried to say, it had something to do with horses (she thought) and that Cara was with ‘Lady’, though which lady Kahlan had no idea. Though Lilly had referred to the woman as ‘Lady’ as though it were her name. Kahlan wondered if some woman of nobility had needed Cara for something. As she tried to think through it, slowly as her mind was somewhat sluggish, she sipped her tea and watched as Lilly “helped” Bernice drink hers. Kahlan sighed, knowing the toy would probably have to be dried now. Still, there was something cute about it. She smiled into her cup as she finished the warm liquid.
The sky outside had gone dark, and the cold was already nipping at the glass of the windows, and the Confessor couldn’t help but wonder if Cara had thought of anything to help her sleep. As though summoned by her thoughts, the blonde then walked into the room. She was just pulling off her old, red gloves when Lilly happily jumped into her arms. Cara laughed and gave her a hug. The child kissed her cheek happily, and Cara kissed her head, and just beamed down at her.
“You missed out on a lovely tea party.” Kahlan offered, still seated in her little chair, her little cup still in hand. Cara smirked and sat down in a chair herself, placing Lilly on her lap.
“Did not.” She denied. “I was here from the beginning. I just got called away.”
Lilly jumped in with an excited question.
“What did she say?” Kahlan asked quietly, still a bit embarrassed when she could not completely understand her own child; though she was sure that horses and ‘Lady’ were in there.
“I went to see Dahlia. She said she had good news. Sparrow wanted to know what it was.” She looked at the girl for confirmation. Lilly nodded happily at her mom.
“What was it?” Kahlan asked, logging away that Lilly had called Dahlia ‘Lady’, and intending to ask Cara why that might be.
“One of the barn’s cats, the one that sleeps in her loft most nights, disappeared a few days ago.” She smiled mischievously. “She found it this afternoon.” She turned to look at Lilly. “She’d had eleven kittens. She asked for my help bringing them and their mother back to her loft because it’s so cold.” At this Cara turned to look more seriously at Kahlan. “She also wanted to ask if it would be okay for Lilly to come see them, when they get a bit older.” Kahlan smiled and nodded. Lilly squealed happily, clapping, before asking a lot of fast questions to Cara excitedly. Kahlan just watched the exchange; Lilly happy about getting to play with a whole bunch of baby kittens, and Cara pleased that she could make her little Sparrow so happy.
A few minutes later, Kahlan failed at suppressing a yawn. Cara shot her a look out of the corner of her eye, nodding to the door back to her bedchamber. Her look obviously said, go to bed- I’ve got it from here. It was a look they were both familiar with after all this time. Kahlan was too tired to resist such an offer. She pulled herself from the tiny chair, and kissed Lilly’s head where she sat on Cara’s lap, and momentarily almost leaned down to do the same to the Mord’Sith. I must be really tired, she thought, shaking her head as she made her way into her bedchamber.
Kahlan changed out of her Confessor’s dress and quickly slipped into a thick pair of tights. Over she sleeping shift she pulled a heavy sweater with long sleeves and even pulled on some warm knit socks to protect her feet from the cold. The windows of her room were already frosting around the edges of the panes. This would indeed be a harsh winter, that much was obvious already. Sighing, she pulled back her covers and got into bed, huddling herself deep within her blankets. Somehow, she felt even colder like this in her own room, than she had just minutes ago in Lilly’s with her daughter and Cara.
Kahlan tried to cocoon herself in an effort to retain warmth, but somehow, despite her aching tiredness, she couldn’t drop into sleep. She wanted to laugh bitterly at how easily it’d seemed to her to fall asleep in one of Lilly’s tiny chairs, but here in her quilts she was once again restless. She eventually dropped off, but not for very long. Always she would awake, seemingly from nothing, the cold air nipping at her face, as it was the only part of her exposed from the covers. Eventually the light from outside the windows was entirely gone. And then, so too was the light from under the door into Lilly’s rooms. The next time after that, when her eyes sprang open, they landed on a shadowed figure next to her bed.
“Can you still not sleep?” came Cara’s familiar voice quietly through the dark.
As Kahlan’s eyes quickly readjusted to the dim room, she saw that the Mord’Sith was standing at the edge of her bed dressed in only a simple sleeping shift. And not much of one, she realized. It was made of a simpler material than her own (which was silk), most likely cotton. It was creamy almost, making her warm skin more apparent. It had no sleeves, only narrow straps, and was actually cut fairly short, coming only to mid-thigh while she stood. Kahlan’s wide eyes traveled over the piece of clothing, and if she was honest even more so the body revealed beneath it, and knew her cheeks were now not only ruddy pink from the cold. Kahlan knew Cara was a stunning woman, she always had been; there were times when she felt jealous or even threatened when the blonde first started traveling with them… But, now, after so long; somehow she’d forgotten, it’d seemed. She couldn’t seem to stop staring.
“Kahlan, are you alright?” Cara asked, a little louder this time.
“It’s freezing,” The Confessor breathed out shakily.
“I know.” Was all she said. She held out an arm towards the other woman. “Come on. And bring your top-quilt.” Kahlan pulled herself to sitting, scooting to the edge of her bed and wrapping her blanket around her snugly. As Cara moved towards the connecting door, the brunette followed.
“How are you not freezing dressed like that?” Kahlan asked, incredulous, seemingly still unable to stop looking at all the bare shoulder and legs. Cara raised a finger to her lips as her hand was on the knob. With a silence that seemed almost inhuman, the Mord’Sith released the latch, pulled open the door, and made her way into Lilly’s connecting room. As she did, Kahlan watched the muscles in her thighs shift and seriously wondered how one could seemingly forget they were constantly in the company of one such as Cara. She eventually caught herself and shuffled along behind her.
As she passed into Cara’s room, as soon as she was through the doorway, the change in temperature was noticeable. When the door was shut, she let out a relieved sigh. It was still cool, but compared to Kahlan’s own chambers it positively seemed like springtime. She couldn’t help closing her eyes for a moment to seep in the warmth and light for the fire in this room; she could feel it on her chilled cheeks and through her eyelids.
“I pulled Lilly’s bed closer to the fire and put the grate in place so no errant sparks should be a problem.” Cara muttered, going to her own fire and adding a few substantial logs. Kahlan turned her eyes away when she noticed how the blonde’s leaning over caused her shift to rise up higher on her legs. She suddenly felt her heart flutter in a slight panic, what is wrong with me?, she wondered. “I also put her elk-skin mattress cover on, so that should help keep her warm as well.” She turned back around and dusted the spare back from her hands. Kahlan nodded absently, looking down at the quilt wrapped around her. “Get in bed.” Cara said casually. Kahlan’s eyes landed on her, sure she must have misheard.
“What?” she asked, pretending she didn’t hear what she’d knew she’d heard.
“Go get under the covers. And give me the quilt, I’ll lay it over you.” Kahlan did as she was told, but when she did and Cara saw how she was dressed, the blonde’s expression showed her obvious disapproval. The Confessor felt inordinately embarrassed. “Take all that stuff off. You’re wasting your body heat trying to warm all that, it’ll never reach the air around you to re-warm your skin. Under thick down like this, less is more to keep you warm.” Kahlan hesitantly pulled her sweater off, then her leggings, realizing that now she was only slightly more modestly dressed than Cara. And now she was freezing. “Go on, under the covers.” She insisted. The brunette did not wait to be told a third time. As she did, Cara folded her giant top-quilt in half and laid it over her munch smaller bed.
“Where will you sleep?” Kahlan ask. Cara froze, suddenly still. Kahlan realized the blonde might not have thought that far.
“In this bed. With you, Mother Confessor.” She replied seriously, slowly. Oh dear, she had thought that far, Kahlan realized. “Eventually the fire will die down some in the night, and no one tends my hearth but me. When the fire wanes, we’ll be warm enough not to need it until morning.” She said, still looking at the top-quilt as she needless straightened it. “If that is alright?” she asked finally, Cara’s hands finally stilling and her eyes once again returning to the Confessor’s face.
Once again Kahlan was left struck by the woman in front of her. Cara had somehow smoothed in expression in their years together, giving her face a softness made all the more visible in the flickering firelight beside her. Her hair, having grown somewhat, lost the roughness of its ends and had regained its shine and waves now that they could properly bathe on a regular basis. The eyes were no longer so haunted and hard as they had been, now seemed constantly trusting and even vulnerable whenever Kahlan found herself alone with the woman. Having all that staring down at her from the bedside, offering warmth and unafraid to be beside her despite knowing the dangers, particularly serious for the Mord’Sith herself… Kahlan was somewhat awed. She could only nod.
Slowly, Cara lifted the blankets and slid in beside her, as though worried she might frighten the Mother Confessor. Oddly, Kahlan was reminded of Richard’s hesitancy on their wedding night; the sense of self-restraint, the faux-calm, as though all their nervousness was based on Kahlan’s own that they could sense. When Cara was beside her, lying on her belly with her arms folded under the pillow beneath her head, Kahlan found herself shaking once again. Cara turned her head so that it faced her companion rather than away. “Go to sleep, Mother Confessor. You’ll be warm enough soon.”
~ AngelicSinner / VixenRaign
((Author’s note: Sorry it took me so long! For some reason, knowing that this is sorta square-one to the eventual (*insert sultry-sexy jazz music*) “Love Story” (*/jazz*), seemed to make it ten times harder to write. I may have a dirty mind that’s written the “good bits” about ten times over…? But I’ve never really tried my hand at the p0rny-stuff before. I’m nervous. Go easy on me. And, please… be patient? I’m actually sorta shy…))
Author: AngelicSinner / VixenRaign
Pairing: Kahlan/Cara (pre-slash for now), Richard/Kahlan, Dahlia
Rating: G - R (PG-13 for now, maybe R later)
Warnings: Contains Femslash, and my rampant reinterpretation of how things may have gone after the end of Season 2.
Disclaimer: I do not own “Legend of the Seeker”, not do I even own copies of the “Sword of Truth” book series. They belong to Terry Goodkind, ABC and Disney TV. I make no profit, nor would I like to. This is all in good fun.
Author’s Note: I’ve always been fascinated by people, the way they are when they are alone with just one other person; who they allow themselves to be in the company of a trusted friend. The secret parts of themselves they reveal to just one, the way that brings them closer and allows them to understand each other in ways others could not…
Summery: Post “Tears”/Season 2. Life is complicated. So are people. And to quote a great comic book, “The thing about changing the world? Once you do it, the world’s all different.”
Time Line:
angelicsinner.livejournal.com/9250.html
Takes place after (maybe just a couple of days after) “Bed Times”
Warm Beds in Cold Rooms
Scene Summery: Winter is a hard season for the soft-hearted and lonely. Sometimes though, a cold room can make a warm bed all the more irresistible.
The winter that would close the end of Lilly’s third year seemed to come on all at once, almost overnight. One afternoon Cara and Kahlan had taken the child to see the horses at the stables, the air crisp and so were the leaves, and the next there was a bite that left one’s nose stinging after a short walk outside. Kahlan had a couple large fireplaces in her rooms, even one in her bedchamber, and they were kept stoked all through the winter months. However, the Confessor had learned over the past couple years that, no matter the size of the hearth or the fire within it, her rooms always possessed a lingering cold. This year was something different entirely.
One morning when Kahlan woke to begin her day, she gasped into consciousness when abruptly met with the freezing cold of the world awake. She dressed in her traditional white Confessor’s dress, a thicker pair of breaches underneath to keep her legs warm, and had her snow-fox fur mantle brought out from the depths of the closet. When she entered the receiving hall, she noticed that many of the petitioners who’d traveled to see her had not been prepared for the sudden, harsh weather. She’d asked that spare cloaks be provided for those that needed them, especially the elderly and the very young, and had large, raised bowls of coals set about the room to help stave off the chill. Her people were very thankful.
That night, the temperature dropped so far that ice was forming in the puddles on the streets, people were becoming sick from the sudden change in temperature, and several farmers had lost livestock they’d not yet brought in from pasture. Kahlan had not slept more than a few minutes at a time, her cold so profound, even under her thick top-quilt of fine duck feathers, she’d spent much of the night shivering and chattering. When she’d gone to collect Lilly for the morning meal, she saw Cara was helping the child into her thicker sweater and had dressed her in boots that had sheep’s-wool lining the insides. Kahlan gave her a thankful smile, knowing her tiredness must have shown on her face. Cara just nodded.
As Lilly skipped along in front of them, singing a song in her nonsense-language and hopping from one stone in the floor to the next in a pattern only the child could follow, Cara walked beside the Mother Confessor. She leaned forward to catch the brunette’s eye, her expression obviously mildly concerned and curious. Kahlan just shook her head and waved her hand, saying it was nothing. The blonde didn’t look nearly convinced.
After breakfast, when Lilly was collected by Valga for her morning lessons (which were not going well, her teacher was struggling with understanding the child, so Lilly’s lessons were not progressing), Cara walked Kahlan to her small office off the main receiving hall through her usual side-door. Kahlan’s eyes were already tired before they even began to review her papers for the coming morning.
“You have not slept well.” Cara said. It was not a question. “If illness isn’t what’s disrupting your sleep, it may soon disrupt your life in general.” She warned gently. The Confessor just sighed.
“It is this weather. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a winter like this since I was a child. And luckily, I wasn’t even in Aydindril that year, I was at school.” Kahlan sighed and looked out the narrow window behind her desk. The harsh, gray light gave everything a stark sharpness. “This will be a tough season to get through. For everyone, I imagine.”
“You will find the best solution.” Cara shrugged, so sure she seemed unconcerned. “You usually do.” Kahlan shot her a brief, genuine smile. The Mord’Sith smiled back briefly, though her eyes did drift to take in the tiredness on her face, and Kahlan noticed. “I will look after your fire tonight.” Cara offered, though it was more like a promise.
“It is not the fire. The fire seems to do nothing.” The Brunette sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Nor my blankets, what I sleep in or anything. I cannot keep warm in that room and I fear the winter will only get more fierce.” She let out a mirthless chuckle. “And I had thought last winter was bad.” She muttered. When she glanced back up, she saw that Cara’s expression was one of thought, almost as though she were scheming. “What?” Kahlan asked, interested.
“I will think on it, Mother Confessor.” Cara offered, moving to the door to the main room so that she may inspect the crowd with her shrewd eye before Kahlan entered. “I will let you know what I come up with.”
…
By the time Kahlan was back in her rooms at the end of the day, she was barely standing. She felt as though if she so much as sat down she would probably fall asleep wherever that might be. Kahlan mocked herself, and reminded herself that just a few short years ago she could walk leagues on end for days, with hardly any rest, on far less to eat. She thought she must be aging quickly, but the thought was not at all comforting to the brunette. She opened the door into her daughter’s room and found Lilly at her little play table. She had four petite seats put out with her little tea set, filled with real tea that steamed lightly, and in one sat Lilly and another sat Bernice, her stuffed cow.
“It’s good to see you Darling,” Kahlan said, walking over and kissing her child’s dark curls. “What’s all this?”
Lilly pointed to a seat across from her, telling her mother that place had been set for her. The Mother Confessor smiled and seated herself, a brief fear of falling asleep facedown on her child’s table shooting through her momentarily, before she shook it off. Lilly then explained she was waiting for her Ahba. Kahlan nodded, having thought that was whom the last seat was for.
“Do you know where she is?” Kahlan asked lightly. She tried to suppress a yawn, and barely succeeded.
Whatever Lilly had tried to say, it had something to do with horses (she thought) and that Cara was with ‘Lady’, though which lady Kahlan had no idea. Though Lilly had referred to the woman as ‘Lady’ as though it were her name. Kahlan wondered if some woman of nobility had needed Cara for something. As she tried to think through it, slowly as her mind was somewhat sluggish, she sipped her tea and watched as Lilly “helped” Bernice drink hers. Kahlan sighed, knowing the toy would probably have to be dried now. Still, there was something cute about it. She smiled into her cup as she finished the warm liquid.
The sky outside had gone dark, and the cold was already nipping at the glass of the windows, and the Confessor couldn’t help but wonder if Cara had thought of anything to help her sleep. As though summoned by her thoughts, the blonde then walked into the room. She was just pulling off her old, red gloves when Lilly happily jumped into her arms. Cara laughed and gave her a hug. The child kissed her cheek happily, and Cara kissed her head, and just beamed down at her.
“You missed out on a lovely tea party.” Kahlan offered, still seated in her little chair, her little cup still in hand. Cara smirked and sat down in a chair herself, placing Lilly on her lap.
“Did not.” She denied. “I was here from the beginning. I just got called away.”
Lilly jumped in with an excited question.
“What did she say?” Kahlan asked quietly, still a bit embarrassed when she could not completely understand her own child; though she was sure that horses and ‘Lady’ were in there.
“I went to see Dahlia. She said she had good news. Sparrow wanted to know what it was.” She looked at the girl for confirmation. Lilly nodded happily at her mom.
“What was it?” Kahlan asked, logging away that Lilly had called Dahlia ‘Lady’, and intending to ask Cara why that might be.
“One of the barn’s cats, the one that sleeps in her loft most nights, disappeared a few days ago.” She smiled mischievously. “She found it this afternoon.” She turned to look at Lilly. “She’d had eleven kittens. She asked for my help bringing them and their mother back to her loft because it’s so cold.” At this Cara turned to look more seriously at Kahlan. “She also wanted to ask if it would be okay for Lilly to come see them, when they get a bit older.” Kahlan smiled and nodded. Lilly squealed happily, clapping, before asking a lot of fast questions to Cara excitedly. Kahlan just watched the exchange; Lilly happy about getting to play with a whole bunch of baby kittens, and Cara pleased that she could make her little Sparrow so happy.
A few minutes later, Kahlan failed at suppressing a yawn. Cara shot her a look out of the corner of her eye, nodding to the door back to her bedchamber. Her look obviously said, go to bed- I’ve got it from here. It was a look they were both familiar with after all this time. Kahlan was too tired to resist such an offer. She pulled herself from the tiny chair, and kissed Lilly’s head where she sat on Cara’s lap, and momentarily almost leaned down to do the same to the Mord’Sith. I must be really tired, she thought, shaking her head as she made her way into her bedchamber.
Kahlan changed out of her Confessor’s dress and quickly slipped into a thick pair of tights. Over she sleeping shift she pulled a heavy sweater with long sleeves and even pulled on some warm knit socks to protect her feet from the cold. The windows of her room were already frosting around the edges of the panes. This would indeed be a harsh winter, that much was obvious already. Sighing, she pulled back her covers and got into bed, huddling herself deep within her blankets. Somehow, she felt even colder like this in her own room, than she had just minutes ago in Lilly’s with her daughter and Cara.
Kahlan tried to cocoon herself in an effort to retain warmth, but somehow, despite her aching tiredness, she couldn’t drop into sleep. She wanted to laugh bitterly at how easily it’d seemed to her to fall asleep in one of Lilly’s tiny chairs, but here in her quilts she was once again restless. She eventually dropped off, but not for very long. Always she would awake, seemingly from nothing, the cold air nipping at her face, as it was the only part of her exposed from the covers. Eventually the light from outside the windows was entirely gone. And then, so too was the light from under the door into Lilly’s rooms. The next time after that, when her eyes sprang open, they landed on a shadowed figure next to her bed.
“Can you still not sleep?” came Cara’s familiar voice quietly through the dark.
As Kahlan’s eyes quickly readjusted to the dim room, she saw that the Mord’Sith was standing at the edge of her bed dressed in only a simple sleeping shift. And not much of one, she realized. It was made of a simpler material than her own (which was silk), most likely cotton. It was creamy almost, making her warm skin more apparent. It had no sleeves, only narrow straps, and was actually cut fairly short, coming only to mid-thigh while she stood. Kahlan’s wide eyes traveled over the piece of clothing, and if she was honest even more so the body revealed beneath it, and knew her cheeks were now not only ruddy pink from the cold. Kahlan knew Cara was a stunning woman, she always had been; there were times when she felt jealous or even threatened when the blonde first started traveling with them… But, now, after so long; somehow she’d forgotten, it’d seemed. She couldn’t seem to stop staring.
“Kahlan, are you alright?” Cara asked, a little louder this time.
“It’s freezing,” The Confessor breathed out shakily.
“I know.” Was all she said. She held out an arm towards the other woman. “Come on. And bring your top-quilt.” Kahlan pulled herself to sitting, scooting to the edge of her bed and wrapping her blanket around her snugly. As Cara moved towards the connecting door, the brunette followed.
“How are you not freezing dressed like that?” Kahlan asked, incredulous, seemingly still unable to stop looking at all the bare shoulder and legs. Cara raised a finger to her lips as her hand was on the knob. With a silence that seemed almost inhuman, the Mord’Sith released the latch, pulled open the door, and made her way into Lilly’s connecting room. As she did, Kahlan watched the muscles in her thighs shift and seriously wondered how one could seemingly forget they were constantly in the company of one such as Cara. She eventually caught herself and shuffled along behind her.
As she passed into Cara’s room, as soon as she was through the doorway, the change in temperature was noticeable. When the door was shut, she let out a relieved sigh. It was still cool, but compared to Kahlan’s own chambers it positively seemed like springtime. She couldn’t help closing her eyes for a moment to seep in the warmth and light for the fire in this room; she could feel it on her chilled cheeks and through her eyelids.
“I pulled Lilly’s bed closer to the fire and put the grate in place so no errant sparks should be a problem.” Cara muttered, going to her own fire and adding a few substantial logs. Kahlan turned her eyes away when she noticed how the blonde’s leaning over caused her shift to rise up higher on her legs. She suddenly felt her heart flutter in a slight panic, what is wrong with me?, she wondered. “I also put her elk-skin mattress cover on, so that should help keep her warm as well.” She turned back around and dusted the spare back from her hands. Kahlan nodded absently, looking down at the quilt wrapped around her. “Get in bed.” Cara said casually. Kahlan’s eyes landed on her, sure she must have misheard.
“What?” she asked, pretending she didn’t hear what she’d knew she’d heard.
“Go get under the covers. And give me the quilt, I’ll lay it over you.” Kahlan did as she was told, but when she did and Cara saw how she was dressed, the blonde’s expression showed her obvious disapproval. The Confessor felt inordinately embarrassed. “Take all that stuff off. You’re wasting your body heat trying to warm all that, it’ll never reach the air around you to re-warm your skin. Under thick down like this, less is more to keep you warm.” Kahlan hesitantly pulled her sweater off, then her leggings, realizing that now she was only slightly more modestly dressed than Cara. And now she was freezing. “Go on, under the covers.” She insisted. The brunette did not wait to be told a third time. As she did, Cara folded her giant top-quilt in half and laid it over her munch smaller bed.
“Where will you sleep?” Kahlan ask. Cara froze, suddenly still. Kahlan realized the blonde might not have thought that far.
“In this bed. With you, Mother Confessor.” She replied seriously, slowly. Oh dear, she had thought that far, Kahlan realized. “Eventually the fire will die down some in the night, and no one tends my hearth but me. When the fire wanes, we’ll be warm enough not to need it until morning.” She said, still looking at the top-quilt as she needless straightened it. “If that is alright?” she asked finally, Cara’s hands finally stilling and her eyes once again returning to the Confessor’s face.
Once again Kahlan was left struck by the woman in front of her. Cara had somehow smoothed in expression in their years together, giving her face a softness made all the more visible in the flickering firelight beside her. Her hair, having grown somewhat, lost the roughness of its ends and had regained its shine and waves now that they could properly bathe on a regular basis. The eyes were no longer so haunted and hard as they had been, now seemed constantly trusting and even vulnerable whenever Kahlan found herself alone with the woman. Having all that staring down at her from the bedside, offering warmth and unafraid to be beside her despite knowing the dangers, particularly serious for the Mord’Sith herself… Kahlan was somewhat awed. She could only nod.
Slowly, Cara lifted the blankets and slid in beside her, as though worried she might frighten the Mother Confessor. Oddly, Kahlan was reminded of Richard’s hesitancy on their wedding night; the sense of self-restraint, the faux-calm, as though all their nervousness was based on Kahlan’s own that they could sense. When Cara was beside her, lying on her belly with her arms folded under the pillow beneath her head, Kahlan found herself shaking once again. Cara turned her head so that it faced her companion rather than away. “Go to sleep, Mother Confessor. You’ll be warm enough soon.”
~ AngelicSinner / VixenRaign
((Author’s note: Sorry it took me so long! For some reason, knowing that this is sorta square-one to the eventual (*insert sultry-sexy jazz music*) “Love Story” (*/jazz*), seemed to make it ten times harder to write. I may have a dirty mind that’s written the “good bits” about ten times over…? But I’ve never really tried my hand at the p0rny-stuff before. I’m nervous. Go easy on me. And, please… be patient? I’m actually sorta shy…))