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seriousficSo here's the beginning of the end of the trilogy that started with Home Is The Place Where It Feels Right To Walk Around Without Agiels. And I'm warning you right now, Cara gets put through the wringer, but there is a point to all the suffering. I'm not RTD, you know.
By the way, someone went and made a mini-music video about this series. Guess which song it is. The sad one? How'd you know? Okay, now someone try to make a movie trailer!
Title: We're a long way from home and home is a long way from us
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 5,488
Characters/Pairings: Cara Mason, Richard/Kahlan, Berdine/Raina
Author’s notes: Betaed by the lovely, talented duo of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ivanolix and susurrusnight
Previous: Emotion is the glove into which pain slips its hand Part 3
Next: Part 2
Summary: Cara has her first kiss and her last kiss.
Dahlia loved birds. There were just so many of them, and they were all different. Some of them never seemed to flap their wings at all, just floating along like little clouds, and some of them flapped their wings hundred of times in a blink like they were waving hello. There were red ones and green ones and blue ones… not like the other animals, which all seemed to be some mix of black and white and brown. And they sang!
In the morning, while Dahlia got dressed and ate breakfast and performed her devotional to Lord Rahl, there were dawn birds sweetly chirping. Then when she'd run over to Cara's house, she'd hear the cry of hawks as they helped the hunters find food out in the woods. Finally, after a long day of chores and play and chores that they made into play, there was the soft lullaby of the owls. Dahlia stared out the window at one as she brushed at the nightgown Cara had let her borrow.
With her mother out of Stonecroft making a dress for the wedding of Lady Dulc, Dahlia could stay at Cara's house as long as she liked! She could even sleep there. And if the nightgown wasn't as comfortable as her own, at least it smelled of Cara – that unique scent that seemed to be equal parts sweet flower and bitter cherry.
Cara and Dahlia were jumping on the bed when Cara's father spoke from the washroom, where he was shaving his beard. He always shaved at bedtime, so that when he woke up he had a dusting of stubble on his jaw. Cara's mother liked it. She said it made him look rugged. Cara thought it must itch.
"Cara, are your chores all done?"
"Yes papa!" Cara called, bouncing up and down.
"Did you use the bathroom?"
"Yes papa!"
"Are you jumping on the bed?"
She stopped. "No papa."
"Alright then." Cara's father stepped into the bedroom, his cheeks still glistening. He tucked Cara and Dahlia in, inspecting the sheets like a custodian before going to the lamp. "Goodnight then."
"Wait papa! What about a story?"
Cara's father paused. "You want a story?"
"Yes papa!"
"I knew I was forgetting something." He closed the lamp back up and the candle flame seemed to flicker happily in its glass prison. "What story would you like? And remember, it has to be something Dahlia will enjoy."
"Nothing scary!" Dahlia insisted.
But for Cara, the story had been picked out for a long while. "Tell us the story of Kieran and Viviane, and the wizard Amfortas, and the evil Count Alron, and, and…"
"Do you want to tell the story or should I?" Cara's father sat down on the bed, moving when he sat on Dahlia's toes. "Sorry, I'm not used to two little girls under the covers. Now then, how did that story start…"
"It was a long time ago!" Cara reminded him, dying of excitement.
"Oh yes. A long time ago, before the House of Rahl rose to power, or Aydindril had even been erected, the Midlands were so chaotic that they stretched from the Old World to the new. Warlords fought over every scrap of land and speck of gold. And the worst of them all was Jagang, self-styled emperor of the world."
"Did he kill people?" Dahlia asked, looking queasy.
"Yes, did he?" Cara demanded.
"He killed lots of people. Him and his band of war wizards were feared by the stoutest of hearts, for if any dared to oppose them, he would erase them from history with a chainfire spell so that not only were they defeated, but they had never fought at all. Even the Wizards were scared, but they were wise in their fear. They knew that the time had come to name a new Seeker."
Cara beamed. "This is my favorite part," she whispered to Dahlia.
"They sent a young Confessor named Viviane. She searched long and hard for someone worthy of the Sword of Truth. It took many moons, but finally she stopped at a little farm in Nicobarese. The farmer was a young man, all alone since his parents had died in the war. But from what little he could harvest, he gave freely to Viviane, even though she kept her hood over her face so that he would not be tempted by her beauty. To ensure he would not miss her when she left in the morning, for the greatest torture to the lonely is a friend withheld, she was rude to him, constantly complaining about the smell of the barn and the taste of the food and the state of the house. But Kieran, who was the young farmer, knew it was a ruse, because she never said one wrong thing about him. Then at dawn, she set out. She had just gotten around the first bend in the road when a pack of raiders set upon her. They were Shado Rahl's men!"
"Shado Rahl?" Dahlia asked. "Really?"
Cara shushed her.
"She Confessed the first man who dared lay a hand on her, but there were four of them and he could only strike down one before he too was overcome. The other two soldiers were big and mean and smelled of rotten fruit. They drew their blades, and Viviane drew hers. She apologized to the Seeker who she would never find, for she had failed to bring him the Sword of Truth."
Dahlia was desperately grasping Cara's arm.
"Then who should appear on the road but young Kieran, riding his gray old pack mule as fast as it had ever gone. Even though Viviane had shown him nothing but disdain, he fought to the brink of death to defend her. Together, they wiped out the last of the quad and Viviane realized that only a Seeker could have such compassion. She showed him the Sword of Truth, which she had carried concealed in the back of her cloak the whole time. Then she told him that the Sisters of Light had received a new prophecy from the Creator – that only a Seeker of Truth could defeat Emperor Jagang. He, Kieran, was to be that Seeker!"
"And he just went with her?" Dahlia asked, trying to regain a little face from squeezing Cara's arm so intently. "What if she was a phony?"
"Ah, but to show him the sword, Viviane had to take off her hood, and that was how Kieran saw that she was the most beautiful woman in the world. It was also how Kieran fell deeply in love with her."
"See?" Cara asked. "Pretty people can't be evil. The Creator wouldn't go to all the trouble of making a nice face and then put a rotten soul in it."
"But did Viviane love him back?" Dahlia insisted.
"Of course, dum-dum. You can't be that in love without someone feeling the same way."
Her father was shaking his head. "I'm going to have to find a new bedtime story. Something with a moral."
"Please don't, papa! We'll be good!"
It took an hour to properly tell the story, since Cara's father had to do all the voices and act out all the fights and he was always remembering things that Kieran and Viviane did as they went about their quest, like crossing the Swamp of Tears or fighting the Beast of the Maze or answering the All-Riddle to get the Great Sage to stop menacing towns with his tests. Usually Cara was asleep by the tragic, romantic end, but with the excitement of Dahlia staying over, she could hear every last word.
"And so, with his last breath, Kieran sent Jagang to the Underworld for all eternity and waited for Viviane to find him. In life, so should it be with the Spirits."
"This is my other favorite part," Cara whispered to Dahlia.
"Count Alron's forces had been scattered and Shado Rahl had died from confession, but there was still one more task before the Confessor. She knew she was dying, but she had no thought for herself, only for him, the man she loved. With the last of her strength, she stumbled to where Kieran lay still, as if in sleep. 'My quest is finished,' he said, 'but I am dying.' 'Then we die together, as it should be,' she replied. Their deaths were witnessed only by the great wizard Amfortas. He picked up the Sword of Truth, knowing he must keep it hidden until the rise of a new Seeker, who might also be asked to die a glorious death."
"But what if Jagang got out?" Dahlia wondered after Cara's father had left and they were supposed to be asleep.
"Don't worry," Cara said. "I'll protect you."
They pulled the covers up over their heads so they could talk without someone eavesdropping on them.
"I saw a Confessor once," Dahlia said. "She had hair all the way down to her waist. I wish I could be a Confessor and have hair like that."
"And not be able to touch anyone, like Viviane? No, I'd be a Seeker, with a sword that could cut through anyone. My dad told me, not tonight but he told me, that once Kieran saw a princess in a tower and the tower was too tall to climb so he cut the tower down with his sword and then he and the princess kissed."
"Wouldn't she get hurt falling down all that way?"
Cara thought about it.
"Poor Viviane," Dahlia said. "So in love, and she couldn't even give him a hug."
"I think they could hug, they just couldn't do that other thing. You know… kissing."
"You ever wonder what it's like to be kissed?"
Cara, who was drowsing off, got a look in her eye. She had, in fact.
She kissed Dahlia quickly, but like she'd seen her parents do instead of on the cheek (which seemed like a much more intuitive place to have a kiss anyway, since with their mouths all smushed together Cara had no idea what to do with her tongue). But however clumsy it was, however quickly it was over, Dahlia had her own look in her eyes. Like she was committing it to memory.
"Like that," Cara said unnecessarily, burrowing into her pillow in the universal gesture for 'talk later, sleep now'.
"Cara, what do you really want to be when you grow up?" Dahlia asked, wondering if Cara might answer 'housewife' so she could say 'me too'.
Cara thought about it. "Probably a hairdresser."
***
Triana didn't bother to change facial expressions as Cara cut off her braid. She kept that look of smug superiority with each follicle Cara cut. When the braid was piled up on the floor, Cara tucked her knife into her belt and stepped back in front of the Mord'Sith. "I've been waiting to do that for a long time."
The cave was damp and infested with bats, the only light coming from the torch Cara had brought. She'd driven a tent spike through a stalactite and hung Triana from it, naked. Usually when doing this kind of disciplining there'd be two bands around her, one at her cleavage and one at her crotch, enchanted to have the most interesting effect when the prisoner became aroused, but Cara didn't have the equipment. And she didn't think it would be necessary to get into that.
"I deserve that," Triana said.
"You deserve worse." Cara took out her Agiel and watched Triana's eyes light up. It was torture, of a kind, to show her the pain and not give it to her. "So, now you've gone from wanting to destroy the Seeker to wanting to serve him. You're sending very mixed signals."
"Darken Rahl is no longer worthy of our services," she said tersely.
Cara walked around her, enjoying the way Triana's eyes tried to keep up with her. She didn't spend too much time behind Triana's exquisite back. She didn't like letting Triana have the anticipation of a blow. "You followed Darken Rahl as he plotted to deliver the world to the Keeper. What could he do to make you betray him?"
"Something worse," Triana said, and her eyes when Cara walked in front of her were downcast. "He's going to release Jagang."
"Emperor Jagang? A myth?"
She looked up. "A cold, deadly reality. And I will not be a slave to that man, that thing's, appetites. The Seeker will fight him. And we will fight with the Seeker."
Cara got closer, her hand around Triana's throat. One wrong word and she'd snap it. Triana knew it too. She smiled.
"The Seeker will never allow us to break another child. We're the last of the Mord'Sith. None who follow us will even be able to touch our Agiels. That doesn't bother you?" Cara demanded.
Triana's smile died. "I heard what Nathair did to you. She tricked you into killing your father. She used you… I had a father too."
Cara let go of Triana with a push, letting her sway on the chain.
Triana didn't smile again, but she did show a little tooth. "If we're done with the rank sentimentality, can I have my Agiel back? After you left me for dead—"
"Since when is turnabout not fair play?"
Triana pretended she hadn't been interrupted, like was good-naturedly ignoring a cough or other rudeness. "I woke up without my Agiel. And I notice you have two."
Cara took out her second Agiel. Ran it over Triana's body. "Where do you want it?"
Triana's eyes did that thing that had used to make Care feel as heated as a five-mile run in the middle of a summer day. Cara stuffed the Agiel in her mouth and let her bite down on it as she let her down. When Triana landed, Cara kicked her leathers to her.
"I hope you understand this is nothing personal. I just don't trust you."
Triana tugged on her bangs, arranging what was left of her hair into a bell-shaped halo. "I would be insulted if you let me within a mile of the Lord Rahl without testing my loyalties. So please, anytime you'd like to hurt me some more, feel free."
"Don't worry. I will."
***
Outside the cave, Richard was going over the ground rules with the new recruits. "For the last time, no killing people! Yes, Raina, you had your hand up?"
Tall Raina, dark and beautiful in hair and eyes, spoke. "You know we can bring them back to life."
"It still bothers them," Richard said, trying his best to be equitable. "Alright, what's another thing that might not be acceptable? Yes, Berdine?"
Energetic, good-natured Berdine had her hand up. She was always a bit more down to earth than the other Mord'Sith, her braid a little looser, her sneer a little more of a smile. "Torturing people?"
"Very good. We should only torture people as a last resort, so before you use your Agiel, ask myself, Cara, Kahlan, or Zedd if it's a good idea. Oh, hey Cara. Is there anything you'd like to add?"
Cara looked over the nine Mord'Sith who had joined them. Ten, including Triana. But Richard didn't have to worry about her. Cara would see to her personally. "Please don't step out of line or I'll have to kill you."
The Mord'Sith nodded.
Richard counted off on his fingers. "So that's no killing, no torturing, no stealing, and it's probably a bad idea to sleep with anyone that's married. Any questions?"
Triana stepped out of the cave's shadows, tightening her belt. "I have a question. Are we allowed to have any fun?"
"We have fun," Richard protested, "right Cara?"
"I'm going to go find Kahlan," Cara said.
"But we do have fun, right?"
As Richard followed Cara, Triana showed off her reclaimed Agiel to the other Mord'Sith.
"She barely even touched me. Must be getting soft in her old age."
The Mord'Sith laughed among themselves.
***
There was an order to things. A cycle. The Seeker of Truth had a Wizard and a Confessor. He didn't have a Mord'Sith. Maybe that was why Cara looked so out of place, jittery, on edge, scanning the grasslands for threats instead of focusing on the others as they conversed.
"Richard gets his magic back and Mord'Sith, trained to capture magic, show up to serve him. I don't like it," Cara said. She had either hand on her Agiel and was twisting it like she was trying to break it apart. Kahlan could picture white knuckles under her gloves.
She hated seeing Cara like this, like the past year hadn't happened and she was still just a Mord'Sith, but she didn't know what to do. Cara was in love with her and so how could Kahlan comfort her without making things worse? She knew what it was like to have a love that couldn't be consummated. Every softness hardened, every affection turned into cruelty. She didn't want that for Cara.
Richard was looking at her, welcoming her counsel as usual. But she was feeling so foolish then. "My magic doesn't work on Mord'Sith," she stated. "They could be telling the truth…"
"Confess one of them to be sure," Cara spat. "In her death throes, we'll know the truth. Might I suggest Triana?"
"Cara," Richard said warningly, with a glance to Kahlan.
"Berdine, then. She's always been weak…"
"Cara!" The blonde turned to Kahlan. Meeting her glare, Cara holstered her Agiel and took her hand off it. "They're your sisters."
"None of them are my sister," Cara said with a note of finality. She moved to patrol the perimeter, otherwise known as the hilltop they were standing on.
"There's an old saying among wizards," Zedd said. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer still."
"Now you decide it's okay to pal around with Mord'Sith?" Cara asked, exasperated.
"Zedd's right," Kahlan said. "Whether they're sincere or not, we could benefit from having the Mord'Sith where we can see them instead of roaming the countryside. Just imagine them going about their business in the name of Richard. It'd be like Maia all over again."
Cara ended her patrol, coming up behind Richard. "You'd be picking up a snake from the grass and hoping it wasn't poisonous."
"It worked out last time."
Cara looked to Kahlan, who said ingratiatingly "Cara, you know them better than anyone. Can they be trusted?"
Cara thought about it. Hated herself for thinking about it. "They're not the worst of the worst. Berdine and Raina are downright human. And Triana has a code of honor. When she betrayed me, she let me live. She didn't have to do that. Then again, I was unconscious, in between a screeling and the usual mob of angry villagers." Cara shrugged.
Richard nodded tightly. "For now, we take them in. But we do in cautiously. Never be alone with one of them. Try and travel in pairs."
Cara smirked. "The day I can't handle one of their Agiels is the day I'm useless to the Lord Rahl anyway."
Richard put up his hands. "Or do whatever you want as per usual. But keep an eye out for each other."
"That's right," Zedd said. "We don't want this to be another Dahlia."
Cara looked at him. She didn't recall there being a first 'Dahlia.' But then, he was a wizard, and prone to strangeness.
Richard looked at each of them in turn. "What about this Emperor Jagang? Could Darken Rahl bring him back?"
"A thousand years of decomposition," Zedd muttered. "Even a Baneling can't come back without a body. But then, I never expected the Nygaax until I had its wrappings around me. I'll know more when I get to my library. It's just the sort of thing I was researching when this whole quest business started!"
"I didn't know that," Richard said.
"What, did you think I spent all my time waiting for you to claim your heritage just… prancing around naked with chickens?"
"Yes."
"And let me guess," Cara said. "Your library is with the wizard's rock in your home in Hartland."
"Yes."
Cara rolled her eyes. "May I ask why you didn't take the rock with you, wizard?"
"It's the size of a hovel! I can't exactly fit it in my pocket!"
Richard leaned over to Kahlan. "Think we have time to sneak away while they bicker?" he whispered.
She gave him a coy look. "And give them cause to look for us? Viviane and I both had enough of those interruptions back at the catacombs."
Richard stepped forward. "Speaking of Mord'Sith!" he interrupted. "We'd better check up on them."
Cara led the way.
***
While they'd been strategizing, the Mord'Sith had been busy too. In a matter of minutes, they'd built a fire, killed a stag, and hoisted it into a spit, which they'd also composed. Richard took a whiff of what Rikka and Hally were spinning and his knees went weak.
"It smells delicious. I didn't know Mord'Sith could do that." Cara was pointedly nearby.
"But I can do it," she said. "Maybe I simply choose not to. Did you consider that?"
"No."
"It could be poisoned," Zedd whispered. "I'd better try it first."
"I concur," Cara said.
***
"We should talk," Kahlan said.
Cara hated conversations that began that way.
She liked talking to Kahlan. Kahlan was funny and clever and her voice was very… her. And Kahlan understood, Kahlan was a warrior, but not a sick broken thing like the Mord'Sith. She was gloriously alive and she fought for that. So Cara enjoyed talking with Kahlan.
But she hated having to talk to Kahlan.
They were on the road, their loose trotting formation flanked on all sides by the Mord'Sith. Cara gave an occasional resentful glance to the Mord'Sith's sleek black destriers, a far cry from her spackled workhorse. Kahlan was riding alongside her, and Richard and Zedd were far enough off to be of no help to her. Cara wondered if Kahlan had told them. If she had—no, Kahlan wouldn't do that to her. She might not love her, but she didn't hate her.
"What's to talk about?"
"You don't have anything to be ashamed of," Kahlan said.
"I'm not ashamed."
"I hope you understand that just because we weren't meant to be together, it doesn't mean you have to be alone. There's someone for you."
"Yes. Who wouldn't want a lover with my sexy psychological shortcomings and lovable complete devotion to Lord Rahl?"
Behind them, Richard was regaling the Mord'Sith with nostalgia for a glassblower's shop in Hartland. Berdine looked interested. The rest… looked like Cara.
"You're brave, smart, funny—"
"I'm funny?"
"You make me laugh."
Cara wondered if she should be offended, but it was Kahlan. How could she be?
"Maybe one of the Mord'Sith?" Kahlan ventured. "There must be a reason you were so adamant about Richard letting you be alone with them."
"Aren't you forgetting? A Mord'Sith's trade is hate, not love."
Kahlan almost pulled her horse to a stop. "You want someone to love you."
"I want you to love me," Cara almost growled. "And don't dare tell me you love me as a friend."
Kahlan was as skilled with words as Cara was with pain. She broke the tension after a respectful pause. "I have a sister, you know."
Cara hated that she smiled. Her lips felt treacherous.
"He took my virginity."
Cara's eyes tried to bolt from their sockets. "What?"
"Richard took my virginity. I've never been this close to anyone, ever. And I thought I could handle it, but… sometimes I get scared, or uncertain, or even happy, and I want to share it with my best friend. Can you understand that? We were such good friends, as close as I've been to anyone since my sister… I don't want to go back to being strangers."
Sometimes Cara didn't have time to process things. It was kill or be killed. She trusted her instincts, the training that had formed her instincts, the centuries of Mord'Sith who had perfected the training. Lately, she had been given cause to doubt her training, which made her doubt her instincts, which made her doubt herself. The only thing she couldn't doubt was Kahlan. And if something in her wanted to help Kahlan… she would help her.
"My first time was with Triana," Cara said. "I was seventeen, she was nineteen. None of the other sisters knew I was still… she didn't want one of the sisters with a taste for virgins to have me. So one night, she called me up to her room and explained to me what sex was…"
"You didn't know what sex was?" Kahlan asked, downplaying her surprise to chagrin.
"It was irrelevant to my training," Cara answered. "She told me what it was and explained the importance that those in the outside world placed upon it and later in the night we… she was very gentle. It struck me as odd, because she was never that gentle with me again."
Cara looked forward at the road, and however well Kahlan did or didn't know her, she knew enough that she didn't continue the conversation. Triana was up ahead, at the fore like she always had to be. She hadn't apologized for the betrayal. It didn't matter to Cara, but she wanted it to matter to Triana.
Cara rode out, passing by Triana and giving her a lingering glare. Triana remained subserviently behind as Cara took point. She noted with some irritation that mists had started to roll in. No. Mists weren't the color of blood. This smoke was sinuous and purposeful, like a python choking the life out of something. And it parted to allow Darken Rahl to step through.
"Hello, everyone. My Flagellants were kind enough to inform me of your journey. I hope you don't mind me dropping by."
"Cara, get back!" Richard yelled, his horse charging forward, sword hissing as he drew it.
Cara's horse reared, but she stayed on it, drawing the axhead from her saddle and letting it telescope out into a pole-ax. Triana had been good enough to part with it.
"I didn't come here to fight," Rahl said, standing firm as hooves windmilled inches from his face. "But I didn't come here alone either."
Richard rode up. Kahlan was beside him and the Mord'Sith flanked them in a protective formation, inside which Zedd was muttering a spell.
"What do you want?" Richard demanded.
"To offer you my brotherly love and benevolent leadership." Rahl gestured grandly. "I realize we've had our quarrels, but surely there's no need for that anymore. Soon, the world will be mine again, at peace, and this time the population will be much more… manageable. Each of my children will receive my tender, loving…"
"Can we skip the megalomania? For once?" Cara asked.
"Certainly. I must admit, you have been a persistent thorn in my side, one I'm eager to pluck. But instead of continuing this bloody feud, why not put it behind us? Simply take my hand and I'll give you a place in the new order. You can rule beside me, if you wish, or live the simple life with your darling Confessor and her sisterly Mord'Sith. Everyone gets what they want."
"And what about the people who don't want to be 'managed'?"
"Why, they'll enjoy eternity with the Spirits. I'm told it's quite nice."
In one swift move, Richard had his sword at Rahl's throat. "I have a counterproposal. How about you surrender to us, we take you back to D'Hara, and you answer for the crimes you've committed against the people of the Midlands!"
"Brother… I help you find the Stone of Tears, and this is the thanks I receive?"
"You only did it to buy your way into the Spirits' good graces." With extraordinary control, Richard sliced a single hair from Rahl's beard. "Wanna see if it worked?"
"I'd rather see the look on your face as your loved ones burn before your eyes."
The red mist that had engulfed them swirled more, so much that it seemed like there were disembodied limbs stirring in the mire before they were revealed to belong to the Sisters of the Dark. Thirty of them.
"I thought you and the Keeper had a nasty break-up," Richard commented, signaling to Cara. She was already marshalling the Mord'Sith into a tighter formation.
"We've mended fences. He was rather amenable when I promised him I'd personally deliver your soul into his hands."
"Enough with the back-and-forth!" Cara snapped, driving her pole-ax into Rahl's chest. He caught it and diverted the head into the Sword of Truth, knocking it aside, then his hands glowed with green flame and the pole-ax exploded in Cara's hands.
She was knocked from her horse, but hit the ground running, whipping her Agiel out and across the face of the nearest Sister. The air filled with the whine of a dozen dacras in flight, abruptly cut off by the Mord'Sith catching them. Then an explosion of light from Zedd, driving the mist back for miles and knocking the Sisters off their feet. More charged in, dacras in hand.
Everything was chaos. It was glorious. Richard and Kahlan fought back to back, Zedd threw pillars of wizard's fire in every direction, and the Sisters of the Dark kept coming. Cara held herself back, letting the corpses pile at her feet as she waited for her sisters to catch up. Then she swung at a new threat and found herself crossing swords with Darken Rahl.
"You just annoy me," he said, and threw her back like she was a ragdoll. She landed on her spine, away from the rest of the group. Sisters of the Dark rushed in on her. She rolled as their dacras came down, scoring divots from the ground, then she levered herself up and swept her leg out, whipping their feet out from under them. Her Agiel came down, once caving a face in, then simply staking it to a chest until the magic turned a heart black.
"Take her," Rahl said, and another Sister stepped forward. She carried herself differently from the rest. Her feet were light, her muscles tightly strung. She was no stranger to battle.
The Sister came on, a dacra in either hand. Cara rose to face her.
Rahl was still talking. "My brother. The Wizard. The Confessor. I never expected them to understand. But you, my dear… your little rebellion wounded me. Truly."
"I can do better," she said. She charged forward. The Sister intercepted her, both dacras singing, and it was all Cara could do with her one Agiel to block her wheeling attacks. She had to use her forearm to break a cut meant for her throat and backed off, bleeding.
Through the veil, Cara could just make out the Sister's face. Delicate features. Full lips. Bright blue eyes. As they circled, Rahl calmly continued his sermon, hands folded together thoughtfully. "I've never grasped why you chose to follow my brother instead of me. After all, you and I have so much more in common. We both killed our fathers, for instance…"
Cara feinted, letting them think she was outraged, but she'd made peace with her past long ago. The Sister tensed, relaxed, and Cara struck. Knocked the blocking dacras wide and then put a heel in her sternum. The Sister stumbled back and Cara started for Rahl. But the Sister recovered, even though that blow should've fractured her breastbone, and Cara had to spin to meet her charge. Agiel and dacra met, Cara giving ground to buy time.
"And now your defiance has cost me my Mord'Sith," Rahl concluded. "Although I suppose I should thank you for weeding out those too weak to see the glory of my vision. They have no place in my new world."
"Sister!" Triana said, and though Cara didn't look, she caught the Agiel that Triana threw, square in the palm of her hand. Cara brought it around, hitting a dacra hard enough to spark. She and the Sister were locked together now, their legs motionless, their arms a blur, move, countermove.
Until Cara let the blade of a dacra sink into her forearm. With the same arm, she jabbed her Agiel into the Sister's arm, watched her stiffen with pain. Cara's other Agiel lashed out, hitting the Sister hard enough to knock the veil from her head. In the full light of day, she was beautiful. Shame. Cara pressed the Agiel to her throat and watched the black veins spread.
"Cara, no!" Zedd called between wizard's fire. "It's Dahlia!"
Cara stopped, pulling her Agiel back for a merciful instant, placing the name and trying to reconcile this death-worshipper with her childhood friend. And in that instant, Dahlia plunged her dacra into Cara's heart.
By the way, someone went and made a mini-music video about this series. Guess which song it is. The sad one? How'd you know? Okay, now someone try to make a movie trailer!
Title: We're a long way from home and home is a long way from us
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 5,488
Characters/Pairings: Cara Mason, Richard/Kahlan, Berdine/Raina
Author’s notes: Betaed by the lovely, talented duo of
ivanolix and susurrusnight Previous: Emotion is the glove into which pain slips its hand Part 3
Next: Part 2
Summary: Cara has her first kiss and her last kiss.
Dahlia loved birds. There were just so many of them, and they were all different. Some of them never seemed to flap their wings at all, just floating along like little clouds, and some of them flapped their wings hundred of times in a blink like they were waving hello. There were red ones and green ones and blue ones… not like the other animals, which all seemed to be some mix of black and white and brown. And they sang!
In the morning, while Dahlia got dressed and ate breakfast and performed her devotional to Lord Rahl, there were dawn birds sweetly chirping. Then when she'd run over to Cara's house, she'd hear the cry of hawks as they helped the hunters find food out in the woods. Finally, after a long day of chores and play and chores that they made into play, there was the soft lullaby of the owls. Dahlia stared out the window at one as she brushed at the nightgown Cara had let her borrow.
With her mother out of Stonecroft making a dress for the wedding of Lady Dulc, Dahlia could stay at Cara's house as long as she liked! She could even sleep there. And if the nightgown wasn't as comfortable as her own, at least it smelled of Cara – that unique scent that seemed to be equal parts sweet flower and bitter cherry.
Cara and Dahlia were jumping on the bed when Cara's father spoke from the washroom, where he was shaving his beard. He always shaved at bedtime, so that when he woke up he had a dusting of stubble on his jaw. Cara's mother liked it. She said it made him look rugged. Cara thought it must itch.
"Cara, are your chores all done?"
"Yes papa!" Cara called, bouncing up and down.
"Did you use the bathroom?"
"Yes papa!"
"Are you jumping on the bed?"
She stopped. "No papa."
"Alright then." Cara's father stepped into the bedroom, his cheeks still glistening. He tucked Cara and Dahlia in, inspecting the sheets like a custodian before going to the lamp. "Goodnight then."
"Wait papa! What about a story?"
Cara's father paused. "You want a story?"
"Yes papa!"
"I knew I was forgetting something." He closed the lamp back up and the candle flame seemed to flicker happily in its glass prison. "What story would you like? And remember, it has to be something Dahlia will enjoy."
"Nothing scary!" Dahlia insisted.
But for Cara, the story had been picked out for a long while. "Tell us the story of Kieran and Viviane, and the wizard Amfortas, and the evil Count Alron, and, and…"
"Do you want to tell the story or should I?" Cara's father sat down on the bed, moving when he sat on Dahlia's toes. "Sorry, I'm not used to two little girls under the covers. Now then, how did that story start…"
"It was a long time ago!" Cara reminded him, dying of excitement.
"Oh yes. A long time ago, before the House of Rahl rose to power, or Aydindril had even been erected, the Midlands were so chaotic that they stretched from the Old World to the new. Warlords fought over every scrap of land and speck of gold. And the worst of them all was Jagang, self-styled emperor of the world."
"Did he kill people?" Dahlia asked, looking queasy.
"Yes, did he?" Cara demanded.
"He killed lots of people. Him and his band of war wizards were feared by the stoutest of hearts, for if any dared to oppose them, he would erase them from history with a chainfire spell so that not only were they defeated, but they had never fought at all. Even the Wizards were scared, but they were wise in their fear. They knew that the time had come to name a new Seeker."
Cara beamed. "This is my favorite part," she whispered to Dahlia.
"They sent a young Confessor named Viviane. She searched long and hard for someone worthy of the Sword of Truth. It took many moons, but finally she stopped at a little farm in Nicobarese. The farmer was a young man, all alone since his parents had died in the war. But from what little he could harvest, he gave freely to Viviane, even though she kept her hood over her face so that he would not be tempted by her beauty. To ensure he would not miss her when she left in the morning, for the greatest torture to the lonely is a friend withheld, she was rude to him, constantly complaining about the smell of the barn and the taste of the food and the state of the house. But Kieran, who was the young farmer, knew it was a ruse, because she never said one wrong thing about him. Then at dawn, she set out. She had just gotten around the first bend in the road when a pack of raiders set upon her. They were Shado Rahl's men!"
"Shado Rahl?" Dahlia asked. "Really?"
Cara shushed her.
"She Confessed the first man who dared lay a hand on her, but there were four of them and he could only strike down one before he too was overcome. The other two soldiers were big and mean and smelled of rotten fruit. They drew their blades, and Viviane drew hers. She apologized to the Seeker who she would never find, for she had failed to bring him the Sword of Truth."
Dahlia was desperately grasping Cara's arm.
"Then who should appear on the road but young Kieran, riding his gray old pack mule as fast as it had ever gone. Even though Viviane had shown him nothing but disdain, he fought to the brink of death to defend her. Together, they wiped out the last of the quad and Viviane realized that only a Seeker could have such compassion. She showed him the Sword of Truth, which she had carried concealed in the back of her cloak the whole time. Then she told him that the Sisters of Light had received a new prophecy from the Creator – that only a Seeker of Truth could defeat Emperor Jagang. He, Kieran, was to be that Seeker!"
"And he just went with her?" Dahlia asked, trying to regain a little face from squeezing Cara's arm so intently. "What if she was a phony?"
"Ah, but to show him the sword, Viviane had to take off her hood, and that was how Kieran saw that she was the most beautiful woman in the world. It was also how Kieran fell deeply in love with her."
"See?" Cara asked. "Pretty people can't be evil. The Creator wouldn't go to all the trouble of making a nice face and then put a rotten soul in it."
"But did Viviane love him back?" Dahlia insisted.
"Of course, dum-dum. You can't be that in love without someone feeling the same way."
Her father was shaking his head. "I'm going to have to find a new bedtime story. Something with a moral."
"Please don't, papa! We'll be good!"
It took an hour to properly tell the story, since Cara's father had to do all the voices and act out all the fights and he was always remembering things that Kieran and Viviane did as they went about their quest, like crossing the Swamp of Tears or fighting the Beast of the Maze or answering the All-Riddle to get the Great Sage to stop menacing towns with his tests. Usually Cara was asleep by the tragic, romantic end, but with the excitement of Dahlia staying over, she could hear every last word.
"And so, with his last breath, Kieran sent Jagang to the Underworld for all eternity and waited for Viviane to find him. In life, so should it be with the Spirits."
"This is my other favorite part," Cara whispered to Dahlia.
"Count Alron's forces had been scattered and Shado Rahl had died from confession, but there was still one more task before the Confessor. She knew she was dying, but she had no thought for herself, only for him, the man she loved. With the last of her strength, she stumbled to where Kieran lay still, as if in sleep. 'My quest is finished,' he said, 'but I am dying.' 'Then we die together, as it should be,' she replied. Their deaths were witnessed only by the great wizard Amfortas. He picked up the Sword of Truth, knowing he must keep it hidden until the rise of a new Seeker, who might also be asked to die a glorious death."
"But what if Jagang got out?" Dahlia wondered after Cara's father had left and they were supposed to be asleep.
"Don't worry," Cara said. "I'll protect you."
They pulled the covers up over their heads so they could talk without someone eavesdropping on them.
"I saw a Confessor once," Dahlia said. "She had hair all the way down to her waist. I wish I could be a Confessor and have hair like that."
"And not be able to touch anyone, like Viviane? No, I'd be a Seeker, with a sword that could cut through anyone. My dad told me, not tonight but he told me, that once Kieran saw a princess in a tower and the tower was too tall to climb so he cut the tower down with his sword and then he and the princess kissed."
"Wouldn't she get hurt falling down all that way?"
Cara thought about it.
"Poor Viviane," Dahlia said. "So in love, and she couldn't even give him a hug."
"I think they could hug, they just couldn't do that other thing. You know… kissing."
"You ever wonder what it's like to be kissed?"
Cara, who was drowsing off, got a look in her eye. She had, in fact.
She kissed Dahlia quickly, but like she'd seen her parents do instead of on the cheek (which seemed like a much more intuitive place to have a kiss anyway, since with their mouths all smushed together Cara had no idea what to do with her tongue). But however clumsy it was, however quickly it was over, Dahlia had her own look in her eyes. Like she was committing it to memory.
"Like that," Cara said unnecessarily, burrowing into her pillow in the universal gesture for 'talk later, sleep now'.
"Cara, what do you really want to be when you grow up?" Dahlia asked, wondering if Cara might answer 'housewife' so she could say 'me too'.
Cara thought about it. "Probably a hairdresser."
***
Triana didn't bother to change facial expressions as Cara cut off her braid. She kept that look of smug superiority with each follicle Cara cut. When the braid was piled up on the floor, Cara tucked her knife into her belt and stepped back in front of the Mord'Sith. "I've been waiting to do that for a long time."
The cave was damp and infested with bats, the only light coming from the torch Cara had brought. She'd driven a tent spike through a stalactite and hung Triana from it, naked. Usually when doing this kind of disciplining there'd be two bands around her, one at her cleavage and one at her crotch, enchanted to have the most interesting effect when the prisoner became aroused, but Cara didn't have the equipment. And she didn't think it would be necessary to get into that.
"I deserve that," Triana said.
"You deserve worse." Cara took out her Agiel and watched Triana's eyes light up. It was torture, of a kind, to show her the pain and not give it to her. "So, now you've gone from wanting to destroy the Seeker to wanting to serve him. You're sending very mixed signals."
"Darken Rahl is no longer worthy of our services," she said tersely.
Cara walked around her, enjoying the way Triana's eyes tried to keep up with her. She didn't spend too much time behind Triana's exquisite back. She didn't like letting Triana have the anticipation of a blow. "You followed Darken Rahl as he plotted to deliver the world to the Keeper. What could he do to make you betray him?"
"Something worse," Triana said, and her eyes when Cara walked in front of her were downcast. "He's going to release Jagang."
"Emperor Jagang? A myth?"
She looked up. "A cold, deadly reality. And I will not be a slave to that man, that thing's, appetites. The Seeker will fight him. And we will fight with the Seeker."
Cara got closer, her hand around Triana's throat. One wrong word and she'd snap it. Triana knew it too. She smiled.
"The Seeker will never allow us to break another child. We're the last of the Mord'Sith. None who follow us will even be able to touch our Agiels. That doesn't bother you?" Cara demanded.
Triana's smile died. "I heard what Nathair did to you. She tricked you into killing your father. She used you… I had a father too."
Cara let go of Triana with a push, letting her sway on the chain.
Triana didn't smile again, but she did show a little tooth. "If we're done with the rank sentimentality, can I have my Agiel back? After you left me for dead—"
"Since when is turnabout not fair play?"
Triana pretended she hadn't been interrupted, like was good-naturedly ignoring a cough or other rudeness. "I woke up without my Agiel. And I notice you have two."
Cara took out her second Agiel. Ran it over Triana's body. "Where do you want it?"
Triana's eyes did that thing that had used to make Care feel as heated as a five-mile run in the middle of a summer day. Cara stuffed the Agiel in her mouth and let her bite down on it as she let her down. When Triana landed, Cara kicked her leathers to her.
"I hope you understand this is nothing personal. I just don't trust you."
Triana tugged on her bangs, arranging what was left of her hair into a bell-shaped halo. "I would be insulted if you let me within a mile of the Lord Rahl without testing my loyalties. So please, anytime you'd like to hurt me some more, feel free."
"Don't worry. I will."
***
Outside the cave, Richard was going over the ground rules with the new recruits. "For the last time, no killing people! Yes, Raina, you had your hand up?"
Tall Raina, dark and beautiful in hair and eyes, spoke. "You know we can bring them back to life."
"It still bothers them," Richard said, trying his best to be equitable. "Alright, what's another thing that might not be acceptable? Yes, Berdine?"
Energetic, good-natured Berdine had her hand up. She was always a bit more down to earth than the other Mord'Sith, her braid a little looser, her sneer a little more of a smile. "Torturing people?"
"Very good. We should only torture people as a last resort, so before you use your Agiel, ask myself, Cara, Kahlan, or Zedd if it's a good idea. Oh, hey Cara. Is there anything you'd like to add?"
Cara looked over the nine Mord'Sith who had joined them. Ten, including Triana. But Richard didn't have to worry about her. Cara would see to her personally. "Please don't step out of line or I'll have to kill you."
The Mord'Sith nodded.
Richard counted off on his fingers. "So that's no killing, no torturing, no stealing, and it's probably a bad idea to sleep with anyone that's married. Any questions?"
Triana stepped out of the cave's shadows, tightening her belt. "I have a question. Are we allowed to have any fun?"
"We have fun," Richard protested, "right Cara?"
"I'm going to go find Kahlan," Cara said.
"But we do have fun, right?"
As Richard followed Cara, Triana showed off her reclaimed Agiel to the other Mord'Sith.
"She barely even touched me. Must be getting soft in her old age."
The Mord'Sith laughed among themselves.
***
There was an order to things. A cycle. The Seeker of Truth had a Wizard and a Confessor. He didn't have a Mord'Sith. Maybe that was why Cara looked so out of place, jittery, on edge, scanning the grasslands for threats instead of focusing on the others as they conversed.
"Richard gets his magic back and Mord'Sith, trained to capture magic, show up to serve him. I don't like it," Cara said. She had either hand on her Agiel and was twisting it like she was trying to break it apart. Kahlan could picture white knuckles under her gloves.
She hated seeing Cara like this, like the past year hadn't happened and she was still just a Mord'Sith, but she didn't know what to do. Cara was in love with her and so how could Kahlan comfort her without making things worse? She knew what it was like to have a love that couldn't be consummated. Every softness hardened, every affection turned into cruelty. She didn't want that for Cara.
Richard was looking at her, welcoming her counsel as usual. But she was feeling so foolish then. "My magic doesn't work on Mord'Sith," she stated. "They could be telling the truth…"
"Confess one of them to be sure," Cara spat. "In her death throes, we'll know the truth. Might I suggest Triana?"
"Cara," Richard said warningly, with a glance to Kahlan.
"Berdine, then. She's always been weak…"
"Cara!" The blonde turned to Kahlan. Meeting her glare, Cara holstered her Agiel and took her hand off it. "They're your sisters."
"None of them are my sister," Cara said with a note of finality. She moved to patrol the perimeter, otherwise known as the hilltop they were standing on.
"There's an old saying among wizards," Zedd said. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer still."
"Now you decide it's okay to pal around with Mord'Sith?" Cara asked, exasperated.
"Zedd's right," Kahlan said. "Whether they're sincere or not, we could benefit from having the Mord'Sith where we can see them instead of roaming the countryside. Just imagine them going about their business in the name of Richard. It'd be like Maia all over again."
Cara ended her patrol, coming up behind Richard. "You'd be picking up a snake from the grass and hoping it wasn't poisonous."
"It worked out last time."
Cara looked to Kahlan, who said ingratiatingly "Cara, you know them better than anyone. Can they be trusted?"
Cara thought about it. Hated herself for thinking about it. "They're not the worst of the worst. Berdine and Raina are downright human. And Triana has a code of honor. When she betrayed me, she let me live. She didn't have to do that. Then again, I was unconscious, in between a screeling and the usual mob of angry villagers." Cara shrugged.
Richard nodded tightly. "For now, we take them in. But we do in cautiously. Never be alone with one of them. Try and travel in pairs."
Cara smirked. "The day I can't handle one of their Agiels is the day I'm useless to the Lord Rahl anyway."
Richard put up his hands. "Or do whatever you want as per usual. But keep an eye out for each other."
"That's right," Zedd said. "We don't want this to be another Dahlia."
Cara looked at him. She didn't recall there being a first 'Dahlia.' But then, he was a wizard, and prone to strangeness.
Richard looked at each of them in turn. "What about this Emperor Jagang? Could Darken Rahl bring him back?"
"A thousand years of decomposition," Zedd muttered. "Even a Baneling can't come back without a body. But then, I never expected the Nygaax until I had its wrappings around me. I'll know more when I get to my library. It's just the sort of thing I was researching when this whole quest business started!"
"I didn't know that," Richard said.
"What, did you think I spent all my time waiting for you to claim your heritage just… prancing around naked with chickens?"
"Yes."
"And let me guess," Cara said. "Your library is with the wizard's rock in your home in Hartland."
"Yes."
Cara rolled her eyes. "May I ask why you didn't take the rock with you, wizard?"
"It's the size of a hovel! I can't exactly fit it in my pocket!"
Richard leaned over to Kahlan. "Think we have time to sneak away while they bicker?" he whispered.
She gave him a coy look. "And give them cause to look for us? Viviane and I both had enough of those interruptions back at the catacombs."
Richard stepped forward. "Speaking of Mord'Sith!" he interrupted. "We'd better check up on them."
Cara led the way.
***
While they'd been strategizing, the Mord'Sith had been busy too. In a matter of minutes, they'd built a fire, killed a stag, and hoisted it into a spit, which they'd also composed. Richard took a whiff of what Rikka and Hally were spinning and his knees went weak.
"It smells delicious. I didn't know Mord'Sith could do that." Cara was pointedly nearby.
"But I can do it," she said. "Maybe I simply choose not to. Did you consider that?"
"No."
"It could be poisoned," Zedd whispered. "I'd better try it first."
"I concur," Cara said.
***
"We should talk," Kahlan said.
Cara hated conversations that began that way.
She liked talking to Kahlan. Kahlan was funny and clever and her voice was very… her. And Kahlan understood, Kahlan was a warrior, but not a sick broken thing like the Mord'Sith. She was gloriously alive and she fought for that. So Cara enjoyed talking with Kahlan.
But she hated having to talk to Kahlan.
They were on the road, their loose trotting formation flanked on all sides by the Mord'Sith. Cara gave an occasional resentful glance to the Mord'Sith's sleek black destriers, a far cry from her spackled workhorse. Kahlan was riding alongside her, and Richard and Zedd were far enough off to be of no help to her. Cara wondered if Kahlan had told them. If she had—no, Kahlan wouldn't do that to her. She might not love her, but she didn't hate her.
"What's to talk about?"
"You don't have anything to be ashamed of," Kahlan said.
"I'm not ashamed."
"I hope you understand that just because we weren't meant to be together, it doesn't mean you have to be alone. There's someone for you."
"Yes. Who wouldn't want a lover with my sexy psychological shortcomings and lovable complete devotion to Lord Rahl?"
Behind them, Richard was regaling the Mord'Sith with nostalgia for a glassblower's shop in Hartland. Berdine looked interested. The rest… looked like Cara.
"You're brave, smart, funny—"
"I'm funny?"
"You make me laugh."
Cara wondered if she should be offended, but it was Kahlan. How could she be?
"Maybe one of the Mord'Sith?" Kahlan ventured. "There must be a reason you were so adamant about Richard letting you be alone with them."
"Aren't you forgetting? A Mord'Sith's trade is hate, not love."
Kahlan almost pulled her horse to a stop. "You want someone to love you."
"I want you to love me," Cara almost growled. "And don't dare tell me you love me as a friend."
Kahlan was as skilled with words as Cara was with pain. She broke the tension after a respectful pause. "I have a sister, you know."
Cara hated that she smiled. Her lips felt treacherous.
"He took my virginity."
Cara's eyes tried to bolt from their sockets. "What?"
"Richard took my virginity. I've never been this close to anyone, ever. And I thought I could handle it, but… sometimes I get scared, or uncertain, or even happy, and I want to share it with my best friend. Can you understand that? We were such good friends, as close as I've been to anyone since my sister… I don't want to go back to being strangers."
Sometimes Cara didn't have time to process things. It was kill or be killed. She trusted her instincts, the training that had formed her instincts, the centuries of Mord'Sith who had perfected the training. Lately, she had been given cause to doubt her training, which made her doubt her instincts, which made her doubt herself. The only thing she couldn't doubt was Kahlan. And if something in her wanted to help Kahlan… she would help her.
"My first time was with Triana," Cara said. "I was seventeen, she was nineteen. None of the other sisters knew I was still… she didn't want one of the sisters with a taste for virgins to have me. So one night, she called me up to her room and explained to me what sex was…"
"You didn't know what sex was?" Kahlan asked, downplaying her surprise to chagrin.
"It was irrelevant to my training," Cara answered. "She told me what it was and explained the importance that those in the outside world placed upon it and later in the night we… she was very gentle. It struck me as odd, because she was never that gentle with me again."
Cara looked forward at the road, and however well Kahlan did or didn't know her, she knew enough that she didn't continue the conversation. Triana was up ahead, at the fore like she always had to be. She hadn't apologized for the betrayal. It didn't matter to Cara, but she wanted it to matter to Triana.
Cara rode out, passing by Triana and giving her a lingering glare. Triana remained subserviently behind as Cara took point. She noted with some irritation that mists had started to roll in. No. Mists weren't the color of blood. This smoke was sinuous and purposeful, like a python choking the life out of something. And it parted to allow Darken Rahl to step through.
"Hello, everyone. My Flagellants were kind enough to inform me of your journey. I hope you don't mind me dropping by."
"Cara, get back!" Richard yelled, his horse charging forward, sword hissing as he drew it.
Cara's horse reared, but she stayed on it, drawing the axhead from her saddle and letting it telescope out into a pole-ax. Triana had been good enough to part with it.
"I didn't come here to fight," Rahl said, standing firm as hooves windmilled inches from his face. "But I didn't come here alone either."
Richard rode up. Kahlan was beside him and the Mord'Sith flanked them in a protective formation, inside which Zedd was muttering a spell.
"What do you want?" Richard demanded.
"To offer you my brotherly love and benevolent leadership." Rahl gestured grandly. "I realize we've had our quarrels, but surely there's no need for that anymore. Soon, the world will be mine again, at peace, and this time the population will be much more… manageable. Each of my children will receive my tender, loving…"
"Can we skip the megalomania? For once?" Cara asked.
"Certainly. I must admit, you have been a persistent thorn in my side, one I'm eager to pluck. But instead of continuing this bloody feud, why not put it behind us? Simply take my hand and I'll give you a place in the new order. You can rule beside me, if you wish, or live the simple life with your darling Confessor and her sisterly Mord'Sith. Everyone gets what they want."
"And what about the people who don't want to be 'managed'?"
"Why, they'll enjoy eternity with the Spirits. I'm told it's quite nice."
In one swift move, Richard had his sword at Rahl's throat. "I have a counterproposal. How about you surrender to us, we take you back to D'Hara, and you answer for the crimes you've committed against the people of the Midlands!"
"Brother… I help you find the Stone of Tears, and this is the thanks I receive?"
"You only did it to buy your way into the Spirits' good graces." With extraordinary control, Richard sliced a single hair from Rahl's beard. "Wanna see if it worked?"
"I'd rather see the look on your face as your loved ones burn before your eyes."
The red mist that had engulfed them swirled more, so much that it seemed like there were disembodied limbs stirring in the mire before they were revealed to belong to the Sisters of the Dark. Thirty of them.
"I thought you and the Keeper had a nasty break-up," Richard commented, signaling to Cara. She was already marshalling the Mord'Sith into a tighter formation.
"We've mended fences. He was rather amenable when I promised him I'd personally deliver your soul into his hands."
"Enough with the back-and-forth!" Cara snapped, driving her pole-ax into Rahl's chest. He caught it and diverted the head into the Sword of Truth, knocking it aside, then his hands glowed with green flame and the pole-ax exploded in Cara's hands.
She was knocked from her horse, but hit the ground running, whipping her Agiel out and across the face of the nearest Sister. The air filled with the whine of a dozen dacras in flight, abruptly cut off by the Mord'Sith catching them. Then an explosion of light from Zedd, driving the mist back for miles and knocking the Sisters off their feet. More charged in, dacras in hand.
Everything was chaos. It was glorious. Richard and Kahlan fought back to back, Zedd threw pillars of wizard's fire in every direction, and the Sisters of the Dark kept coming. Cara held herself back, letting the corpses pile at her feet as she waited for her sisters to catch up. Then she swung at a new threat and found herself crossing swords with Darken Rahl.
"You just annoy me," he said, and threw her back like she was a ragdoll. She landed on her spine, away from the rest of the group. Sisters of the Dark rushed in on her. She rolled as their dacras came down, scoring divots from the ground, then she levered herself up and swept her leg out, whipping their feet out from under them. Her Agiel came down, once caving a face in, then simply staking it to a chest until the magic turned a heart black.
"Take her," Rahl said, and another Sister stepped forward. She carried herself differently from the rest. Her feet were light, her muscles tightly strung. She was no stranger to battle.
The Sister came on, a dacra in either hand. Cara rose to face her.
Rahl was still talking. "My brother. The Wizard. The Confessor. I never expected them to understand. But you, my dear… your little rebellion wounded me. Truly."
"I can do better," she said. She charged forward. The Sister intercepted her, both dacras singing, and it was all Cara could do with her one Agiel to block her wheeling attacks. She had to use her forearm to break a cut meant for her throat and backed off, bleeding.
Through the veil, Cara could just make out the Sister's face. Delicate features. Full lips. Bright blue eyes. As they circled, Rahl calmly continued his sermon, hands folded together thoughtfully. "I've never grasped why you chose to follow my brother instead of me. After all, you and I have so much more in common. We both killed our fathers, for instance…"
Cara feinted, letting them think she was outraged, but she'd made peace with her past long ago. The Sister tensed, relaxed, and Cara struck. Knocked the blocking dacras wide and then put a heel in her sternum. The Sister stumbled back and Cara started for Rahl. But the Sister recovered, even though that blow should've fractured her breastbone, and Cara had to spin to meet her charge. Agiel and dacra met, Cara giving ground to buy time.
"And now your defiance has cost me my Mord'Sith," Rahl concluded. "Although I suppose I should thank you for weeding out those too weak to see the glory of my vision. They have no place in my new world."
"Sister!" Triana said, and though Cara didn't look, she caught the Agiel that Triana threw, square in the palm of her hand. Cara brought it around, hitting a dacra hard enough to spark. She and the Sister were locked together now, their legs motionless, their arms a blur, move, countermove.
Until Cara let the blade of a dacra sink into her forearm. With the same arm, she jabbed her Agiel into the Sister's arm, watched her stiffen with pain. Cara's other Agiel lashed out, hitting the Sister hard enough to knock the veil from her head. In the full light of day, she was beautiful. Shame. Cara pressed the Agiel to her throat and watched the black veins spread.
"Cara, no!" Zedd called between wizard's fire. "It's Dahlia!"
Cara stopped, pulling her Agiel back for a merciful instant, placing the name and trying to reconcile this death-worshipper with her childhood friend. And in that instant, Dahlia plunged her dacra into Cara's heart.
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Date: 2010-07-04 03:01 pm (UTC)@#$@#$@#$@#$@. Now that is a cliffhanger. I screamed IRL and woke my dog up.
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Date: 2010-07-04 04:15 pm (UTC)Not in the heart!!
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Date: 2010-07-04 05:07 pm (UTC)Awesome: "Yes. Who wouldn't want a lover with my sexy psychological shortcomings and lovable complete devotion to Lord Rahl?"
Yes, Zedd let's distract Cara when she's in the middle of the life-and-death struggle. What is he, Romeo?
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Date: 2010-07-04 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-04 05:30 pm (UTC)Can't wait for the next chapter :D
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Date: 2010-07-05 02:51 am (UTC)Poor Cara, sister!Dahlia threw me for a loop too.
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Date: 2010-07-05 01:46 pm (UTC)Zedd, you douche.
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Date: 2010-07-16 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-05 07:43 pm (UTC)Darken Rahl is as evil and egoistic as ever. A thrilling cliffhanger.