6. Muse – time is running out

"Kahlan!" Richard called, walking over to the woman. Before she had time to process the feelings of guilt bubbling up inside her, he had already shot her a secretive smile and nodded in a random direction. "I saw some berries over there. Want to pick them and see what happens?"

Zedd looked up from their dinner, slowly roasting over the open fire. Once he saw the elated, almost innocent expression on Richard's face, he gave a small smile and returned his attention to their meal. Only the Seeker could make such a suggestion sound innocent.

"Richard," Kahlan began, trying to find the words to refuse and accept and keep from hurting his feelings all at the same time, but was interrupted by Cara standing up from her place by the fire. Initially it had been to walk away from whatever scene was going to unfold, preferably under the guise of some excuse involving a safe perimeter, but the Mord'Sith found she couldn't move. She dreaded the charged atmosphere that usually came with a song, but it never came.

Not to her, anyway.

"I think I'm drowning, asphyxiated," Kahlan began, voice choked with emotion. All eyes moved from Cara to see what the Confessor had to say. The brunette had been watching Richard intently, and he returned the look with something akin to confusion. "I wanna break this spell that has been created," she continued, her eyes wandering over to Zedd, then moving over to Cara. "She's something beautiful, a contradiction. I wanna play the game, I want the friction."

"You will be the death of me," Cara found herself singing despite the lack of noticeable warning. She frowned in alarm, approaching the other woman. "You will be the death of me," she repeated, this time more gravely, knowing she was talking both about the Confessor's touch and Richard's wrath. Right now, as Richard eyes flickered between the two, it was her Lord Rahl's wrath she was worried about. "Bury it."

Kahlan frowned in response, and despite this not being the time or the place, she reaffirmed her belief. "I won't let you bury it." She took a resolute step forwards. "I won't let you smother it. I won't let you murder it."

"Our time is running out," Cara replied, seeing some form of realization slowly creeping into Richard's features. Wide-eyed, Zedd stood up, but the magic visibly stopped him from interrupting.

"We can't push it underground," Kahlan breathed, raising her hands to cover her pained expression. "I can't stop it screaming out." She dropped her hands, revealing her frustration and reddened eyes to Richard. There was no surprise, simply the need to understand in the way his eyebrows knitted together. "I wanted freedom, bound and restricted." Blue eyes flickered over to Cara, angry and unhindered. "I tried to give you up, but I'm addicted."

It was the strangest scene; Zedd standing as if he was about to say something, Richard trying to make sense of the situation, and Cara standing helplessly as Kahlan spilled their secret. After those hasty touches and unrelenting kisses, somehow they had come to a silent agreement. One that involved they ever forgot it happened. As Kahlan continued singing, she knew it had been too much to hope for.

"Now that you know I'm trapped," Kahlan spat out powerlessly. "Sense of elation." She looked to the side, unable to bear the looks as she continued to bear her soul. "You'd never dream of breaking this fixation," she sang almost wistfully. "You will squeeze the life out of me."

The music continued on, desperate and insistent, but Kahlan refused to sing, eyes hollowed with regret. Eventually, she simply walked off into the forest. While the Powerful Magic had released the Confessor, everyone else still seemed in its grip.

"Our time is running out," Richard sang solemnly, having gotten the enormous hint. His eyes were unfocused as he stared at the empty space Kahlan once occupied. There was another inappropriate silence in which they could almost hear his heart breaking. "How did it come to this?"

I picked a song ;D

I actually wanted someone other than Kahlan to get the spotlight, especially considering how the general atmosphere fit Cara better, but it worked out this way.

Let's pretend there was lots of UST and Cara being caring in her own roundabout way between this and the previous chapter, y/y? Better yet, read 'As it should be' as compensation! -shameless self-promotion-