Fic - More Legendland bingo fills (various)
Title: Betrayal
Author: alyse
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Character: Cara, hints of Cara/Dahlia
Rating: PG
Word Count: 230
Author's Notes: Written for my bingo square 'they will break you' for
legendland bingo card.
Summary: Dahlia's betrayal bites deeply.
-o-
Dahlia's betrayal bites deeply. Cara shouldn't be surprised - it's the Mord'Sith way, to serve the Lord Rahl above all others. The bonds between the Sisters of the Agiel last only at his whim, and Darken Rahl's whims have always been twisted out of true.
But still, it bites deep, deeper still knowing that as far as Dahlia is concerned, hers is not the true betrayal. That Dahlia lies at Cara's feet, because Cara is the one who turned her back on Darken Rahl, who follows the Seeker instead. Dahlia sees betrayal and yet forgives Cara anyway.
Cara, on the other hand, doesn't think she's ever loved Dahlia enough to forgive. She tells herself that Dahlia doesn't know Richard, doesn't understand that there could ever be a Rahl who is a good man as well as a powerful one, but it still leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, something harsh and hateful.
She takes a breath, holds on tightly to the memory of her family, her true family - Richard, Kahlan and Zedd, not Dahlia, not the woman who even now looks at her with a tender kind of pity in her eyes. She will be strong, hold on for them. She will not fail, she will not break, she will not let this betrayal of her turn into a betrayal of those she loves.
She will not.
Until she does.
The End
-o-
Title: Hope
Author: alyse
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Character: Kahlan, Kahlan/Darken Rahl
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 311
Author's Notes: Written for my bingo square 'make me feel again' for
legendland bingo card.
Summary: It's the depths of winter when Kahlan's child enters the world.
-o-
It's the depths of winter when Kahlan's child enters the world, and she feels like the air outside. Icy and remote, untouchable and deadened by the weight of the sky above her.
The wind picks up as she tries not to cry out, howling around the People's Palace with a storm's savage edge. It's almost as if the very world is taking on her screams, swallowing down her pain as she pants and pushes, forcing herself into silence. She grips tight hold of crisp cotton sheets, her knuckles turning ice-white with the pressure. The sheets are cold under her fingers - the whole Palace is cold, but she's long since ceased to notice. It echoes how she feels inside, dead and long forgotten.
Part of her hopes that her child - Darken's child - will be stillborn as well, but the rest... The rest of her still thinks of Richard, of how she'd feel if this babe was his instead of Rahl's. In the end, the babe is innocent and her daughter does not deserve her hate, no matter who has fathered her.
When the first wail of her babe breaks the silence of her bedchamber, it stills such thoughts, relief flooding her for the life of a child she didn't want. Something breaks through the wall of ice she's built around her heart, something akin to love. Something that feels like hope.
She holds out her arms for her baby, all thoughts of Rahl forgotten, and cradles the swaddled and tiny child to her breast, staring down into a perfect face, small and slightly squished but still a miracle.
But then Rahl is there, too, his eyes wet with traitorous tears. He reaches out one finger to stroke it gently down her baby's cheek, and she tries her best not to pull away.
"My son," he murmurs, and Kahlan's brief hope dies anew.
The End
-o-
Title: Beauty
Author: alyse
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Character: Salindra
Rating: M
Word Count: 390
Author's Notes: Written for my bingo square ‘your beauty overwhelms me’ for
legendland bingo card.
Summary: The man whose favour she’s courting leans in closer. His breath is rank but his purse is heavy and so she summons up a giggle from somewhere, letting it quiver through her so that her breasts shake enticingly.
-o-
The old man is staring at her again, and Salindra shifts position, deliberately turning her back on him.
It doesn’t help. She can feel his gaze burning into her, but she’s used to it by now and at least this one doesn’t reach out and grab a hold of what he hasn’t paid for.
The man whose favour she’s courting leans in closer. His breath is rank but his purse is heavy and so she summons up a giggle from somewhere, letting it quiver through her so that her breasts shake enticingly.
His eyes drop, as does his lower lip as he gapes at the sight, but she’s got him pegged now. He’ll be quick, one of the ones she only has to bounce up and down on a couple of times before he spills, and then there will be time for a quick wash and then down to the bar for another customer.
She catches sight of herself in the mirror over the bar and frowns at the expression on her face before she catches herself and smoothes it out. It wouldn’t do for her clientele to see just how much they bore her, how little interest she has in their lives or even their bodies. It’s their money that gets her attention, and the power and security it brings her.
She turns her head, hiding her glance with a hand raised to her lips as if she’s overcome with mirth. The old man has gone, and there’s a brief pang, although it takes her a moment to realise why. He, at least, didn’t seem to want any more than to admire her admitted beauty; she hasn’t any such comfort about the man she’s trying to seduce.
She turns back to her would-be paramour and turns up her lips in an encouraging smile. He sighs, flopping towards her with a satisfied smirk on his face.
“Your beauty overwhelms me,” he purrs, stroking fat fingers over her skin.
She smiles back, fluttering her eyelashes and calculating what she should charge him for the pleasure of enjoying that beauty. If she’s really lucky, perhaps he’ll be so eager to enjoy it that a simple hand job will be enough to make him come. It would save her the time cleaning up after this job before she can return for the next.
The End
-o-
Title: Scenic
Author: alyse
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Character: Richard, gen
Rating: PG
Word Count: 246
Author's Notes: Written for my bingo square 'enjoy the scenery' for
legendland bingo card.
Summary: The Midlands has a beauty all of its own.
-o-
There was no doubt that the Midlands had a beauty all of its own. Hills rolled for miles, green and verdant, and towering cliffs swept majestically towards the sea. There were fields of golden wheat that stretched as far as the eye could see, and tiny and neat little villages nestled near rivers and streams.
But it wasn't the kind of beauty that Richard was used to, the woods that grew in abundance in the Westlands. There were forests, yes, but the trees were unfamiliar and the plants that grew in their shade both unknown to him and - in many cases - magic and deadly.
It would be a stretch to say that he was homesick, exactly - he had no home to return to, not when his father and brother had both been slain by Darken Rahl's men, and Chase and his family now trapped in the Midlands. And there were plenty who were keen to welcome him in his guise of the Seeker, people who would open their doors for him, feed and clothe him, be as neighbourly as he ever could have hoped.
But still... He was Westlands born and bred, and this new land was strange sometimes, strange in a way that hurt his heart.
But then he would turn his head and catch sight of his grandfather's absent smile or, even better, see Kahlan riding by his side, as she always would, and then even that small hurt was healed.
The End
-o-
Title: Whisper
Author: alyse
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Character: Shar, gen
Rating: PG
Word Count: 247
Author's Notes: Written for my bingo square 'echoes in the wind' for
legendland bingo card.
Summary: Night Wisps are the smallest and most fragile of the Creator's creatures. But they possess a magic all of their own.
-o-
Night Wisps are the smallest and most fragile of the Creator's creatures, and therefore the most attuned to the rhythms of Her world. How can they be otherwise, Shar thinks, when the world is so much bigger than they are and the patterns written upon it are so large?
The Creator has gifted them with magic, imbued them with it, as small as they are. It is not magic to use in the way of the humans or to take in the way of the Gar. It is the magic of breath, of being, magic that enables Night Wisps to fly, or to mate and bear offspring that number in the thousands, each unique unto themselves. It is the magic to simply be, and in gifting this to them the Creator shows that the best beloved of Her are the smallest and most insignificant.
That same magic reveals the currents of the world to them in a way that only the most skilful of human wizards can hope to match. Night Wisps see the future in the stars, ride the waves of possibility, hear the whispers of what will be in the wind. They know that the One True Seeker has come before any Wizard or Confessor.
They know, too, what has to be done, and Shar is the one who takes on that mantle, knowing the price and glad to pay it.
For the wind has whispered her fate as well, and she is not afraid.
The End
Author: alyse
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Character: Cara, hints of Cara/Dahlia
Rating: PG
Word Count: 230
Author's Notes: Written for my bingo square 'they will break you' for
legendland bingo card.
Summary: Dahlia's betrayal bites deeply.
-o-
Dahlia's betrayal bites deeply. Cara shouldn't be surprised - it's the Mord'Sith way, to serve the Lord Rahl above all others. The bonds between the Sisters of the Agiel last only at his whim, and Darken Rahl's whims have always been twisted out of true.
But still, it bites deep, deeper still knowing that as far as Dahlia is concerned, hers is not the true betrayal. That Dahlia lies at Cara's feet, because Cara is the one who turned her back on Darken Rahl, who follows the Seeker instead. Dahlia sees betrayal and yet forgives Cara anyway.
Cara, on the other hand, doesn't think she's ever loved Dahlia enough to forgive. She tells herself that Dahlia doesn't know Richard, doesn't understand that there could ever be a Rahl who is a good man as well as a powerful one, but it still leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, something harsh and hateful.
She takes a breath, holds on tightly to the memory of her family, her true family - Richard, Kahlan and Zedd, not Dahlia, not the woman who even now looks at her with a tender kind of pity in her eyes. She will be strong, hold on for them. She will not fail, she will not break, she will not let this betrayal of her turn into a betrayal of those she loves.
She will not.
Until she does.
The End
-o-
Title: Hope
Author: alyse
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Character: Kahlan, Kahlan/Darken Rahl
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 311
Author's Notes: Written for my bingo square 'make me feel again' for
legendland bingo card.
Summary: It's the depths of winter when Kahlan's child enters the world.
-o-
It's the depths of winter when Kahlan's child enters the world, and she feels like the air outside. Icy and remote, untouchable and deadened by the weight of the sky above her.
The wind picks up as she tries not to cry out, howling around the People's Palace with a storm's savage edge. It's almost as if the very world is taking on her screams, swallowing down her pain as she pants and pushes, forcing herself into silence. She grips tight hold of crisp cotton sheets, her knuckles turning ice-white with the pressure. The sheets are cold under her fingers - the whole Palace is cold, but she's long since ceased to notice. It echoes how she feels inside, dead and long forgotten.
Part of her hopes that her child - Darken's child - will be stillborn as well, but the rest... The rest of her still thinks of Richard, of how she'd feel if this babe was his instead of Rahl's. In the end, the babe is innocent and her daughter does not deserve her hate, no matter who has fathered her.
When the first wail of her babe breaks the silence of her bedchamber, it stills such thoughts, relief flooding her for the life of a child she didn't want. Something breaks through the wall of ice she's built around her heart, something akin to love. Something that feels like hope.
She holds out her arms for her baby, all thoughts of Rahl forgotten, and cradles the swaddled and tiny child to her breast, staring down into a perfect face, small and slightly squished but still a miracle.
But then Rahl is there, too, his eyes wet with traitorous tears. He reaches out one finger to stroke it gently down her baby's cheek, and she tries her best not to pull away.
"My son," he murmurs, and Kahlan's brief hope dies anew.
The End
-o-
Title: Beauty
Author: alyse
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Character: Salindra
Rating: M
Word Count: 390
Author's Notes: Written for my bingo square ‘your beauty overwhelms me’ for
legendland bingo card.
Summary: The man whose favour she’s courting leans in closer. His breath is rank but his purse is heavy and so she summons up a giggle from somewhere, letting it quiver through her so that her breasts shake enticingly.
-o-
The old man is staring at her again, and Salindra shifts position, deliberately turning her back on him.
It doesn’t help. She can feel his gaze burning into her, but she’s used to it by now and at least this one doesn’t reach out and grab a hold of what he hasn’t paid for.
The man whose favour she’s courting leans in closer. His breath is rank but his purse is heavy and so she summons up a giggle from somewhere, letting it quiver through her so that her breasts shake enticingly.
His eyes drop, as does his lower lip as he gapes at the sight, but she’s got him pegged now. He’ll be quick, one of the ones she only has to bounce up and down on a couple of times before he spills, and then there will be time for a quick wash and then down to the bar for another customer.
She catches sight of herself in the mirror over the bar and frowns at the expression on her face before she catches herself and smoothes it out. It wouldn’t do for her clientele to see just how much they bore her, how little interest she has in their lives or even their bodies. It’s their money that gets her attention, and the power and security it brings her.
She turns her head, hiding her glance with a hand raised to her lips as if she’s overcome with mirth. The old man has gone, and there’s a brief pang, although it takes her a moment to realise why. He, at least, didn’t seem to want any more than to admire her admitted beauty; she hasn’t any such comfort about the man she’s trying to seduce.
She turns back to her would-be paramour and turns up her lips in an encouraging smile. He sighs, flopping towards her with a satisfied smirk on his face.
“Your beauty overwhelms me,” he purrs, stroking fat fingers over her skin.
She smiles back, fluttering her eyelashes and calculating what she should charge him for the pleasure of enjoying that beauty. If she’s really lucky, perhaps he’ll be so eager to enjoy it that a simple hand job will be enough to make him come. It would save her the time cleaning up after this job before she can return for the next.
The End
-o-
Title: Scenic
Author: alyse
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Character: Richard, gen
Rating: PG
Word Count: 246
Author's Notes: Written for my bingo square 'enjoy the scenery' for
legendland bingo card.
Summary: The Midlands has a beauty all of its own.
-o-
There was no doubt that the Midlands had a beauty all of its own. Hills rolled for miles, green and verdant, and towering cliffs swept majestically towards the sea. There were fields of golden wheat that stretched as far as the eye could see, and tiny and neat little villages nestled near rivers and streams.
But it wasn't the kind of beauty that Richard was used to, the woods that grew in abundance in the Westlands. There were forests, yes, but the trees were unfamiliar and the plants that grew in their shade both unknown to him and - in many cases - magic and deadly.
It would be a stretch to say that he was homesick, exactly - he had no home to return to, not when his father and brother had both been slain by Darken Rahl's men, and Chase and his family now trapped in the Midlands. And there were plenty who were keen to welcome him in his guise of the Seeker, people who would open their doors for him, feed and clothe him, be as neighbourly as he ever could have hoped.
But still... He was Westlands born and bred, and this new land was strange sometimes, strange in a way that hurt his heart.
But then he would turn his head and catch sight of his grandfather's absent smile or, even better, see Kahlan riding by his side, as she always would, and then even that small hurt was healed.
The End
-o-
Title: Whisper
Author: alyse
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Character: Shar, gen
Rating: PG
Word Count: 247
Author's Notes: Written for my bingo square 'echoes in the wind' for
legendland bingo card.
Summary: Night Wisps are the smallest and most fragile of the Creator's creatures. But they possess a magic all of their own.
-o-
Night Wisps are the smallest and most fragile of the Creator's creatures, and therefore the most attuned to the rhythms of Her world. How can they be otherwise, Shar thinks, when the world is so much bigger than they are and the patterns written upon it are so large?
The Creator has gifted them with magic, imbued them with it, as small as they are. It is not magic to use in the way of the humans or to take in the way of the Gar. It is the magic of breath, of being, magic that enables Night Wisps to fly, or to mate and bear offspring that number in the thousands, each unique unto themselves. It is the magic to simply be, and in gifting this to them the Creator shows that the best beloved of Her are the smallest and most insignificant.
That same magic reveals the currents of the world to them in a way that only the most skilful of human wizards can hope to match. Night Wisps see the future in the stars, ride the waves of possibility, hear the whispers of what will be in the wind. They know that the One True Seeker has come before any Wizard or Confessor.
They know, too, what has to be done, and Shar is the one who takes on that mantle, knowing the price and glad to pay it.
For the wind has whispered her fate as well, and she is not afraid.
The End