Wedding Eve: The Bridge of Time
This is the first of two fics I wrote today that were inspired by songs. I've never tried this before, but the lyrics of the first song just seemed so perfect for Kahlan that I couldn't resist, and the lyrics of the second song, which I've always before seen as an exuberant, joyous love song, suddenly seemed appropriate for Darken.
Both fics are are companion pieces set right before Darken and Kahlan's marriage in the Reckoning AU.
Title: Wedding Eve - The Bridge of Time
Word count: 820~ (fic only)
Warning: None
Rating: T
Pairing: Darken/Kahlan
Spoilers: Up though the beginning of Reckoning
Inspired by: If I could be where You are by Enya
Summary: On the eve of her wedding to Darken Rahl, Kahlan ponders the loss of Richard and the bleak prospect that lies before her.
Where are you this moment?
only in my dreams.
You're missing, but you're always
a heartbeat from me.
I'm lost now without you,
I don't know where you are.
I keep watching, I keep hoping,
but time keeps us apart.
Is there a way I can find you,
is there a sign I should know,
is there a road I could follow
to bring you back home?
Winter lies before me
now you're so far away.
In the darkness of my dreaming
the light of you will stay.
If I could be close beside you
If I could be where you are
If I could reach out and touch you
and bring you back home
Is there a way I can find you
Is there a sign I should know
Is there a road I could follow
to bring you back home to me.
-Enya
Wedding Eve - The Bridge of Time
During the past weeks, the People’s Palace had become a bustle of activity, but no longer around preparation for battle, but in preparation for the first royal nuptials in more than four generations.
Lord Darken Rahl was getting married to the Mother Confessor. Finally, the endless war was coming to an end due to the bargain Kahlan Amnell had made with her arch enemy.
Kahlan had lost everyone she loved. Richard and Zedd had been killed before her eyes by the monstrous women who attended Lord Rahl. Dennee had been murdered with the other Confessors at Valeria.
She had lost any remaining hope in this life, and, at first, Kahlan had only longed for a quick death at the hands of her captor. She and Richard could thus be reunited in the Underworld for all eternity.
Then Shota had revealed the vision that had changed everything. While Richard might be lost to Kahlan, he wasn’t dead, but had only been thrown into the future by the magic of Orden. He would never be part of the life Kahlan would be forced to endure for the next half century, if she even survived that long. But she was willing to make that sacrifice.
And now it was the eve of the great event.
With numb disinterest, Kahlan observed the servants scurrying about in preparation for the great occasion.
Expressionless, moving like an automaton throughout the afternoon, Kahlan had turned about at the direction of the seamstress as they fitted her with the finest D’Haran red brocade, and as her other attendants fussed and fretted over her hairstyle. Finally, pleading a headache, weary to death of their chatter, Kahlan had dismissed them all.
For this one night, she demanded, and was granted, solitude.
For one last time, she would have Richard to herself.
Lord Darken Rahl, her future husband, had, earlier that evening, over a tense dinner, throughout which Kahlan could not force down a single morsel of food, presented her with a ring, ear-drops and bracelet of glittering sapphires. Only such flawless blue gems, he had declared, could set off his future wife’s eyes and complexion to perfection. Neither of them mentioned the fact that her throat was already adorned with the Rada’han that suppressed her magic.
She had expressed no gratitude for the gifts, and he had seemed to expect none. For some strange reason, during the days leading up to their marriage, Lord Rahl did not indulge in the gloating Kahlan had expected over his victory, but had seemed almost tentative in her presence
After they had supped, Darken Rahl had given Kahlan a chaste kiss on the cheek, and in the tradition of all expectant grooms, had left his bride alone to contemplate the coming day when her life would change forever.
After the door had closed behind him, Kahlan dragged herself over to the casement with weary steps, and sat gazing out at the snow that had been falling constantly since morning.
Her heart felt like a leaden weight in her chest.
Like ice.
A frozen bride for a winter wedding.
As Kahlan traced her slender finger through the fog her breath formed on the glass, her thoughts flew to Richard.
Although she believed Shota’s words with the fervency of desperation, Kahlan found it difficult to imagine where Richard might be.
Had he already arrived in that distant future, fifty-eight years hence? Was he searching for Kahlan even now as she sat thinking about him?
Or was Richard wandering in a twilight limbo like the one Kahlan felt encasing her?
If Kahlan died before Richard’s arrival, and he discovered Kahlan’s tomb beside that of her despised husband, would he judge her, thinking that she had broken faith with him?
Would he ever believe that, in spite of everything, she had loved him through time?
If only she could feel Richard’s presence with her now. If she could bring to mind his beloved face, his warmth, his loving eyes, his laughter. But he felt so distant - like a shadow.
Shota had been right, the granite wall of time separated Kahlan from Richard, and she had realized as soon as the witch had spoken those words, that there was only one way she would ever be able to bridge that wall.
There was only one path Kahlan could follow that would bring Richard back to her.
But it was such a lonely path, and such a long one. Her soul shivered to think on it.
For Richard’s sake, Kahlan must not lose hope.
Her daughter would be their path.
That child would bridge the wall of time, and would bring Kahlan’s dear love back to her.
Until then, Kahlan could only endure, holding her secret close to her heart, praying that on those nights when she lay in frigid silence beside her husband, Richard would return to her in her dreams.
Both fics are are companion pieces set right before Darken and Kahlan's marriage in the Reckoning AU.
Title: Wedding Eve - The Bridge of Time
Word count: 820~ (fic only)
Warning: None
Rating: T
Pairing: Darken/Kahlan
Spoilers: Up though the beginning of Reckoning
Inspired by: If I could be where You are by Enya
Summary: On the eve of her wedding to Darken Rahl, Kahlan ponders the loss of Richard and the bleak prospect that lies before her.
Where are you this moment?
only in my dreams.
You're missing, but you're always
a heartbeat from me.
I'm lost now without you,
I don't know where you are.
I keep watching, I keep hoping,
but time keeps us apart.
Is there a way I can find you,
is there a sign I should know,
is there a road I could follow
to bring you back home?
Winter lies before me
now you're so far away.
In the darkness of my dreaming
the light of you will stay.
If I could be close beside you
If I could be where you are
If I could reach out and touch you
and bring you back home
Is there a way I can find you
Is there a sign I should know
Is there a road I could follow
to bring you back home to me.
-Enya
Wedding Eve - The Bridge of Time
During the past weeks, the People’s Palace had become a bustle of activity, but no longer around preparation for battle, but in preparation for the first royal nuptials in more than four generations.
Lord Darken Rahl was getting married to the Mother Confessor. Finally, the endless war was coming to an end due to the bargain Kahlan Amnell had made with her arch enemy.
Kahlan had lost everyone she loved. Richard and Zedd had been killed before her eyes by the monstrous women who attended Lord Rahl. Dennee had been murdered with the other Confessors at Valeria.
She had lost any remaining hope in this life, and, at first, Kahlan had only longed for a quick death at the hands of her captor. She and Richard could thus be reunited in the Underworld for all eternity.
Then Shota had revealed the vision that had changed everything. While Richard might be lost to Kahlan, he wasn’t dead, but had only been thrown into the future by the magic of Orden. He would never be part of the life Kahlan would be forced to endure for the next half century, if she even survived that long. But she was willing to make that sacrifice.
And now it was the eve of the great event.
With numb disinterest, Kahlan observed the servants scurrying about in preparation for the great occasion.
Expressionless, moving like an automaton throughout the afternoon, Kahlan had turned about at the direction of the seamstress as they fitted her with the finest D’Haran red brocade, and as her other attendants fussed and fretted over her hairstyle. Finally, pleading a headache, weary to death of their chatter, Kahlan had dismissed them all.
For this one night, she demanded, and was granted, solitude.
For one last time, she would have Richard to herself.
Lord Darken Rahl, her future husband, had, earlier that evening, over a tense dinner, throughout which Kahlan could not force down a single morsel of food, presented her with a ring, ear-drops and bracelet of glittering sapphires. Only such flawless blue gems, he had declared, could set off his future wife’s eyes and complexion to perfection. Neither of them mentioned the fact that her throat was already adorned with the Rada’han that suppressed her magic.
She had expressed no gratitude for the gifts, and he had seemed to expect none. For some strange reason, during the days leading up to their marriage, Lord Rahl did not indulge in the gloating Kahlan had expected over his victory, but had seemed almost tentative in her presence
After they had supped, Darken Rahl had given Kahlan a chaste kiss on the cheek, and in the tradition of all expectant grooms, had left his bride alone to contemplate the coming day when her life would change forever.
After the door had closed behind him, Kahlan dragged herself over to the casement with weary steps, and sat gazing out at the snow that had been falling constantly since morning.
Her heart felt like a leaden weight in her chest.
Like ice.
A frozen bride for a winter wedding.
As Kahlan traced her slender finger through the fog her breath formed on the glass, her thoughts flew to Richard.
Although she believed Shota’s words with the fervency of desperation, Kahlan found it difficult to imagine where Richard might be.
Had he already arrived in that distant future, fifty-eight years hence? Was he searching for Kahlan even now as she sat thinking about him?
Or was Richard wandering in a twilight limbo like the one Kahlan felt encasing her?
If Kahlan died before Richard’s arrival, and he discovered Kahlan’s tomb beside that of her despised husband, would he judge her, thinking that she had broken faith with him?
Would he ever believe that, in spite of everything, she had loved him through time?
If only she could feel Richard’s presence with her now. If she could bring to mind his beloved face, his warmth, his loving eyes, his laughter. But he felt so distant - like a shadow.
Shota had been right, the granite wall of time separated Kahlan from Richard, and she had realized as soon as the witch had spoken those words, that there was only one way she would ever be able to bridge that wall.
There was only one path Kahlan could follow that would bring Richard back to her.
But it was such a lonely path, and such a long one. Her soul shivered to think on it.
For Richard’s sake, Kahlan must not lose hope.
Her daughter would be their path.
That child would bridge the wall of time, and would bring Kahlan’s dear love back to her.
Until then, Kahlan could only endure, holding her secret close to her heart, praying that on those nights when she lay in frigid silence beside her husband, Richard would return to her in her dreams.