Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth - Chapter 17: Return
Title: Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth
Pairing: Darken/Kahlan. with references to past Darken/Cara and Richard/Kahlan
Length: 2180~
Rating: T
Spoilers: Set in the "Reckoning" AU with facts learned in "Eternity"
Summary: Sometimes you don't need magic
Return
Alice first heard the sound as she sat in front of the sitting room hearth, trying once again to coax warmth from the glowing embers.
An eerie laughter that echoed through the eternal twilight of their small world.
For six months she and Queen Kahlan had been imprisoned in these chambers, encased behind solid stone and brick. They were kept from total darkness only by the meager light thrown off by the fire Alice struggled constantly to sustain in the drafty hearth, and by a few smoking torches placed into the damp walls.
At first, the guards had brought the women fresh provisions, including food, water and wood for the fire, three times daily. Clean linens and clothing were provided weekly. But as the days wore on, the food became drier and harder, the water was delivered less often, and the linens were more stained. Fuel to keep the fire going became harder to come by, resulting in the rooms becoming cold and dank. The two women had been forced to break up some furniture to feed the flames.
Spring must have arrived by now, although Alice had lost count of the days. The change of the seasons made little difference here.
Once, very soon after they had been confined, Alice had requested books and paper. Perhaps, at least, they could have something to relieve the monotony of their days, even if only for a few hours. She had been curtly informed by the guard that she and her mistress were already living in the lap of luxury, and would have to entertain themselves as best they could.
Small gaps cut high in the walls opening out onto the inner corridor provided the prisoners with musty stale air. The hallway was always so quiet that Alice suspected the entire wing had been closed off from the rest of the palace.
The unseen servants who delivered the daily necessities were forbidden to talk to either Alice or Kahlan, except for barked commands and terse replies. Every day the door would be shoved open only as far as necessary to push the day’s necessities inside the rooms before slamming shut.
As the days and weeks wore on, Alice began to fear that Rahl meant to murder them by inches -through slow starvation, cold and illness. Hidden away, forgotten by the world, he could have assumed that nobody would be very curious as to their fate. For years, Kahlan had kept to herself, with Alice as her sole companion.
Rachel would come to her mother’s room for her lessons, but Kahlan never took meals with her husband and child. Her only public appearances for the last three years had been at Rachel’s birthday observances.
But two months earlier, Kahlan had again sickened with the fever that had afflicted her the summer before. She had never fully recovered her strength from the earlier bout with the malady. Surprised that her request for herbs and other remedies was granted, Alice managed to nurse her mistress back to some degree of health.
If that could be considered a blessing.
Alice realized then that Lord Rahl didn’t intend to actively pursue his wife’s death. It appeared more likely that he had to be reminded of Kahlan’s existence from time to time.
Alice had also dreaded that the king would pleasure himself by occasional visits to taunt his wife with the utter ruin of her hopes. But he never came. Rahl's sole communication with Kahlan after that terrible winter night had been a brief written message in which he informed the queen that the witch woman, Shota, was dead - the result of an unfortunate accident in her cell.
So the days dragged by, drearily and hopelessly - on and on and on.
While Alice was able to busy herself by cleaning, fussing over Kahlan and devising countless little chores to perform, her mistress had recently sunk into such apathy that it was difficult to rouse her to do anything.
Most days Kahlan never rose from her bed, but would lie awake for hours, staring blankly at the ceiling. It was an effort to get her already painfully thin mistress to eat.
Since Kahlan rarely talked, Alice had to provide herself with enough distraction to get through the endless days. She forced herself to remember the details of every story, every poem and every ballad she had ever heard. She kept an unwritten journal of her life, imagining all of the things she might one day tell a nephew, niece or cousin about her experiences.
For eighteen years the two women had relied upon each other for companionship. Alice couldn't let herself believe that her only friend had given up.
It had not always been like this. The queen’s initial reaction to her imprisonment was explosive.
During those first surreal weeks, Kahlan raged. Refusing to changed her clothing, her hair wild and disheveled, she prowled through the rooms like an avenging spirit, shouting incessant curses down on her husband and daughter.
The floor became littered with broken objects thrown against the walls.
The mirrors were the first items she had destroyed. “I don’t want to look at myself. I can’t look at myself!” Kahlan had screamed. Alice never understood the reason, but had given up trying to understand much of what her mistress did. She loved the queen and tried to serve her in whatever way she could.
But in those first few days, Kahlan’s fury terrified even Alice.
“I knew he was a monster, but how could my own child turn on me? No! She’s not my child. She was never my child. She was always his creature,” Kahlan muttered, pacing from one room to the next - back and forth, night and day.
“The evil was always in her blood, Alice.”
The queen often spoke so rapidly her friend could hardly understand the words.
“I should have known it from the beginning. I should have known that anything touched by him would be rotten to the core. I should have felt the evil while she was still in my womb.”
Kahlan was outraged by the betrayal that had been perpetrated against her. “All those years that little liar pretended to love me, to want what I wanted. But all that time she couldn’t wait to destroy me, to destroy Richard. Why couldn’t I have seen what was in front of me? She belonged to that demon from the very first.”
During these manic recitations, Alice would do her best to calm the queen. At first she tried to defend Rachel, reminding her mistress of what a loving child she had always been. But those efforts were met with such anger that she soon realized it was pointless to argue.
Then, as suddenly as it came, the rage vanished, replaced by hours of hopeless tears interspersed with pleas to Richard for forgiveness.
Eventually, Kahlan stopped saying anything.
That had been weeks ago.
So when Alice first heard the laughter, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
The laughter terrified her more than the wrath, or even the apathy. Those she could understand.
There could be no possible reason for laughter in this place.
Rushing into the bedchamber, Alice found Kahlan gazing out of the window, staring at something, or someone, with great intensity. But there was nothing to see but the solid dark stone of their prison.
The queen’s body was held rigid, rapt with anticipation.
Then, as though released from a binding spell, she whirled into motion, striding up to Alice so quickly that the other woman stepped back, fearful that her mistress was once again spiraling into violence.
Instead, the queen’s face was lit by absolute wonder as she grabbed Alice by the hand. “I can’t believe it! Richard’s coming! He’s almost here. Can’t you see him? He’s right outside. Oh, how could I ever have doubted he would find a way to come back to me? He didn’t need magic - only our love.”
Alice had never seen Kahlan so happy.
Abruptly, the queen ran back to the window, once again intently focused on something Alice couldn’t see. “He’s coming in now! He’s coming for me at last!”
Turning back to survey the dismal, dark cluttered room, Kahlan’s mood switched again. She paused, brow furrowed in bewilderment. “What is this place? I don’t remember coming here,” she looked around, whispering to herself, “I am the Mother Confessor, so I must be in Aydinril. But the Confessor’s Palace is so much darker than I remember. It was always so beautiful and light.”
Kahlan rounded on Alice, suspicion darkening her eyes. Glaring at her companion, the queen snapped bitterly, all trace of her former happiness erased, “Who are you? I’ve seen you around here, spying on me! I don’t know what you are trying to do, but Richard is here now and he is going to take care of everything. There’s nothing you can do to keep him away from me, so don’t even try.”
Alice stood rooted to the spot, fighting back tears.
How could her beloved mistress not recognize her?
She had been the queen’s only friend for almost eighteen years.
“My Lady,” she stammered, “Don’t you know me? My name is Alice. I’ve served you since your marr - for many years. You once told me that you could see into my heart. You’ve been very ill. I’ve been caring for you for a long time.”
“Please try to remember! I would never do anything to stand in the way of your happiness.”
As Alice struggled to explain, Kahlan’s expression once again relaxed, although still showing no sign of recognition. “So you are a friend then? I can trust you?” she ventured. Approaching Alice, this time slowly, thoughtfully, the queen looked deeply into the other woman’s eyes. She nodded, smiling once more, “Yes, I can see your goodness. Your eyes tell me everything I need to know.”
Satisfied that Alice was now her ally, Kahlan’s demeanor changed to one of brisk decisiveness. “I’ve fulfilled my duties as Mother Confessor here at Aydindril. My sister Dennee can assume my responsibilities. Richard has come for me and I can be free.”
Scrambling over to her closet, Kahlan began grabbing dresses, pulling them off their hangers and throwing them on the floor and onto the bed.
“Alice. Isn’t that what you said your name was? Alice - don’t just stand there gaping. Quick! I have to get ready," she began issuing directions, the queen once more. “Comb my hair. Help me into my white dress. I have to have one here somewhere. I’m the Mother Confessor after all. Richard loves me in that dress. I have to look my best when he comes in.”
As Alice fumbled with trying to pick out a white dress among the sea of red material, Kahlan started laughing again, giddy with joy,“I’m in here, Richard! You really shouldn’t have come up here until I was dressed.“
Now lowering her voice to a gentle murmur, she walked back over to the wall and leaned her cheek against it, brushing her lips and running her hands over the rough damp surface . But Kahlan did not seem to be aware of the cold stone, brick and mortar. She acted as though she were embracing living, breathing man.
“My darling, I’ve waited so long for you. I don’t know how I’ve been able to bear it. But everything’s all right now. You’re finally here.”
Gesturing to Alice, the queen motioned the other woman over to her side, “Richard, I almost forgot to introduce you to Alice. She tells me that she has been my good friend for a long time. I was very sick, and that must be why I can’t remember things. But she took care of me and now I’m completely recovered.”
Looking at Alice, Kahlan continued softly,” Alice, this is Richard. I can’t believe I’ve never mentioned him to you before today. He’s the only man I have ever loved, and now he’s come home to me.”
Gazing upon her mistress at that moment, Alice caught a glimpse of the breathtakingly beautiful woman Kahlan must have been before her marriage, before the light had gone out of her eyes.
But, by some strange sad miracle, the light, the vibrancy and the beauty had returned - along with Richard.
Kahlan stretched out a hand as if beckoning to a lover.
“Come to me, dearest. It’s been so long and we have so much to tell each other. Is Zedd going to be coming later? I can’t wait to see him again. But first we need some time alone.”
Reaching up dreamily to stroke her neck, Kahlan’s fingers touched the circlet that bound her magic. At first she appeared confused, but she didn’t yank at it in frustration and anger as she had for eighteen years. Now she ran her fingers over the rada’han gently, reverently.
“Oh,Richard. Look what I’m wearing. Isn’t it wonderful? Now, we can finally be together.”
As Alice watched the queen’s reunion with her unseen lover, she vowed that she would do everything in her power to make sure that, at least in Kahlan’s mind, Richard would never leave.
Even if that meant never again mentioning her mistress's husband or child.
Because for Kahlan, they no longer existed.