12/14/08 Fini
It is a challenge of emotion and manipulation, she says, tempting him with baited words. In my mind I beg for her to be careful, because even I can hear the trap in her voice as she speaks, her hesitation to say exactly what the challenge is. He is about to break negotiations and leave with his prisoners. Out of the corner of my vision I can see the fall of his black hair spill over his shoulder as he leans forward, preparing to stand.
“I had thought that you would not be afraid to enter into such a challenge with one such as me” She taunts softly. He stills, leaning back in his hedge throne, the thorns creaking softly under the strong sudden grip of his fingers. “You have picked up bad habits since you have left home” He speaks, the smooth tones of his voice angry with nettled pride.
“Do you accept?”
“Who will be our subject”
She barely even pauses, “Kalen”
Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck! I think, Mantle blazing as I hold myself stiffly still. I have heard the stories; I know what this Gentry is capable of when it comes to manipulating emotions… And I pray again that my niece knows what she is doing.
“This woman?” He comments, obviously thinking the same as me and confident in his ability to sway my emotions. “Done, I accept your challenge.”
She turns to me, eyes blazing with unshed tears as her voice rings across the clearing.
“Love” She commands me “Feel Love, as truly as you can, with all the fire and passion you have in your soul.”
Her words hang between us, and I blink, a slow smile starting to tug at my mouth as I realize what she means “That is easy, my Queen,” is my only response as I lean down to kiss her cheek, allowing my love of her to tinge my voice... my pride in her cleverness. I do love her, truly, I can feel it swelling in my breast as I straighten, crossing my arms again with a slight smirk.
“Do that” She demands of her former lord, knowing he cannot. “Make her feel True Love”
The hedge darkens and shakes with his anger and I hold my breath. But she is right. Love, true human love, is not something he understands. He can manipulate my emotions, enslave my mind, and make me think I am in love… but he cannot make me Love him, not truly.
After a few long moments it is obvious to me that my mind and heart is still my own, and I cannot help smiling as I say “I apologize my Lord, You cannot possibly make me love you any more truly than I love my Queen and my niece.”
The hedge continues to shake. “This one already loves another” He snaps at Edria, playing semantics and seeking to wound her by his allusion to her husband.
“She loved him long before this challenge” She replies calmly, turning aside his poor attempt.
“And my capacity for love is endless, your ability to inspire it is not” I add, perhaps unnecessarily, but it is true. My love for Gaius does not keep me from loving anyone else. Most especially not my niece whom he also loves.
The hedge creaks and groans all around us, manifesting his anger, but he is bound by his word and the terms he accepted. He cannot harm us.
“I told you I had much to teach you.” She says to him, before he threatens to move against Tampa or Gainesville, empty threats as our allies are protected as well.
Finally he concedes, swinging up to his horse and galloping away with his men.
Edria faints.
I move instantly into action, Telling Ryver to grab Arioch and the elemental even as I scoop her up in my arms. “Door!” I call back to the walls, and as Ryver and I pelt back to the safety of the hollow with our precious burdens the postern gate is opened and then barred behind us by Holly.
Within moments the freehold has banded together to heal the two that have been rescued, and I have Edria ensconced on a couch, cradled against my chest as she wakes.
And then there is laughing and hugging and the exuberant celebration which can only happen as you realize that you have faced the inevitable and lived to tell the tale. A tale Ryver is telling with relish, naming us ‘Edria the Wise’ and ‘Kalen the Brave’ to the hold as Gaius returns. He pushes through the crowd to sit with us, and he and I hold her between us as small flowers begin to bloom to life in her hair. He calls us stupid and foolhardy, laughing, and his love for us both is evident in the shining of his eyes.
"What was is brought you back from Arcadia?" Brandabras had asked me, counseling me on my lost connection to the world. I had said my daughter, but that was only partially true. It was love... A mother's love for a child.
A Love I feel for the woman in my arms, the daughter of my brother. Love is what brought me back, and in this moment, as Gaius and I hold her and laugh, I feel that warm calm center I have been missing for so many months... my love for him, my love for her, for my children recently found, for my brave summer court younglings and the friends and allies surrounding us...
And I wing a prayer to the Goddess, letting her know that I see her plan in the heartbreak and anguish of the last months and years, the trials and frustrations. I understand...
...and Love.
“I had thought that you would not be afraid to enter into such a challenge with one such as me” She taunts softly. He stills, leaning back in his hedge throne, the thorns creaking softly under the strong sudden grip of his fingers. “You have picked up bad habits since you have left home” He speaks, the smooth tones of his voice angry with nettled pride.
“Do you accept?”
“Who will be our subject”
She barely even pauses, “Kalen”
Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck! I think, Mantle blazing as I hold myself stiffly still. I have heard the stories; I know what this Gentry is capable of when it comes to manipulating emotions… And I pray again that my niece knows what she is doing.
“This woman?” He comments, obviously thinking the same as me and confident in his ability to sway my emotions. “Done, I accept your challenge.”
She turns to me, eyes blazing with unshed tears as her voice rings across the clearing.
“Love” She commands me “Feel Love, as truly as you can, with all the fire and passion you have in your soul.”
Her words hang between us, and I blink, a slow smile starting to tug at my mouth as I realize what she means “That is easy, my Queen,” is my only response as I lean down to kiss her cheek, allowing my love of her to tinge my voice... my pride in her cleverness. I do love her, truly, I can feel it swelling in my breast as I straighten, crossing my arms again with a slight smirk.
“Do that” She demands of her former lord, knowing he cannot. “Make her feel True Love”
The hedge darkens and shakes with his anger and I hold my breath. But she is right. Love, true human love, is not something he understands. He can manipulate my emotions, enslave my mind, and make me think I am in love… but he cannot make me Love him, not truly.
After a few long moments it is obvious to me that my mind and heart is still my own, and I cannot help smiling as I say “I apologize my Lord, You cannot possibly make me love you any more truly than I love my Queen and my niece.”
The hedge continues to shake. “This one already loves another” He snaps at Edria, playing semantics and seeking to wound her by his allusion to her husband.
“She loved him long before this challenge” She replies calmly, turning aside his poor attempt.
“And my capacity for love is endless, your ability to inspire it is not” I add, perhaps unnecessarily, but it is true. My love for Gaius does not keep me from loving anyone else. Most especially not my niece whom he also loves.
The hedge creaks and groans all around us, manifesting his anger, but he is bound by his word and the terms he accepted. He cannot harm us.
“I told you I had much to teach you.” She says to him, before he threatens to move against Tampa or Gainesville, empty threats as our allies are protected as well.
Finally he concedes, swinging up to his horse and galloping away with his men.
Edria faints.
I move instantly into action, Telling Ryver to grab Arioch and the elemental even as I scoop her up in my arms. “Door!” I call back to the walls, and as Ryver and I pelt back to the safety of the hollow with our precious burdens the postern gate is opened and then barred behind us by Holly.
Within moments the freehold has banded together to heal the two that have been rescued, and I have Edria ensconced on a couch, cradled against my chest as she wakes.
And then there is laughing and hugging and the exuberant celebration which can only happen as you realize that you have faced the inevitable and lived to tell the tale. A tale Ryver is telling with relish, naming us ‘Edria the Wise’ and ‘Kalen the Brave’ to the hold as Gaius returns. He pushes through the crowd to sit with us, and he and I hold her between us as small flowers begin to bloom to life in her hair. He calls us stupid and foolhardy, laughing, and his love for us both is evident in the shining of his eyes.
"What was is brought you back from Arcadia?" Brandabras had asked me, counseling me on my lost connection to the world. I had said my daughter, but that was only partially true. It was love... A mother's love for a child.
A Love I feel for the woman in my arms, the daughter of my brother. Love is what brought me back, and in this moment, as Gaius and I hold her and laugh, I feel that warm calm center I have been missing for so many months... my love for him, my love for her, for my children recently found, for my brave summer court younglings and the friends and allies surrounding us...
And I wing a prayer to the Goddess, letting her know that I see her plan in the heartbreak and anguish of the last months and years, the trials and frustrations. I understand...
...and Love.