Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth - Chapter 20: Richard

[brontefanatic]

Title: Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth
Pairing: Darken/Kahlan with past references to Darken/Cara and Richard/Kahlan
Length: 4300~
Rating: T
Spoilers: Set in the "Reckoning" AU with facts learned in "Eternity".

Comments

[hrhrionastar]

Wow - another intense chapter :D Poor Rachel now doesn't even have her faithful Mags - I really didn't like that Bess. But Rachel is too good-hearted to get her in trouble - or maybe she's worried either Darken wouldn't care, or he'd go further than she wanted him to, as with Kahlan.

“Don’t you care at all about your own people? Who rules here now, if you don’t?” It seems to me this is a fair criticism - presumably Darken and company have all been dead for a long time, so who is ruling the country

[brontefanatic]

Thanks for reading!

I was pretty unhappy with the first part of this chapter - it just felt very unwieldly to me. Hopefully the second part worked better. I had a clearer picture in my head of what I wanted with Rachel/Richard.

presumably Darken and company have all been dead for a long time, so who is ruling the country? Who indeed? And where are all the Confessor grandchildren? Odd that Richard, Cara and Rachel are all alone in a deserted palace.

The whole thing with Richard felt like a vision -  Rachel may have abilities she is only dimly aware of, and which could be a very mixed blessing - at least for her. Two Rachels, the jarring disruptions in time and logic, i.e. walking right from the crypt into the audience chamber, not remembering how or when her parents died,  saying things that  just pop into her head (or from her inner self) that she doesn't understand herself, her father's book.

Why would he even need to write such a book - considering his confidence that his descendants will confess Richard?.

I like...how Rachel

[hrhrionastar]

And where are all the Confessor grandchildren? Odd that Richard, Cara and Rachel are all alone in a deserted palace. Which is what makes me think something went very wrong - it may be Darken's plan for Rachel to have lots of Confessor children (I wondered if he might be planning to be a mentor to a son of hers, or if he's still worried about male Confessors), but I don't get the impression that Rachel necessarily doesn't want that, too. Unless she's so hurt by Jonathon's not caring about her the way she wants him to that she doesn't think Confessors deserve to exist - I definitely got a slightly suicidal vibe from that first part, poor girl.

Rachel may have abilities she is only dimly aware of, and which could be a very mixed blessing - at least for her. I always think precognition must be the worst possible magical power. You see the disasters coming, but frequently can't do anything to change them - and in a way, Richard's return already hangs like a doom over Rachel's head.

I really wanted Rachel to find her own voice with

[brontefanatic]

You feel that way, too? LOL

A lot of what you need to know about what's going on with Richard and Rachel is heavily implied, and occasionally stated directly, during their encounter.

[meridian_rose]

A dream or a vision or something in between...how is Rachel going to persuade Darken to write this mysterious book, I wonder.

[brontefanatic]

Thanks for reading and commenting! ^_^

[dorothydeath]

So I finally gathered my courage... And, bb, I have to say this story is just perfect on so many different levels I can't even begin to describe it!

Endless moments passed until the Mord’Sith started her journey down the steep stairs of the back passageway. She seemed to be moving rather clumsily for one of her kind, her steps heavy and dragging, scraping against stone.
For some reason I thought that Rachel did Confess her and then did that selective memory thing Sansa is doing sometimes. But the end of the previous chapter was from Theta's POV so she has to be alright... Rachel didn't kill her... Or did she? That would be horrifying. Doing something and not remembering you did it. @_@

BTW I'm loving Bess's POV! Very real and believable! :D

Rachel felt as if she were becoming invisible, her edges softening and blurring. She would catch herself gazing into the mirror to reassure herself that she still existed.
This reminded me of a Buffy episode. About a girl who became invisible because no one noticed her. Scary. O_O

“Mistress,

[brontefanatic]

*Hugs you* for this. I know this isn't an easy read - for a lot of reasons.

When you started talking about Bess I panicked a little because I couldn't remember who she was.@_@ It's been so long since I've looked at this. But, no, Rachel didn't confess her, nor do I believe Rachel could confess anybody without being aware of it. After all, she's had years of training from Kahlan.

Rachel just wants Bess to sleep because the woman irritates her and she wants her to stop whining.

As for the sound of steps dragging down the stairs - that will be explained very soon - and Theta is still very much alive.

(Now that the lj cut problem is fixed I really need to go back and edit this story and put up chapter-to-chapter links).

Thanks again for reading and commenting!

[dorothydeath]

But, no, Rachel didn't confess her, nor do I believe Rachel could confess anybody without being aware of it. After all, she's had years of training from Kahlan.
Yeah, I understand it now. It was just my anxiety. @_@

As for the sound of steps dragging down the stairs - that will be explained very soon
It's scary, but I'm looking forward to it. :D

Oh, I've just noticed... BB, I think there's a typo. O_o

Since her banishment from her father’s presence, Rachel had ontinued to puzzle over...

"Continued"? o_O

[brontefanatic]

Thanks for catching that. I'll correct it.