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hrhrionastar) wrote2011-01-29 06:30 pm
Princess Rahl, The Heir to the Throne, Ch. 9
Title: Good Night, Princess (Ch. 9 of The Heir to the Throne)
Pairing: Darken/Kahlan, background Darken/Cara, Richard/Kahlan
Length: 966
Rating: T
Spoilers: Reckoning, mostly, but eventually there'll be a few references to things we learn later.
Summary: Reckoning AU: what if Darken and Kahlan's baby was a girl? First time Nila's point of view!
Good Night, Princess
Nila Rahl drifted upward out of an uneasy half-doze. “Mama?” she asked uncertainly of the empty room.
She sat up, and scowled. Mama never took this long to come and tuck her in and tell her all about the Seeker’s victories over Gars and Shadrins and the Calthrop, who turned into a princess, just like her—
Where was Mama? Mistress Jeanna had come and gone through the Rahl oath of loyalty with her, which was the closest Mord’Sith ever came to a bedtime story, ages ago.
Nervously, Nila slipped out of bed and picked up the ornate knife she’d stolen from Father’s study last week while he’d been lecturing Nicholas, who was squeamish and refused to touch journey books because you had to use blood to write in them.
Father hadn’t noticed yet; it was his fault for not giving her the knife she asked for, on her eighth birthday. When would Father learn that Nila had better things to do than sit around playing with dolls? The prince and the princess always got married at the end, anyway. It was so boring.
Nila tiptoed over to her door, and opened it a crack. Yes, there was Mistress Alina, standing stiff and silent. Nila stepped out in the hallway.
“Princess Nila,” Mistress Alina scolded. “Get back to bed.”
Nila opened her eyes as wide as they would go and said plaintively, “But I want a drink of water, Mistress.”
Mistress Alina sighed. “Stay right here,” she said tiredly. “I’ll get you some water.”
“Thank you, Mistress!”
“And don’t move!” Mistress Alina called back over her shoulder. Nila waited until she’d turned the corner, then stole down the main staircase toward the throne room. Maybe Father was having another top-secret midnight meeting?
As a precaution, she doubled back and listened at Nicholas’s door. His room was near hers. Yes…those snores were too irregular and annoying to be anything but genuine. Nila grinned, pleased her evening’s adventure wouldn’t be marred by her irritating little brother tagging along.
She didn’t hear voices until she reached the entrance hall; near the big pulley that released the outer gates stood Mama, pulling desperately at the ropes, while the usual guards, one of whom was called Tippis and regularly fed Nila maple candy, fought yet more guards from down the hall.
Nila stared. Obviously, this wasn’t a normal midnight meeting. Where was Father?
On cue, he strode into the entrance hall, trailed by General Egremont, Mistress Cindi, and the new wizard, with the scrubby beard. A look of blank shock stole over his face. “Kahlan!” he gasped.
Mama turned and—there was no other word for it—snarled, just like a Gar in one of her stories. Nila shivered.
Father hurried forward, but the new wizard threw out an arm to stop him—“My Lord, go no closer! She has been taken over by Emperor Jagang!”
Father glared at the new wizard as though he were a bug.
“My Lord, she did Confess those men,” General Egremont pointed out. Tippis and the other guard were now starting to raise the gate—Mistress Cindi hurried forward—“and yet she still wears the Rada’Han.” This puzzled Nila; what was a Rada’Han?
“My Master will see you rotting in the Underworld before the light breaks, Darken Rahl,” Mama snarled. She raised a hand as though to grasp Father by the throat—
Nila ran forward. She couldn’t let this happen! If Mama wasn’t Mama, what if Mistress Cindi killed her? “Mama, no!” she cried, wriggling between her parents. She hugged Mama as hard as she could, willing her to come back and stop being so scary.
Nila closed her eyes and said what she always did, when she needed to calm down: the loyalty oath Mistress Jeanna had taught her. “Master Rahl guide us. Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are yours.”
Nila heard Mama whisper the last phrase, “Our lives are yours,” and all the tension seemed to go out of her. Mama’s gentle hand ran through Nila’s dark hair, and when Nila glanced upward she saw Mama’s eyes had stopped looking all red and scary. Now she was crying.
“Command me, Mother Confessor,” cried Tippis, breaking free of Mistress Cindi, who stood over the body of his comrade.
For a second, everything was still. Father was looking at Mama, with the oddest smirk on his face. Everyone else looked at Mama, too, but Nila looked at Tippis. Was he alright? He seemed—different.
“Do you still have any maple candy?” Nila asked him diffidently—but hopefully.
He ignored her, still gazing up at Mama. Nila frowned. Was she not important enough for people to pay attention to? Just because she was eight didn’t mean she was stupid. Besides, she was a princess.
Mama sighed, hugging Nila closer. “Return to your duties,” she said, voice wintry. There was a collective gasp of shock from the assembled guards, Mistress Cindi, and General Egremont.
“Yes, Mother Confessor,” said Tippis.
“My Lady,” said Father, holding out his arm. “May I escort you to your rooms?”
Nila hung on to Mama’s skirt, while General Egremont called, “What of Emperor Jagang’s army, my Lord?”
Father smiled. “I trust you will use your ingenuity, General; boiling oil sounds almost too merciful, don’t you think?”
Nila, skipping along between her parents, felt certain whoever was at the gates hadn’t bargained on tangling with the Rahl family. Her biggest concern of the moment was whether or not she could convince Father to let her have some maple candy before bed.
And Nicholas had missed it all. Good, Nila thought savagely. He was no fun.
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no subject
Nice touch writing this from the viewpoint of an 8-year old child, and using the words of the devotional to bring her mother back.
You always keep me guessing with this story. Can't wait to see what happens next.
no subject
using the words of the devotional to bring her mother back. Which means, now Kahlan's said the devotional to Darken... ;)
Can't wait to see what happens next. Glad I'm keeping you interested :D
no subject
And now I just need to know more!
What will Darken have to say to Kahlan?
I can't wait! =)
no subject
And we'll see--I'm really glad you're enjoying it :D
no subject
I'm enjoying it immensely!)))
And I hope for more Darken/Kahlan in the future.))
I really like how you're picturing their relationship. =)
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no subject
I liked seeing this from Nila's POV, and Nila's asides about her annoying brother. Very nice chapter :D
no subject
I like to think of the bond as being one of those nebulous things that make a connection, but not necessarily meaning Kahlan has to do whatever Darken says or anything.
I'm glad you like Nila--it's really her story, after all :)
no subject
please write more of this awesomesauce story
no subject
And I'm working on it ;)