Prophecy, Child of Earth (80 page)

'All right," she said. "I'm ready."

'Very well," Ashe said, smiling nervously. "Rhapsody, what I have to tell you is not pleasant, and it won't be easy for you to hear it. But before we get into it, I have one last thing to ask of you. Please hear me out."

'Of course. What is it?"

He took a deep breath; his voice was tender. "Aria, I know you have never refused me anything I have asked, and you have gifted me with so many favors that I haven't asked for, that it seems unbelievable I could make yet another request of you, but I have to. It's the most important thing I will ever ask of you, on behalf both of myself and, with any luck, the united Cymrian peoples. Will you consider it, please?"

Rhapsody looked into his eyes; they were gleaming intensely, and he seemed on the verge of tears. The star formations that surrounded the strange vertical pupils were glowing as she had never seen them before, and she closed her eyes, burning the image into her memory for the Future. On the loneliest nights of the rest of her life she would picture the way he looked just now. She knew that the thought would bring her comfort.

'Of course; of course I will," she answered, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

"I've already told you, Ashe, that I will always be your friend and ally. You can ask whatever you need of me and I will do whatever I can to help you, if it's in my power."

He smiled, then turned her hand over in his and kissed it. "Promise?" "Yes."

'Good. Marry me, then." His words were out of his mouth before his knee touched the ground in front of her.

'That's not funny, Ashe," Rhapsody said, looking annoyed. "Get up. What do you really want?"

'Sorry, Rhapsody, that really is what I want. It has been from the very beginning. I haven't joked about it, or argued with you about it, or even brought it up until I was sure that you would listen without prejudice, because I have never been more serious about anything in my life." He saw her begin to pale, and he took both of her hands and plunged ahead, afraid to let her answer yet.

'I know you have long been under the assumption, fed by my father, that there is a hierarchy to which you don't belong by birth, and that it somehow is a good reason to deny us both happiness and our people the best Lady Cymrian they could possibly have. Aria, it isn't true. The Cymrians may have a family right of ascendancy, but they are a free people. They can confirm or deny anyone they want at the Council that meets when a Lord is to be crowned.

'For all I know they will throw me out, and then together we will build the most beautiful goat hut you have ever seen and our days will be blessed with peace and privacy. Or perhaps you will choose to rule in the court of the Lirin, as I know well they will one day want you to. Then I will be your humble servant, massaging your neck and back after long days on that uncomfortable throne, supporting you in any way I can, acting as your consort.

'All I know is that I cannot live without you in any case. I don't mean this as a flowery endearment; I mean it literally. You are my treasure. You must know what that means to a dragon. I cannot allow myself to even contemplate the loss of you from my life, for fear my other nature will take over and lay waste to the countryside. Please, Rhapsody, please marry me. I know I don't deserve you—I am fully aware of that—but you love me, I know you do, and I trust that love. I would give anything—

'Stop, please," Rhapsody whispered. Tears were streaming down her face, and her hands trembled.

Ashe fell silent. The look of shock on her face was so blatant that he was stunned, and his face mirrored the hurt he felt. After what seemed an eternity, he spoke. "Is the prospect of being my wife so onerous, Rhapsody? Have I frightened you so much that—

'Stop," she said again, and her voice was full of pain. "Of course it isn't; what an awful thing to say." She began to sob, and buried her face in her hands.

Ashe took her, still weeping, into his arms. He held her until the storm of tears had passed, and then pulled from his breast pocket a linen handkerchief and handed it to her.

'Needless to say," he said, watching her dry her eyes, "this is not exactly the reaction I had hoped for." His voice was light, but his eyes watched her anxiously.

'I know how you feel," she said, handing him back his handkerchief. "This is not exactly the question I had expected, either."

'I know," he said, taking her chin in his hand and gently lifting it to look into her face. "And I'm sorry. But I couldn't let you go on believing that I would even consider marrying anyone but you. There is a limit, even if it is a distant one, to what I am willing to do as far as my father and the responsibilities of leadership are concerned. There is a limit to my love for you. Of course it would win out. And though you will have no conscious memory of this night for a while, I hope that somewhere, deep inside you, you will remember this and stop feeling the despair we both feel now.

'Aria, none of these people, these things, matter. Be selfish, for once in your life. Make the decision that makes you happy. I can't speak for you as to what that is. All I know is that I love you beyond description, and I would make your happiness my life's purpose. It would give me the greatest joy imaginable if you would consent to be my wife. Please; forget all the rest of this; give me an answer, not as whatever else you perceive me to be, but as the man who loves you."

There was a simplicity to his voice, a clarity that cut through the mountain of objections and laid the decision plainly at her feet.

Rhapsody looked up at him through new eyes, cleared of their blinding tears. It was as if he had shown her the trail through a dark forest, one that she had been lost in since the Three had arrived in this land, a twisted place complicated by the agendas and expectations of others, dictated by their needs and prejudices. And some of her own as well; she had assumed from the beginning there was no future for them because of their different birth classes, but Ashe had avoided the topic altogether, refusing to fight about it. She now saw that he had known all along what he wanted, and had waited until he was sure that she loved him before bringing it up.

As he caressed the paths of the tears from her face, Rhapsody thought back to a conversation she had once had with her father, not long before she ran away from home.
How did the village come to change its mind about our family
? she had asked him.
If Mama was so despised, when you first married, why did you stay'
?

She could see his face in her memory, wrinkles pocketing around his eyes as he smiled at her, his hands still polishing the wood carving he was making, unable to ever be idle.
When you find the one thing in your life you believe in above anything
else, you owe it to yourself to stand by it
—
it will never come again, child. And if
you believe in it unwaveringly, the world has no other choice but to see it as you
do, eventually. For who knows it better than you'? Don't be afraid to take a
difficult stand, darling. Find the one thing that matters
—
everything else will
resolve itself
.

Once the memory had given her wisdom about her loyalty to the Bolg. Now Rhapsody looked into Ashe's eyes, and knew again what her father had meant. It was as if heavy cloaks were falling off her shoulders; the yammering voices in her ears faded away, leaving only the song of one man, the man who had taken over her whole heart. He was offering her a handhold out of the forest, guiding her to where she wanted to go as surely as he had shown her the way to Elynsynos's lair or Tyrian. And she desperately wanted to follow him.

'Yes," she said, and her voice was soft, barely audible, from the tears that had clogged her throat. She coughed, unhappy with the way it had sounded. "Yes." she said again, her tone clearer, surer; Ashe's face began to transform before her, her words bringing warmth to his cheeks and making his dragon-esque eyes glisten with light. The abject fear that had been hiding beneath the calm exterior began to evaporate, and she saw happiness start to take hold.

'Yes!" she shouted, using her naming lore to add irrevocability to it. The tone rang through the gazebo and echoed off the rockwalls, swirling around the lake where it danced in the waterfall, laughing as it spilled over the brim. With the dancing echo came heat, and light; like a comet careening within the grotto her word flashed through the air, illuminating the cavern with the radiance of a thousand shooting stars. The tone picked up to other harmonics as the places it touched affirmed the tightness of her answer, and a song rang in the air around them, a song of gladness.

The fires of Elysian roared their agreement, and the grass, which had begun to dry and stiffen in sleep turned green again, as if touched by the hand of spring. The blossoms of her garden held fast to the last of their brilliance, and bloomed along with the red winter flowers that had graced their table. As the shooting light-tone touched them it absorbed their colors, and spun them skyward, exploding into shimmering fireworks as it impacted with the dome of the firmament.

Ashe watched the explosion in amazement, then looked down at her face, turned skyward as well, the reflection of the colors above them glittering in her magnificent eyes.

'My," he laughed. "Are you sure?"

Rhapsody laughed with him, her mirth freeing her from the clutching tightness of duty and solitude she had felt for so long. Like wind chimes in a high breeze she let it come forth, and the sound of her laughter joined the tone of her assent, filling the giant cave with music the likes of which it had never held.

Ashe took her face in his hands, studying it in the throes of joy, and burned the image into his heart. He would need this picture to get through what was to come, he knew. Then he bent and touched her lips with his, drawing her into a kiss so tender that he could feel the tears well up in her again.

They stood, lost in each other and in the passion of their kiss, until the light had begun to fade and the music slipped away, leaving a ringing tone that eventually quieted, then disappeared. As the warmth left the air she pulled back, looking up at him with eyes that had calmed, but still held a quiet contentment that made him tremble.

'I'm sure," she said simply. He took her in his arms, holding her as tightly as he could, trying to keep the moment fast in his heart. The magic still needed to survive what he had to tell her.

Ashe finally released her, Rhapsody sat back down on the bench.

'Well, that was interesting," she said, smoothing her silken skirt. "I can't wait for the encore. So what is it you have to tell me?"

Ashe shuddered. He knew how difficult the news he needed to break would be to hear, and he wasn't ready to give up the glow they were sharing, not yet.

'Will you sing for me, Rhapsody?" he asked, sitting down at her feet.

'You're stalling," she scolded. "I have a feeling this is going to be a late night; we have a lot more to discuss, plus the renaming ritual. I have to leave early in the morning, so I'll make you a offer: you tell me what it is you need to, and I'll make my request of you, and then we'll rename you and I'll sing to you afterward. Fair enough?"

Ashe sighed. "Very well," he said, trying not to let his disappointment show.

"Please understand I would rather die at this moment than tell you what I am about to."

Alarm crossed Rhapsody's face. "Why?"

Ashe rose and sat beside her again, taking her hands. "Because I know what I am going to tell you will hurt you, and you must know by now that I seek to avoid that whenever possible."

Calm returned to Rhapsody's expression. "All right, Ashe. Just tell me."

'In a little while my father will approach you and ask if you'd like to ac company him on a journey. I don't know the destination; it's insignificant anyway.

You will never get there."

'What are you talking about?"

Ashe's eyes met hers for a moment. "Please, Rhapsody; this is far too difficult as it is. Just listen, and then I'll explain. And if, after all this, you want to revoke your permission for me to keep this memory, I will understand and yield to your decision."

Rhapsody squeezed his hands supportively. "Just tell me," she said gently.

'In the midst of your travels with Llauron, the two of you will be confronted by Lark and a band of renegade followers. She will challenge my father to mortal combat, one of the rites of passage for Llauron's seat of power. Llauron will have no choice but to accept, and in the course of the combat Lark will kill him."

Rhapsody leapt from the bench in shock. "
What
? No. That will not happen, Ashe. I will not let that happen."

'You won't be able to prevent it, Aria. You will have been bound by an oath to my father not to intervene in any circumstance. Your choice will be between watching him die, or violating your holy word, and surrendering Day-star Clarion.

I'm sorry; I'm so sorry," he said brokenly, watching horror creep into her face, the face that only moments before had been transfixed in happiness.

Rhapsody turned away from him and wrapped her arms around her waist, ready to vomit. Ashe's senses felt the blood drain from her face and hands, leaving her pale and shaking. Finally she turned to him again, a look of disbelief in her eyes that choked his heart.

'I refuse to believe," she said slowly, "that you are in league with Lark, that you would plot with her to assassinate your own father."

Ashe hung his head. "You are half right," he said softly. "I am not in league with Lark."

'Then who? Who are you in league with?"

Ashe turned away, unable to meet her gaze. "My father."

'Look at me," Rhapsody commanded, her voice harsh. Ashe looked up, his face filled with shame. "What are you talking about?"

'My father has planned, almost from the moment you arrived, to use you to help him achieve his goals. The first was flushing out the F'dor, though I think that has pretty much succumbed to the second."

'That being?"

'Llauron has grown weary of the limits of his existence in human form," Ashe said hollowly. "His blood is part dragon, but that nature is dormant. He is aging, and in pain, and facing his own mortality, which is closer than you might expect.