May 21, 2011

In Which Tavrin Intrudes on a Happily Ever After

April 30, 1174

A shaking hand grasped at Tavrin's forearm and squeezed--stunned, disbelieving, but beyond ecstasy. "He's waking up!"

Indeed, the Dovan's breathing had steadied and his eyes were beginning to flicker. There had been a brief moment during which Tavrin had thought they'd lost him, but he was fine now. He was going to be all right. "He is."

"Ren." The word was little more than a hoarse whisper, but it was still a word. A name. Her name. "Ren?"

"Searle!" The woman's grip tightened, her nails digging into his arm in spite of the borrowed cloak's scratchy fabric. Not that Tavrin could blame her. She loved this man. He wouldn't have been watching his fingers either had that been Atala on the bed. "You're alive!"


His eyes drooping, the man pushed himself upright. He might as well have just been waking from a nap. "It sure looks that way, doesn't it?"

His wife let ring a controlled giggle. As close to a smile as such a grim-looking human must have ever come, the Dovan slipped off the bed and greeted her with a kiss. "I love you."

Clinging a little more tightly, she rested her chin on his shoulder. From what Tavrin could see, there was a hint of a tear in her eye. "I love you too."

"Promise me something?"

She nodded. He stepped back and looked her in the eyes for a minute, then sighed. "Let's grow old together, all right? Really old. So old that we'll be halfway rotted and no one else will want to look at us by the end. But it'll be all right because we can look at each other. And then we can die in our sleep one night, maybe holding hands under the covers if our fingers haven't fallen off by then." He wove his hand between locks of her hair and began to play with her curls. "Can we do that?"

"Of course." The tear was gone and replaced by a small sparkle. It swelled a little as she stood on her toes and met him with another kiss. "You always said we'd be together forever."

"And we will be--no matter what happens."

The rest of the room might as well have not existed. Tavrin might have been intruding by simply not leaving. He'd played his part already. He didn't have to stick around for their happily ever after. Besides, didn't he have a love of his own? Didn't he have his own happily ever after waiting for him back in Naroni?

"Excuse me?"

Or maybe he still existed in Ren-and-Searle World after all. "You're the one who healed me, aren't you?"

Not sure what else had to be said, Tavrin nodded. From what he'd heard, the man was the type to dismiss others as idiots, but perhaps there were certain things that cast all doubts aside. "Thank you."

Tavrin's lips twitched into a small smile. "Not problem."

"Searle."

It was a voice he'd grown familiar with over the past few days, the voice of that silly Dovan lady with the funny hat and the perma-pucker lips. Tavrin glanced over his shoulder; sure enough, she'd risen from her place on the couch and was now staring at the man, waiting for his acknowledgment of her presence.

Somehow, Tavrin got the feeling that she would be waiting a while.

The man locked eyes with his wife for a moment or so before shooting a glare the way of his younger brother. "Ietrin, did you bring her here?"

The boy buried his face in his hands. The red-haired Dovan on the couch turned his head, slouching somewhat. "Searle, don't be too hard on your brother."

"I shan't be." The hat lady flinched. Tavrin knew why. The older man's advice had said nothing in regards to her.

The seconds ticked by with an agonizing slowness. The boy and the girl and the redhead exchanged their glances. The man's fist clenched and his wife bit her lip. The hat lady just stood there, looking like she might crumble to pieces at the slightest disturbance.

But to Tavrin's relief, the tension was eased by the arrival of two more Dovans from the other room--one of whom was very small. The youngster flashed a goofy grin Tavrin' s way, then bounced up and down in the Dovan King's arms and reached toward his father. "Papa!"

"My baby." The man rushed to his wife's side and held out his arms to receive the child, who greeted him with a hug around the neck and a slobbery kiss on the cheek. "My big, beautiful boy."

The baby laughed. A tad more serious, the man ran his fingers through his son's silky hair and held him back a little, just enough to look him in the eye. "I'll never leave you. You know that, right? I'll never leave you. Not now, not later, not even when I'm dead. I'll never leave you--never."

For some reason, the hat lady bowed her head, frowning. There was something amiss with the Dovan's wife as well, but it was harder to pinpoint; maybe he'd been wrong in assuming she'd just be happy to see her husband alive. "Searle..."

"I just want him to know that." He kissed the baby on the brow, then nodded to the Dovan King. "Thank you for watching him, your majesty. It's a shame that my father and your late wife can't be here with us today, but you yourself are more than all the grandparent my children will ever need."

NEXT CHAPTER:

16 comments:

Van said...

Next post will be the last in this little sub-arc.

thewynd said...

Ouch...

I understand why Searle will not forgive Laralita and do not blame him exactly. She made her bed with regard to Searle. A parent leaving a young child is a hard thing to forgive. And so he reassured his own child and family that he would not repeat that act.

However, if it had not been for Laralita then Searle would be dead. So maybe a tentative truce is in order?

Maybe it is enough for her that she at least did this one thing. She gave Searle the opportunity to not leave his child(ren). Despite her airheadedness, maybe eing exiled from Searle's family is the one thing she can accept as penance for her abandoning him.

S.B. said...

You know, I've been thinking about this thread and what you must have been going through as you entered into it. It seemed inevitable that Searle would die. I couldn't come up with any other way to resolve it and still make it work.

You found one.

I am so relieved!! I love the way Searle and Ren interact, and his reaction to his child, and his brother.

His mother?

I think she used her get out of jail free card a long time ago. She doesn't get another one.

Beautifully done!!

Epi said...

ahh! Had no internet for weeks and I've just caught up. What a lovely storyline to come back to.

Anonymous said...

Yikes. I may not need air conditioning this summer. I'll just keep rereading this post.

And I really think Searle and Laralita need to talk. Do I think they can/should patch up their differences and be a happy mother and son? Hell no. But I think, after Laralita did save his life, Searle ought to at least talk to her and explain that this doesn't mean he forgives her.

But who knows -- maybe something in all of this will get through to Laralita's air-filled bubble head. Maybe.

And YAAY! For Searle being all right, and for his reunions with Ren and Baby Karlspan!

Van said...

Oh wow. Was not expecting so many comments so soon... thanks everybody! :D

Gayl: That last line was a bit below the belt, for sure :S

Searle's beyond the point where he can forgive Laralita, but it seems he crossed the line between unforgiving and vengeful here. You know it's a messed up relationship when he just gets up from what could have been his deathbed and one of the first things he does is make not-so-subtle jabs at his mother :S

She did save his life, but I don't think the word "truce" is in Searle's vocabulary. As far as he's concerned, Laralita exiled herself from his family long ago.

Beth: In the end, I think I found that Searle was just too interesting to kill. He's so complex. He's an example of someone who is innately good but has been warped through circumstance and doesn't even realize it. And then of course there's this whole thing with his mother.

I had to let him live. Good thing I have Tavrin lying around ;)

Epi: Welcome back! I was a little worried about you since I think the last comment you left was about your car accident. Good to see that everything's okay :)

Glad you enjoyed :)

Morgaine: I'd still keep the air conditioning around ;)

The next post will probably be mainly a conversation between Searle and Laralita (Ren doesn't like talking to Laralita if she can help it). We'll have a last bit of (temporary) resolution there, but I think it's safe to say that patching up their differences is out of the question.

But after this, Laralita must have realized that there is something not quite right here. Even she's not that dumb :P

Thanks everybody :D

Anonymous said...

Ouch. You can't feel completely sorry for Laralita, just as you can't help but feel somewhat sorry for her. Searle is a man whose judgement never changes. All I can think is that Searle's children won't be deprived of their cousins, step-cousins, aunts and uncles if Searle is willing to let the king be a part of their lives. Maybe as they get older they can help him reconcile a bit with grandma.

- Scribal Goddess

Van said...

Ooooh, you're caught up? :D *cue party music*

Oh yeah, she did take a pretty brutal blow here :S

You're right about Searle. When he makes up his mind, he doesn't change it. But yeah, I don't think Searle wants to alienate everyone from his family's lives--just Laralita and maybe Roderick. Plus Oswald is Laralita's brother-in-law twice over as well as Searle's father-in-law, so maybe he can engineer an arrangement in which they can at least be civil.

Thanks Scribal Goddess :)

Chene303 said...

Yay Searle! Man, the art of insulting a person repeatedly without directly addressing them is a hard one to master but he does it well. She deserves it.

I love Tavrin POV! It's really interesting to see how he looks at the 'Dovans' and how he addresses them, etc.

Van said...

It's a talent of his, that's for sure ;)

I'm glad you liked the Tavrin POV, because I found it ridiculously difficult to write. Someone with more insight into the Searle/Laralita conflict, like Ren or even Koradril, might have been easier. But I guess the point is that a lot of it is obvious even to the uninformed?

Epi said...

Yeah - been a month of calamities for me! Net is still coming and going but it is better than none at all!

They say these things come in threes. Let's hope that is true and I get no more crazy shenanigans this month!

Van said...

Here's hoping for the best. Glad to hear things have at least cooled down now :)

The Lunar Fox said...

Awww... I never thought I'd feel bad for Laralita, but I really really do.

I know it's tough to forgive a parent who leaves you behind, but I do think she really showed how much she cared for him here.

What a sad situation all around.

Van said...

She does care for him, even if she has given him plenty of reason to believe otherwise. Sadly, I don't think it will ever be fixed.

Chene said...

I feel as if my old comment is one off the only ones with no sympathy for Laralita. Searle and I have Laralita in common; I get Searle and where he is coming from, I will never not be on his side.

Van said...

Yeah, with everything his mother has dragged him through, Searle is not obliged to forgive her, even if she is sorry. Too little too late.