Rewritten Letters
Written for the "Rewritten Letters" BMT challenge prompt.
Set during The High Lord, a few days after Dem Marane's trial. Dannyl writes a letter to Tayend explaining the outcome of the trial, and also why he must remain at the Guild.
To Tayend of Tremmelin,
I hope this letter finds you in good health, and that you are proceeding well with your studies.
As you probably will have already heard by the time you receive this letter, Dem Marane's trial took place last week, and the Guild has judged that a sentence of death is a suitable punishment for his crime. His wife and accomplices however have been assigned to imprisonment for their part in his conspiracy. Farand has been granted a place of study at the Guild, in light of the fact that he was an unwilling participant in Marane's schemes.
Despite having completed my ambassadorial reports on the arrest and trial, I am not free to return to Elyne for the present time. No doubt the Capia court is rife with gossip about the whole incident of Akkarin's exile, and you will understand why I must remain at the Guild for the time being – this is a moment of great upheaval for my fellow magicians, and it is my duty to lend support and assistance to the Higher Magicians, who are now faced with the challenge of moving the Guild forward after Akkarin's betrayal.
I wish you the best of luck in your studies, and hope it will not be long until I can return to Capia and resume our research.
Yours in friendship,
Lord Dannyl
Dannyl swiftly read over the letter and gave a dissatisfied sigh. It was far more formal than he would have liked, but he was not prepared to risk putting anything more personal down on paper, lest the letter be intercepted. It really could just be a letter from a magician to his research assistant; and it was sufficient enough in explaining to Tayend that it would be a while before Dannyl could leave the Guild.
Yes, the message was adequate in terms of cold hard information, alright. But what it lacked, what Dannyl yearned to express amidst those blatant facts which Tayend was doubtlessly already fully aware of, was that he missed the scholar, and wanted more than anything to see him again.
Dannyl shut his eyes tightly, and allowed memories of the past two years to course through his thoughts. Drinking profuse amounts of wine with Tayend when they should have been perusing dusty old books instead. The excitement of making breakthroughs in their research together. Gossiping about incidents which occurred at court or parties they had attended, and indulging in speculation about the never-ending supply of Capia's outrageous scandals. Making love in their cosy study room, the only place safe enough for them to indulge in their desires, and where Dannyl felt completely at ease.
Urged on by spontaneity, the magician grabbed another piece of paper, settled himself back down at his desk, and began to write another letter.
Dear Tayend,
I would give anything for the Guild not to be immersed in its current turmoil, for as it is, I'm forced to linger here indefinitely, until such a time that we can reinstate stability among our magicians. It would be within my power to make my excuses and return to Capia, but to do so would be to abandon the Guild and Kyralia to their uncertain future. I'm needed here; in a way that I would never have been needed before I was appointed as an Ambassador. I'm afraid I cannot burden you with the specifics of our imminent danger; indeed it would be safer for you not to know.
What I do want you to know is that I miss you. I've missed you since the moment I boarded the ship to leave Capia. It's not possible for me to express in words how sorry I am for departing so hastily, without a final parting. After all we've been through together, you deserved that at least – you deserved to hear from me yourself that I was leaving, and not to suffer the indignation of hearing of my departure from the scrawled message I sent to you. Had I been granted another few hours before our ship departed, I would gladly have spent that precious time paying you a last visit, but I was left with scarcely enough time to pack a case and settle my paperwork with Errand, before I was meeting with Elyne diplomats and boarding a ship to send me back off to Imardin.
I wanted more than anything to have you by my side before the trial – those restless days of waiting impatiently to see if the "false truth" we told Marane would spread to become common belief, or else be disregarded as yet another rumour about us being together. We both know you're far safer being across the sea than here in Imardin where your presence could spark suspicion, but still I can't suppress my longing to see you again, to hold you in my arms, to show you how much I love and adore you.
You've always been better with words than I, and so you might smile fondly in that way of yours at my difficulty to accurately express my feelings. But the uneasiness I'm experiencing now at the Guild is not entirely due to the aftermath of Marane's trial, or indeed Akkarin and Sonea's exile; distressing though those events were. There's also the peculiar sensation that the Guild is no longer my home, nor will it ever be fully again. I might be needed here, for the authority of my position demands that I offer my assistance in any way I can during these troubling times, but there's scarcely anybody here who needs me for who I am, as opposed to the station I hold. My only real consolation is Rothen's friendship, and even with him, I've never been entirely honest about myself.
I hope with every fibre of my being that the Guild's worst fears about Akkarin's revelations do not come to pass, and that it will only be a matter of weeks before I can respectfully return to Capia, assured that neither Kyralia nor my fellow magicians are in any danger. I'm planning to make a request to Lorlen for me to keep my post as Ambassador to Elyne permanently, because in all honesty, living in the Guild has never felt so wrong to me before. I don't belong here, I belong in Capia. I belong with you.
I need you Tayend, now, more than ever. But isn't it ironic that when I'm in need of you most, the last place in the world I want you to be is here in Imardin. You're far safer where you are, for the time being at least, and the only feasible opportunity for us to be together again is some elusive time in the future. For now, I must content myself with this, knowing you are out of harm's way.
Yours with all my love,
Dannyl
The magician put down his pen and closed his eyes once more. He had no intention whatsoever of sending this letter, but the process of writing it had presented him with an unexpected sense of resolution. Opening his eyes, he promptly folded up the first letter and slipped it into an envelope, writing Tayend's name and address on the cover. He would ask his servant to have it sent first thing tomorrow morning.
Yawning, Dannyl stood up and drew on his magic to ease away the aches in his shoulders. Reasoning to himself that it would be best to try to get some sleep while he still could, he made his way into his bedroom, hoping that his dreams tonight would not plague him with chilling visions of the Guild's impending fate.
Please let me know what you think, this is the first challenge (and non-parody) fic I've posted in months :D I was most concerned about getting Dannyl's voice and style across in the letters.
And if anyone's interested in taking part in the monthly BMT fanfic challenges that StuffRocksInnit and I are organising, take a look at our Live Journal page for more details: http:/ /kyraliamagician. livejournal. com/ (just take out the 3 spaces). Or else drop me or Stuffs a PM if you have any questions :D