Our Double-Edged Blade

AN: Written for the LJ community 1sentence challenge. Selena x Morzan to 50 themes (challenge set Delta). Not set out in chronological order, but spread out over the 6 years that they were together. Some situations are PG-13. Some angsty, some not so angsty.

I don't own anything from the Inheritance Trilogy. I don't own the promts etither.

Warning for abuse of semicolons, dashes and commas ahead.


1. Air
The air of the crisp northern winter always reminded him of their first meeting—a soothing balm to his tumultuous thoughts.

2. Apples
They became her favourite food after their first meal together; she didn't eat any, but she could taste the sweetness on his tongue.

3. Beginning
Even endings have beginnings, and she knew theirs had begun.

4. Bugs
Bugs used to remind him of long missions in the mud, but she showed him the butterflies—a hope for a new start.

5. Coffee
Her coffee—strong, dark and bittersweet—was just like him: flawed, powerful and addictive.

6. Dark
The dark always stalks him, but here, lying beside her, he was untouchable.

7. Despair
She despairs when she thinks of their son and how little she or Morzan see him.

8. Doors
There are some doors that she doesn't touch, in fact, she pretends they don't exist—she can't bring her self to think about what happens behind those doors.

9. Drink
Only drink and Selena could even begin to stay the darkness of his heart, and the drink drove Selena away, too—he drinks it anyway, seeking an escape.

10. Duty
His duty to Galbatorix kept him from Selena so often—he hated his twisted duty.

11. Earth
She remembers the rich earth underneath her fingers as he shows her where she can create her own garden, his insatiable hands skimming her slim figure as he does so; Selena is only too happy to bow to his desires a few minutes later.

12. End
He'd already lost her, so his life had all ready ended for him; letting Brom make it official would be better in many ways.

13. Fall
He never expected to fall for her like this—hadn't thought he'd ever let anyone that close again, nor that he'd be loved in return.

14. Fire
His mouth, hot and demanding, burnt a path across her jaw and down her chest, stoking her desire beyond her control.

15. Flexible
Her position as not only Morzan's lover, but his spy at court meant that she became skilled at not being seen and fabricating stories on the spot—and also the ability to change everything at a moments notice.

16. Flying
Morzan misses flying on Hawthorn, and wishes Selena knew the freedom and exhilaration of flying on the wind; he offers to share the memory with her in her mind, and for a few moments, they are both soaring on the wind.

17. Food
He's exhausted; all he wants is some food and sleep—but as Selena flies into his arms and kisses him with such force, he decides that maybe that he's hungry for something else.

18. Foot
His left foot was the only place he was ticklish, and she knew just how to drive him wild with the lightest of touches.

19. Grave
A rider cannot be killed by old age or sickness; it is inevitable that he will have to watch Selena die, and the thought tears him up inside.

20. Green
The long, soft grass swayed around them with the breeze and tangled in Selena's dark hair as they lay in each other's arm, watching the clouds scroll by—wishing life was always this simple.

21. Head
Her head is killing her; she doesn't even notice Morzan until he's gently massaging her neck, whispering "Waíse heill," as his fingers began to loosen her tight muscles.

22. Hollow
Without him or their eldest son, she felt empty, despite the fact that their second son was nestled in her arms.

23. Honour
No matter what people say, he has his own brand of honour; it just differs vastly from the kind that most people have.

24. Hope
Alagaësia had been searching for hope for the past century on individual levels; Selena, with her wide-eyed curiosity and stubborn ways, offered him the hope that he never thought he'd have again: that someone would trust him.

25. Light
She knew everyone saw him as shrouded in darkness, and she could see it too, but she could see that small beam of light shining through the chink in his armour; she'd been trying to widen that chink since she first saw it.

26. Lost
He felt lost in the sea of his confusing and conflicting emotions, and even Selena was not the stable beacon she was; she was losing faith in him.

27. Metal
His blade was a metal misery, and Selena wanted nothing more than to break the thing—and every vile thing it represented—into a million red metal and ruby shards.

28. New
He glances at the fairth he made of his son only days before, Murtagh's dark eyes clearly taking in his new world.

29. Old
He has another fairth of a boy called Murtagh, a much older fairth from a time that is forever lost; his younger brother's death still cuts deep after all these years.

30. Peace
All she wanted was her little slice of peace with her lover and her son—but the world had to keep on intruding.

31. Poison
He constantly worried that she'd come across a poison that was meant for him, so one of the first things he taught her was to look for poisons in food and drink; it helped to ease his mind, at least partially.

32. Pretty
"It's not meant to be pretty," Morzan explained to his stubborn lover as to why travelling quarters were so sparse "it's meant to be practical; pretty and practical are two mutually exclusive terms in this case."

33. Rain
He stands in the rain outside Gil'ead; Selena's disappeared, and in the downpour no one can tell the difference between the rain and his tears.

34. Regret
He thinks of the wound he gave his son—the look of horror and disgust Selena sent him—and buries his head in his hands; his son would hate him forever, and Selena.

35. Roses
He had long since decided that the rambling roses in Selena's garden were like her: stubborn, intoxicating and beautiful with a dangerous edge.

36. Secrets
Part of her wants to tell him, but she can't; she can't risk her baby's, or her elder son's, safety to tell him.

37. Snakes
Selena's little garden would flourish more and more each spring, but the snakes always did too—until Morzan's magic sent them packing.

38. Snow
She grinned happily at the sight of Morzan slowly making a small snowman with Murtagh; she bounds up next to them to add her own contribution: a carrot nose and a scarf.

39. Solid
During her teenage years, Selena dreamed of men that would care for her and make her feel cherished; Morzan mightn't be perfect, but he was real and solid lying next to her.

40. Spring
Once colour returned to the land, Selena loved nothing more than to bask in the re-emergence of life—and drag Morzan along for some much needed time together.

41. Stable
He wasn't stable—he swinged from one extreme to another without warning these days, and it frightened her more than she let on.

42. Strange
She was a strange thing, really—educated, witty, stubborn, and for some reason unbeknownst to him, she trusted him with her life.

43. Summer
The heat always made her spontaneous and more often than not, she'd quickly draw Morzan out to join her.

44. Taboo
Back in Carvahall, this would most certainly be frowned on, but Selena finds that she doesn't really care any more—this was where she was, and she wouldn't change it.

45. Ugly
When word reached him of her disappearance, he took a good long look at his reflection; it wasn't pretty, especially the deeper he looked—it was no wonder she'd left him.

46. War
She could do it any more, the small light she'd seen in him when they met had been smothered—they were on different sides now.

47. Water
When they're travelling, bathing can become somewhat difficult; they often have to bath in creeks, and Morzan stands guard while washes to "prevent you any undue embarrassment," but Selena knows he's peeking at her.

48. Welcome
He marvels that he, having seen—and caused—so much death, played a part in bringing life into this world that still needed light so desperately.

49. Winter
The season holds many painful memories for him, but he still smiles as Selena drags him out into the snow—she'd make sure the memories of this winter wouldn't join that collection.

50. Wood
A small wooden carving is one of the few possessions she brought from Carvahall—a carefully made heart pendant with a hole to string it onto a necklace; she wouldn't use it until a necklace was given to her by the man she loved, and that was the first thing Morzan gave her.


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