Full Circle
by Shadowy Star
July 2014
Disclaimer: I don't own the Coldfire trilogy. It belongs to C.S. Friedman. I do own this story. Characters, places, locations and organizations not appearing or being mentioned in the books are also mine. Do not archive or translate or otherwise use without permission.
Summary: On the night of his wedding, young Gerald meets Fate. Or maybe one of her daughters.
A/N: One of those drabbles that ran away and grew.
The Diviner was a woman but neither was she the ugly old crone stereotype nor was she the young stunning beauty as most would imagine a Seeress. She was tall, around thirty, strawberry blond and in the right clothes probably even pretty; her nose maybe a little too long in an otherwise unremarkable face. Nothing of it mattered, anyway. The aura of sheer power around her made her more attractive than any dress or cosmetics ever could.
The woman was an Adept – and how rare it was to meet an Adept as sane as him in these dark times Erna was finally beginning to leave behind!
"Why?" Gerald asked, closing the sitting room's door, dark polished mahagova successfully shutting out music and laughter of the celebration outside. It was the night of his wedding, and he should've been dancing with his new wife, yet here he was, because even sweet Almea could never stand a chance against his desire to know. He wondered, distantly, what he would do should he ever meet someone who could. Someone who'd matter more to him than even science.
"Because I never fail in my predictions, and you need to know." She was looking at him steadily, not intimidated in the slightest by all the luxury around them – even if her dress was simple nu-cotton dyed a warm shade of dark pine green, and he was in his full Neocount regalia, white silk embroidered in gold. Adept to Adept here, equals, names or social statuses completely insignificant.
Mischief sparked briefly in her warm voice as she continued. "I won't be telling you all that you'll-live-a-long-life-and-sire-strong-sons rubbish, don't worry."
His boundless curiosity got the better of him then, as he knew it would. One day, curiosity might even be the death of him, and he wondered if the other Adept was going to tell him so.
"Go on, please."
"You also don't need me to know you don't love your blushing bride as you should." There was a hard edge to her smile now, and none of the mischief or warmth. And then something shifted just beyond his perception as glittering tidal fae entered her eyes – a shimmering reflection of the aurora outside, just as ephemeral, just as strong. "You will fall in love – truly, deeply, and forever only once, at the end of your long existence. That love will be your everything, the center of your world. Because of that love, you will be changed twice."
At that, her eyes turned warm hazel brown again, and she exited the room silently, as only Adepts could.
He ran after her. "Wait! Again, why?"
For a second she paused in her tracks. "Because I always keep an eye on my family."
FIN