Author's Note-I was a bit bummed out by a bad review I got on my last Stayne/Alannah story, but then I realized that I'm writing mainly for my enjoyment. Don't get me wrong, I love the accolades I've gotten on my other tales quite a bit.
Anyway, the review said that I made Stayne into a completely different character, which is partially true, and the inspiration for this little one shot.
Oh, and for those who do like Alannah-I'm going to be writing more of her.
Ilosivic Stayne was a complex man. He could be cold as death one moment, then exhibit warmth and affection the next. However, there were very few that had been able to see him in any other capacity than the cold blooded murdering assassin that had worked for Iracebeth. While he worked for her, he had been forced to portray to the world one side of his personality. This was the Assassin-a cold blooded killer who loved nothing more than to kill in cold blood those unfortunate Underlanders who rebelled against his Queen. But when he was alone in his chambers at night, another facet would emerge. This was the Philosopher, and Stayne sometimes dreaded the emergence of this man. He would lie awake, agonizing for hours over the cursed decisions he was constantly forced to make, and frantically cast through his frenzied mind plots, plans, and schemes that would allow him to escape the clutches of the bloody big head. But he knew that no matter what he did, he would never be able to see his plans come to fruition. Iracebeth had guarded him far too well, and the Coward within him dreaded his fate should she suspect him of trying to betray her lust. So he had stayed, and felt the Assassin and the Coward growing in strength each day. But he still possessed a tiny bit of nobility, for when he had pinned Alice against the wall, a part of his brain had screamed at him that what he was doing was wrong. He had paused, astonished by the voice, and she had easily gotten away from him. He had watched her run down the hall, relieved. Of course, after that cursed Lady Big Ears had told Iracebeth what she had seen, he had been forced to lie to save his own skin. He still remembered the sickening drop his stomach had made when Iracebeth had ordered Alice's execution, not because he was in any sort of love with her(he still found himself haunted by his memory of Lady Sullivan), but because he regretted that someone so young should have to die at the whims of an insanely jealous monarch.
When he was sent into exile, and faced with the prospect of having to spend the rest of his days chained to the one person in all of Underland he despised with every fiber of his being, a desperate terror gripped his heart. He warred with himself, wondering if he would be able to survive the close company of such an odious woman and remain sane. The Assassin in him wanted nothing more than to slaughter her and leave her carcass for the birds. The Coward in him balked at that, repelled at the idea of having to touch her in any way, since his dagger was long gone. He had briefly considered wrapping the chain around her throat and strangling her, only to come to the maddening realization that he would be even worse off with a carcass for company. So he had grudgingly started to resign himself to a lifetime of despair, when he had been saved by the woman that was now his wife.
She had seen every facet of him, and had not once balked in her devotion to him. Slowly, he found himself changing, and discovered another part of him begin to emerge out of a long, dormant sleep-the Lover. While he had had his fair share of whores and courtesans at his disposal, none of them had made him feel anything. He had merely used them for his pleasure, and for their willing company, and each transaction left him feeling cold. But with Alannah, it was truly making love, and he thoroughly enjoyed the feeling.
She had changed him, it was true. But then again, she hadn't. He still maintained all the facets of his personality-Assassin, Coward, Philosopher-but now the Assassin was used in the service of good instead of evil, and the Coward had largely fallen silent. The Philosopher still lingered, mostly in the wee hours of the night, when Stayne would ponder to himself how his Lady had changed him for the better.
He was finally getting the chance to show the world the true Ilosivic Stayne, not the façade he had been forced to use all his life. While he still had a long way to go in the eyes of many Underlanders, those closest to him knew that he was truly a changed man.
He had finally become the man he had always wanted to be.