Chapter Twenty Five: Love
The sky was strewn with stars and a warm breeze drifted through the air carrying with it delicious and inviting aromas. The feast tables were extremely crowded; there were people everywhere, all busy eating, drinking and talking. There was music being played somewhere and some of the younger witches were dancing in a clearing. Ropes of glass baubles were strung from building to building, and in each spun a bright golden light. There were so many of these lights that the growing darkness was easily held at bay and instead everywhere was bathed in a warm and welcoming glow.
"Look," Rose said happily as she and the Doctor approached the tables, "there's Korrok, we can sit with him." She tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand and led him through the milling crowds before he could protest. It was only when they reached the table that Rose saw Enissa was there too, and her smile faded considerably.
"Scrawny," Korrok said with a beaming grin. "Well, don't you look lovely?"
Rose smiled, her hand brushing at the front of her dress as she sat down opposite Korrok. "Thanks. Vhella gave me the dress," she explained as she reached for a piece of bread from a plate in front of her.
"Vhella?" Korrok questioned, a slight frown appearing.
Rose looked up at him. "Something wrong with that?"
"No. No of course not." Korrok picked up a large cup and took a drink from it.
The Doctor sat next to Rose, and Enissa poured them each a cup of red liquid from a large jug. "Mokru?" Rose inquired, as she picked the cup up.
"Yes," Enissa said, sounding surprised. "Have you had some before?"
"Vhella gave me some." She took a sip, then pulled a face and put the cup back to the table top. "Hers didn't taste like that though."
"Oh." Enissa looked crestfallen. "Well yes, the recipe does alter slightly depending on the witch who makes it. Some prefer to use brackel berry rather than jule thorn sap to sweeten..."
"I prefer Vhella's," Rose interrupted and pushed the cup even further away from her. "No offence, but yours is sweet enough to rot teeth."
"Rose!" the Doctor chastised.
"Well it is," Rose muttered, not looking up.
"That's perfectly alright," Enissa said as she drew her own cup towards her. "I'm not at all surprised that you would prefer something a little more... tart."
Rose's eyes shot to Enissa. "What?"
The Doctor cleared his throat. "Proper young ladies say..." Rose turned her attention to the Doctor and he thought better of finishing his sentence. "Never mind."
Rose was just about to turn back to Enissa and give her a piece of her mind, when she felt Korrok momentarily place his hand on hers. "Scrawny," he said softly.
Looking into Korrok's one eye, Rose swallowed down her retort unchewed; Enissa was his daughter after all. She took a breath and cast her curious gaze around at the other tables. "Isn't Vhella here? She said she would be."
"Why all this interest in Vhella?" Korrok asked.
"I dunno." Rose shrugged. "I like her. She's been nice to me."
Enissa pushed a platter of fruits and nuts toward Rose. "I'm sure she'll be along presently."
Rose picked out a round, apricot-like fruit and for Korrok's sake, she decided to be polite. "Thank you," she said with as much of a smile as she could force.
Enissa smiled back at her sweetly then glanced at the Doctor from under her lashes, her gaze lingering upon him for far too long. Rose watched silently and felt the jealous knot in her stomach tighten. Scowling at Enissa, she bit into the fruit to stop herself from saying anything she might regret.
It took half an hour of biting her tongue, and enduring polite conversation before Rose opened her mouth and said something that she had tried to keep unsaid ever since she had first set eyes on Enissa.
"You're not like the other witches."
Enissa, who had been laughing at one of the Doctor's 'amusing stories' about Adam, turned to look at Rose, her smile disappearing. "No," she said after a moment's hesitation. "No, I'm not."
"Rose..." the Doctor warned softly, but Rose chose to ignore him.
"I was just wondering why, is all."
There was a sudden and uncomfortable silence that seemed to thicken in the air until it was almost visible, then Korrok looked squarely at Rose, old memories stirring within him, they flickered like ghosts in his one eye. There was pain and sorrow and loss there, and when she saw them Rose wished with all her heart that she had never asked the question.
"My wife was a Ralmarh," Korrok explained softly. "Her name was Sarilia."
"You married out of your race?" the Doctor asked, his brow furrowing.
Korrok looked at the Doctor. "The choice was that of my heart," he explained.
Enissa touched her father's hand gently. "Father..."
Korrok placed his hand over Enissa's. "It's alright," he said softly. He turned his attention back to the Doctor and Rose. "Do you recall the wall carving in my home?"
The Doctor nodded. "The signing of the peace treaty between the Ralmarh and Taehroh."
Rose bit down on her lip as she tried to remember the tale Korrok had told them about Taehrohs and Ralmarhs, but history had never been her favourite subject and she had to admit she hadn't really paid that much attention to the story. All she could really remember was that there had been a long war between the two races and then a Taehroh called Alrahk had somehow or other brought about peace. She gave herself a 'D' grade at best. She could just imagine the Doctor scrawling the phrase Rose must try harder in red biro across her inter-planetary history book -- if she had an inter-planetary history book, that is. She bit down harder on her bottom lip and reluctantly pondered the pit falls of being a stupid ape.
"Then you remember that I told you that the great Alrahk foresaw infinite destruction for both races, and in an effort to end the war he gifted his powers of premonition to Eruil -- the Ralmarh representative."
"Eruil didn't believe what Alrahk had been saying," the Doctor said. "Not until he saw it for himself, using the powers Alrahk had given him."
"Then he agreed to sign the treaty," Rose piped up.
"Yes." Korrok smiled gently at Rose. "But do you remember the legacy of Eruil's descendants?"
Rose frowned slightly then shook her head. "Not exactly."
"Eruil's descendants were born with Taehroh powers," the Doctor said, without raising his hand in the air.
Korrok nodded. "Sarilia was a direct descendant of Eruil. She was a witch, but she didn't want to reject her gift, she wanted to embrace it. That was something she could not do on her own world. So she came to Taeh, to learn her craft."
"A Ralmarh witch?" the Doctor said. "I'm guessing she wasn't well received."
"There were many who made it their business to make her feel like an outcast -- a thief with stolen powers. But she was strong willed and brave, she stood up to them." Korrok smiled from the memory. "Eventually most came to accept her. We were married three summers later."
"That's so... romantic," Rose said softly and smiled at Korrok.
It took all the Doctor's strength to stop himself from looking at Rose.
"There is nothing stronger than love," Korrok said with absolute certainty. "It is strange magicks."
Rose's gaze strayed to the Doctor. "I know that," she whispered.
The Doctor looked at her. He couldn't stop looking at her. He tried, but he couldn't. Eventually it was Rose who glanced away; her cheeks now blushed with a delicate shade of pink.
The Doctor let out a breath, tried to focus his thoughts, tried to think. What he needed was a distraction; something to take his mind off Rose. He looked around for signs of an evil villain who could be lurking and plotting somewhere. He couldn't quite shake the feeling of disappointment when he came up empty handed.
He was relieved when Korrok began the story again, as he hoped it would give his mind something other than Rose to fixate upon.
"When Sarilia discovered she was with child..." Korrok hesitated slightly, losing track of his thoughts. "We could not have been happier. But she grew sick. The witches said that there was nothing that could be done to save her or the child she carried." He gently squeezed Enissa's hand. "I refused to believe that. I could not face losing them both, so I sought out a practitioner of the black arts; an Occultess. I begged her to try and save my wife and child. She requested my eye as payment and I gave it gladly. She wove spells all night long. She summoned dark spirits to do her bidding, but by the time the sun had risen it was clear only one life could be saved. Sarilia had lost too much blood; she was already a ghost clinging to life, bound to this world by magicks alone. I did the only thing I could do, I let her go, let her die; and Enissa was saved."
There was a drawn out uncomfortable silence for a while, then the Doctor lifted his head and gazed into Korrok's one eye.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Korrok gave the Doctor a curious look, as though trying to place the glimmer of something that had momentarily shone in the Doctor's eyes, until he had hidden it away.
"It was a long time ago," Korrok dismissed. "Twenty years."
The Doctor remained with his attention fixed on Korrok. "Time isn't always the healer it's meant to be."
Korrok stared at the Doctor then slowly nodded his head in silent agreement. It seemed that a sort of understanding had developed between the two men. Rose looked at the Doctor and knew that the sorrow that now glittered in his eyes was the echo of his past, the blame he carried needlessly in his hearts; the fires of his burning world. She looked at her hands, wishing that once, just once, she would think before she opened her mouth. She felt a gentle touch at her shoulder and looking up, her heart lightened at seeing a friendly face and warm smile.
"Vhella!"
Vhella smiled brightly at those at the table. "I'm sorry I'm late. I had a little unexpected cleaning to do first."
Rose smiled. "S'okay, you're here now." She made to move across a little so that Vhella could sit down next to her, but Vhella took hold of Rose's hand and Rose looked up, a question in her eyes.
"Come with me," Vhella encouraged, gently tugging at Rose's hand. "The younger witches are dancing. You like to dance, don't you?"
Rose cast a curious gaze to the group of witches who were dancing together in the clearing. "I dunno," she said quietly. "It looks a bit complicated."
"It's very simple," Vhella corrected. "And besides, I'll teach you. You trust me don't you?"
"Of course I do," Rose said, getting to her feet, a sudden smile at her lips. She glanced over her shoulder at the Doctor, then ran with Vhella toward the clearing and the other witches.
oOo
Rose had not been gone long before Enissa explained that she had errands to do and would have to leave them also, but she hoped that she would be back soon. She kissed her father's cheek softly, smiled warmly at the Doctor then turned and set off into the shadows.
The Doctor and Korrok sat quietly and ill at ease with each other for several minutes. The Doctor found his attention straying to Rose, watching her laughing and smiling as she danced, her happiness radiant as a sun. Korrok picked up his cup of mokru and drained it thirstily; he slammed the cup back down to the table and looked at the Doctor with fixed intention.
"How long have you been in love with her?" he asked.
The Doctor quickly turned his gaze away from Rose. "I don't know what you mean," he said, his jaw clenching at the lie.
Korrok gave a sigh. "I have one eye -- I'm not blind."
The Doctor opened his mouth ready to protest further, but the words did not come. For whatever reason he could not find it within himself to lie to Korrok further.
"It's not as easy as that," he admitted quietly, his gaze falling to his clenched hands.
"Love never is," Korrok reasoned, "but that should not be a reason to deny its name."
The Doctor lifted his head sharply, looking into Korrok's one eye. "I'm not denying anything. Did you hear me deny it?"
"You deny it to her."
The Doctor glanced away. "I have my reasons."
"Reasons..." Korrok smiled. "For reasons I cannot begin to comprehend, Scrawny likes you."
"Rose," the Doctor corrected. "Her name's Rose."
"Are you going to interrupt or listen?"
The Doctor sighed. "Go on then, talk -- I'm all ears."
"So I see."
The Doctor folded his arms, not amused. "Do you even have a point? Or are you just trying to annoy me even more that you usually do?"
"I have a point."
"Then I wish you'd hurry up and get to it."
Korrok looked at Rose. "She deserves to be loved."
The Doctor found his attention drifting back to Rose, watching her twirl and spin. He shook his head. "Not by me." He looked back to Korrok. "She deserves better."
Korrok laughed. "I won't argue with that."
The Doctor frowned, then his mouth twitched into a smile, then he laughed too. "So that's your point?" he asked, amusement still in his voice. "That I'm not good enough for her?"
"No." Korrok shook his head. "My point is that you love her and she loves you, and something as rare and wonderful as love should not be ignored."
The Doctor glanced away, raked a hand through his cropped hair and pushed away his dreams of Rose, refusing to listen to the whisper of hope that flickered in his hearts. He clenched his hands into fists until the whisper had been silenced once more, then he lifted his head sharply and stared at Korrok.
"If I were you I'd worry about Enissa rather than Rose."
Korrok's attention sharpened. "Why should I worry about Enissa?"
"Just something Mattor said," the Doctor admitted. "She told me that one of the witches was troubled, conflicted, that she was dangerous."
"She said this of Enissa?" Korrok's voice was hollow.
The Doctor sighed. "Actually she cornered the market on vague. She didn't give me a name. I don't think she could. I think something was stopping her."
"You're asking me to believe that Mattor is under some sort of enchantment?" Korrok asked, as if the idea was blasphemy.
"Seemed that way. She wanted to warn me of something but didn't seem able to."
"And you believe this warning to have been about Enissa?" Korrok's anger was stirring.
"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "But I suppose it makes sense. She's about to become the most powerful witch on the planet. She's not the popular choice; people mistrust her because she's half Ralmarh." He set Korrok with a curious look. "Can you honestly say that you weren't a little surprised when she was chosen to inherit?"
Korrok glanced away for a second. "I don't believe it."
"Maybe I'm wrong."
Korrok looked back to the Doctor. "You are."
The Doctor nodded. "I hope so, I do. But if I am, then we still don't know who Mattor was trying to warn us about."
"We need to speak to Enissa."
The Doctor shook his head. "Telling her anything would be a bad idea, Korrok. All you'd be doing is alerting her."
Korrok slowly nodded in reluctant agreement. "Then... I shall say nothing." He looked up suddenly, his one eye shining with fire and ice. "But you are wrong Doctor. I know it."
The Doctor felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and he glanced around, turning in his seat when he saw Rose standing there, a smile playing at the corner of her lips.
She held out her hand to him. "Dance with me."
"Rose..." he tried to think of a reason to refuse her, but her smile confused him and words failed him.
She wiggled her fingers and repeated the invitation with a softer lilt. "Dance with me."
Silently, he took Rose's hand and stood up. And as he gazed at her he found himself wondering if perhaps Korrok was right, and that something as rare and wonderful as love should not be ignored.