Soul Fusion – Chapter 35 – Forever Eternal

Riccar slouched down in the chair, watching as Kahlan laughed and smiled as she danced with her husband, Liam. He sighed. He was happy for Kahlan, but part of him had died the day he had been forced to kill his son, Baylen. They never did figure out what he had become, and the terror of his short existence had been forgotten quicker than Riccar had expected. A sudden shadow blocked the light of the afternoon sun, and Riccar blinked, looking up to see perfection before his eyes.

"Why has time been so good to you and not me?" he inquired as Caylinn eased down into the chair besides him.

It was true, though they were thrice grandparents and had just married off their youngest, Caylinn still looked as she had nearly fifteen years ago. Her long hair had turned a brilliant silver grey that only seemed to make her brilliant blue eyes stand out even more. Her skin had some minor wrinkles, but not as much as his. Caylinn smiled at him and shifted to place her hand over his, interlacing their fingers.

"Stop complaining, you old fool," Caylinn grinned playfully, a sparkle in her eyes. "All this wedding stuff has gotten me rather excited, and I'm going to need you to perform some husbandry duties later."

A smile cracked his frown and he beamed at his wife. Leave it to Caylinn to find a way to cheer him up. "Maybe I should go talk with Rentu and have him tell his son to end the festivities. I can do the same with Kahlan, you know, suggest they leave earlier so they can have a head start on their honeymoon."

"You wouldn't," smirked Caylinn, glancing at him with a bemused look.

"By the Creator, no!" Riccar laughed. "I still can believe she's grown up. It was so fast. I still think of her as my little girl."

"She will always be your little girl, Riccar," Caylinn soothed him, squeezing his hand.

He grunted and gave a nod, feeling very old at the moment. His bones still ached in places he never knew he could have aches. "So, what's up with this new fixation with attaching an extra name?"

"I believe their calling them surnames," Caylinn put in. "And we might have to come up with one soon, because all the good ones are being taken."

Riccar harrumphed. "If Garth was still alive, he would have called everyone loonies and asserted his power as First Wizard and put an end to this nonsense," he shook his head and laughed. "Surnames! Ha! What will these crazy young people think up next?"

"Kahlan and Liam have chosen a name for their new family," Caylinn said, smiling softly. "I actually quite like it."

"Oh, really?" he raised an eyebrow, leaning over to his wife. "And what pretty little name have our daughter and her new husband come up with?"

"Amnell," Caylinn said.

"Amnell?"

"Yes, pretty, don't you think?"

Riccar narrowed his brow and looked out at his daughter. She resembled her mother in all the right ways, in beauty, intelligence, and even wit. Though she might have inherited his temper, which, no doubt, her new husband would soon find out. He chuckled softly and nodded. "It's a good fit... Kahlan Amnell," he said nodding. "Much better than that awful name Dran chose."

"Yes, Dran," Caylinn nodded. "He has never been the same since the Slaver killed Janie." She paused, looking a little sad for a moment.

They had never really fully discussed Baylen and why he had turned into a monster. Riccar had discussed it with Garth and Rentu, but neither of them were able to hazard a guess. Riccar's best guess was that it had either something to do with the Soul Fusion spell, or the arcane magic he used to help Caylinn give birth. Either way, Garth had still banned the use of the Soul Fusion spell, and they only kept some of the rituals as part of their marriage ceremonies.

"What name did Dran choose again?" Caylinn inquired, shaking her head and returning from her somber mood.

"Rahl," Riccar drawled it out, shuddering at the sound of it.

"Oh, yes," Caylinn nodded. "It fits him though. Very dark and brooding."

Riccar shrugged. "I like Catticus's choice better… Zorander," he smirked. "Just saying it makes you smile."

Caylinn laughed lightly, patting his hand, before standing up. "All right, enough moping around, come and dance with me," she offered her hand.

"What me?" Riccar grinned taking her hand and groaning as he stood up on his aching legs. "You'll dance with a wrinkly old fool like me?"

She gripped his hands tightly and pulled them around her waist as she guided him to the dance floor. "Oh, Riccar," Caylinn murmured in that low sultry voice of hers. "I plan on doing a lot more than dancing with you tonight."

His grinned widened and he tightened his grip around his wife. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he asked, resting his forehead against hers as they slowly swayed to the music.

Caylinn closed her eyes and they shared a breath. "Everyday," she opened her eyes and smiled. "That doesn't mean I don't like hearing you repeat yourself constantly."

"I love you," Riccar grinned. "More than life itself, Caylinn… I love you."

"Shut up and kiss me before I change my mind."

"With pleasure."

Riccar leaned forward and captured his wife's lips in his, slowly deepening the kiss until everything else seemed irrelevant and the world was just the two of them.

XXX

Years later, curled up in bed, Riccar arched his neck to look down at Caylinn. Her arm was draped over his chest and she was breathing softly. She was exhausted, and he didn't blame her. A day spent running after the grandchildren would do that to them. He had been touched when Kahlan and Liam had named their firstborn Riccar Amnell. He and the lad were inseparable, but part of Riccar was saddened by it. Little Riccar reminded him of Baylen… before he had become the monster. Just like his deceased, and never spoken of uncle, little Riccar had dark hair that matched his mother's, and pale blue eyes.

Riccar sighed, trying to release the memories from his aging mind, but they would not go. The senility that had taken his friend Rentu's mind had passed him and Caylinn. In ten years they would be in their nineties. Yet both still had fresh and untroubled minds. Well, except for the regrets of the past. Caylinn dealt with it better than he did. She had no guilt over what had had to be done to their firstborn… to Baylen. To her, Baylen had died the moment he had turned into the Slaver. She had already grieved him long before his actual physical death.

But for Riccar, even after all these years, the grief was still all so near. He had discussed the Shurkia with Catticus, who—just as everyone had suspected—had become First Wizard, just like his grandfather Garth. They had thought of destroying the needles, wanting to rid the world of any hints of that dark slaver magic. They had even tried to do it, but something prevented them, and they were unable to destroy those needles. So Catticus decided they should be hidden, just like the Chalice of Azmith. They were still discussing on possible locations in which they would be safe from being discovered.

An arm tightened around him. "Are you still wake, my husband?" came Caylinn's exquisite voice.

"Am I thinking that loudly, my love?" he asked.

"Yes," Caylinn chuckled softly and he felt her release him and roll onto her back. "I think you need something to distract your worried mind, my husband."

"Are you saying I need a hobby?" he asked, arching his neck to look over at her.

The moonlight danced off her pale cheeks as she looked over at him, smiling. "I think having grandchildren is hobby enough for the both of us," she replied. "No, what I meant, is you need something to distract you now… at this very moment."

He sighed and turned his head to look up at the dark ceiling. "I can't think of anything other than him and my failure."

Even though he was not looking at her, he could sense her smirk. "Well… my legs are awful cold, Riccar," he turned his neck to look at her, baffled. "You can always warm them up." Her hand ran down his bare chest and under the sheets to touch him below the waist, easily exciting him. "Why don't you settle between my legs and distract yourself?"

"It's late, Caylinn," he protested, but groaned as her talented fingers proved that he was more then up to the task she was asking of him.

"Oh come on, Riccar, you are not that old, she chuckled softly in a low and sultry voice that always stimulated him.

"I'm not in the mood," he grumbled as his cheeks betrayed him and flushed with arousal.

"You're body seems to disagree with you, my husband," Caylinn purred, squeezing him with her fingers.

"You had a exhausting day, Caylinn," he replied through panting breaths.

Caylinn let out an exacerbated breath. "You are an odd man, Riccar," she groaned, stopping the stroking of her fingers.

"How so?"

"You're wife is exhausted and tired, and just wants to sleep," she explained. "Yet here she is offering herself to you to do as you please, and what do you do? You tell her that she's exhausted and that you are not in the mood." Her tone was a little bitter and resentful, making Riccar check himself.

"Caylinn?" he shifted onto his side to look upon her, seeing tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Caylinn. Talk to me? What is the matter?"

"This," she said, squeezing him between his legs. "I have not felt you inside me in months." The tears flowed down her eyes, making rivers over her beautiful face. "Am I no longer appealing to you? I know my body is not as firm or flexible as it once was, but I am still a woman, Riccar. I still have needs. I miss being with you. I miss the love we used to share."

Riccar closed his eyes, feeling terrible. He had never once thought of this. Swallowing hard at his own guilt, he opened his eyes and placed a hand on her cheek, wiping away the tears. "That's not true," he said. "I still desire and love you. You are my other half, without you I am incomplete."

"And I am empty without you, Riccar," Caylinn sobbed softly. "Do you know how many nights I have lain here wishing to feel your touch? To have you fill me and take away the emptiness in my heart. By the Creator, Riccar, I am all wet and warm right now with need for my husband to once again seek entrance into my warmth and embrace."

"Caylinn…," Riccar moved his hand down from her face and slowly danced his fingertips down her neck. He gripped the edge of the blanket and pulled it off her, looking down at her naked body.

He could hear her intake a quick breath as she waited for him to respond.

"You're beautiful, Caylinn," he said, his eyes hungrily roaming her body.

"You do not find me displeasing to your eyes?" she asked, sounding doubtful.

He chuckled. "How can you be displeasing to me?" Riccar asked, shaking his head. "I am the one who is all wrinkly and old. I've got no hair on my head and you still have your long beautiful locks. Yes they are turning more white than grey as the years go by, but at least you have them. I am as bald… as bald as Garth was when he was half my age."

That made Caylinn laugh. Groaning slightly with the aches in his bones, Riccar heaved himself up off the mattress and shifted over Caylinn, allowing his hands to roam her body. Her breast weren't as firm or perky as they had been in her youth, but then again, he was sagging in places that made him shudder.

Caylinn was crying again, but her tears no longer seemed sad, as he lifted one of her legs and settled himself between her thighs. "Then… then you still do desire me?" she sobbed.

Brushing his fingers along her collarbone, Riccar looked her in the eye. "I will always desire you, Caylinn," he said. "Forever and always." He cupped her face in his hand and leaned down to kiss her as he pushed up into her. She moaned and smiled under his lips as he kissed her. Her leg wrapped around his middle and she encouraged him to go deeper. He caressed her leg and thigh with one hand while with the other massage and fondled her breasts.

Caylinn giggled softly, it was an airy giggle that reminded him of when they were both younger. "I love you, Riccar… and I never want to be parted from you."

He leaned over her, his movement slow and tender, mainly because that's all he could manage, but she didn't complain. Licking at her lips, he begged for entry, and she complied, opening her mouth to him. Their tongues touched for the first time since that night after Kahlan's wedding. Riccar groaned, feeling the happiness and bliss he had not felt in so many years. Backing out of the kiss and pausing his movements for a moment, resting deep inside his beloved wife, he rested his forehead against hers.

"Caylinn… we will always be together," he asserted.

"Yes, I know, in this world and the next," she smiled, running her hands down his back, encouraging him to continue with his movements.

"No, that's not what I meant," he insisted, shaking his head as he brought a hand up to hold her jaw, tangling his fingers into her silvery white hair. Caylinn looked up at him with confused blue eyes. Riccar smiled and gave her a quick kiss before explaining. "The Soul Fusion spell is more complex than I told you all those years ago," he continued. "It binds our souls for all eternity. When we die, the version of ourselves that we are now will remain together in the Underworld, but the essence that is us… that is you and me, will be reborn in new bodies. And so it will continue for all time. In each generation of mankind there will always be a Caylinn… and she will always have her Riccar."

"Oh, Riccar," a single teardrop rolled down her face. "You… you did that for me?"

"Yes, my love," he wiggled her hips, causing her to moan softly. "I did it for you. For us. I never want to be parted from you. And with the guidance of the good spirits, our reborn souls will always find and love one another."

Riccar leaned down and captured Caylinn's mouth in a searing kiss and he picked up his movements, quickening the pace. He might be old, but he still intended to rock his wife's world.