Until the End of All

Log Info

• Title: Until the End of All

• Emitter: Telamon

• Characters: Telamon, Ravenstongue

• Place: Marniar'nir, the Mythwood

• Summary: Ravenstongue and Telamon awaken on the first morning of their honeymoon in the estate they've been permitted to use for their honeymoon. They rejoice in their new marriage, but the discussion turns to Ravenstongue divulging the deepest pains of her heart to Telamon--but emphasizing that the pains are much easier to deal with now that she is not who she once was. The half-elves then face the first day of the rest of their lives together.

Content warning for discussion of suicidal ideation, grief, and depression.

Vestreven Estate, Marniar'nir, the Mythwood

After the events of the previous day, getting to the Vestreven estate was almost mundane in comparison. Interestingly, the estate is staffed with polite servants who seem to have a knack for staying inconspicuous until they're needed -- presumably the result of years of playing host here. And thus it was when the newlyweds arrived, happy -- but tired.

The sun is coming in through the curtains, the window firmly shut against the oncoming chill of winter. The fire stoked, preventing said chill from intruding further. And in the bed -- an almost ridiculously huge and comfortable thing, with a wooden frame like that of branches cradling the mattress -- the couple lie curled up together. Their first morning as husband and wife.

Telamon stirs first as the sunlight plays across his face, his eyes blinking slowly. Brief confusion as to where he is, before he realizes, and smiles down at Lana in his arms, and he murmurs, "Good morning, Mistress Lupecyll-Atlon," with a grin.

It's truly the sign of a new chapter for them both if Telamon is the one waking up first with the light of the morning dawn. The morning greeting rouses Cor'lana from her dreaming, which results in her arms going around Telamon just a bit tighter. "Mmmnnnphh..."

Luckily for Telamon's ribs, she lightens up a little on the squeeze as her eyes flutter open. She blinks a couple of times before a yawn escapes her, and she nuzzles into him. Her hair was let down from its complicated braiding last night, resulting in wilder waves than normal. "Good morning, Sir Lupecyll-Atlon," she replies with a grin, "although I think Lily and Mirabilis will insist on you being Lord Lupecyll for some time before I drill the 'Atlon' bit into their heads."

Clearly, the squeeze doesn't bother Tel at all, and he hugs her back in equal measure. "Mmm. I can live with it. As long as it involves being your husband, they can call me whatever they like." Rolled on his side, he lets her tuck in under his chin. Happy place, once again.

"We did get in a little later than I expected last night. And after the last couple days... we both needed to sleep in." Telamon gives her an arch little smile. "I'm sure we'll make up for that later, but for now I'm just happy to be here, with you. Plus, we don't have to cook."

"I'm just glad the party went off without a hitch," Cor'lana says with a grin as she's brought into that space underneath Telamon's chin. "I still struggle with... feeling off in large crowds, sometimes, but I think it helped in that I knew they were all there to celebrate... us, but not only us, if that makes any sense. I mean, we kind of are poster children for the whole Mythwood-Alexandria alliance thing now."

Then she decides she's had enough of the happy place and shifts upward in his arms so that she meets him at eye level. "I'll admit... I didn't expect this to be, well, a place with servants and everything. I'll happily take the opportunity to not cook, though. Gods know that I'm not as talented as Liandra or as Addy in the kitchen."

Then she pauses in thought for a moment. "Maybe we could... ask Liandra for cooking lessons when we're back? Attempt to, you know, be better cooks for each other and all since we're now stuck with each other." She grins at that last notion.

Telamon props his head up on one arm so he can look back at her. "I know you were a little... daunted. I handled it better, but when we turned there at the end I couldn't help but feel a little awestruck -- and humbled. So many friends and family who are cheering us on, wishing us a long happy marriage."

He looks thoughtful at the comment about 'Mythwood-Alexandria alliance'. "Father mentioned this may be something of an issue, especially when we return to Alexandria. There's going to be a number of people very interested in us, for both good and bad reasons." He rolls his eyes. "Which... is nothing new, really. But we may find ourselves caught up in political machinations at some point. All we can do is keep our eyes open."

Tel grins at the prospect of learning cooking from the formidable Liandra Branfeax. "Maybe we should. I mean, yes, she seems like a hard taskmaster, but she can't be that much worse than father was. And if you're going to learn, learning from the best is a good idea." He steals a kiss. "Besides, I'd love to learn to cook lasagna for you."

"Right? All of our friends and family, just... There. All of them supporting us. It was humbling." Cor'lana is giddy at the memory, even if it's a fresh one. "I was trying so hard to keep myself from crying. Your vows were just so wonderful, and..."

She shakes her head and lifts up a hand. "Ahh, no, it's too early to cry," she says with a grin, going to wipe a forming tear away. "Anyway, yes, we'll have things to deal with. Prophecies and politics, how charming that they start with the same letter."

Of course, she flushes from the kiss. "I can see it now," she says with a snicker. "You master a lasagna and one day I'll come home and you'll have your shirt off, candles lit, and there's a lasagna on the table. That would be nice."

"It's nice to have a goal to work towards. We'll consult with Liandra when we get home." Telamon reaches out to gently brush the tear away as well. "Your vows were as beautiful, dearest. I... you could've knocked me over with a feather." He chuckles at the memory. "I imagine Pothy could've, at any rate."

He lifts his hand, studying the curuchuil now adorning the back of his hand. "It looks amazing. And Grandfather did a good job 'fixing' it so it didn't smudge or fade. Unfortunately, you know what he'll consider the best thank you we can offer." His expression is wry. "Ah well. What's life without a little chaos?"

Cor'lana just shakes her head, grinning. "You and your mother both, I'm sure, will be on the warpath," she says. "I... admittedly think Grandfather might be less pushy. He has time, after all. Your mother..."

She frowns. "Well, human lifespans and all. I think your mother has more of her best years in front of her, but she would understandably be a bit more insistent about seeing them before she goes, I think. And given that she is my second mother now..."

Cor'lana sighs. "Oh, the headache. But it's preferable to the heartache of loneliness."

Telamon snorts. "Yeah, I really hope father spoke to mother on our behalf. I don't really want to annoy her, but... she's going to have to be a little patient. Grandfather, well, we might have more luck with him. He's happy he's got us, and while I expect he'll drop hints, he's also immortal. He might be more willing to cut us some slack."

He curls his arms around Cor'lana instinctively, as if to protect her from memories. "You've mentioned before how... lonely you were, after your mother passed but before you came to Alexandria." He strokes her hair very gently. "It must've been hard for you."

There's a slight change in Cor'lana's body language, even as Telamon holds her, as he broaches the subject. Despite the fact that they're curled up in a warm bed together on the first morning of their marriage, she shivers like she's cold.

Or that there's something to fear.

She burrows her head back down into that happy place. And she says nothing for a moment. Telamon might realize she's centering herself again.

"When my mother... was gone, I didn't know what happened," she says in a small voice. "I just knew that I felt all alone. I didn't remember Pothy at all from my childhood, so I thought he was just this... strange burden. Who wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't tell me what was going on no matter how hard I begged."

He is there. Telamon is there, to cling to even with the memories of loneliness and fear at the door. The sun shining outside, banishing shadow, and her husband's arms around Cor'lana to protect her. "It's all right now, love."

A number of things are fitting into place for Tel -- particularly Lana's fears about losing him, of him 'going away'. "I'm not going anywhere. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. But I'm here if you need me." Kissing the top of her head, as she nestles close.

She rallies a little, there in the comfort of Telamon's sunlight. She at least breathes a little like she's not about to cry. "You should know," she decides. "I don't want to hide any part of me from you. Not even the parts that are full of scars."

Cor'lana pauses for a moment again, just lingering in Telamon's warmth. For a moment, the swimmer lost at sea just clings to the lifeline that has been thrown out to her. "I talked about it a little with the Queen of Air and Darkness," she says. "How... my upbringing gave me sadness. And it gave me loneliness. Loneliness enough that... I sometimes wanted it to end. But I always had Mother. I always had Pothy. Until the day where she was gone and Pothy was only a stranger to me."

She takes a breath and she shivers again. It's a ward against the tears, a ward against the crying that is threatening to come forth. "For those two years after my mother died... I was just so lost. No one had answers, and I was still so scared that I hardly left the house. There were times I thought maybe it was a punishment from someone or from the gods. Or maybe that I'd gone insane. I just... didn't know what to do."

Telamon tries to imagine it -- Lana, barely grown, with a fistful of arcane power, a uncommunicative familiar, and a sense of loss deeper than anything else. "No wonder you left Rune," he says softly. "I would've fled as well. Better to try and make a new start, rather than sit there with those empty places." Kissing her brow, pressing her close. "It's done now, though. It's in your past. Take whatever knowledge you need from it... but remember that it has ended."

He tips her face up to his, so he can look into her eyes. "You're stuck with me. And you have family, and friends. You will never be alone again, love. And in time you'll look back and those dark days will be nothing more than flimsy mist, burned away by the new days ahead."

"I know," Cor'lana says quietly, and she closes her eyes, her arms wrapping around him. "You've done... so much to chase them away. I just remember... those long stretches of time, where I'd go without eating very much, or sleeping very much, and I'd think every stranger passing by my window was someone who wouldn't care about me at all."

Her arms go tightly around Telamon. "I... I said it before, when I offered the poems to the Queen of Air and Darkness. During those two years, I... I prayed to die. Often. I'd pray, offering up my soul to anyone who could be listening--if they could take me away into the Halls so I wouldn't have to wake up the next morning."

But she doesn't cry. She only trembles. "I have a life now. I have love now. You gave all of that to me, Telamon. You and everyone else who I've come to know since I came to Alexandria. When I... When I chose life."

Telamon shivers at the thought himself, of Lana feeling so empty and alone, haunting the house like some mournful ghost. "I'm glad you did. I would've never met you, otherwise. Gods, I love you so much -- all I can do is keep making sure you know it, every day."

The two hold onto each other, lifelines. A steadying influence in a world where tears and sadness can come in every day. "Stay with me, Lana. I need you -- I didn't realize it at first, but then when we starting courting... I couldn't think of anyone else I wanted, needed, to spend my life with."

Cor'lana smiles again at that sentiment, squeezing him gently. It's beginning to feel less like they're lost at sea together... and more that they're alone together again in the bedroom of this estate on this happy morning. "I promised I'd stay with you forever yesterday, didn't I?" she asks, nuzzling into him again. "I'm just... glad that you need me as much as I need you. I used to tell myself that there was no way that you'd really want to be with me--because I was so used to loneliness and doubting myself and doubting even reality that I was convinced you'd disappear before my eyes."

She leans in closer, her face going up to his, and she lifts one hand up to intertwine her fingers with his platinum-blond hair. Her violet eyes do look like they threaten to brim over with tears at any moment--but happy ones. "But I know you won't now," she says. "You swore your vows to me in front of everyone and the gods. That's enough to put my mind at ease." And she leans in to kiss him.

Telamon is more than happy to kiss her back, to hold her close and revel in the knowledge that he is hers and she is his. The dark memories are firmly put in their place, for good, and the two hold each other close.

Finally, they come up for air (well, for her benefit, not Tel's), and he smiles down at her warm. "So, my Lady Lupecyll, now that the sun is up and we are both quite awake... can I interest you in some breakfast? I assure you, the staff here are used to odd hours on the part of newlyweds, and won't mind cooking up something for us." He strokes her cheek. "And then perhaps we can take a little walk together, check out the estate grounds."

Cor'lana does have to take a nice gulp of air after they're done--but given the whole thing was her idea, she's certainly not complaining, and even offers Telamon a grin. "And here I thought you might say you wanted me for breakfast," she teases him. "But that'd just put breakfast off into further brunch hours, I think."

She leans in and kisses Telamon on the cheek. "But yes, Lord Lupecyll, I would love breakfast, and I would love a nice, long walk. It is, after all, the time of year where leaves turn into beautiful colors."

Her violet eyes twinkle. "I wrote a poem not too long ago about being an autumn bride, and while it wasn't our choice... I'm glad I am."

Telamon brushes his nose against hers. "Well, I would've preferred summer, but... I'm happy to be an autumn husband. Specifically, yours." He steals one more brief kiss, before levering himself up. "Let's go dig out some clothes, and find something to eat. We can spend the day exploring the estate."

He then gives Lana a sly look, not too dissimilar from her own expression of feytouched mischief. "After all, I'm sure this evening will be very busy for both of us." His eyes twinkle with humor and happiness.

Cor'lana hops up from the bed, too, as Telamon manages to rise up from it. But she stops for a moment to simply look out at the autumn morning sky, with the sun shining down into the room... and onto herself. Her eyes stray down to the curuchuil mark on her hand, as well as Telamon's ring, and she admires how both of them look in the light.

"Until the end of all," she murmurs to herself, echoing her vows to Telamon, and then she turns back to him, smiling with all of the warmth that he has given to her tenfold. For no longer is she the ghost haunting her old house.

A new day begins.