Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 22:58:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: Corrinne S <quasito_cat@yahoo.com>
Subject: Dark Wishes Installment 12: Part Two Chapters 19-21

Note: This is a gay themed fantasy novel about kings
and magic, love and war.  Although I will often allude
to sexual encounters, there are no scenes of sexual
acts for this is, by and large, a love story.  This
author claims exclusive copyright to the characters,
settings, and plot.

Dark Wishes

M.C. Gordon

Part Two: Karandal

Chapter Nineteen

     The weather improved over the ensuing days and
warmth melted the last of the late winter snow.  With
a treaty of peace successfully negotiated and signed,
Llewelyn sent couriers to his queen to see that wagons
were swiftly loaded with wheat, barley, and vegetables
fro the previous harvest in Endril.  Trelaine sent
word to Lords Lingred and Egbert for such as was
available from Elanen to add to the foodstuffs for the
starving nomads.

     Farmers arrived bringing seed, and oxen to plow
new fields.  Herders followed with flocks of chickens,
gaggles of geese, and herds of cattle and goats.  They
settled in easily with the nomads and curious children
soon learned that the nature of a goose is not as
pleasant as its appearance.

     Satisfied that all was going well, Llewelyn left
Lord Montar to serve as his liason with Lord Galvak.
He bid Trelaine and Karandal travel with him to Chamel
for a short visit before returning to their own
affairs.

     Queen Bolyn had a warm embrace for her husband
and chaste kisses for their guests when they entered
the castle at Chamel.  Over a pleasant meal in the
family chambers that evening she broached a subject to
Karandal.

     "I have a suitable candidate for your sister's
hand," she said.
"The lad and his parents are agreeable."

     Karandal stared at her.  "Selmaris?  But she is
barely ten years of age!" he protested.  "She is too
young for a firm offer of marriage."

     "Ten is quite a proper age for one who will
mother the heir to Enworthy," Bolyn responded.  "I was
pledged to your king when I was but eight."

     Karandal was not convinced as he pictured the
gentle child whom he had held in his arms on the day
their mother had given birth to her.

     "The lad I have in mind will do well by her,"
Bolyn said.  "My inquiry into suitable lads brought
him to my attention.  As he is fostered here, I have
spent much time with him of late.  He is a gentle boy,
full of curiosity.  He was raised to be polite and
considerate of others.  He has a good mind and easily
grasps ideas both political and domestic.  I believe
you already know Danel, youngest of Lord Kerdin's
sons."

     "But Danel is only fifteen years himself!"
Karandal exclaimed.

     "In truth, Karandal," Llewelyn remarked, "you
would have been betrothed at fifteen had you not been
as you are.  And had you been the eldest son, even
your nature would not have prevented betrothal or
marriage."

     Karandal was quite distraught at the idea that he
might have been forced to marry and provide an heir.
He shuddered as he thought of the act of conceiving a
child and his demeanor changed, misery written upon
his face.

     Trelaine burst into laughter.  "If only you could
see yourself," he said.  "You look as if you would
prefer flogging to such a prospect."

     Bolyn changed the course of the conversation by
saying, "Then it is well that you were the youngest
son and have your sister when she is of age."

     When the evening ended Trelaine both bid Llewelyn
a good night and took the queen's hand to kiss.  Bolyn
looked up at Karandal and said gently, "Talk to your
mother about young Danel.  She will agree; I assure
you.  She would allow nothing not in Selmaris' favor.
If she requests, then we will send Danel to foster at
Enworthy.  Trust me in this, young Duke.  Your mother
will have already mentioned your suggestion to
Selmaris.  I believe these two young people will grow
fond of each other.  And if they do not, then another
can be sought for your dear sister."

     Karandal worried through the night and began to
regret his approval of Trelaine's plan.  But Danel was
summoned to breakfast with the royal family and their
guests the next morning and quickly put Karandal's
fears to rest.

     Danel was tall and gangly for his age, with a
crop of unruly red hair that refused to do as
requested.  His eyes were deep blue.  His features
betrayed the aristocracy that was his heritage, with a
nose that was a little too large.  He was reaching
manhood and his voice, pleasant to the ear,
occasionally plunged into broken sounds that brought a
crimson tinge to his skin.

     "I, too, was the youngest son," Karandal said to
Danel when they had finished their meal.  "What task
has your father set for you?"

     "I work with my father's horses, Sire," he
replied.

     "Is it a task you enjoy?" Trelaine inquired.

     "Oh yes, My Lord," was the enthusiastic reply.
"We heard that you sent one of Egraine's breeding to
Enworthy.  I would like to see him, if I may."

     "See him you shall," Karandal said, reaching
across to further muss the red hair.  "You and I will
have much in common, lad."

     Trelaine was visibly upset when Llewelyn kept him
the entire day working over the peace treaty and
discussing the transportation of goods between their
kingdoms.  He had so little time left to be with
Karandal and wanted to spend every moment with his
love.

     Karandal, on the other hand, was quite enjoying
himself.  He and young Danel spent the day at the
paddocks and measured the possibility of every steed
in residence.

     "Which stallion would you put to the bay mare
over there?" Karandal asked.

     Danel studied the horses available and replied,
"None, Sire.  She has a nervous nature and needs to
breed with a steady male or her get will be too high
strung to be of use.  The trait is good in a
war-horse, but not in the breed that ladies ride.  I
would not let your lady sister ride her."  Suddenly
unsure of himself he glanced toward Karandal.  "At
least, I don't think so."

     "You reason well," Karnadal replied.  "You know
your horseflesh, lad.  And the concern you show for
one you have not met puts you in good stead in my
eyes."

     They boy blushed at the unexpected praise.
Assuming a brevity he had never known before he asked,
"Is it true that you and King Trelaine are lovers?"

     "It is," Karandal replied, wondering if this
question would cause trouble between himself and the
boy.

     "It must be awesome to lie at night next to
someone made of magic," Danel said.

     "If you learn to care for Selmaris as I care for
Trelaine," Karandal replied, "then it will be magic
for you also."

     Danel seemed to take his words so much to heart
that Karandal could not resist adding, "But if harm
should come to her, you will have to answer to the
Qell Lord."

     "Oh, My Lord!  I would never think of doing harm
to anyone, least of all she who will be my wife.  I
hope you do not think that I am such a man ... well,
boy."

     Karandal reached down and lifted Danel's face
until their eyes met.  "I did but jest, Danel.  I do
not believe you would harm Selmaris or anyone else.
You have won my acceptance to the betrothal.  Now you
must win hers, for I will not give my sister to wed
any man she wishes to refuse."

     "Do you think I can?"  the boy asked.

     "Be always kind to her, and honest with her.
Treat her as your equal.  Show her humor, compassion,
and intelligence.  Take her into your confidence.
These seem small things but they are the foundation
for any good marriage."

     That night, resting on the pallet in the room
granted him, Danel took all that Karandal had told him
to heart.  "I will be a good husband," he told
himself.

     Trelaine, on the other hand, was not so pleased.
"You seem content after a day without me," he said to
Karandal.  "We have so little time before we must
part."

     Karandal moved closer, turned Trelaine's head
toward his, and said, "Did Llewelyn not tell you?
When I have settled Danel with my mother at Enworthy I
am free to be with you.  She has already been
confirmed as Regent and Llewelyn has released me from
my fealty to him.  I must but keep in contact with my
lady mother to ensure that all goes well in Enworthy.
And, should Llewelyn issue another call to arms, I
will lead Enworthy until Danel is of age.  In but a
few weeks, my love, I will join you in Aolane and will
be together forever."

Chapter Twenty

     "Grandmama misses you," Gwenwyn said to Karandal
as they sat in front of the enormous fireplace in the
apartments his family used when visiting Aolane.

     "As I miss her," he replied.  "But we both grow
too great in age for the long journey to visit often.
Her missives tell me that she is doing well.  Is she
really?  She and Danel were devoted to each other and
I know his death must have affected her more deeply
than she tells me."  He was greatly concerned for his
younger sister, young no longer and with
great-grandchildren in residence at their ancestral
home in Enworthy.

     Selmaris, true to Queen Bolyn's instincts, had
indeed been pleased with Danel.  The two became good
friends during the years Danel was fostered at
Enworthy and were truly in love by the time they were
old enough to wed.

     Lady Annalie handed the regency of Enworthy to
Danel when her first grandson, Pentar, was born and
slipped quietly from the world when Pentar the man
pledged his fealty to Llewelyn's son, Reidel: King of
Endril.

     Selmaris, Danel, and their children were frequent
guests in Aolane.  Karandal adored his nephews and
nieces, who returned his affection full fold.  The
children were not at all daunted by the lord of magic
who ruled Elanen.  Instead, they called Trelaine Uncle
and sat on his shoulders for pony rides up and down
the massive staircases of Aolane.

     The children grew, married, and their children
also enjoyed visiting their two uncles.  Favorite
among these was Gwenwyn.  She bore the most
resemblance to Karandal's beloved sister with her fair
complexion, soft gray eyes, and hair the color of
cornsilk.

     Gwenwyn's marriage to one of Lord Galvak's
grandsons was of political convenience.  She was not
pleased with her chosen husband, although she tried to
make the union successful for she understood politics,
having been taught by her father and grandmother.  But
she also knew that broken ribs and blackened eyes had
nothing to do with politics and finally took her
plight to the aging Galvak.  With her marriage
dissolved, she took her twin children and returned to
Enworthy.  Her current visit to the men she loved more
than any, save her father, was to meet a young lord
named Jerain who had pleased the High King with his
diligence and recently been granted the title and a
province of his own.

     Gwenwyn was about to stop her twins, Tristanan
and Trelania, called Tris and Trell respectively by
Trelaine, from making a nest for a yard bitch and her
litter of pups in front of the fireplace when they
heard the sound of boots ascending the stairs and
passing swiftly past the apartment.

     "Shall I inquire if you have another guest?" she
asked Karandal.

     "No," he replied.  "It is probably one of your
brothers or cousins and we will know soon enough."  He
glanced toward the fireplace and began to laugh.  "I
think you had best tend to Tris and Trell before the
pups make short work of your slippers."

     Gwenwyn gasped and called her maid, Amfin, to aid
in ending the chaos the six year old twins had loosed
on the household.  A mad scramble ensued and Karandal
laughed as he snagged one pup by the scruff of its
neck.

     Order was finally restored with the bitch and
pups back outside and the twins taken to the kitchen
for a snack before their nap.

     "You realize, do you not," Karandal remarked to
Gwenwyn, "that Tris will never take a wife?"

     She laughed in return.  "A favor granted to all
of us.  I tremble at the thought that more like that
scamp would come into this world.  Pity the man who
falls for him, for Tristanan has a mind of his own."

     She suddenly became very serious.  "My deepest
fear is that he might be tainted by his father's
blood.  And my dearest wish is that my own brother was
here to guide him."

     "Valsan made his own choice, Gwenwyn.  He could
not deny his love.  You know that Trelaine was most
upset when the more snobbish members of the family
turned their backs on Valsan.  Love seldom makes sense
and that part of Trelaine that has memories of
Resnaron and Ilafrain can recall the love they had for
Frayne and Nels.  If two parts of him could have loved
men of low birth, imagine how he felt when your
cousins outcast Valsan because he fell in love with a
goat herder's son.  Valsan was so hurt by the reaction
that I doubt he will ever return to Enworthy."

     "I know," Gwenwyn replied.  "I miss him, and I
found no fault with Ivanise.  Nor did Grandmama, for
the last time Valsan was at Enworthy she asked why
Ivanise had not come also."

     Their conversation was interrupted when the
castle steward, Monrale, suddenly entered the room.

     "Lord Valsan has returned," he told them.  "And I
greatly fear that something is quite amiss for he has
locked himself into his old room and denies entry to
any of the servants."

     Gwenwyn knocked at Valsan's door for an hour and
pleaded with him to no avail.  He would not
acknowledge her presence.  She returned to Karandal,
fear and worry written across her face.

   The aging man, leaning heavily on a walking stick
for his back and hips pained him, slowly made his way
down the long corridor to the room Valsan had claimed
for himself as a youth.

     "Valsan," he called as he knocked on the door,
"it is I.  We are concerned for you."

     "Go away," was the only response.

      Gwenwyn was near to hysteria when Trelaine
returned from his business at the western end of
Elanen.  But she did not rush to him with her worry
for he had been gone nearly a week and Karandal was
his first concern.  She waited and watched as the Qell
crossed the room and took his lover of nearly sixty
years in his arms and kissed him.

     Trelaine could tell that something bothered them
both and, when he had broken the embrace, inquired
about their apparent agitation.

     "Valsan returned this afternoon," Karandal
supplied, "alone."

     "He will speak to no one," Gwenwyn added, "not
even to myself or our uncle."

 . . .

     "Valsan," Trelaine said quietly outside the door,
Karandal and Gwenwyn remaining in the sitting room,
"let me in."

     "No!" came the reply.

     "Valsan," Trelaine spoke, again quietly, "I am
coming in, with or against your will."

     Valsan reluctantly unlocked the door for the High
King.

     Trelaine was shocked by the young man's
appearance.  His blonde hair had not been groomed in
days and his face and eyes were puffed from crying.
There were scratches and bruises on his fair skin.

     "Who did this to you?" Trelaine demanded.

     "I did it to myself," the young man replied
softly before thrusting himself into Trelaine's arms
and crying out, "he's dead.  Ivanise is dead."

     Trelaine led him to a chair near the fireplace
before calling for a page to summon a maid with warm
water and linen cloths.  "Tell me what happened," he
said gently.

     "It was a kid," Valsan began.  "It got lost from
the rest of the herd and we went to find it.  Ivanise
thought he heard it crying out near the edge of a
cliff.  Then we saw a mountain cat.  Fearing the cat
would attack the kid Ivanise rushed toward the edge
and could not stop himself in time.  He fell."  Valsan
began to shudder and cry again.  "I scrambled down as
quickly as I could and nearly fell myself.  When I got
to the bottom and found him, his body broken and dead,
I wished I had fallen myself."

     He suddenly leapt from the chair and began to
pace quickly.  "I looked for that damned goat," he
said.  "I wanted to find it and kill it because my
lover would not be dead if not for that stupid
animal."

     Trelaine well understood how the young man felt
but said, "Be grateful that you did not.  I know that
revenge sounds sweet but, believe me, it is not.  It
brings only suffering to the innocent.  And, Valsan,
the kid was innocent of any wrongdoing."

     "Uncle?  Would you do a little magic for me?"
Valsan asked.

     "What kind of magic?"

     "Please take my memories away.  I cannot live
without him and I think of him constantly."

     "No, Valsan," Trelaine replied.  "I will not take
that most precious memory away from you.  Love comes
to us so seldom and is to be cherished.  One day you
will hold his memory very close to your heart."  There
were tears in his eyes as he thought of the long dead
Xoachin.

     The maid arrived and Trelaine admitted her.
Casting a soft magic around Valsan, he rendered him
amenable to her ministrations.  She cleansed his
wounds with healing herbal water and bound them in
soft, clean linen.

     When she left, Trelaine assisted Valsan to his
bed and cast once again, magic that would bring sleep,
and gentle dreams, and begin the long process of
healing a broken heart.

     "He sleeps now," the Qell explained to Karandal
and Gwenwyn when he had finished telling them what had
happened.  "And he will stay with us at Aolane until
he is able to determine what to do with the remainder
of his life."

     He held Karandal closely that night, for his
lover was growing old and Trelaine knew the time they
had left together was short.

Chapter Twenty One:

     It was late spring and the day was warm.
Karandal and Trelaine  sat in the shade beneath a
majestic oak.  The courtyard garden of Aolane castle
had ever been one of their favorite places.  A soft
breeze blew, bringing with it the gentle scent of
flowers and herbs.

     "Have you been happy with me, Karandal? Trelaine
asked his love of many years.

     "More than you can imagine," was the soft reply.
"But I am so very tired."

     "I know," Trelaine said.  "I could wish you young
again."

     "A wish I forbid you," Karandal replied.  "To
allow such a wish would have results the likes of
which we cannot begin to think on."

     Tears formed in Trelaine's silver eyes.  "I will
be alone," he said, "for you have become the essence
of my life."

     "Then I entreat you to find someone who will
bring you love and happiness, as I have been pleased
to ease your loss of Xoachin."

     "I may find pleasure in another," Trelaine
replied, "but I will never love again."

     They sat in peaceful quiet beneath the ancient
tree.  Karandal leaned his whitened head against
Trelaine's shoulder and took his hand.  No words were
said for none were necessary.  Each knew what the
other thought and felt.

     The air began to cool as the sun started her
descent in the western sky.  Trelaine felt Karandal's
fingers squeeze tightly against his own and then the
hand fell limp.

     Their personal guard found them sitting thus,
Trelaine cradling the cooling body of the man he loved
above all else in life.  They summoned servants and
aided them to carry Karandal inside.  The castle
steward sent a courier to Enworthy to inform
Karandal's kin of his passing.

     Trelaine withdrew and spent the evening alone,
lost in his heartache.  The next morning he rose from
his cold bed and stood in front of his window.  He had
no time now for his sorrow.  The people of Elanen
looked to him for strength and guidance, and he would
busy himself seeing to their needs.  Sorrow could
wait; he had nearly five hundred years before him in
which to mourn the passing of his love.

To be continued in Part Three: Fanna

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