Post by Seek on Jan 1, 2015 19:12:42 GMT 10
Title: Gardening
Rating: PG
For: sunshinerose4
Prompt: 4)A Kally/Kaddar romance
Summary: Kaddar gives Kally a present.
Notes: Hope you enjoy it! Happy Wishing Tree!
-
Kaddar has been nervous all day. It’s something Kally notes, even though they’ve only been married a week. He fiddles with his quills, fidgets with the gaudy earrings he wears, and generally broadcasts his anxiety all over.
This, Kally thinks, might just be the most awkward marriage ever.
She’d spoken to her mother, before she left for Carthak. “I wasn’t in love with your father at first,” Thayet had said, matter-of-factly. Kally is old enough to accept both political realities, and the idea that her parents might’ve really been happier marrying someone else, rather than each other. “It was, above all, a political marriage first.”
“And then?” Kally prompts. Anger about not being able to be ordinary, to be just another noble daughter training for her shield has long faded into sober acceptance. She’ll never be ordinary, she knows, and sometimes, duty means she has to be prepared to marry for the good of Tortall.
And Daine has said that Kaddar is a good man. She could’ve done far worse, she thinks. Kaddar, at least, is open to the more progressive suggestions, such as women taking up arms. Perhaps he’ll even accept conversation about the Carthaki institution of slavery.
“We were friends,” Thayet explains. “He made me laugh, at times. I made him smile. And then we had you, and Roald, and one day, I woke up, and looked at the man lying beside me in bed, and realised I was in love with him, although I hadn’t even known it. He’d just crept up on me, like that.”
She eyes her daughter, soberly. “It’ll be difficult, at first,” Thayet says. “Gods know, I missed Sarain terribly at first. But you both have to want to make it work.” She kisses Kally, lightly, on the forehead, the way she used to do so when Kally was a little girl being tucked into bed.
“Be brave,” Thayet says, quietly. “Be strong. And beautiful. And wise. And if Kaddar doesn’t learn to love you, he’s a greater fool than I’d imagined him to be.”
Kaddar says, “I have something to show you.”
Kally quirks an eyebrow at him. “What is it?” she asks.
He takes her hand, hesitantly. “Come with me,” he urges.
-
It’s a garden; a tiny piece of land, all things considered, and they traverse a few hidden passageways within the palace to get there. Kally sneezes, once. The passageways have been well-cleaned, but some dust lingers.
Carthak is a city of splendour and grandeur, she thinks. The palaces, the city, the mansions of the nobles and the university, the royal menagerie, the pleasure gardens: they are all sprawling displays of Carthaki architecture and Carthaki ingenuity. So it is that she is somewhat surprised at how small and contained this garden is.
She doesn’t recognise most of the plants; colorful flowers and shrubs are as far as she gets, and she breathes in their fragrance. Somewhere, perhaps hidden in a hedge, a bird sings.
“I wanted to show you my garden,” Kaddar says, fiddling with his earring. “I used to…hide here. Everytime my uncle got angry—which made the palace unliveable, believe me, or when I just wanted some time away from all of it. To be just me, Kaddar, rather than the Emperor or the Emperor’s nephew.” He glances at her hopefully. “Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful,” Kally admits, and how can she not be taken aback by the generosity of this gesture? He’s showing her his private garden, she realises, his secret getaway, for when he wants some space from the pressure of the world of Imperial Carthak.
Kaddar smiles. “Then, I hope you’ll make use of the garden too. I know we can be a bit overwhelming at times, and Carthak takes some getting used to, but I hope this will help.”
“It does,” she smiles back, at him, feels him grip her hand more tightly. “Thank you.”
“There’s more,” Kaddar says. He leads her over to a cluster of small flowering trees; star-shaped flowers tinged vibrant magenta at the petal edges. “They’re desert roses. The latex is used as poison,” he says, somewhat embarrassed, “But the flowers are beautiful. So I grow them. And…I grew them for you,” he admits. “I know…it’s an arranged marriage. People in our positions, we seldom get to choose who we marry, what we do. But I hope that we can at least choose to be friends, and maybe one day, to love each other. These are Carthaki desert roses. I can’t grow your Tortallan plants here. I spoke to Maira but the weather and the soil here just isn’t right for them. And there’s too little water.”
“You grow your own plants?” she asks, surprised.
“Yes, I do,” Kaddar says. “I have the Gift—just a bit of it, but mostly with plants. So I grow them.” He makes a face. “No gardeners, just me. Do you…do you like them?”
“Yes,” Kally says, and she smiles. “They’re beautiful,” she says again, these dangerous trees with the most glorious flowers. “Thank you.”
You both have to want to make it work, Thayet had said, and for the first time in the week, Kally thinks it might just be possible. Kaddar is still standing there, looking at her, with that surprisingly—and, she finds herself thinking, endearingly—awkward expression.
So she bridges the gap between them, and kisses him.
Rating: PG
For: sunshinerose4
Prompt: 4)A Kally/Kaddar romance
Summary: Kaddar gives Kally a present.
Notes: Hope you enjoy it! Happy Wishing Tree!
-
Kaddar has been nervous all day. It’s something Kally notes, even though they’ve only been married a week. He fiddles with his quills, fidgets with the gaudy earrings he wears, and generally broadcasts his anxiety all over.
This, Kally thinks, might just be the most awkward marriage ever.
She’d spoken to her mother, before she left for Carthak. “I wasn’t in love with your father at first,” Thayet had said, matter-of-factly. Kally is old enough to accept both political realities, and the idea that her parents might’ve really been happier marrying someone else, rather than each other. “It was, above all, a political marriage first.”
“And then?” Kally prompts. Anger about not being able to be ordinary, to be just another noble daughter training for her shield has long faded into sober acceptance. She’ll never be ordinary, she knows, and sometimes, duty means she has to be prepared to marry for the good of Tortall.
And Daine has said that Kaddar is a good man. She could’ve done far worse, she thinks. Kaddar, at least, is open to the more progressive suggestions, such as women taking up arms. Perhaps he’ll even accept conversation about the Carthaki institution of slavery.
“We were friends,” Thayet explains. “He made me laugh, at times. I made him smile. And then we had you, and Roald, and one day, I woke up, and looked at the man lying beside me in bed, and realised I was in love with him, although I hadn’t even known it. He’d just crept up on me, like that.”
She eyes her daughter, soberly. “It’ll be difficult, at first,” Thayet says. “Gods know, I missed Sarain terribly at first. But you both have to want to make it work.” She kisses Kally, lightly, on the forehead, the way she used to do so when Kally was a little girl being tucked into bed.
“Be brave,” Thayet says, quietly. “Be strong. And beautiful. And wise. And if Kaddar doesn’t learn to love you, he’s a greater fool than I’d imagined him to be.”
Kaddar says, “I have something to show you.”
Kally quirks an eyebrow at him. “What is it?” she asks.
He takes her hand, hesitantly. “Come with me,” he urges.
-
It’s a garden; a tiny piece of land, all things considered, and they traverse a few hidden passageways within the palace to get there. Kally sneezes, once. The passageways have been well-cleaned, but some dust lingers.
Carthak is a city of splendour and grandeur, she thinks. The palaces, the city, the mansions of the nobles and the university, the royal menagerie, the pleasure gardens: they are all sprawling displays of Carthaki architecture and Carthaki ingenuity. So it is that she is somewhat surprised at how small and contained this garden is.
She doesn’t recognise most of the plants; colorful flowers and shrubs are as far as she gets, and she breathes in their fragrance. Somewhere, perhaps hidden in a hedge, a bird sings.
“I wanted to show you my garden,” Kaddar says, fiddling with his earring. “I used to…hide here. Everytime my uncle got angry—which made the palace unliveable, believe me, or when I just wanted some time away from all of it. To be just me, Kaddar, rather than the Emperor or the Emperor’s nephew.” He glances at her hopefully. “Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful,” Kally admits, and how can she not be taken aback by the generosity of this gesture? He’s showing her his private garden, she realises, his secret getaway, for when he wants some space from the pressure of the world of Imperial Carthak.
Kaddar smiles. “Then, I hope you’ll make use of the garden too. I know we can be a bit overwhelming at times, and Carthak takes some getting used to, but I hope this will help.”
“It does,” she smiles back, at him, feels him grip her hand more tightly. “Thank you.”
“There’s more,” Kaddar says. He leads her over to a cluster of small flowering trees; star-shaped flowers tinged vibrant magenta at the petal edges. “They’re desert roses. The latex is used as poison,” he says, somewhat embarrassed, “But the flowers are beautiful. So I grow them. And…I grew them for you,” he admits. “I know…it’s an arranged marriage. People in our positions, we seldom get to choose who we marry, what we do. But I hope that we can at least choose to be friends, and maybe one day, to love each other. These are Carthaki desert roses. I can’t grow your Tortallan plants here. I spoke to Maira but the weather and the soil here just isn’t right for them. And there’s too little water.”
“You grow your own plants?” she asks, surprised.
“Yes, I do,” Kaddar says. “I have the Gift—just a bit of it, but mostly with plants. So I grow them.” He makes a face. “No gardeners, just me. Do you…do you like them?”
“Yes,” Kally says, and she smiles. “They’re beautiful,” she says again, these dangerous trees with the most glorious flowers. “Thank you.”
You both have to want to make it work, Thayet had said, and for the first time in the week, Kally thinks it might just be possible. Kaddar is still standing there, looking at her, with that surprisingly—and, she finds herself thinking, endearingly—awkward expression.
So she bridges the gap between them, and kisses him.