Fanfic:The Promise of Two Cultures
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The journal of Saphire en'Damier Sedai reads:
It was on his secluded isle when Daimor whispered what was in his heart, and asked me to marry him . . . Light, how I remember that evening . . .
Her eyes danced in the soft moonlight that had replaced the falling sun. Saphire tried to speak but the words wouldn't come to her lips. It felt as if her feelings were overflowing so much that she was gasping for breath. A brief sigh escaped her. If you cannot speak, then stop his mouth with a kiss. Her mind coaxed, and Saphire followed the advice. She drew closer once again and kissed him, trying to share her emotions with him in response. After a moment, she pulled away slowly and found her words. "If I cannot speak, it is because I'm afraid to wake myself from this dream. I had doubted, but hoped . . " Her words drifted, she found them failing again. Saphire took a deep breath and continued. "Mashiara, beloved of my heart, I find I am falling in love with you. I am vulnerable to you, yet my spirit is stronger . ."
Saphire rarely spoke in the Old Tongue, it was something she had not enjoyed learning as a child; a mark of the role of nobility that she had escaped. But she desired to for the first time. The Old Tongue seemed the best way to communicate her love. She looked deeply into his deep eyes that were as blue as the sea after a storm. "Ye ninto misain, mashiara," She finished softly, "'till shade is gone, 'till water is gone.'"
Two days following, he invited me into his chambers for dinner. He cooked the meal himself and I brought dessert. We ate by candlelight. It was that night I decided to both ask and answer his question in the ways of his culture . . .
Saphire grinned in anticipation, on the edge of giddiness. The rest of the night they danced and later ate strawberries for desert. When they retired for the night, Atreus slept in the main room, Gwilym returned to his chambers. Saphire slept in her shift beside her love's warm welcoming body. It was strange in a way; she wasn't used to sleeping next to another person at all, but her feelings also told her it felt right. As he drifted to sleep, her mind pondered the specifics of her little surprise planned for the next day. The last image she saw that night was his peaceful face as he dreamt, then she too drifted off into dreams.
The next morning she woke early, before the sun rose. Saphire slipped out of bed, reluctantly, and into the dress she had worn the night before. She left a brief note on her pillow just in case. On her way out she taped Atreus on the shoulder and they headed out. She whispered a prayer that Daimor wouldn't wake before she got back.
Not long later, Saphire carried a basket among the Gardens. The sun still had not risen yet, but the sky was light with twilight. She recited from memory what Jel'viendha had said years and years ago to Amora before Saphire was born. When mother was still at the White Tower, still an Accepted. The memory was clear, because it had been important to Amora's past. But Saphire worried that there were some specifics missing, her mother would remember the flowers that were important to her. Even among the flowers Jel'viendha had pointed out, many could only be found on this side of the Dragonwall. They were a mixture of flowers that grew in the Three-Fold-Land, and the 'wetlands'. Still, she gathered what flowers she could find by hand into the basket. Atreus trailed behind, a look of slight confusion on his face. She decided to tell him later.
First and foremost: red roses for love and romance. They were among the very first she reached in the Gardens. Lavender for honesty, jasmine . . She smiled to herself, For passion. White maiden's hope for respect of their positions and understanding. She was glad to find those under a broad oak that reached for the sky. White Segade blossoms, most definitely, those had been difficult to find, on a cactus at the far end of the gardens, very rare, for having a prickly nature and meaning to keep it. but to bala nce that, buttercup for sweetness. She thought of how he made her feel like a giggling school girl and how she desired to dress in silks for him. Bright pink Panacea for her desire to sooth his aches and heal future ones. She avoided the pennyroyal but considered the wood-violets strongly, but she couldn't promise what they meant. White blackberry blossoms for the warrior, but balanced with pomegranate flowers for fertility. she grinned broadly at that one as she placed it in the basket, babey's breath for support and encouragement, golden poppy for luck, She noticed the sun beginning to rise over the mountains and tried not to rush herself, Chrysanthenum for love's protection. and lastly, Yellow narcissus for the past, both of theirs, but coupled with a pale blue blossom for their future united.
She nearly sprinted to the Tower as the sun began to rise, with Atreus at her heels. When Saphire arrived back at Daimor's door, she was pleased to find that he had not woken yet. She knelt on the floor and like an Aiel maiden she twined and twisted the stems together into a wreath. When she was almost done she heard movement in his bedroom, and hurried to weave the last of the poppies into the wreath. A bit of worry surfaced that the wreath was too thick, Am I promising, or hoping for too much? It was too late now. Hastily she wove a Keeping with saidar to keep the flowers always fresh. Saphire grinned at Atreus, then opened the door to Daimor's room and closed the door behind her.
Glowing with anticipation and love, but . . a thread of fear too, she tossed the newly made bridal wreath at the feet of her love as he stood by the bed. "I wanted to do this right, mashiara," she hesitated, using the next endearment for the first time, "Shade of my Heart. I thought we should join our lives together in both of our cultures." She smiled, a little awkwardly as she glanced at the wreath at his feet, then gazed into his eyes, "that is, if you will pick it up?"
Needless to say, he did bend and retrieve my wreath. It was then when he was promised to me, and I to him.
