House of N'Dak: Sorrows and Promises

[NDak 0]

A light wind blew through the room exhausting the candles. The cool air chilled at her bones. Darkness consumed the entirety of the room as the last vestiges of light faded. Vae N'Dak sat alone, her once striking looks tempered by age. Her flowing dark, black hair had shed its deep tones for a light silver-grey, though the luster remained. Age however brought the woman a regal bearing. As she sat alone in the pale light, it was easy to imagine her features in a grand work of art, celebrating the Rihannsu people. At the moment though, celebrating was the last thing she wanted.

 

Not five feet from her lay the body of her bondmate, Arrei. Paled, life-less and cold – his body lay in memoriam. For so long as she could remember, they'd been side by side, partners in every venture. Now the Elements had saw fit to remove him from her life, leaving her to direct the House s'N'Dak on her own.

 

She recalled, vividly, their last moments together. Arrei had been sick for sometime, suffering from Caniek Syndrome. Long had he lingered, his once brilliant mind caged, chained to a feeble body that slowly diminished him. It was a fate worse than death had ever thought to be. She had stayed by him, watched in silent, awful horror as the man she loved, the man who fathered her children, the man who'd given her a name of her own, slowly, painfully wasted away.

 

When at last the Elements had answered her prayers, when at last even they could no longer stand to watch his suffering, they had called him. As the last breathes of life escaped him, he'd motioned her in to him – it was difficult for him to speak – and in his last moments in this world had uttered to her something which she could never, even if she lived a thousand lifetimes forget.

 

It had been so clear, so poignant... so utterly tortured in its gasping, crackling words.

 

“Vae my love,” he'd managed taking heavy, wheezed breathes between words. “Promise me...”

 

“Anything,” she said with the conviction of the greatest of the Rihan leaders. “Anything, jol...anything.”

 

“Promise me you... you will not let my greatest work... my House befall the same fate as me.” He paused, taking time to refocus his mental energy, his life force quickly slipping away. “Promise me... my house will not whither and die, old and forgotten... “

 

“I give you my word....”

 

“Then at last... I can finally...”

 

His eyes rolled back into his head; his wheezed, labored breathing halted. His chest sunk, and his heart failed to produce a saving pump. Darkness now totally consumed the room. In her sorrow, she'd cried for days. The only man she'd truly loved was gone. He'd given her such a great task. To keep his House alive. He'd instructed her, trusted her – not his heir and son, but her, his wife to see to the longevity of his legacy. How could she be expected to do this? How? Sorrow nearly consumed her, nearly swallowing her whole, stealing the warmth from her body.

 

How? The question daunted her even now. Nevertheless, she'd made a promise, a vow to her bondmate, and she would keep it – even if she did na yet know how. Honor alone demanded it, If she failed in her duty as bondmate, then she would dishonor herself,

 

She wiped a tear from her eye. She would be strong. She would not dishonor herself. The House s'N'Dak would grown and become strong and powerful, just as her husband wished. Like it, she would not fall as the weak, but endure as the bold.