Rahl's Downfall

Part 2: Love’s Trials

Rahl started to worry when Illyana would not respond to him. He was getting so close to panicking. He wondered why he was feeling like this and what brought this change upon him about a woman. He said, “Illyana I want you to wake up right now. You must eat for we are to be married in a few hours. I want you strong for our wedding.” He notice that she did not even move as he was talking. He shouted, “ILLYANA!!!”

Illyana felt bad that she could not take the worry away from the one who she truly loved. She thought, ‘I do not wish for you to suffer this, Rahl. You must go through the trials alone without help from me. I do want to marry you, but you must prove yourself to my magic before the transfer of power will be complete. Remember that you hold my power within you. I wished that I had time to train you for this but the use of my magic in that way has forced you to continue without any formal training. You have overcome the loss test now the others will hit you even more. You must trust in the love that I have for you. I defied the seeker just for you. When the final test happens just remember that it was you I left with not the seeker. I know what your final test will be you will see me turning you away for the seeker. Remember that it is a lie. I am so weak…’

Rahl felt a weakness come over him. He tried to fight it off. He noticed that his eyes were drifting shut with every moment. The next time his eyes looked upon anything he noticed that there was a young man who looked like his son standing in front of him. He did notice however that the eyes of this young man was cruel and not loving. He asked, “Who are you?” The man said, “I am you. I am here to put you through the trials. You have already passed the loss trial. Now you must face three new trials. If you succeed, then Illyana will be released. If you fail, then both you and her will die.” Rahl said, “I will not fail. She is to be mine.” The man smiled and said, “We will soon find out.” Rahl said, “Then let me at these trials so that I may marry my love.” The man said, “Close your eyes and begin the last three trials.” Rahl felt his eyes close.

A young girl cried, “Mother, father is not playing the game right. He was suppose to chase me.” Rahl opened his eyes and saw Illyana smile at the girl. Illyana said, “Chesa, you know better than to say such things about your father. Rahl come join us.” Rahl walked over to them and sat down. He said, “Where is our son?” Illyana said, “You had young Wyatt put to death. I thought you would remember that. Wyatt sided with the seeker and you ordered Nass to kill our son.” Rahl said, “How long has it been?” Illyana smiled and said, “Chesa is 10 years old and Wyatt was killed 3 years before her birth so Wyatt has been dead these last 13 years. Why bring up our traitorous son now?” Rahl said, “I seem to have gaps in my memory. I do not know what happened.” Illyana said, “That is what you ordered. I do need to talk to you without our daughter here.” Chesa looked at Illyana and said, “Mother, does this mean I get to go and study with the magic users?” Illyana nodded and said, “As long as you stay away from Zedd.” Chesa said, “I will mother. Farewell father.” Chesa ran back to the palace. Illyana looked at Rahl and sighed. She stood up and groaned. Rahl stood and walked over to her. He reached for her and noticed that she pulled away. Illyana said, “I know the truth. I know what you said to me was a lie. You promised that if I wanted you would let me go.”

Rahl was shocked to hear his words thrown back at him. He knew that he had to salvage this. He said, “I still mean that.” Illyana said, “It was a lie. You will never let me go that is why you hold my power. You want a son to replace the one you killed. I will not let you harm Chesa or our next child.” Rahl was stunned to see a knife in her hand coming straight for his chest. He twisted and stabbed the knife in Illyana’s chest. A scream made him look up and he noticed that his daughter was standing there. He said, “I had no choice. Your mother was going to hurt me. I did not mean to hurt her. I know that is hard to understand, but it had to be done for us to be free. I will protect you.” Chesa said, “I understand father. I do not need you to protect me. You will also die, father.” He gasped as he felt his life fall out of him. He now knew how powerful his children truly would be with Illyana for a mother. His eyes closed.

A warm hand touched his forehead. A laugh entered the air. A voice called out to him, “Wake up, love.” Rahl said, “I dare not for this might be another test and I would rather be dead than face another test.” The voice chuckled and said, “You are safe there is no test around. My magic is giving you a break from the tests for a bit. I was called in to heal you from the last test.” Rahl opened his eyes and noticed that he was laying on his bed in his palace. He looked at Illyana and said, “What is going on? Why are we back at the people’s palace?” Illyana smiled at him and said, “What is going on is that you passed the last test. Why are we here because it is the one place that your mind told me you feel safe.” Rahl said, “I did not pass the last test. I failed it because I had to kill you.”

Illyana shook her head and said, “I was not the way to pass. You did not kill the child you saw in it. She was the way to fail. If she died by her father’s hand, then you would have failed.” Rahl said, “Was what I saw the truth?” Illyana sighed and said, “No. It was a version of the truth. It will come to pass if we do nothing to ensure our children grow up without both of us.” Rahl looked at her and said, “You saw the whole thing.” Illyana shook her head and said, “For me this has happened before. I changed the outcome. Last time I went through this I chose the seeker. The children were born even more mad than they claim you to be. With the seeker as a father and my power, not even love could save the children from death.” Rahl said, “So this time you chose me to win.” Illyana nodded and said, “I did it to ensure the safety of the children. You may not believe me but I have been through this more than once. Twice I chose you and thrice I chose the seeker. Each time the child died at the hands of its father, I was with the seeker. I do know you failed the last I chose you. You chose to live not die. This time around you passed.” Rahl was stunned to find out the one he loved had been through this all before. A guard entered the room and said, “Illyana you must go back to the holding cell.” Illyana nodded and rose off the bed.

Rahl gasped at this and said, “You do not command her. Never give my future queen orders.” Illyana ran over to him and said, “It is alright. I have to go. Your next test is about to start. It will be alright.” She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “Not all the trials are about me.” She kissed his cheek and walked away. The young man walked into the room and said, “You passed one trial. The rest you will fail.” Rahl growled and said, “How do you know?” The young man laughed and said, “You’re human and no human can control that kind of magic. Now close your eyes and begin your next trial.” Rahl felt his eyes close.

Rahl heard Illyana scream in pain. He opened his eyes and noticed the seeker there pushing nails into the hands that touched him only moments ago. He shouted, “Stop that. Leave her alone.”

Richard stopped what he was doing. He looked at Rahl confused at the command. He said, “Master do you now not want her punished. She betrayed you.” Rahl said, “What are you talking about? She could never betray me.” Richard said, “She did. She tried to take the boxes of Orden and disassemble them. She wanted us to be going back to being enemies.” Rahl said, “I do not see that as betrayal. She did it because she loves me.” Richard said, “Then you do not want me to hold the sword of truth as her head is cut off. She also betrayed you by destroying her womb and making herself barren.” Illyana shouted, “No. I did not do that. The wizard did that to me.” Rahl looked at the seeker and said, “Let her go.” Richard said, “I will not. She must die.”
The seeker ran at Illyana with his sword drawn. Rahl almost shouted when a thought entered his mind, ‘Not all the trial are about me. Kill the seeker and you will pass.’ Rahl wondered about that and drew his sword. He cut off the seeker’s head. He fell to the ground and sighed. He said, “I did it. The seeker is dead.” He closed his eyes and felt himself being pulled back to the waiting area.

Rahl heard a voice say, “Must not until I can stop the bleeding.” Rahl sat up and noticed Illyana sitting on a chair facing away from him. He heard her say, “Why did I give him the clue? I knew what would happen if I interfered with his trials.” Rahl walked over to Illyana and noticed that her hands were bleeding where they were in his last trial. He said, “What happened? Why are you hurt?”

Illyana gasped at finding Rahl standing beside her. She said sadly, “It is my punishment for interfering with the trials. I was really there. I whispered to you a clue before your last trial began.” Rahl said, “You did that because you love me and do want me to fail.” Illyana nodded and groaned. Rahl said, “Can you not heal yourself?” Illyana shook her head and said, “I….”

The young man entered the room and said, “She can not. It is her burden to bare. If she heals, then she dies. Her love for you stops her from saving her from this punishment.” He turned to Illyana and said, “Leave now. His last trial is about to begin.” Illyana nodded and walked to the door. She stopped and said, “This will be your most difficult one yet, Rahl. The other time I chose you, this trial made you fail. Listen Rahl to your mind and heart. That is all I will say for now.” Illyana walked out of the room. The young man asked, “What did she mean by that? Is she interfering again?” Rahl truly did not know what to make of the cryptic message, so he shook his head. He closed his eyes ready to begin. The young man laughed and said, “So eager to fail. She will not help you this time.” Rahl said, “Just start the trial.”

Rahl heard many people around him. He opened his eyes and noticed that he was at the resistance camp the day he passed the first test. He said, “I am here to see and talk to the outlander.” He walked toward the tent and stopped at what he saw. He noticed that the smile Illyana graced him with was now facing the seeker. Richard looked at him and said, “What are you doing here, Rahl?” Rahl said, “I am here to speak to the outlander.” Richard said, “You want to speak to my wife. Why?”

Rahl looked hurt that his love chose the seeker. He said, “You chose me not the seeker. This is a lie. You saved me. You changed me, Illyana. You never would have chosen the seeker.” Illyana looked at Rahl and said, “I did. You’re evil and must be destroyed.” Rahl walked over to her and knelt down. He looked at her and noticed that her hand was scarred.

Rahl smiled and said, “I did this before. You have only forgotten. If I am to be destroyed, then I would have the outlander kill me.” Illyana swayed on her feet and said, “I.. I… I… Excuse me.” Illyana ran out of the tent. Rahl rose to his feet and ran after her.

Illyana fell to the ground and said, “I know what is asked of me, but I can not do it.” Rahl said, “What is it that you can not do?” Illyana turned sad eyes to him and said, “Kill you. To kill my love is to kill myself.” Rahl grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet. He said, “I know that you are my love.” Illyana tilted her head and said, “How did you know?” He raised the hand and showed her the scar. He said, “This was your punishment for giving me the clue in the last trial. I meant my words you changed me and now tell me how you did it.” Illyana looked at the hand then up into Rahl’s eyes and said, “My magic. Each time you, the seeker, and I went through this both the seeker and you would turn evil. I however the last time used my magic and changed both you and the seeker.”

Rahl said, “You do not love me.” Illyana said, “You are wrong at that. I did it because I love you. When we went through these trials before, it was in this trial that you failed. The times I chose the seeker during this trial he would win. I would live until his child was born. I was then killed by the wizard. The last time we went through the trials was when I chose you.”

The young man walked up to them and said, “You impressed me, Rahl. You truly love her. You chose this time to enter trial at midpoint. From the moment that she shouted at you and the seeker, she had you under her magic. The last trial ended that. This trial however was to see if you would choose her and you did. You chased after her this time that is what you did different. Now close your eyes.”

Rahl felt his eyes close and a pull at his back. He felt four hands touch his forehead. He heard two voices talking. He sat up in the bed. He saw Illyana and the young man talking. He listened to the words. The young man said, “You were bold to interfere with my trials. I should strip you of that magic but he passed. I keep my word. You can use magic as much as you like with no aftershock.” Illyana said, “I did what I did because I love him. I did not do it for the magic or the rules.” The young man said, “That is why you are in my palace. When you and he are recovered enough, my guards will return you both home. However, you will not be able to leave Rahl’s side and return to your home Illyana. You made…” Illyana interrupted, “I made the choice. I will stand by Rahl’s side now and forever. As long as you keep your promise.” The young man nodded and walked out.

Illyana turned to the bed and noticed that Rahl was awake. She knew that he would want what he saw explained to him. She sat down next to the bed and said, “How are you feeling knowing that you bested my magic?”

Rahl said, “What was that all about? What was that about him keeping his promise? What is this aftershock? What choice?” Illyana chuckled and said, “First thing first. You were fighting for my magical freedom. The aftershock you heard about is that when I do magic it drains my life. I mean that I would die if I have no rest. You ended that with passing all the trials. His promise was that my magic would stop influencing you. He knew that I used my magic to choose you but that is now broken. I never wanted you to be a puppet to my magic. Going through that fight four times before made me use my magic that way. The last thing you want to know is the choice I made. Well here it is, I would get another chance to do things right if either you passed or failed. If you passed and I died, then it was over no more because I choose this you. If you failed and we both died, then I would do it again still choosing you. The first time we did this I fell in love with you, Rahl. That is the choice I made to stand by you.” All through her speech she did not look away from Rahl’s eyes. He noticed that there was tears flowing out of her eyes. Those tears made him want to stay with her and make sure they only come out for the right reason. The right reason in his mind was that she was happy not hurting like this.

Rahl said, “You chose me, no one else. That is all that matters.” Illyana smiled as he continued, “I am no longer under the magic’s influence. I will now say this that I truly do love you. This last trial made that feeling more true.” He leaned in and kissed Illyana. He felt sleep come over him again and his eyes closed in sleep.

Illyana laid him back against the pillows and turned to the door. She said, “Wyatt, why did you do that to your father?” The young man walked back into the room and said, “Now is not the time for that mother. Let me heal your hands so that you may go.” He touched her hands and walked out after the heat showed no more scar. He said, “The guards are ready to take you back home mother. Stay by father, love him. That is all I ask for mother.” Illyana said, “I will heed your words, my son. Now behave and we will see you again in the future.” She felt her eyes close and sleep come over her.

TBC