- sunday_reveries - Right of Succession -
"You damned her to hell the day you taught her that gods were real. And when the desolate ones have gathered her into their arms -- because that is the choice she's made -- she'll probably thank you for it as she rips out your heart."
--Vellum by Hal Duncan
Talia Ducard
Batman (Nolan)
1021 words
The woman knelt mere feet away from the ebony coffin knew every eye remained fixed upon her. She controlled her breathing and kept her head bowed. No tears escaped, but she would not risk being read by the wolves that circled her, touching her shoulder and bowing to the coffin. She even refrained from flinching when one young man, the son of the man seeing to the burial, touched her hair and the snow-colored lily tucked behind her ear. The men filed out, their wives-- little more than servants-- or concubines-- a practice this woman would abolish were it in her power-- following them. Their eyes never even attempted to stray to the sacred vessel of the dead man.
When the members of the League of Shadows who had come to see their former leader's body returned to them and prepared for burial had departed, Talia Ducard let out a breath she scarcely remembered taking.
She looked up at the six men who remained. Five of them were far past their primes. Naveed, the man who had conducted the preparations for burial, offered her his withered hand, and she placed hers in it. He held himself steady as she rose, and he bowed only the faintest bit to her. Talia cupped his hand between her two and bowed her head to touch her forehead to her top hand. When she released her hold, he kissed the knuckles of her hand he still held. He stepped back, and the four other advisers of Ra's Al Ghul stepped forward to repeat the ritual. Talia bore it patiently. She respected Naveed, Tane, Imre, Xun, and Mosi. When Javed, the son of Naveed and the man who had touched her hair, stepped forward and took her hand, though, Talia only inclined her head slightly, and he soon released her.
“You have borne the recent hardships well, Talia,” Naveed said to her in Mongolian.
“We all meet the end we are destined for at the time appointed,” Talia replied in the same language.
“Your father's spirit will rest easy, knowing your heart follows his teachings.” Mosi bowed his head as he spoke, and Talia returned the gesture.
Imre regarded the coffin with a resigned expression. “We shall seek a suitable replacement. It will not be an easy task, but it must be done.”
“I ask,” Javed said as he bowed low at the waist to the advisers, “that I be allowed to prove myself worthy of the place of Ra's Al Ghul.”
Talia regarded him for only a moment before she turned her attention to Naveed. “I demand the right of succession.”
Naveed, in the midst of preparing his approval of his son, was caught off guard. “But you cannot succeed your father,” he sputtered.
“No,” Talia agreed. “However, my father announced his successor while he was alive, and he was not killed by a member of the League of Shadows in a challenge of his worth as Ra's Al Ghul.” She took in a thin breath, aware of the looks of disapproval that the advisers were attempting to hide.
Javed scoffed. “The man your father wished to see succeed him is not here to claim his right.”
“He was to be my husband, and I claim it for him.”
“Have you forgotten, m-- Talia, that he refused your father's offer of joining the League? Not only that,” Javed continued, “he destroyed the birthplace of the League of Shadows and killed many of our agents and their servants with that destruction.”
“My father still believed he was most suited for the position,” Talia snapped.
“Father--”
“Talia is correct, Javed. She has the power as the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul and the betrothed of the man he claimed as his heir to claim the right of succession,” Naveed said after taking time to think over the proposition.
“I thank you,” Talia murmured.
Xun finally spoke. “We will allow you six months.”
“That is barely enough time to find him,” Talia replied.
“If we allow you more and you do not succeed,” the same man answered, “you will have to pay a price.”
“I understand.”
“One year, and you will become an agent on the fringes of our order. You will not be permitted into the hallowed halls of the inner sanctum when it is rebuilt,” Mosi said.
“And for two?” Talia asked.
“Two years, and you will be given to an agent of the League of Shadows as a wife and servant, never to be given another assignment in the name of the League,” Tane answered without looking at her.
Talia took a breath in. She knew what the next would be, but to find a man would take time. To convince a man who had refused a previous offer, destroyed her home, and likely played a part in her father's death to marry her and take a position at the head of an organization he had tried to destroy would take even more time. “And for three years?”
“You would wager your life,” Naveed answered.
“Then three it shall be,” she said. “I shall leave after my father is buried and the proper rituals are performed. I shall return with my husband.”
“You are aware of what will happen if you never return,” Imre said softly.
“I will be hunted down by agents of the League of Shadows and killed,” Talia answered without alarm.
The woman knelt before the coffin of Henri Ducard again for a moment before she rose and turned. Silently, her expression impassive but her mind working fast, she left the chamber.
--Vellum by Hal Duncan
Talia Ducard
Batman (Nolan)
1021 words
The woman knelt mere feet away from the ebony coffin knew every eye remained fixed upon her. She controlled her breathing and kept her head bowed. No tears escaped, but she would not risk being read by the wolves that circled her, touching her shoulder and bowing to the coffin. She even refrained from flinching when one young man, the son of the man seeing to the burial, touched her hair and the snow-colored lily tucked behind her ear. The men filed out, their wives-- little more than servants-- or concubines-- a practice this woman would abolish were it in her power-- following them. Their eyes never even attempted to stray to the sacred vessel of the dead man.
When the members of the League of Shadows who had come to see their former leader's body returned to them and prepared for burial had departed, Talia Ducard let out a breath she scarcely remembered taking.
She looked up at the six men who remained. Five of them were far past their primes. Naveed, the man who had conducted the preparations for burial, offered her his withered hand, and she placed hers in it. He held himself steady as she rose, and he bowed only the faintest bit to her. Talia cupped his hand between her two and bowed her head to touch her forehead to her top hand. When she released her hold, he kissed the knuckles of her hand he still held. He stepped back, and the four other advisers of Ra's Al Ghul stepped forward to repeat the ritual. Talia bore it patiently. She respected Naveed, Tane, Imre, Xun, and Mosi. When Javed, the son of Naveed and the man who had touched her hair, stepped forward and took her hand, though, Talia only inclined her head slightly, and he soon released her.
“You have borne the recent hardships well, Talia,” Naveed said to her in Mongolian.
“We all meet the end we are destined for at the time appointed,” Talia replied in the same language.
“Your father's spirit will rest easy, knowing your heart follows his teachings.” Mosi bowed his head as he spoke, and Talia returned the gesture.
Imre regarded the coffin with a resigned expression. “We shall seek a suitable replacement. It will not be an easy task, but it must be done.”
“I ask,” Javed said as he bowed low at the waist to the advisers, “that I be allowed to prove myself worthy of the place of Ra's Al Ghul.”
Talia regarded him for only a moment before she turned her attention to Naveed. “I demand the right of succession.”
Naveed, in the midst of preparing his approval of his son, was caught off guard. “But you cannot succeed your father,” he sputtered.
“No,” Talia agreed. “However, my father announced his successor while he was alive, and he was not killed by a member of the League of Shadows in a challenge of his worth as Ra's Al Ghul.” She took in a thin breath, aware of the looks of disapproval that the advisers were attempting to hide.
Javed scoffed. “The man your father wished to see succeed him is not here to claim his right.”
“He was to be my husband, and I claim it for him.”
“Have you forgotten, m-- Talia, that he refused your father's offer of joining the League? Not only that,” Javed continued, “he destroyed the birthplace of the League of Shadows and killed many of our agents and their servants with that destruction.”
“My father still believed he was most suited for the position,” Talia snapped.
“Father--”
“Talia is correct, Javed. She has the power as the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul and the betrothed of the man he claimed as his heir to claim the right of succession,” Naveed said after taking time to think over the proposition.
“I thank you,” Talia murmured.
Xun finally spoke. “We will allow you six months.”
“That is barely enough time to find him,” Talia replied.
“If we allow you more and you do not succeed,” the same man answered, “you will have to pay a price.”
“I understand.”
“One year, and you will become an agent on the fringes of our order. You will not be permitted into the hallowed halls of the inner sanctum when it is rebuilt,” Mosi said.
“And for two?” Talia asked.
“Two years, and you will be given to an agent of the League of Shadows as a wife and servant, never to be given another assignment in the name of the League,” Tane answered without looking at her.
Talia took a breath in. She knew what the next would be, but to find a man would take time. To convince a man who had refused a previous offer, destroyed her home, and likely played a part in her father's death to marry her and take a position at the head of an organization he had tried to destroy would take even more time. “And for three years?”
“You would wager your life,” Naveed answered.
“Then three it shall be,” she said. “I shall leave after my father is buried and the proper rituals are performed. I shall return with my husband.”
“You are aware of what will happen if you never return,” Imre said softly.
“I will be hunted down by agents of the League of Shadows and killed,” Talia answered without alarm.
The woman knelt before the coffin of Henri Ducard again for a moment before she rose and turned. Silently, her expression impassive but her mind working fast, she left the chamber.