[fanfiction] The Dalemark Quartet ℘ Wider Than the World
Title: Wider Than the World
Fandom: The Dalemark Quartet by Diana Wynne Jones
Rating: PG
Warning(s): Massive spoilers for the entire quartet plus the Guide, obviously. These should be in chronological order, but I might have messed a couple up because I didn't check too carefully. Any references to Hobin are inspired by the Yuletide fic The Last Free Soul of Dalemark by Firerose.
039.SkyIn the beginning, there is the One.
012.DoorHe has many names: Amil, and Adon, and Oreth; they all fall like silver promises from her soft lips as she draws him towards her room.
036.ThreeWhen it comes time to put the One into his fire, Closti sits his children before the hearth, carefully sets the Undying before his two youngest, and tells them a story of the faraway truth.
047.UglyHern's taunting laughter ringing in his ears (Serves you right, Ugly Duckling!), Duck--Mallard--claws at the bands around his sleeves, scrabbling fingers pinching for a loose thread; he sees the Lady glinting in the firelight across the room, and instead curls up with her in his arms and cries.
030.SuddenKars beams out over his camp, his chest swelling with pride, and quite out of nowhere he is certain Hern would approve.
004.RainTanaqui opens her eyes, the cool ground beneath her; above her, the River falls from the One's coat in the sky (and Mother is gone, but it feels like Mother, warm and soothing and soft).
045.WellThe rushing souls sweep downriver, free of Kankredin's spells at last; after the longest decade Anoreth has ever known, she finally joins Closti at sea.
017.LostHern would shake his head at Gull's aimless travels, but Gull prefers it this way: he takes in the warm sun and the solid earth beneath his boots more vividly than if he had a map to direct him.
025.Hard"It can't be us," Mallard says, tired, bewildered, and sad, curled up in that particular way he has done when upset since he was little, "we just can't be, Tanaqui, don't you see? Then that means...we're all alone."
022.BlindThey both knew that she was inescapably mortal, but Tanamil still feels piercing, wild shock the first time he looks at Robin and realizes that she is old.
024.FlightTanaqui's eyes burn from holding back too many tears--she is strong enough, she expected this, it is not the first; she gently covers Robin's eyes and whispers, "Spread your wings, my thrush, and follow the wind to sea."
038.IronyIt is not reasonable for a man to lurk behind after his death, not even a king, not even the greatest of Kings, not even the kin of the Undying; nor is it reasonable for Hern to sit in this other world of shadow and story and dream of the sea.
050.DustHarken at all that is left of the great King Kern: cautionary words, untrod roads, and a crumbling city empty of ghosts.
007.SoonIt takes a couple of centuries, but before long the places and faces all blur together for Duck, like a great River, smooth as glass.
021.WeepThe hammer smashes into the first nail--How could they!--then into the second--How could they!--then into a third; Manaliabrid traps her husband's sword over the hearth with all the magic and fury and bitterness in her Undying body, cursing her ungrateful children all the while.
031.DreadThe hardest thing, Mallard knows, about being of the Undying is watching your loved ones grow old and die and go out to sea, and knowing you may never follow.
014.WaitClennen is jolly and tender, fiercely loyal, with a streak of righteous honor and a clever mind; Lenina smiles vaguely, patiently content.
006.TenseThe horse's muscles clench and shift beneath her legs as it moves from trot to canter to gallop: Noreth is flying.
018.CellCrying's not shameful, Konian tells Kialan one moment when they're alone, just don't let them have the pleasure of hearing you do it.
034.Words"I hear," Clennen says, and, "they say;" Brid is so heartily sick of it, she has to bite her tongue to keep from screaming at the silly South to just wake up already!
005.OceanThere's a hush in Aberath one day, and the next Wind's Road appears in its harbor as if out of nowhere; the Countess sees wheat at the prow, a glint of fruity color on the mast, and the people crowded on the docks pointing at both, and she knows something is about to end.
009.WinterNo matter how close he gets to the fire, Mitt only gets blisters rather than warmth for his troubles (Flaming Ammet! Curse the whole lot of the North and your stupid weather!).
046.TokenSneaking past the security Aberath is not difficult for the Undying, least of all for Mage Mallard; Wend slips into the bare room interning Noreth's body, his skin prickling from the cold, and cuts a lock of her hair (he touches a finger to her cheek, but it is colder than the floor and make him shudder).
048.LureGrieve not, a voice whispers in Mallard's ear, a voice he knows well, though it speaks now soundlessly with no more pressure than a shadow, I will help my kin, eh?
003.VanishThat night, they sleep in the largest tent Alk could commandeer from the motley of assembled forces; Mitt and Moril sit side by side and stare into the dark, their voices silenced by grief.
032.Burn"A king does not act rashly. He maintains his presence of mind," Navis murmurs to Mitt to keep the king from spurring his horse forward alone, but both men's knuckles are white around their reins as they watch Holand burn.
026.WarThere are bodies piled to the sides of streets, blood stains the dirt roads and gritty brick walls, and Holand harbor has an oily sheen to its surface; the smell is rank; Mitt's stubbornness is all that keeps his stomach in check, but he can taste the blame, sour as bile, in his mouth anyway--it's all his fault, all these bodies, and Keril's words keep ringing round inside his head.
049.DrinkAfter Harl's execution, Navis returns to his reclaimed rooms in the Earl's Palace and pours himself a glass of wine; he is not sure to whom or what he drinks (Ynen, Hildy, and Mitt all cross his mind as the goblet fills).
008.WhyThe harder Mitt presses the heels of his hands into his eyes, the more vividly can he see the crazed look dementing Hobin's face; Moril puts an awkward, comforting hand on Mitt's shuddering shoulder as the boy, who is a king, cries.
044.Low"As if an illiterate fisherman has what it takes to rule a country," Hildy mutters, kicking angrily at the grass without a care for her shiny black shoes; what really bothers her is the tone in Navis's voice when he told her, all ironic and mocking with the obvious and almost audible (but unspoken) question: "Don't you wish you'd treated him better, Hildrida?"
043.KnotAlthough Biffa is modest, she knows she is intelligent and well-spoken, but there is little idea in her mind of how to respond to Mitt's request.
023.Pact"You could marry her by proxy," Navis offers, all bland sarcasm; "Bite you!" Mitt yells back, "Shut UP or I'll have YOU married by proxy to a GOAT!"
015.ShrineThe weather is pleasant, Hildy will allow, and yes, the scenery is quite pretty, and well, alright, the Islanders are quite nice (if a little odd), but Hildy remembers the young (ancient) red-haired woman asking her if she trusted Mitt, and she decides she prefers Kernsburgh to the Holy Isles any day.
011.StormNavis is a brave man, truly--he has fought and bled and stared down the barrels of guns at then-certain death--but nothing, not an absolute thing, can induce him to get between Eltruda and Hildy during one of their screaming rows.
035.Fast"I'm going to open a Music School!" Brid declares in her best look at me voice; next week Kialan finds her in the sitting room, interviewing applicants.
042.FairOne Midsummer there's a girl--they dance, and she takes his hand and leads him out into the garden, then kisses him softly on the lips--but her hair is straight and flaxen instead of curly brown, her skin pale-smooth instead of freckled, and Moril leaves without even asking her name.
037.PlaceAt times when being Amil becomes too much for any man, Mitt closes his eyes, breathes deep, and remembers his perfect land: the rolling green hills, the golden crests of waving wheat, the clear blue sky, and the cool, briny, ever-present smell of the sea.
029.DeepTotal silence as Navis surveys the plans Mitt has drawn up for his own tomb (already an absurd notion he tries not to consider in any depth), then: "Well, you'll certainly be remembered as the most ridiculous king in Dalemark history."
016.BlackThe kingdom is in a national state of court mourning, with funerary pennants hung in the more secular Southern style; Moril dons the minimum customary black armband, but Mitt forgoes it ("That's a laugh, mourning my own funeral!").
027.DeedWe erect this statue in honor of Amil the Great, King of Dalemark, who came at the beckoning of the Undying to guide our country through war, sorrow, and blood to a great era of everlasting peace, unity, innovation, and prosperity.
041.Real"How d'you do it?" Mitt croaks, slumped miserably front-to-back in one of Cennoreth's hard wooden chairs; a week ago, Moril had been at his side, but now the only ones left are people made of nothing more than stories and myth; Cennoreth gives Mitt a long, sad look, and answers, "We don't."
010.FallenMitt is in Wend's doorway, blocking the only way out of the apartment (he cannot escape through the window, not with the cwidder on his back); "I've been wanting to talk to you," Mitt says, and grabs Wend's arm when he tries to push past, "so would you just stop running for one sodding minute, you fool!"
040.ClosetThere is a box in the back of Maewen's closet, as well-hidden from Aunt Liss as anything can be; in it are a dress she hasn't worn since her thirteenth summer, shorts and a blouse from the same time, and photocopies and clippings she started collecting after she visited her father: Crown Prince Swayed from Renaming Tannoreth Palace reads one, and another: UD Professor Draws Connection Between Undying and Real Person.
001.Mortal"He's two hundred years old!" Maewen thinks, feeling a little delirious (what are four years to the Undying?).
033.ClockCennoreth's eyes crinkle with fondness, but there is pity in her smile, and Maewen knows before the Weaver speaks what she is going to say.
013.FlashHistory class becomes an entirely new, if not unexpected experience; Maewen feels a little jolt at every anecdote, every picture, every name that she recognizes.
019.VillianThey are on the Southern Uprising now; the teacher writes HOLAND and WAYWOLD on the board, followed by KINGSTONE, and then HOBIN THE BLOODY--Maewen utters a cry of surprise--("Out of ink," she stammers when the class stares)--that simply can't be right!
002.BrokenIf the Singer boy's portrait had fascinated her before, now Maewen looks at it hungrily, fiercely wishing she had been able to do something about that disconsolate look in Moril's eyes (and not even supposing she might have been a reason for it).
028.UnknownThe letters on the stone are faded after a hundred and fifty years of wear; Maewen traces her fingers through the bumps and indentations and cries for all the things she has-not-cannot-will-not say (I'm sorry I love you I wish you were smiling you were my best friend).
020.RoadThe train is not two miles out of Adenmouth when Mitt sits down in the seat across from Maewen; he smiles that familiar cocky smile and says, "Paths of the Undying. Come here often, do you?"
Fandom: The Dalemark Quartet by Diana Wynne Jones
Rating: PG
Warning(s): Massive spoilers for the entire quartet plus the Guide, obviously. These should be in chronological order, but I might have messed a couple up because I didn't check too carefully. Any references to Hobin are inspired by the Yuletide fic The Last Free Soul of Dalemark by Firerose.
039.SkyIn the beginning, there is the One.
012.DoorHe has many names: Amil, and Adon, and Oreth; they all fall like silver promises from her soft lips as she draws him towards her room.
036.ThreeWhen it comes time to put the One into his fire, Closti sits his children before the hearth, carefully sets the Undying before his two youngest, and tells them a story of the faraway truth.
047.UglyHern's taunting laughter ringing in his ears (Serves you right, Ugly Duckling!), Duck--Mallard--claws at the bands around his sleeves, scrabbling fingers pinching for a loose thread; he sees the Lady glinting in the firelight across the room, and instead curls up with her in his arms and cries.
030.SuddenKars beams out over his camp, his chest swelling with pride, and quite out of nowhere he is certain Hern would approve.
004.RainTanaqui opens her eyes, the cool ground beneath her; above her, the River falls from the One's coat in the sky (and Mother is gone, but it feels like Mother, warm and soothing and soft).
045.WellThe rushing souls sweep downriver, free of Kankredin's spells at last; after the longest decade Anoreth has ever known, she finally joins Closti at sea.
017.LostHern would shake his head at Gull's aimless travels, but Gull prefers it this way: he takes in the warm sun and the solid earth beneath his boots more vividly than if he had a map to direct him.
025.Hard"It can't be us," Mallard says, tired, bewildered, and sad, curled up in that particular way he has done when upset since he was little, "we just can't be, Tanaqui, don't you see? Then that means...we're all alone."
022.BlindThey both knew that she was inescapably mortal, but Tanamil still feels piercing, wild shock the first time he looks at Robin and realizes that she is old.
024.FlightTanaqui's eyes burn from holding back too many tears--she is strong enough, she expected this, it is not the first; she gently covers Robin's eyes and whispers, "Spread your wings, my thrush, and follow the wind to sea."
038.IronyIt is not reasonable for a man to lurk behind after his death, not even a king, not even the greatest of Kings, not even the kin of the Undying; nor is it reasonable for Hern to sit in this other world of shadow and story and dream of the sea.
050.DustHarken at all that is left of the great King Kern: cautionary words, untrod roads, and a crumbling city empty of ghosts.
007.SoonIt takes a couple of centuries, but before long the places and faces all blur together for Duck, like a great River, smooth as glass.
021.WeepThe hammer smashes into the first nail--How could they!--then into the second--How could they!--then into a third; Manaliabrid traps her husband's sword over the hearth with all the magic and fury and bitterness in her Undying body, cursing her ungrateful children all the while.
031.DreadThe hardest thing, Mallard knows, about being of the Undying is watching your loved ones grow old and die and go out to sea, and knowing you may never follow.
014.WaitClennen is jolly and tender, fiercely loyal, with a streak of righteous honor and a clever mind; Lenina smiles vaguely, patiently content.
006.TenseThe horse's muscles clench and shift beneath her legs as it moves from trot to canter to gallop: Noreth is flying.
018.CellCrying's not shameful, Konian tells Kialan one moment when they're alone, just don't let them have the pleasure of hearing you do it.
034.Words"I hear," Clennen says, and, "they say;" Brid is so heartily sick of it, she has to bite her tongue to keep from screaming at the silly South to just wake up already!
005.OceanThere's a hush in Aberath one day, and the next Wind's Road appears in its harbor as if out of nowhere; the Countess sees wheat at the prow, a glint of fruity color on the mast, and the people crowded on the docks pointing at both, and she knows something is about to end.
009.WinterNo matter how close he gets to the fire, Mitt only gets blisters rather than warmth for his troubles (Flaming Ammet! Curse the whole lot of the North and your stupid weather!).
046.TokenSneaking past the security Aberath is not difficult for the Undying, least of all for Mage Mallard; Wend slips into the bare room interning Noreth's body, his skin prickling from the cold, and cuts a lock of her hair (he touches a finger to her cheek, but it is colder than the floor and make him shudder).
048.LureGrieve not, a voice whispers in Mallard's ear, a voice he knows well, though it speaks now soundlessly with no more pressure than a shadow, I will help my kin, eh?
003.VanishThat night, they sleep in the largest tent Alk could commandeer from the motley of assembled forces; Mitt and Moril sit side by side and stare into the dark, their voices silenced by grief.
032.Burn"A king does not act rashly. He maintains his presence of mind," Navis murmurs to Mitt to keep the king from spurring his horse forward alone, but both men's knuckles are white around their reins as they watch Holand burn.
026.WarThere are bodies piled to the sides of streets, blood stains the dirt roads and gritty brick walls, and Holand harbor has an oily sheen to its surface; the smell is rank; Mitt's stubbornness is all that keeps his stomach in check, but he can taste the blame, sour as bile, in his mouth anyway--it's all his fault, all these bodies, and Keril's words keep ringing round inside his head.
049.DrinkAfter Harl's execution, Navis returns to his reclaimed rooms in the Earl's Palace and pours himself a glass of wine; he is not sure to whom or what he drinks (Ynen, Hildy, and Mitt all cross his mind as the goblet fills).
008.WhyThe harder Mitt presses the heels of his hands into his eyes, the more vividly can he see the crazed look dementing Hobin's face; Moril puts an awkward, comforting hand on Mitt's shuddering shoulder as the boy, who is a king, cries.
044.Low"As if an illiterate fisherman has what it takes to rule a country," Hildy mutters, kicking angrily at the grass without a care for her shiny black shoes; what really bothers her is the tone in Navis's voice when he told her, all ironic and mocking with the obvious and almost audible (but unspoken) question: "Don't you wish you'd treated him better, Hildrida?"
043.KnotAlthough Biffa is modest, she knows she is intelligent and well-spoken, but there is little idea in her mind of how to respond to Mitt's request.
023.Pact"You could marry her by proxy," Navis offers, all bland sarcasm; "Bite you!" Mitt yells back, "Shut UP or I'll have YOU married by proxy to a GOAT!"
015.ShrineThe weather is pleasant, Hildy will allow, and yes, the scenery is quite pretty, and well, alright, the Islanders are quite nice (if a little odd), but Hildy remembers the young (ancient) red-haired woman asking her if she trusted Mitt, and she decides she prefers Kernsburgh to the Holy Isles any day.
011.StormNavis is a brave man, truly--he has fought and bled and stared down the barrels of guns at then-certain death--but nothing, not an absolute thing, can induce him to get between Eltruda and Hildy during one of their screaming rows.
035.Fast"I'm going to open a Music School!" Brid declares in her best look at me voice; next week Kialan finds her in the sitting room, interviewing applicants.
042.FairOne Midsummer there's a girl--they dance, and she takes his hand and leads him out into the garden, then kisses him softly on the lips--but her hair is straight and flaxen instead of curly brown, her skin pale-smooth instead of freckled, and Moril leaves without even asking her name.
037.PlaceAt times when being Amil becomes too much for any man, Mitt closes his eyes, breathes deep, and remembers his perfect land: the rolling green hills, the golden crests of waving wheat, the clear blue sky, and the cool, briny, ever-present smell of the sea.
029.DeepTotal silence as Navis surveys the plans Mitt has drawn up for his own tomb (already an absurd notion he tries not to consider in any depth), then: "Well, you'll certainly be remembered as the most ridiculous king in Dalemark history."
016.BlackThe kingdom is in a national state of court mourning, with funerary pennants hung in the more secular Southern style; Moril dons the minimum customary black armband, but Mitt forgoes it ("That's a laugh, mourning my own funeral!").
027.DeedWe erect this statue in honor of Amil the Great, King of Dalemark, who came at the beckoning of the Undying to guide our country through war, sorrow, and blood to a great era of everlasting peace, unity, innovation, and prosperity.
041.Real"How d'you do it?" Mitt croaks, slumped miserably front-to-back in one of Cennoreth's hard wooden chairs; a week ago, Moril had been at his side, but now the only ones left are people made of nothing more than stories and myth; Cennoreth gives Mitt a long, sad look, and answers, "We don't."
010.FallenMitt is in Wend's doorway, blocking the only way out of the apartment (he cannot escape through the window, not with the cwidder on his back); "I've been wanting to talk to you," Mitt says, and grabs Wend's arm when he tries to push past, "so would you just stop running for one sodding minute, you fool!"
040.ClosetThere is a box in the back of Maewen's closet, as well-hidden from Aunt Liss as anything can be; in it are a dress she hasn't worn since her thirteenth summer, shorts and a blouse from the same time, and photocopies and clippings she started collecting after she visited her father: Crown Prince Swayed from Renaming Tannoreth Palace reads one, and another: UD Professor Draws Connection Between Undying and Real Person.
001.Mortal"He's two hundred years old!" Maewen thinks, feeling a little delirious (what are four years to the Undying?).
033.ClockCennoreth's eyes crinkle with fondness, but there is pity in her smile, and Maewen knows before the Weaver speaks what she is going to say.
013.FlashHistory class becomes an entirely new, if not unexpected experience; Maewen feels a little jolt at every anecdote, every picture, every name that she recognizes.
019.VillianThey are on the Southern Uprising now; the teacher writes HOLAND and WAYWOLD on the board, followed by KINGSTONE, and then HOBIN THE BLOODY--Maewen utters a cry of surprise--("Out of ink," she stammers when the class stares)--that simply can't be right!
002.BrokenIf the Singer boy's portrait had fascinated her before, now Maewen looks at it hungrily, fiercely wishing she had been able to do something about that disconsolate look in Moril's eyes (and not even supposing she might have been a reason for it).
028.UnknownThe letters on the stone are faded after a hundred and fifty years of wear; Maewen traces her fingers through the bumps and indentations and cries for all the things she has-not-cannot-will-not say (I'm sorry I love you I wish you were smiling you were my best friend).
020.RoadThe train is not two miles out of Adenmouth when Mitt sits down in the seat across from Maewen; he smiles that familiar cocky smile and says, "Paths of the Undying. Come here often, do you?"