snakeling (snakeling) wrote in snakelingsrecs, @ 2007-06-11 12:09:00 |
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Entry tags: | fandom:arthurian legend, kink:dub-con, rating:r, yuletide:2006 |
The Handmaid's Veil, by Alexandra Lynch
[Arthurian legend]
Title: The Handmaid's Veil
Author: Alexandra Lynch alexandralynch
Summary: Love makes people do terrible things to each other.
Characters/Pairing: Tristram, Isolde, Mark, Brangwyna (Isolde's maid)
Rating: R
Warning: dubious consent
The writing's sparce, but it only makes the story stronger. Love here is only the source of heartache, by running contrary to acceptable norm, to political expectations. A little gem of a story.
"We can't argue with fate," a male voice said. Tristram pulled his tunic on, his dark locks still mussed. "God surely arranged this, for I wasn't originally to come to fetch Isolde." His voice made an endearment of her name.
"God surely, for we but sipped the wine and gazed at each other, and I knew there'd never be another man for me." Her gaze at Tristram was full of amazed joy.
"And what of the wedding?" Brangwyna said. "There are treaties based on this! She cannot just go off and wed you, pretty as you are. You may have abandoned your duty, but will you condemn us all to war?"
There was a pause. Had she overstepped?
No. "She's right," Tristan said slowly. He sank to a seat on a box. "God knows it tears my heart to think of it, but you must wed him."