At Last We Meet Again

[Madelyn Daae]

Delicate lady's hands ran across the pale piece of parchment laid before her as she sat at her husbands desk, her mind racing a mile a minute with many memories of a life she once knew. A woman she had at one time called kin, thought of like a sister and was even the maid of honor in her wedding would receive this letter she was about to write. A long-lost friendship she hoped would be rekindled.

The writer, the one at the desk, sighed thoughtfully and moved her hands to her swelling belly. So many things to say that could not be expressed in a letter continued to race through her mind. How would she express her sorrow for their 8 years of silence?

And so she began.

I wasn't sure if this letter would reach you in Rhydin or if it would be forwarded to your new home if you have moved. It's certainly been a long time, hasn't it? How long? Eight years, going on nine. I can't believe we've managed to lose touch like this.

I've never forgotten you, even after all these years. But times change and I'm sure our lives have changed drastically. I've often wondered how you've been, how the Shop is going and whether or not you had ever remarried.

Paul and I are still married and are awaiting the last installment to our family. We still own the vineyard, several actually. In fact, the vineyard is the very reason I've contacted you. After my father passed away, Paul took over and soon expanded the business. It's been very prosperous and Paul wanted to expand further. We hired someone to manage the wineries in France so we could run a vineyard in Rhydin. Isn't it exciting?

We visited in July to find a place and have been back once more in September to finalize the sale. I'm sorry I wasn't able to seek you out, but Paul likes to keep me close at hand and he wasn't to be bothered at the moment with finding old, kindred friends. We bought an old manor far to the North: Ribaldi Manor, it was called. Perhaps you've heard of it? The vineyard on the property is rather large, but needs much maintenance. We are moving to Rhydin by November.

This brings me to my reason for writing in advance. If by some chance you've stayed in Rhydin after all these years, I'd like to see you again. Please respond by return address. It would be wonderful to see you.

Much love,
Mady

Madelyn smiled as she sat back to survey her work, carefully placing the blue fountain pen back into the drawer where she'd gotten it from. The letter was then carefully folded into thirds and slipped into a thick envelope. Dirty blonde loose curls fell around her face as she bent to lick the edges to seal the envelope. Mady smiled again as her long fingers ran over the lettering on the front she'd already written.

Koyliak VanDuran.

[Koyliak]

The past caught up with some people. Koy’s past liked to blindside and batter her.

Ever since PathFinder exerted his influence over Matt by causing her husband to literally pass right through her during a fist fight in the Outback Koy had felt like she could not get out from under her history. What PathFinder did was in effect harmless to the elf’s physical health. The green Opal only wanted to send a message to his brother MoonBeryl as they bickered over who had more control when it came to the Simon family. PathFinder had clearly won that round, proving he didn’t need to play MoonBeryl’s meticulously maneuvered mind games to make an impact.

When Koy reflected on her past she usually thought of herself as living in stages. First there was Koyla the Free Child of the Forest. She often imagined how different, for better or for worse, she would be now if that carefree girl in Langenfirth had made it to adulthood with her spirit intact. Unfortunately her time as Koyliak the Dutiful Daughter squashed that when she went along with her mismatched marriage to Redd out of custom and her father’s insistence.

The memories of how she and Redd parted ways with her unconscious in a hospital and him on the run after using the forbidden Blackfire sorcery on her haunted her the most after the incident with PathFinder. Having her new husband use foreign magic on her struck too close to the core, spooking her with how familiar the situation was despite a drastically different context. Matthew loved her, Redd did not.

Her life moved in stages because she constantly found herself needing to take the shattered pieces and make the best of what little she had left. The Dutiful became the Love Starved. The Love Starved had a brief respite as Koyliak the Homemaker, wife to Mikal and mother to Lirisa. When that phase peaked and plunged she hit her lowest valley and dwelled for a long time as Koy the Demented.

Sometimes she thought she would never fully grow out of that particular stage.

The habits of the Demented — the drinking, the fighting, the self-destructiveness — lingered on but her life with Matt had helped her turn a corner. Time would tell what she would call this current point but her working title was Koyliak of the Struggling Reformation. It was an extravagant way of saying she was changing but in that infuriatingly slow two steps forward and one step back way.

The recent events with PathFinder cut the boundaries that separated one phase from another in her recollection, crashing them all together until the sights and sounds of yesteryear flooded her mind.

It left her with too many fragments and not enough glue.

[Koyliak]

It surprised her less than it normally would then when the letter arrived for her at the Heavenly Boutique.

Tula left Koy’s mail stacked in a neat pile on her desk, out of the way of the boards the elf drew on and revised in a frenzied manner. The requests, orders, bills, compliments, complaints, and invitations were all left opened by her diligent assistant. Only one letter stayed in its envelope, most likely because Tula hadn’t recognized the address and tried not to disturb Koy’s personal mail.

With the past invading her present Koy first thought she had imagined that familiar handwriting on the envelope. When she finally read over the letter enough times to believe it Koy realized that she was actually smiling. Some things from the past were worth salvaging, like her relationship with the magnificent Madelyn Daae, or Mady the Muse as Koy had called her.

Mady fell into the period marked Koyliak the Homemaker.

They met back when Koy worked out of her booth at the Marketplace. Mady had been the first to commission Koy to design something other than a wedding gown. With the ease with which Mady spent her father’s money the two became fast friends on a professional level and with their mutual appreciation for the finer things in life their relationship soon went beyond business.

They helped each other. Koy gave Mady advice on dating and later wedding Paul. Yes, once upon a time Koyliak VanDuran felt confident enough in her own relationship to dole out marriage advice. In return, Mady inspired Koy to think bigger and better. The younger woman opened Koy’s eyes to the potential she had to go from wedding gowns and the Marketplace to entire collections and Benson Boulevard.

Most of all, Mady knew Koy as Lirisa’s mother. None of them, not Matt, not Stick or Caedia, not her beloved Daughters of Decadence had seen her in that role. And it had been her finest.

The paper in Koy’s hand suddenly felt weighed down by not only the past but the present as well. After Mady and Paul married, the two women had drifted apart. The last contact they shared was a letter Koy wrote to Mady only stating that her marriage was over. She could not bring herself to put the rest of it down on paper. That would have made it too real for the elf at the time. When Mikal’s body turned up with no sign of their daughter, Koy sunk into herself. The only person who had been able to reach through to her eventually was her brother, Beldron, and only because he made such an effort to seek her out. Mady would not have known about Koy the Demented.

Finding a blank sheet of paper, Koy wrote her response with one of the colored pencils at hand. She wanted to expedite their reunion and would not even take the time to look for her fountain pen. A lengthy response would never suffice.

Mady Muse,

I am here and I am waiting. The Boutique is where you left it last. If not during the day, come find me later at the Outback near the Red Dragon Inn.

Yes, I am still fighting for sport. Turns out it wasn’t a passing fad after all.

All my love,

Koy

The daunting thought of all they needed to catch up on was almost too much for the elf.