Fic: A Taste of Paradise
Jan. 18th, 2012 08:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meridian_roseTitle: A Taste of Paradise
Fandom: Original
'Verse/Series: High Queen
Pairing/Characters: Kat/Rafiq
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 843
Prompt: For the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
writerverse prompt lyrics of 'China Roses' by Enya
Summary: During a stop on the Tour, Kat discusses religion and finds a moment of contentment
Warnings: None
Notes: Thanks, as always, to Anna, for listening to me ramble on about the various faiths of the world while I tried to figure them out for myself.
Rafiq sprawled languidly on the blanket, soaking up the sun like a contented cat.
"The followers of Reaenn believe in an afterlife which is much like this world," he explained, "but one in which there is nothing to desire."
"No passion?" Kat asked, not least because his eyes kept flicking to her cleavage.
Rafiq sat up and snapped his fingers. "No, no, it is that…there is nothing to long for, because there is nothing you lack. There is no pain so you do not desire healing. There is no hunger so you do not desire food." He tipped his head at her quizzical expression. "I think I am explaining it badly. It is the difference between choosing between an apple and a pear, and the desperate longing for an apple because you are starving."
Kat considered this carefully. "Most religions see the afterlife as painless," she agreed, "because if it is no better than this life, what can we look forward to? More of the same? Nothingness? Most people need to believe our loved ones are in some better world once they have left us, and that we will one day be reunited with them."
"And you," Rafiq asked. "What does the High Queen believe?"
Kat hesitated before speaking. She reached over and let the river flow over and between her fingers.
"I'm not entirely sure. The Citadel doesn't have one official religion – the castle's temple has statues of many different deities. Many of the Council believe in a God and Goddess who are equal partners in creation. But then even those who talk of The God or The Goddess often recognise aspects of, or separate entities from them, such as the God of Love or the Lady of the Sea. Even within my own party there is no consensus of belief."
"How so?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Well, Honor's family have always served The Lady – his aunt is a High Priestess and his sister is one of the Sisterhood. On the other hand, Riku's faith has a Father whose many children are the spirits who guide humans through their lives. Ryan's people think there are two gods, neither of whom is male or female, but who are two halves of a whole. Horton believes in a God and a Goddess, although the God has superiority over His wife in that faith."
Rafiq seemed genuinely interested, his warm brown eyes fixed on her face now. Kat smiled. "Then there's Tara, whose religion has a whole pantheon of gods. And Cal, well… he's spent so long studying the various forms of belief that he's become disillusioned by the contradictions within them and ascribes to no particular faith."
Rafiq nodded. "He's irreligious?"
"Not exactly. He also sees something in the parallels between them. Something infinite and abstract beyond words, beyond any one specific religion or philosophy. The divine is unknowable is the closest I can come to summing up his beliefs."
Rafiq took a bite of his apple. "The divine is unknowable," he repeated when he'd swallowed it. "We have a similar saying, for when people argue too much about what the Divine One would want: not one person alive has the mind of the divine."
Kat dried her hand off on her dress. Rafiq raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "One of the interesting things about the Tour is meeting people of different beliefs," she said.
"But you still haven't told me what you believe."
Kat took an apple for herself. "I don't know which is right. Maybe they are all right in a way. Maybe they're all wrong. Maybe there are no gods at all. Or it could be that divinity is so far removed from us that to any god we are like flies on a stallion." She laughed to lighten the mood. "Besides, it's not good practice for the High Queen to endorse one faith over another and let hundreds or thousands of people know that she - that I - think they are worshipping the wrong way."
"Still not an answer. You're a diplomat after all," Rafiq observed with a wink.
"Despite what you've heard?"
He laughed. "They say you speak your mind."
Kat leaned in. "When it is important for me to do so, yes. But faith is the business of your own heart and soul. Who am I to say how such things should be? I believe there are gods, but what form they take is my own counsel."
"A wise woman indeed," Rafiq said. His breath was warm against her lips. "Is intercourse forbidden to an unwed woman in your beliefs?"
"No. I require only that my partner will be discreet and not boast of a conquest when in fact he took part in a private moment of mutual pleasure."
Rafiq kissed her, and the apple fell from Kat's hand. "Discretion is something I prize in myself and others," he said.
He flipped her onto her back and Kat closed her eyes against the glare of sunlight, and let herself be lost in the moment.
Fandom: Original
'Verse/Series: High Queen
Pairing/Characters: Kat/Rafiq
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 843
Prompt: For the
writerverse prompt lyrics of 'China Roses' by EnyaSummary: During a stop on the Tour, Kat discusses religion and finds a moment of contentment
Warnings: None
Notes: Thanks, as always, to Anna, for listening to me ramble on about the various faiths of the world while I tried to figure them out for myself.
Rafiq sprawled languidly on the blanket, soaking up the sun like a contented cat.
"The followers of Reaenn believe in an afterlife which is much like this world," he explained, "but one in which there is nothing to desire."
"No passion?" Kat asked, not least because his eyes kept flicking to her cleavage.
Rafiq sat up and snapped his fingers. "No, no, it is that…there is nothing to long for, because there is nothing you lack. There is no pain so you do not desire healing. There is no hunger so you do not desire food." He tipped his head at her quizzical expression. "I think I am explaining it badly. It is the difference between choosing between an apple and a pear, and the desperate longing for an apple because you are starving."
Kat considered this carefully. "Most religions see the afterlife as painless," she agreed, "because if it is no better than this life, what can we look forward to? More of the same? Nothingness? Most people need to believe our loved ones are in some better world once they have left us, and that we will one day be reunited with them."
"And you," Rafiq asked. "What does the High Queen believe?"
Kat hesitated before speaking. She reached over and let the river flow over and between her fingers.
"I'm not entirely sure. The Citadel doesn't have one official religion – the castle's temple has statues of many different deities. Many of the Council believe in a God and Goddess who are equal partners in creation. But then even those who talk of The God or The Goddess often recognise aspects of, or separate entities from them, such as the God of Love or the Lady of the Sea. Even within my own party there is no consensus of belief."
"How so?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Well, Honor's family have always served The Lady – his aunt is a High Priestess and his sister is one of the Sisterhood. On the other hand, Riku's faith has a Father whose many children are the spirits who guide humans through their lives. Ryan's people think there are two gods, neither of whom is male or female, but who are two halves of a whole. Horton believes in a God and a Goddess, although the God has superiority over His wife in that faith."
Rafiq seemed genuinely interested, his warm brown eyes fixed on her face now. Kat smiled. "Then there's Tara, whose religion has a whole pantheon of gods. And Cal, well… he's spent so long studying the various forms of belief that he's become disillusioned by the contradictions within them and ascribes to no particular faith."
Rafiq nodded. "He's irreligious?"
"Not exactly. He also sees something in the parallels between them. Something infinite and abstract beyond words, beyond any one specific religion or philosophy. The divine is unknowable is the closest I can come to summing up his beliefs."
Rafiq took a bite of his apple. "The divine is unknowable," he repeated when he'd swallowed it. "We have a similar saying, for when people argue too much about what the Divine One would want: not one person alive has the mind of the divine."
Kat dried her hand off on her dress. Rafiq raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "One of the interesting things about the Tour is meeting people of different beliefs," she said.
"But you still haven't told me what you believe."
Kat took an apple for herself. "I don't know which is right. Maybe they are all right in a way. Maybe they're all wrong. Maybe there are no gods at all. Or it could be that divinity is so far removed from us that to any god we are like flies on a stallion." She laughed to lighten the mood. "Besides, it's not good practice for the High Queen to endorse one faith over another and let hundreds or thousands of people know that she - that I - think they are worshipping the wrong way."
"Still not an answer. You're a diplomat after all," Rafiq observed with a wink.
"Despite what you've heard?"
He laughed. "They say you speak your mind."
Kat leaned in. "When it is important for me to do so, yes. But faith is the business of your own heart and soul. Who am I to say how such things should be? I believe there are gods, but what form they take is my own counsel."
"A wise woman indeed," Rafiq said. His breath was warm against her lips. "Is intercourse forbidden to an unwed woman in your beliefs?"
"No. I require only that my partner will be discreet and not boast of a conquest when in fact he took part in a private moment of mutual pleasure."
Rafiq kissed her, and the apple fell from Kat's hand. "Discretion is something I prize in myself and others," he said.
He flipped her onto her back and Kat closed her eyes against the glare of sunlight, and let herself be lost in the moment.
