Kevin's Watch

Covenant took Linden's hand and pulled her with him after Sunder.
They crossed two streams diagonally, and then all the glowing rills lay on their right. The flow of silver gathered into three channels, which ran crookedly toward the main light. But the quest had come to firm ground. The brush between the trees was heavy. Only the Haruchai were able to move silently.
Near the bank of the closest stream, they found Brinn. He stood with his fists on his hips. Nacre reflected out of his flat eyes like joy - He confronted a figure twice as tall as himself. A figure like a reincarnation in the eldritch glow. A dream come true. Or one of the Dead. A Giant!

Don't you understand that I love you?

Xar wrote:I would personally say that one of the most joyful moments in the books was what took place aboard Starfare's Gem after the flight from Bhrathair, when Brinn and Cail accuse Linden of being the Despiser's follower because she tried to kill Ceer, the Giants and the Haruchai begin arguing loudly over her innocence or guilt while Covenant remains silent, and Linden just feels miserable - and then, all of a sudden, Covenant snaps to the Haruchai, orders them - orders them, when thus far he had never fully accepted they would serve him - to leave her alone, then takes her away, and she tells him about her mother and her death - while feeling she is being judged by Covenant but also feeling miserable for what she did to her mother - and then, when she finishes, and expects Covenant to blame her, or accuse her, or judge her badly, he instead tells her not to blame herself, comforts her, and then does the thing Linden least expects of him:

Don't you understand that I love you?

It took Covenant five books to utter those words sincerely to another human being - to open himself to a woman so completely, and without feeling wracked by torment for his previous deeds with her, as he did with Lena, and as Lena's rape casted shadows over Elena - and Linden's wonder - her surprise at his words, she had never expected to hear after what she had done, after believing herself evil to the core - and then the realization that dawns on her that he isn't tricking her - he truly is in love with her...

And the bliss you can feel in the atmosphere the following day, when they get on deck and every Giant is smiling at them knowingly, and Covenant wonders whether someone can get some bloody privacy in Seafare's Gem... It made me smile to see Covenant genuinely happy - perhaps for the first time - and, after all she had endured, seeing Linden happy, too

"If I could've believed you were going to say that, I would've told Cail to bring us some blankets."

But the safe gutrock of Revelstone enclosed them with solace, and they did not need blankets.

'Joy is in the ears that hear - remember? You told me that. I've got joy for you to hear. Listen to me. I've beaten the Despiser - this time. The Land is safe - for now. I swear it. Now I want - Foamfollower!' Involuntary tears blurred his sight. 'I want to laugh. Take joy in it. Bring some joy into this bloody hole. Laugh!' He swung back to shout at the Lords. 'Do you hear me? Let Foul alone! Heal yourselves!'

For a long moment that almost broke his will, there was no sound in the thronehall. Lord Foul blazed contempt at his captor; the Lords stood aghast, uncomprehending; Foamfollower hung in his chains as if the burden were too greaat for him to bear.

'Help me!' Covenant cried.

Then slowly his plea made itself felt. Some prophesy in his words touched the hearts that heard him. With a terrible effort, Saltheart Foamfollower, the last of the Giants, began to laugh.

It was a gruesome sound at first; writhing in his fetters, Foamfollower spat out the laugh as if it were a curse. On that level, the Lords were able to share it. In low voices, they aimed bursts of contemptuous scorn, jeering hate, at the beaten Despiser. But as Foamfollower fought to laugh, his muscles loosened. The constriction of his throat and chest relaxed, allowing a pure wind of humour to blow the ashes of rage and pain from his lungs. Soon something like joy, something like real mirth, appeared in his voice.

The Lords responded. As it grew haler, Foamfollower's laugh became infectious; it drew the grim spectres with it. They began to unclench their hate. Clean humour ran through them, gathering momentum as it passed. Foamfollower gained joy from them, and they began to taste his joy. In moments, all their contempt or scorn had fallen away. They were no longer laughing to express their outrage at Lord Foul; they were not laughing at him at all. To their own surprise, they were laughing for the pure joy of laughter, for the sheer satisfaction and emotional ebullience of mirth.

amanibhavam wrote:For me the most joyous moment was when Foamfollower returned whole and purified from Hotash Slay.

"Farewell, Unbeliever. Be true! You have wrought greatly for us. The Ranyhyn will preserve us. And with the Staff of Law and the Second Ward, we will not be unable to defend against the Despiser's ill. Take heart. Despair and bitterness are not the only songs in the world."