Does Maharet ever forgive Khayman for the terrible thing(s) he did to her when they were still mortal?
It certainly was terrible things, plural. This is a difficult question, Anon. If @redhairedtwins is still active, I would bet they have an opinion on this!
IIRC, Maharet and Khayman appear to be civilized together in modern times in Queen of the Damned, united in their goal to prevent Akasha from executing her plans for "world peace."
I checked around in QOTD, and it reads to me that Maharet didn't hold Khayman responsible for what he was ordered to do to her. She wanted to keep his child, and while that's not proof that she forgave him, or accepted what he did, I also didn't see explicit or implicit proof that he was seeking her forgiveness or that she was withholding it.
Maharet tells us:
"Then Khayman came with Mekare to the place where I was hiding with my daughter, and I showed him this child, which was his child, and begged him for mercy, for justice, that he leave us in peace.
... "Many things befell us on our long journey which are too numerous here to tell.
"But the good spirits had not deserted us; they made the cooling winds, and they led us to springs where we could find water and a few dates to eat; and they made 'little rain' for us as long as they could; but finally we were too deep in the desert for such a thing, and we were dying, and I knew I had a child from Khayman in my womb, and I wanted my child to live.
The night Khayman offers them the Dark Gift, there's a tenderness in the way they speak to each other, as he asks for their consent:
" 'Listen to me, witches,' he said, his voice guttural and full of rage. 'Do you want to die tomorrow in fire and smoke before an ignorant populace; or would you fight this evil thing? Would you be its equal and its enemy upon this earth? For what stays the power of mighty men save that of others of the same strength? What stops the swordsman but a warrior of the same mettle? Witches, if they could do this to me, can I not do it to you?' "
It seems clear that "his voice guttural and full of rage" referred to his feelings towards Akasha and Enkil, who he was starting to build an army against, not rage at Maharet and Mekare. Maharet refuses at first, but Mekare accepts it, and then Maharet accepts it from Mekare.
I'll open this to others. Feel free to comment on the notes/reblogs.
