Between Darkness and Light Trilogy (37 page)

When we return to the bar, he seems rather
flushed. “I like the way you… move.”

“I’ve always liked the way dancing frees the
mind from the body, or maybe it is the body being freed of the
mind…” I don’t think he hears my words, as I speak he draws nearer,
putting one arm around my waist, the other reaching toward my
cheek. He pulls me closer, and tilts his head down toward mine.
He’s going to kiss me! I don’t know how… don’t panic, Shi'ahn –
don’t ruin it all now! What do I do? Follow his lead, echo back his
own actions, that should work. Our lips meet, then his tongue
brushes my upper lip, almost as if he is tasting me. I taste him
back, and suddenly his tongue presses between my lips and begins
exploring my mouth! After a moment of shock, I begin echoing his
exploration. Yet more warmth spreads through my body.

“You’re an uninhibited one – care to blow
this joint for someplace a bit more private?”

Words fail me – I’m actually breathing
heavily, all I can manage is to silently nod. Taking me by the
hand, he leads me further back into the bar – we pass some unusual
groups… men sitting around tables playing cards, looking as though
the weight of life itself hangs upon the next draw. I find myself
beginning to feel some trepidation, and by the time we reach what
is obviously a bedroom-like ‘entertainment’ room, I’m not so sure I
should be doing this.

He is quite perceptive, “Don’t worry – this
is my private room, this place is mine, after all.”

“It is? I didn’t realize.”

He looks surprised again, “I had thought
earlier you simply hadn’t recognized me in person – I’m well known
around here after all.”

I have no idea why he smiles as he does when
he says that – it is as if he fully expects everyone in the world
to know who he is. “I’m… not from around here.”

“Well, that would explain why I don’t
recognize your lovely…” his eyes glide down my figure and
lingeringly work their way back up; “face.”

I’ve never been looked at or spoken to in
this way before; I feel… warm. Especially my face. My heart races,
I haven’t felt such intense anticipation before - it’s
exhilarating! He leads me over to a very large bed. Is this it? Do
I finally get to feel what everyone else feels? Instead of sitting
down, he picks me up in his arms and kisses me again, hungrily. I
continue to follow his lead, exploring his mouth, dancing with his
tongue. My fingers unconsciously reach up to entwine in his hair as
I have seen many others do in the past, but I encounter only
spikes… Instead I gently caress the skin between each spike. He
seems surprised, but then he shudders and his kiss intensifies. I’m
so caught up in the moment I don’t notice we are moving until I
feel myself laid down on the bed. Without any pause or break in our
kiss, he begins to pull down my dress. Its elasticity proves
perfect; I lose my ability to even think as he caresses each inch
he uncovers. The only thing that breaks through my personal bliss
is his moan as he caresses my hips, finding proof that the dress is
truly all that I wear.

Time loses meaning to me as he moves his
hands, my dress and finally his lips lower and lower, until my
dress is tossed to the floor. He pulls back slightly then, I like
the look in his eyes. Although it is dangerously close to worship
it is different from that which has always plagued me, it is based
on wanting, filled with lust.

“Beautiful, you are astoundingly beautiful.”
Then his expression turns slightly playful, “Truly, a meal fit for
a King.”

In an amazingly fluid motion he rolls over
onto his back while taking hold of my waist, and lifts me up over
him… I feel him against me, hard and hot, and he begins to lower
me, ever so slowly. This is it! An unbidden song of joyful
anticipation explodes in my mind, escaping the tight control I have
kept over my music. A cold voice intrudes upon my senses.

“Warning, unexplained phenomena in
progress.” Our rapturous moment ends before it is even begun, I
silence my music, but it is too late.

Rock abruptly ends our kiss and pulls
slightly away, “Explain, what is the source of the unexplained
phenomena?”

“The woman in your embrace.” His encircling
arms change from strong yet infinitely gentle to hard as steel.

“What is it, sorcery?”

“Unknown – it is not a method of sorcery
with which I am familiar.” Rock has held my gaze throughout the
conversation, his eyes becoming colder by the moment.

“Who are you, my pretty?” The very same
words when he uttered them earlier had been appreciative and
inviting, but now they are an accusation – it isn’t fair!

“It doesn't matter! I swear, I am no danger
to you! Please forget about this; please!”

“Computer, provide full identification
profile of Maiair.”

“She is not in my memory banks.”

“Then access external data-banks!”

“Wait! Rock, please don't do this. Who I am
is unimportant, I promise you, I am no threat to you or your
realm.”

“I cannot lie with an unknown and
potentially dangerous partner.”

“But I swear I am no threat to you, just
ignore such concerns, make love to me, please!”

He looks at me contemplatively, as though a
part of him wishes to agree while another part warns against, then
his eyes harden and he lifts me away from him and steps off of the
bed, looking coldly down at me. “Computer, link to external
data-banks; identify this woman.”

I stand as well, “Computer! Initiate
override code 'Cantator Borealis!' Do not link to external network
systems! Do not take any further actions until I allow it.”

A pause, then, “Override accepted.” Rock
bursts out, “What the…”

I don't let him get any further, I spin out
of his grasp and tap just the right spot on the back of his head to
send him to the floor. I catch him, of course, and lower him gently
onto his bed. I haven't a choice, I remove Rock’s memory of me. I
just can't leave it at that, though, he may have stopped
prematurely, but he had still given me a deeper understanding of
what couples share in the night than I had possessed before. I
caress his brow, “Thank you, my Rock, for showing me as much as you
have of what it is that causes the voices of my people to rise
above the wind in the night. Such beauty, such… I don't have the
words to describe it. You have both my thanks and… my blessing. May
you live a long, healthy and happy life, my Rock.” I let my gaze
linger momentarily on the man that so recently had turned my mind
to impassioned fire, then glance up toward the ceiling. “Computer,
purge all memory of my visit here. If this were to become known,
Rock’s life could be forfeit; my people would not understand. After
I am gone and a proper time for my escape has elapsed, you are to
resume normal functions and serve Rock to the best of your ability.
Keep him safe. Someday, maybe someday, I will be able to return to
him.”

That done, I dress and leave the room but
encounter Max just outside. I also remove his memory of me, then
run out past all those still in the outer room, erasing memories as
I go. My heart floods with sorrow.

~~~

The water around me cools… I return to the
surface, then to consciousness. I awake to my lonely bed, my pillow
damp with tears. I’m alone with no one to witness my weakness, no
one to know my secret, that I have desperately sought love, and yet
no man has ever held me through the night. That, try as I have, I
have never taken part in the ceremony of life. I allow my sorrow to
wash over and through me, and cry freely as I haven’t since Mathair
was taken away.

***

Lucian had of course directed her dream to
some extent, trying to learn more about this fascinating flower of
seeming innocence. The wide variety of emotions she has invoked in
him had caused him to doubt her sincerity – how could she have so
completely forgiven him for his past neglect? True, he had cast a
mild compelling upon her to get her talking freely, but it
shouldn't have been enough to gain the status of confidant. To have
thrown herself, laughing, into his arms. He had decided that
delving deeply into her mind would reveal any likelihood of
deception, but instead he found her apparent purity to be true, not
only physically as he has already learned, but emotionally as well.
She was lonely, terribly lonely, and couldn't really help but to
react positively to his kind treatment; like a moth to the flame.
Normally, such innocence would not interest him so, but this young
woman… she’s strong and self reliant in most circumstances, had
been willing to forfeit her life in an attempt to avert the coming
war, and yet she is also fragile and forgiving. She is family, but
not so close as to be forbidden fruit. Truly a breath of fresh air
to one who had thought he had seen it all; had thought he had
experienced every kind of woman that existed. He cannot, however,
blindly trust her. How had she managed to cross into the sacred
circle? She is so naive, could she take another with her – someone
that she mistakenly trusted? She troubles him, and yet he feels, to
his astonishment, protective of her. He buries that thought deep
within his mind, and carefully orders his thoughts – it's time to
prepare his report to his father.

Chapter
20

Status Report

Lucian pauses outside the Emperor's office,
steeling himself for an unwelcome ordeal. He can't lie to the
Emperor, and yet he can't find it within himself to share all he
has learned. He was, however, designed by the Emperor himself to be
the best spy in existence – and what spy can't misdirect?

The Emperor looks expectantly to his
inquisitor, “Well, Lucian, what do you have for me so far?”

“Nothing, essentially; they’re all innocent
in this situation. Although each has a slightly different
perspective, their stories correspond appropriately. They all
agree, though for differing reasons, that Nero was indeed not Nero
at all, but was undoubtedly of our blood. Someone powerful, but not
particularly wise.”

“So what have you learned of our most recent
relatives?”

“William is concerned primarily about
Shi'ahn. I did not admit to him that she had returned, I instead
asked him where she was, and it has him quite upset. Apparently he
is not used to being separated from her during stressful situations
– and since he has ascended the Path while she has not, he feels
responsible for her safety instead of the other way around, as it
had always been with them in the past.”

“And what about Shi'ahn?”

“She troubles me. She’s so…”

“Astoundingly inexperienced, seemingly
shallow and simple, yet disturbingly powerful? Dangerous?”

“No, not at all, she’s… pure. Would you
believe that she actually tried to stay behind in Chaos, as a
symbol of Lumina's innocence in the Magni Dominar's murder? And no,
she wasn't lying, all of them have confirmed it. She is… the
ultimate innocent.”

The Emperor laughs, “And you’re keeping her
in your little pleasure palace – yes, I had noticed that she wasn’t
being kept down in the dungeons with the rest. I decided it
wouldn’t hurt anything if you had a little fun in this process; she
isn’t a particularly close relative, after all.”

“I happen to have been experimenting on her.
I dropped the shielding I usually maintain in the suite to protect
my 'guests' from the effects of being so close to the Spire; it
didn't affect her in the slightest. She is most undoubtedly one of
us. I have also been conducting her interrogation in a way that is,
I'm sure, far more productive than a dungeon stay would have
allowed.”

“Alright, alright. So what did you learn of
her?”

“Beyond the fact that she is absolutely
innocent?” Begin with the intriguing, but fairly unimportant. “She
is a consummate musician, well beyond what is outwardly
obvious.”

“Yes, yes, we all know she incessantly
projects fairly complicated music.”

“No, I mean physical performance. I had
planted a wide variety of instruments in the room, and when she did
not play any of them I suspected she couldn’t – so I invited her to
play a duet with me. I expected her to decline, but her joyful look
of expectation convinced me to capture the event for later
analysis.”

“What did you find?”

“A far brighter young woman than I had
previously suspected.

“Did you stress test her?”

“I did.”

“At what point did she break?”

“She didn’t. I ran out of instruments to
give her – she sometimes gazed at them momentarily, but then played
each flawlessly.”

“How many did she handle at once?”

“Nine, and she didn’t even break a sweat.
The medical scans were particularly revealing – she has a highly
ordered and nearly entirely utilized brain.”

“She was using all she had for your test
then?”

“Not for the playing, no. Near full
utilization occurred only during the moments when I presented her
with a new instrument that I can only assume she was not familiar
with. Then the segment that glowed the brightest during her
analysis would take over control of the instrument.”

“And just how did she control them?”

“She used her unusual control of vibration.
It is far more adaptable than I had seen evidence of before. As I
added instruments her use of it became almost transparent, as
though it was nothing to her – purely natural and without any
effort whatsoever.”

“Interesting. Did she appear to have an
understanding of the underlying form of the music, or was she
merely extemporizing?”

“She showed excellent understanding and
initiated some very artistic transitions of her own. I expect she
will likely grow to become the most skilled musician in this
family.”

“It sounds harmless, but… I do not trust the
girl, I’ve never trusted that family line.”

“She did say something that took me by
surprise. She quite seriously asked me if I was her father.”