Going home

The smile that Rika bestowed on the driver was heartbreaking. The driver's breath caught in his throat as he waited for her answer.

"Yes, this is exactly where I need to be, thank you." Rika said handing him a small purse of jade.

He quickly pulled his hand back, shaking his head with a horrified look. "No Lady, I can't take that from you, not if I am leaving you here in Iceholm. Please reconsider, I can still take you back to Berg's Crossing. It might not look like much but it would be far safer than leaving you here. Please Lady."

"No, this is where I wanted to be, nothing on your head. Take it and make sure this message gets back to Nexus for me." She smiled up at him sadly, handing him a letter.

He hesitated a moment, torn by his need to leave and his wish to take her away from this place with him. "Very well, Lady." He said finally sounding defeated.

"Make sure this gets to Silent Blade at Rose Thorne Manor. You can't miss it, and tell her I'm sorry . . . Women are so much more vicious than men, she should remember that when she searches for Tear." She
said, knowing that the man would not understand, but would pass on her message faithfully.

"Of course Lady," he said looking confused.

The driver watched her for a moment as she turned to go. Her figure weaving through the mass of strangers going warily about their business. A shiver spread up his spine as she finally disappeared from sight.

************

"What am I doing here, this was a bad idea." Rika muttered as she moved silently through the last of the dead trees surrounding the Fortress. She paused in front of a large black door, flanked on either side by two statues standing fifteen feet tall. The resemblance was remarkable.

Rika took an involuntary step back as one of the Lions lowered its head to her level. "What is your business here child of the Wyld? Do you know where you now stand?" It asked baring its fangs.

"I am a servant of the Lover, come to her home for her pleasure," Rika answered, and if her voice wasn't completely steady no one could blame her as the lion scrutinized her closely.

After what felt like an eternity the great lion stood back up, without a word being spoken the great door swung inward. The sights that greeted Rika as she walked through that door made her steps falter, though she knew the depraved things she was going to see when she decided to come back. She drew in a deep, steadying breath as she walked through the mass of dead surrounding the front door, ignoring the looks and whispers her appearance generated among the other occupants of the Fortress. She forced her eyes to focus on the crystalline door at the end of the great hall.

"I only have to make it to that door," she muttered to herself, not allowing herself to dwell on what and who she would face once those doors closed behind her.

************

"Well, well, well . . . what do we have here?" Rika visibly tensed in her kneeling position as the woman walking around her lifted a piece of her silken, gold hair and let it slip through her fingers.

The Lover was breathtaking. She easily surpassed Rika, who is a celebrated beauty throughout the Scavenger Lands. However, any sane person given a choice between the two would choose Rika every time.  Where Rika gave off the same aura of sensuality the Lover did, it was somehow sweet. Rika promised nothing but pleasure. The Lover, on the other hand, while far more beautiful gave off an aura of deadly cruelty and menace, a promise of pleasure laced unbearably with pain and suffering.

"Your brother will not be happy to learn that you have come back to me Pet. He pays dearly for your continued freedom. Why have you come back? Have you grown bored now that you have had so many years of freedom?" the Lover whispered into her ear as she caressed the side of Rika's neck.

Rika shuddered, her skin crawling, desperately trying to pull itself away from the Lover's touch. Rika kept herself still by shear force of will. The only outward sign of her fear was her eyes, which were currently looking blankly at a wall as she tried to quell the terror welling up within her at the Lover's knowing touch.

The Lover laughed quietly "Why so tense little one, this will be nothing new to you?"

Rika gasped and tears sprang to her eyes as the Lover grabbed a handful of her golden hair, jerking her head back sharply, forcing Rika to look into her dead eyes. "This should be highly entertaining Pet. I'm so happy you came home for a visit." She smiled as Rika trembled in her arms.

************

"Welcome back, things were far too quiet without you here to entertain the mistress." Advantageous Pleasure said as Rika passed her in the hall. She chuckled cruelly as Rika slipped past her in the hall, never taking her eyes from the floor. "I'm sure your brother will be thrilled to see you. I will make sure to send Agony by so you can have a complete family reunion."

Rika pause for a moment, allowing Pleasure to turn the corner before she knocked lightly on the door at the end of the hallway.

"Come in," a muffled voice said from the other side of the door.

Rika drew in a deep breath, slipping silently through the door, latching it closed behind her. She stopped a few feet into the room, not sure what to say or where to start. She watched her brother put a book onto the shelf behind his desk. "Coil," she whispered into the quiet room.

Coil spun around, a shocked look on his face, the book fell unheeded to the ground with a loud thud. For a moment all you could hear was his harsh breathing as his brain took a moment to fully realize the ramifications of her presence. "Rika . . . what?" he said incoherently as he closed his eyes taking a steadying breath. "What in Malfeas are you doing here; if she finds out you're here she will assume you came back to her." He whispered in a voice that sent chills up her back; she had never seen him this angry.

Rika couldn't meet his eyes as he came around the desk, "What were you thinking, were you thinking at all?" he yelled as he stormed towards her.

Despite her resolve to stand her ground against her brother she felt the door press into her back as she unconsciously backed away from his anger. She trembled as tears started to fill her eyes, bringing her hands up to fend him off.

"Rika . . ." Coil whispered as her tears forced his anger to recede.  "What have you done?" he asked as he reached out, taking her trembling form into his arms.

"I couldn't just leave her here. You know how she will be treated." Rika whispered, trying to suppress a wince as Coil's arms came to rest on her back, and failing miserably in the attempt.

Coil took a step back from her, looking into her eyes. "You've already seen her haven't you? How could you do this Rika? I've kept you safe, now you know I can do nothing to protect you any longer."  He said as he walked around behind her. "Let me see, have you had them cleaned?"

With a silent nod Rika slipped the silk over her shoulders and down her back, wincing at Coils angry intake of breath. "I knew what I was doing when I came here Coil, I knew the consequences. You may not think she is worth this, but I had to know if she was alright, I had to know if there was anything I could do. You know they will come for her. If I am here, maybe I can do something to help them get her out. I had to try . . ."

"I know . . . I'm sorry, I got her into this situation. She doesn't deserve it, but I had to." Coil said, walking back to his desk as Rika finished buttoning her shirt.

"Why?" Rika asked quietly, hoping that this time he would answer the question.

"Agony . . ." he said simply, taking a seat behind the desk.

Rika closed her eyes as she realized why he had helped them capture Tear. The irony, giving up one sister they barely knew to save one who didn't want to be saved. Rika walked over to the desk, wrapping her arms around her brothers shoulders from behind. It was all the comfort she could offer him as the impossible choices he had been forced to make tore his soul apart in front of her eyes. She had never seen her brother cry, but she felt him shudder in her arms as the realization of all he had lost came crashing down on him.