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writing_shadowsThe trial is over. It's done. Aria is alive. She's aching, but she's alive, and even though Velvet is dead, Rosie can't shift the feeling of relief.
"We should go for ice cream, Aria. Like...a celebration. You're still alive. Oh god, I didn't mean to nudge you. Did that hurt your back?"
*********************
Sam's expression is one of sheer horror and someone to the left is moving, fast on their feet, blade already out. Something is happening, someone is screaming and then Rosie looks around to see Aria, being cut to pieces in Steampunk's arms.
*********************
Rex Black has always been a charming lounge lizard. He's a man in a black suit. That's all. Nothing scary. Even though Rosie has heard the stories, knows he used to be a Warlord. But now he's just Rex, the slightly comic ladies man. Only now, that isn't true. He's like a demon, his eyes as dark as death and she can't even think about Aria bleeding or Aria hurting. She's just scrabbling to get away, beating herself against the wall so she doesn't need to see his face.
*********************
"She's still fucking dealing with them."
Drago's voice, heavily accented, and tight with fury.
Aria's response, sharp with fear.
"I was trying to make him go away. I was just trying to make him go back."
Rosie's head and stomach were sick and spinning.
"He only needs one more thing and then he can go back. He needs someone who knows exactly what he is to give their heart to him totally. Then he'll go back. Then he'll leave us alone."
*********************
Carin is covered in blood, sitting in the corner of the room. Aria is in another room now. She's hurt, but alive.
The gig is up. Rosie is quite sure of it now. It's all come spilling out. The deals, the lies, the secrets. She isn't quite sure how Drago knew. She doesn't care, really. Either way, it's done.
She kisses Carin on the cheek. She's healed what she can on him. Now she's got nothing left.
"Love you," she says.
"Love you too," he says. He reaches up and touches her face, and they stand together for a moment in silence.
*********************
In the main room people are shouting again. Blades are in hands and the place stinks of blood. Rosie's oaths are tearing her apart.
It's easier to not be there, to let herself fade into nothingness.
*********************
Outside the wind touches Rosie's face. It feels good. She never felt that before, when she was a statue. But she never felt the tearing inside her.
She remembers her Lord. She remembers the softness of his voice, and the sweetness of his song. She remembers that he loved her, in his way, and that odd security she got from belonging to him totally.
She remembers Worthy, watching her from the water like a crocodile and she remembers the ogre's words.
"Promise me that you won't let yourself or give yourself to be hurt or taken."
Rosie closes her eyes, and does not move for a moment, but tries to lose herself instead in the wind.
*********************
It's best to keep moving. She knows how to dodge normal trackers, although she's not perfect. She doesn't know how to dodge the directional courtiers. Worthy and Rex Black are both out there somewhere, along with the Summer Court and Rosie isn't ready to be found yet. She doesn't touch the ground as she moves, light and insubstantial as air. She bleeds through walls, through trees, through the earth.
She's heading for the water. There's a beach, north of London, where the breakers are fierce and the waves will strip her bare. When she's in the water she'll let it run over her, run through her, and then she'll start to swim.
She doesn't know what she'll do after that.
She just knows that she needs to get the sea. She needs to stand in the breakers. She needs to be clean.
Then maybe she can begin again.
"We should go for ice cream, Aria. Like...a celebration. You're still alive. Oh god, I didn't mean to nudge you. Did that hurt your back?"
Sam's expression is one of sheer horror and someone to the left is moving, fast on their feet, blade already out. Something is happening, someone is screaming and then Rosie looks around to see Aria, being cut to pieces in Steampunk's arms.
Rex Black has always been a charming lounge lizard. He's a man in a black suit. That's all. Nothing scary. Even though Rosie has heard the stories, knows he used to be a Warlord. But now he's just Rex, the slightly comic ladies man. Only now, that isn't true. He's like a demon, his eyes as dark as death and she can't even think about Aria bleeding or Aria hurting. She's just scrabbling to get away, beating herself against the wall so she doesn't need to see his face.
"She's still fucking dealing with them."
Drago's voice, heavily accented, and tight with fury.
Aria's response, sharp with fear.
"I was trying to make him go away. I was just trying to make him go back."
Rosie's head and stomach were sick and spinning.
"He only needs one more thing and then he can go back. He needs someone who knows exactly what he is to give their heart to him totally. Then he'll go back. Then he'll leave us alone."
Carin is covered in blood, sitting in the corner of the room. Aria is in another room now. She's hurt, but alive.
The gig is up. Rosie is quite sure of it now. It's all come spilling out. The deals, the lies, the secrets. She isn't quite sure how Drago knew. She doesn't care, really. Either way, it's done.
She kisses Carin on the cheek. She's healed what she can on him. Now she's got nothing left.
"Love you," she says.
"Love you too," he says. He reaches up and touches her face, and they stand together for a moment in silence.
In the main room people are shouting again. Blades are in hands and the place stinks of blood. Rosie's oaths are tearing her apart.
It's easier to not be there, to let herself fade into nothingness.
Outside the wind touches Rosie's face. It feels good. She never felt that before, when she was a statue. But she never felt the tearing inside her.
She remembers her Lord. She remembers the softness of his voice, and the sweetness of his song. She remembers that he loved her, in his way, and that odd security she got from belonging to him totally.
She remembers Worthy, watching her from the water like a crocodile and she remembers the ogre's words.
"Promise me that you won't let yourself or give yourself to be hurt or taken."
Rosie closes her eyes, and does not move for a moment, but tries to lose herself instead in the wind.
It's best to keep moving. She knows how to dodge normal trackers, although she's not perfect. She doesn't know how to dodge the directional courtiers. Worthy and Rex Black are both out there somewhere, along with the Summer Court and Rosie isn't ready to be found yet. She doesn't touch the ground as she moves, light and insubstantial as air. She bleeds through walls, through trees, through the earth.
She's heading for the water. There's a beach, north of London, where the breakers are fierce and the waves will strip her bare. When she's in the water she'll let it run over her, run through her, and then she'll start to swim.
She doesn't know what she'll do after that.
She just knows that she needs to get the sea. She needs to stand in the breakers. She needs to be clean.
Then maybe she can begin again.
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-11 11:59 pm (UTC)What a crappy day to have been put through...
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Date: 2009-10-12 07:18 am (UTC)And I still don't know entirely if she's going to survive this!
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Date: 2009-10-12 01:56 am (UTC)