17.2

When they materialized upon the magic cloud, the dragon immediately departed for its lair. Dirk followed Zyrdicia into her house in silence. When he had been here before, his attention had been focussed almost entirely upon seducing her. This time, he made a point of noticing the dwelling as they walked through it. The black walls curved seamless like smoked glass. Every portal was wrought of solid silver and carved with exquisite imagery, mostly of herself. Sinister-looking fountains filled the house, the water illuminated with violet light. One such fountain had been built into the entry way floor, its splashing liquid following their footsteps on either side of the walk way. The liquid seemed at once playful and disturbing in its echo of movement.

She led him up a wide, curving, silver staircase to her chambers. "Wait here," she said as she left the room.

"Hurry up then!" Dirk's eyes scanned the sleeping chamber. The bars of the curving silver bed posts consisted of intricate metalwork in the form of writhing masses of demons. It looked more like a gilded cage than a bed, really. Thick, black satin clothed the oval mattress. It was just as he remembered it. His mind lingered fondly over the memory of their first surreal encounter here, many months ago.

After several minutes, when she failed to return quickly, he wondered where she had gone. He opened the door through which she had disappeared, and discovered it led to a dressing room. His gaze fell upon the dressing table and its ruined mirror. A deep gouge from a hard blow by a small object marred its center. A half dozen cracks radiated out upon the glass from the point of impact.

The ring he had given her glittered abandoned amid a few small shards of glass upon the table. The platinum had absorbed the blow admirably. It was undamaged. The prince picked it up, closing his hand around it. She was, indeed, emotionally unstable right now. Her angry reaction to a minor misunderstanding and, more importantly, to the perceived rejection implied by that misunderstanding, astonished him. It also pleased him.

He left the dressing room and returned to her sleeping chamber. Silent, unseen servants had been through and opened black glass doors to a balcony with steps leading down to a terrace. A bottle of wine had been placed out on the terrace, along with a pair of goblets.

17.2.1

Zyrdicia paused in the doorway leading from her sleeping chamber to the terrace. She regarded the man outside silently. He stood enjoying a glass of wine. If he heard her, he gave no indication. For once, she was utterly at a loss for words. She had absolutely no desire to return with him to Karteia.

She was clad in the black hooded robe she used for ceremonial purposes at the Temple. The understated effect of the raised hood was darkly mysterious. It would evoke precisely the right effect with the barons. The only problem was she had not the slightest inclination to evoke any effect in that world right now. It all seemed absurdly insignificant in contrast to her own dolor. She wanted to hide in her dark, magical sanctuary - not face infernal intrigue and manipulation in a distant realm.

The perpetual night of the magical cloud world was warm and pleasant, as always. As she watched Dirk, she expected him to be impatient and annoyed that she had taken so long. To her surprise, he was deep in thought. He did not seem to have minded the long wait for her.

This moment of calm here had been his only respite from the chaos caused by her departure. After the nerve-wracking uncertainty of the past week, the stillness of this place was refreshingly relaxing. The quiet pleased the prince, given the bedlam a castle-full of guests wrecked upon his normally hushed surroundings. The fragrant night air here was a pleasant change from the bitter weather in Karteia. He inhaled deeply and felt the tension of recent events melt away as though dispelled by magic. He realized now that everything was falling into place perfectly. He felt terribly relieved.

He took a long sip of wine, his eyes slowly scanning the strange expanse of magical cloud. He wondered suddenly what secrets the palace contained. Now that she was about to become his wife, he felt entitled to see the entire premises. Without turning around, he noted casually, "I have yet to see the rest of this dwelling."

"Being here at all is more than I've permitted even my closest friends," she replied, surprised that he had been aware of her presence.

"Why?"

"It's an escape from reality. Its secrecy is part of that."

"When we have more time, I want you to show me the rest of it."

Zyrdicia was startled by the request. She was unsure how to respond. She had already shown him too much of the place, she feared - not that he could ever access it without magic. On the other hand, the serenity of the space filtered out worries of Sephiroth games and Southern conquest. As she pondered it, she wondered whether bringing him here for a few days would dispel the bitterness and bring back the laughter in her world. "Maybe someday," she answered, suspecting that someday meant never.

A long silence settled between them. At this moment, she regretted agreeing to the deal to return to Karteia. She should have found another way to destroy Azriok and Zyr. A rift had opened between herself and Dirk on the night Baal arrived, and that rift had yet to be bridged. The infatuated obsession that had framed the previous mirth, delight and power-tinged affection now lingered just out of reach. It had seemed to reconstitute itself last night, only to promptly disintegrate.

Had she stayed away the first time, and never returned after the aborted Midsummer kiss, none of this would be necessary. Azriok would not have turned on her. Baal would have had no need to bother her. Her life would have continued as it was. Now she had lost not only that prior existence, but also the very brief, blissful one from the previous months in Karteia. From her current vantage point, everything seemed to have collapsed upon itself. In a very real sense, Baal had won.

"Will it ever again be like it was before I left Grand Kirilia?" she wondered quietly, her tone suggesting she knew the answer already.

"I've no idea. If you stop running away, perhaps."

"I would say that I wish that night hadn't happened," she whispered, "but it was inevitable. I should not have come back. I should have told you 'no' when you came to Lyr."

Dirk watched her face as she stared at the sky above. The conversation made very little sense to him. The despondent tone of her voice unnerved him, though. He perceived in it an unexpected admission that their estrangement caused her distress. He offered reluctantly, "Had I known the danger, I would have kept you in the villa with me that night in Kirlia."

"You can't protect me from them. No one can."

"It seems they only strike at you when you're alone - in Kirilia, in the library, on the astral plane, when you dream. I intend to keep track of you more carefully henceforth."

"That is impossible. You used to watch me in the monocle all the time."

"You knew about that?"

"Of course I knew. You sometimes woke up in the middle of the night just to watch me destroy a piece of Camarand. You could only see because I permitted it."

"You must have enjoyed being watched, then."

"Yes," she confessed.

"Tell me, what do the demons really want from you? This cannot simply be about coercing procreation."

"Of course it is. They want to use my power for their ends. What else does anyone ever want from me?" she answered, meeting his gaze.

He could not deny that he wanted the same thing from her. They both knew the truth of it. Hiding the motive in lies was pointless and unnecessary. Something about the implied comparison bothered him, though. He had additional motives, motives that could never be acknowledged between them. Her current demeanor made him suspect that she did also.

"It's not as though you aren't getting what you want from our arrangement as well," he said defensively. Dirk had no idea what else to say to retrieve her from whatever grim psychological abyss she had tumbled into. He frankly found it annoying, given the timing. The baronial council was meeting later in the day. Permitting her to go to the ascension meeting with such a demeanor might prove disastrous. He took her hand and slipped the ring back onto her finger. Seeing the confusion in her eyes that it was again in his possession, his lips curled slightly as he warned, "Breaking mirrors is renowned to have dire consequences."

"As am I."

"Oh, but I'm well aware of the consequences associated with you. And the benefits." Her fingers entwined around his as he spoke. The touch tingled as though a very faint electric current had passed through them both. The strange sensation served as a powerful reminder of what they both craved. The hood of her robe fell back as she moved to him hesitantly. Another silence ensued as they lingered in an uncertain embrace. She sighed gratefully, needing the touch.

"I'm sorry," she whispered finally.

"For what?" Dirk asked cautiously. He was still eager to hear her express contrition for her behavior in Lyr, and most especially for her affair with the assassin.

"For drawing you into the war in Hell."

Of all the things she could have apologized for, that was the one he least expected. "I never enter a war I don't intend to win," he whispered confidently.

She looked into his eyes and caressed his psyche tentatively. Even in that initial, flirtatious connection, she knew he intuitively sensed how much her power had changed. The stolen energy from Azriok was palpable and crackled in every synapse. The connection had been so familiar, so often explored in the preceding months that it was impossible not to notice a new composition to the power she used within it. The sheer volume of the diabolic energy flowing through her now stunned Dirk. Something profound had changed within her, and the sensation was nothing short of spectacular. The hunger to explore the newness of the power landscape made its pull irresistible.

Just as they gave in to that tug, a voice whose supernatural cadence they both recognized announced, "I'm so very proud of you both. You are behaving appropriately for a change."

"Astaroth," Zyrdicia groaned without having to turn and look. "Must you always interrupt us with imprudent timing? Go away!"

"Don't you wish to learn why Zyr's messenger has contacted you?" The angel used human speech in order to assure Zyrdicia's mortal companion could understand him.

"NO!" Dirk and Zyrdicia shouted in unison, both turning to focus exasperated glares upon the invading presence.

The dark angel looked miffed. He was, after all, a very important figure in the cosmos. He was unused to mortals being disinterested in his message. He failed to understand why they found such timing irritating. "You have no choice," Astaroth said petulantly.

"That will teach me not to lock the gate to this world when I come home. Get on with it," she snarled.

"Azriok has a minion in Aparans. A very dangerous minion who puts our endeavor at risk. This minion means you both harm."

"Who?" Zyrdicia demanded.

"A powerful spell-caster has made a pact with the Fairest Sephiroth. We intercepted a magical communication passing out of Tenaebra to this minion."

"That narrows the possibilities to either my Wizard or my Witch," Dirk commented, still irritated. "Which one?"

"I do not know. I truly cannot tell the difference between them. Kill them both and you shall have no need to wonder," the angel advised helpfully.

"Is that all?" Zyrdicia inquired hopefully.

"Yes, my dears, that warning is my only reason for the visit. That, and to watch centuries of our handiwork in action. I never tire of watching it." Astaroth smiled smugly down upon them like a wicked cupid.

Zyrdicia expression changed suddenly as an idea occurred to her. Dirk's eyes narrowed as he watched a strategy taking form behind her eyes. Her head whipped around as she turned and stared at the angel.

"We could foil that handiwork, Astaroth," she hissed. "Nothing is certain for you, and you know it. We could maintain stasis like this for decades, without ever confronting a need to procreate for Zyr."

"And I could entrap you in a nightmare again and leave you there for several years to ponder that strategy," the angel scoffed, bored.

Zyrdicia pulled away from Dirk to approach Astaroth menacingly. The prince was surprised she had no fear of the entity, given her recent painful experience with another of its kind.

Astaroth retreated warily as she approached, his black wings twitching quickly against the air. She growled, "You can't entrap me any more and you know it. The era in which you could restrict my access to magic has ended forever. You know very well whose power I now have at my disposal, and it terrifies you. I outrank you in the Hierarchy now!"

"Every entity in Tenaebra knows you extorted Azriok's power from him by threatening to die. It was very clever, and he is quite angry. Your irresponsible foray into the Underworld only increased his rage. He expects to get his soul back from you when he devours you."

"At least I know he cannot kill me now."

"True. You are now immune from Death's call. But for your capacity to breed and your lack of wings, you are one of us. Pity you don't yet know how to use the full extent the power at your disposal." Astaroth paused, then smiled wickedly. "And it seems you are having a difficult time coping with the blood hunger. Laughter of scores of Sephiroth echoed through every recess in Hell as we watched you today."

"This time it's my turn to laugh," Zyrdicia scowled. She made a gesture in the air quickly, causing a purple rune to hang in the air.

Astaroth's eyes flashed in panic. "How did you do that?"

"The bind-rune for Baal wasn't the only one I unearthed. Now it is you who are trapped. My cleverness is not limited to outsmarting Azriok and Baal, my messenging friend. You, too, will give me what I want, or I shall make good on my threat not to breed, and I'll trap you in Hell out of spite. I've learned that the same magic in the City of Angels that can help me spawn can also make it possible to destroy my capacity to breed forever. If you aren't careful, your final act as messenger will be to take my ovaries to Zyr as a 'gift' from me."

"Don't be foolish. We've always been very generous in giving you everything your heart desires. We sent the greatest army ever to leave Hell in order to retrieve you from the Underworld. We even secured your new immortality. What more could you possibly want? Is it the lack of wings that upsets you?"

"Hm. . ." Zyrdicia thought a moment. She had not anticipated him giving in so easily. Her threat was as impromptu as his visit. The ploy was purely an experiment to see if her intuition was correct about the value of Azriok's power. She was silent a moment then demanded, "Two more Annihilation Spheres, to start."

"Asking for wings would have been less obnoxious. There are only six Annihilation Spheres left in existence. You already have three of them!"

"In that case, I want three more rather than two. I had thought there were only five. I'm so glad you corrected me. I want all of them. And. . ." She thought again. It was not often opportunities like this came along. The problem was that it came at a time when she already had almost everything he had the power to grant. She looked at Dirk and asked, "Did he cause trouble in your world while I was gone?"

"Yes. He is to reverse all the havoc he caused!"

Astaroth looked slightly sheepish when she turned to glare at him. He sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "The damage to Castle Tronin is being reversed as we speak. By the time the sun rises in that world, the castle will be impregnable. The loss of the ships and gold, however, I cannot undo. The ships lost at sea have been digested by a sea monster already. You'll have to make due with half a fleet. The gold went to Mammon's treasury in Hell in payment of a debt. I cannot retrieve it. Any men who died on the battlefield as a result of my meddling also cannot be brought back. They are dead, and there are rules about those sorts of things. I'm afraid the castle is the best I can do."

"Liar," Zyrdicia scolded. "Make the sea monster answer to us. We can use the beast to harass Camarand's harbor in lieu of the lost ships. And the troops you can return as undead, loyal to the North."

"Done. Speaking my name will summon your new minions to do your bidding. Are we finished?"

Zyrdicia looked at Dirk again and arched an eyebrow, "Any other wishes I can have granted for you today?"

Astaroth interjected, "He is already getting far more from us than any mortal should dare ask. Realizing his dream of conquest shall be his reward. That is quite enough!"

Dirk ignored the angel, his mind plotting quickly. He knew there were limits to what Astaroth was capable of granting - he could not grant mastery over Zyrdicia, for example. Dirk believed that particular matter was already satisfactorily resolved, though. Everything else he wanted was also already falling into place -- conquest, the crown, annihilation of his enemies. Still, there was one loose end to be dealt with.

"I want Bethel's monocle!" he announced quickly.

Astaroth looked from the prince to Zyrdicia. She prodded, "The magic shard, get it for him! And my Annihilation Spheres. I will release you to fetch those things. If you don't return in a quarter of an hour, I will force you to meet me on the astral plane instead. I will do to you what I did to Baal, and Azriok before him."

"That won't be necessary," the angel smiled with deceptive congeniality. "Fulfilling your wishes when you have done so much to fulfil ours is my pleasure."

She released the bind-rune, and Astaroth disappeared.