The Witch And The Other One
Part 5
If
there was one person Marcus hated more than anyone, or anything in the world,
it was Naomi of Pyrope. There was no way he could ever forgive her for
destroying his prized crossbow, throwing him into Lord Corwin's dungeon and
attempting to ruin his entire life in general, all when he barely been able to
protect himself.
Which
was why he, like everyone else around her, was so irritated at his sudden
concern for her.
If
what Christine was saying had any merit, Naomi was in a lot of trouble and not
bound to get out of it alive. Witch versus fairy dealings never ended with more
than one survivor, he knew.
Then,
again, he thought, Chris could just be delirious and Naomi could be
causing more trouble again. But if that's true, why don't I believe it?
Marcus
sighed, got up from his bed and went out into the hall. He wasn't going to
sleep tonight until he'd found out the truth, so why not get it over with?
It
was some time before Marcus returned from Naomi's bedroom. He had seen it all,
the witch, the spell and Naomi in her newly submissive state. He had only
looked on in silence, and if she had noticed, which she surely must have, she
had taken no notice of him. She was certainly under a very heavy enchantment,
one she was not likely to survive. But does any of that matter, really?,
he thought to himself. Isn't she just getting what she deserves now? Again,
his mind did not want to agree, and after seeing Christine adamant defense of
the woman, he wasn't sure whose side to take.
With
this on his mind, he went downstairs to the weapon room and pulled out his
crossbow. He had a lot of thinking to do and, as Target had always told him,
"A man's best thoughts come when he's polishing wood and steel."
When
Naomi awoke, she knew it was time. Staying here only put off the inevitable.
She got up from her bed, straightened her clothes a little, absently checked
for her missing weapons, then walked out of the door. She knew that she'd
somehow gotten to Daina, but how that had happened was still a mystery. The
best thing to do, she decided, was to go back, find her weapons and 'port
herself back to take her punishment from Renil. She was only bothering to look
for her weapons, not for protection, but because dying without them seemed
wrong somehow.. The gun she needed, at any rate, to transport herself back.
Robin
being no where in sight, Naomi searched the floor until she found Robin's
doorway back to Daina's subconscious. Her own death entered her head
momentarily and she pushed it away to concentrate on finding her energy gun.
But
with that thought of death, Naomi thought about Daina. Naomi had never believed
that Daina held some god-like status over her being until the day she shot her.
Then she had known that even if Daina hadn't created all Naomi knew and had ever
heard of, she definitely had connections with someone who did. Of course, Naomi
had long since given up on hoping Daina would protect her from Renil. That was
beyond anyone's control now.
A
door opened and Naomi spun around. "Naomi?" came a sleepy voice.
"Christine!"
Naomi hissed. "Go back to bed!"
"Naomi,
where are you going?" Christine asked, becoming more awake and insistent
as she spoke. "You can't leave, you'll be killed!"
"Go
back to bed, Christ..." Naomi began, rushing down the hall as silently as
possible toward her. Another door opened, this time the one Naomi had just come
from. Robin stepped into the hallway and stared blankly at Naomi.
"What
are you doing?" she asked accusingly.
Before
anyone could speak, Daina's door opened as well. "What the..." she
began, looking at Naomi.
"Jeez!"
Naomi muttered, then, grabbing Christine, she backed into Christine's room and
locked the door. Hurried footsteps approached the door along with muffled
curses from both Robin and Daina.
"Open
the door, Naomi, or I'll come in with my own door!!!" Daina bellowed,
pounding on the door.
"You
come in this room, I kill this kid!" Naomi snapped. Outside the
room, there was complete silence.
"No,
she won't!" Chris yelled.
"You
shut up!" Naomi said, turning on Christine with a vengeance. "And sit
down."
Christine
held her defiant gaze for a minute, then as Naomi advanced toward her, she sat
down heavily on the bed. "You have to tell them you're not doing
anything to me!" Christine said.
"No,"
said Naomi, rubbing her hands and looking around the room. She started pacing
nervously as Christine demanded,
"Tell
them!"
"Would
you shut up for a minute?" Naomi asked.
"If
you don't tell them, I will!" Christine threatened, standing
up.
"Keep
your voice down!" Naomi hissed. In response, Christine opened her mouth
and let out a tea kettle scream that only stopped after Naomi grabbed her,
clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her to the corner of the room.
"Shut up!" she whispered viciously. "You are so stupid!
Just like a kid! What makes you think that just because I say, 'I'm bad,
but I don't really mean it', they're gonna believe me? What am I gonna say?
'Oh, by the way, guys, the reason I'm all PMS is because some Valorian witch is
out to make sure I don't renege on a slave deal we made'. Forget it!"
Christine
yanked Naomi's hand away from her mouth and said, "Then I'll tell
them!"
"What
makes you, a small obnoxious child, more believable than me?"
"Because
I don't lie," said Chris proudly.
"Yeah,
but you can be coerced into saying something you don't want to, which is exactly
why they thought I was hurting you before and exactly why they think I'm
hurting you now! Don't you remember, I'm the ruthless bitch that slipped
into your happy little lives before and betrayed everybody! Why would I suddenly
change colors now?" Naomi finished. Christine looked at Naomi sorrowfully.
"But
you have changed," she whimpered, beginning to cry.
"No,
I haven't," Naomi said tiredly, sitting down in a chair across the
room and staring off into space. "It's just your point of view has
shifted."
Christine
edged toward her, then put a hand on her arm. "So has yours," she
said. "I saw you in my dream, Naomi. I saw all of this in my dream. You're
not...you're not the mean fairy I thought you were. I don't think you ever
were. And I don't want you to die now that I'm just beginning to understand
you."
Naomi
turned to look at Christine and their eyes met. For a moment, Christine saw the
Naomi she'd seen before; vulnerable and approachable. Naomi began to speak,
then stopped and started again. "I guess my point of view has changed, a
little," she said, avoiding Christine's outpouring of emotion. "If it
hadn't, I swear you'd be in a puddle of your own blood by now and I'd be outta
here."
Christine
gave her a wry smirk. "I think you're wonderful, too," she said. Then
she gasped in sudden realization. "Naomi...that man I saw in my
dream...that was him, wasn't it? The one who put the enslavement spell on
you!"
"Obviously,"
she muttered.
Christine
was shocked. She'd known Naomi was in trouble, but not this much. All fairies
knew that a Valorian witch's enslavement spell on any magic being was
permanent. It gave the caster complete use of that being's power until it ran
out. With beings who were made completely of magic power, like fairies, it was
certain death. "I had that spell cast on me before, Naomi, and I nearly
died," Christine said in a small voice.
"I
know that, kid," Naomi said, turning away.
"And
you can't escape it by running away, either."
"I
know that, too."
"But
if you stay here, he can't ever get to you!" Christine said excitedly.
"I mean, he wasn't able to before! We could tell Daina and maybe she
can..."
"No!!!"
Naomi turned and grabbed Christine by the shoulders. "Look, you may never
understand this, but I cannot ask your sister for help, ever! I don't
need it and I don't want it. All I want is to go out and face this and
get it over with."
"But
that means you'll die, Naomi!" Christine said. "You know it
does! And you don't have to!"
"Make
a door to the outside, Christine," said Naomi, standing up and backing
off. "Now. And it has to disappear the moment I go through it."
"No!"
Christine said, running to the door and leaning against it. "I won't help
you kill yourself."
"You
will," said Naomi, walking toward her, "because you don't want your
sister to get hurt."
"You
won't do that because you know it'll hurt me," Christine replied.
"I've
done it before," she said. She pulled her gun out of the holster and
brushed Christine away from the door with a cool indifference.
"That
was different." Christine said, wedging back in between Naomi and the
door.
"Exactly,"
Naomi said, pushing her away again. "I wasn't desperate to escape
before." She aimed her gun at the door and said, "Okay, you can come
on in now."
"Chris..."
they heard Daina's voice say, just as the door started to open.
"Wait!"
Christine yelled, blocking the door. The movement on the other side halted.
"Okay, I'll do it!" Christine looked up at Naomi, who backed up from
the door a step, still ready to jump out and fire if need be. "You really
want to do this, don't you?"
Naomi
got down one knee and took Christine's hand. "I really don't want to live
my life in fear under your sister's protection," she said, looking
straight into Christine's watery eyes. "I have to do this. Can you
understand that?"
Chris
began to cry softly and threw her arms around Naomi's neck. Naomi, gun in hand,
knelt awkwardly for a moment next to the child. She set it down and gingerly
encircled Christine with her arms, as if afraid to touch her, then suddenly
hugged her tightly, as if afraid to let go.
A
door appeared behind them and Naomi stood up, still holding on to Christine.
Chris could feel Naomi steeling herself and clung to her tightly.
"Please," Naomi whispered simply. "Please."
Slowly,
Christine let her go until she only had hold of her hand. Naomi looked down at
her, then shoved her away with such force that Christine was thrown back to the
room's door. "I'm sorry," Naomi said briefly, then she turned, ran
through the door Christine had created and was gone.
Christine
leapt to her feet and ran for the door, but was thrown back again by a blast
that tore the door itself to pieces. "Naomi!!!" she screamed.
"Nooooo!!!"
The
door to the room opened and Daina rushed in, scooping Christine up in one swift
motion. "Christine...my God, I thought I lost you!" she
gasped, hugging Christine.
"Daina,
we've got to save Naomi; that witch is going to kill her and the door is
gone!" Christine pleaded tearfully.
"Christine,
what are you saying!" Robin asked, coming in practically on Daina's heels.
"Naomi tried to kill you!"
"No,
she didn't! You guys tried to make her go and then you wouldn't let her go and
you wouldn't believe me and now he's gonna use up all her magic and she'll
die!" Christine cried hysterically.
"She's
right," Marcus said. They all turned to look at him and Target, whom had
just come in. Marcus lowered his head as he continued. "I only found out
about 10 minutes ago. I was trying to decide what to do about it when Target
came in and told me I should tell you."
"See!"
Christine shrieked. "We gotta save her, we just gotta!!!"
"Chris,
honey, please, I'll believe anything that comes out of your mouth as long as
you calm down and tell me what's going on," Daina said.
"You
promise you'll help?"
"I
give you my word, Christine," Daina said solemnly.
"And
we'll all see that she keeps it," Robin added. "Now, tell us what
you're talking about."