Disclaimer: The Ink-trilogy belongs to Cornelia Funke, not me.
A/N: This takes place in Inkdeath, when Dustfinger is dead. This is supposed to just slip in with the events in canon, the only change being that Dustfinger's dead a bit longer than he was in the books. It might seem a little slow at first, but there's much more action later on. I had planned to post the first chapter on the first day of 2012, but I ended up getting it up here two days early! :) Oh, by the way, the oOoOoOos are for when it switches to a different character. Unfortunately this site wouldn't let me use the signs that are usually in stories for things like that. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter one: Lady Fate's Desire
It was a cold, windy night.
If anyone had been passing the Graveyard of the Strolling Players, they probably wouldn't have noticed anything out of the ordinary. If they had stopped and examined the graveyard, they might see a form next to one of the many tombstones. It would be hard to tell what it was in the dark.
Just a pile of dead leaves, they might think, or perhaps some homeless dog, seeking rest.
And then they would continue on their way, oblivious to the fact that it was not a dog or leaves, but a boy. A young Arab boy with a broken heart.
Farid shivered as a fierce gust of wind swept through the graveyard. It was a cold night, but it was nothing compared to how cold his heart felt. So very, very cold...cold and empty.
Cold, empty, frozen, alone. There were many ways to describe the horrible feeling he couldn't escape from. That was what his life had become: nothing but pain, ice cold pain.
How long has it been like this? Farid wondered. Ever since Dustfinger died?
No, it hadn't been like this ever since Dustfinger's death, which was almost four months ago. True, that was when the pain had begun, but it had been a different kind of pain then: a terrible sorrow, burning, always a part of him. He didn't feel any happiness, but he was still alive. Still living, though distraught.
Now it was a different kind of pain, though if anything, even worse. He felt cold inside all the time. Nothing held any meaning for him anymore. There was nothing but numb sorrow, a whole sea of it that he was drowning in. He never laughed or smiled. He never shed tears anymore either, though it would be a relief to. He didn't think he even still had the ability to cry. He was alive, but not living.
The reason for the change was because Farid had lost hope. When Dustfinger first died, Farid had never really accepted it. He had clung to the hope that Orpheus could read him back to life. But now months had passed, and Dustfinger still lay, unbreathing, wherever Roxane kept him. If Orpheus was going to bring him back surely he would have done it by now.
Farid leaned his back against the tombstone behind him. The fact that he was actually in a graveyard, a place that would attract more ghosts than anywhere else, just proved how much Dustfinger's death had changed him. Normally he would have been way too frightened to come here, especially at night. But he had been having terrible nightmares, so to stop himself from falling back asleep Farid had began to walk, not caring where he was going. He had ended up at the Graveyard of the Strolling Players, where he had stopped to rest.
"Dustfinger," Farid whispered. One word, ten letters, three syllables. How could a single word hold so much pain?
Farid sighed. He was so tired. He wanted to close his eyes and go to sleep so badly, but he was afraid to. Who knew what horrors were waiting in his dreams? But when he realized he couldn't keep sleep away any longer, he stood up and began to walk away from the tombstones. Better to sleep in his own bed than here. He exited the graveyard, head bent.
And collided with another person, sending them both falling to the ground.
Farid helped the girl up and began to apologize, after dusting himself off. Then he realized who it was he had banged into. She, unfortunately, recognized him as well.
Brianna drew away from his hand as if it were poison. For a moment they just looked at each other. Then Brianna, her eyes full of contempt, said, "You," somehow managing to pour a whole ocean of hate into that one word.
Farid flinched, surprised at the viciousness in her expression. He hadn't talked to her after her father died. Of course, he couldn't help seeing her around, as they both worked for Orpheus, and he was aware that she hated him, just like her mother, but they had never interacted.
Until now.
"You, the boy who caused all this misfortune," Brianna said. She was looking at him with such intense hate that Farid couldn't say anything.
"My mother's heart is broken, my father is dead,and it's all your fault."
Her words were daggers, cutting into Farid's very heart. His fault. Everyone said it was his fault: Cheeseface, Roxane...and now Brianna. So far he had never spoken up against these accusations, but now he did.
"You're wrong! It's not my fault; I never asked Dustfinger to die for me!"
"Oh yes? Well he did die, and it was for you," Brianna said coldly. "Though I'll never understand why he did it."
"Do you seriously think that I don't wish I was still dead and he alive?" Farid asked bitingly. "Well, I do! A hundred times a day I wish he had never summoned the White Women that night in the mine!"
Brianna sneered, an expression that looked odd on her beautiful face. "Oh, how very touching!" she said sarcastically. "Of course if you didn't want him to die that makes everything okay."
"I didn't say it made anything okay-"
"It doesn't matter whether you asked him to! My father is dead! He's dead because of you, and that's all that matters!"
He wanted them to stop. Farid just wanted the horrible words that were tearing his heart apart to end. He longed to hit Brianna, but she looked so much like Dustfinger that he couldn't. So instead he shouted, "You don't know anything, anything at all! I-"
"I know my mother's eyes are red from weeping! They wouldn't be that way if my father were still alive!"
Both their voices had risen by now, but the road they were standing on was empty, and no one was around to hear their shouts. No one except a small yellow bird sitting in a tree above them, who was watching them with interested, almost human eyes. But neither noticed the bird, and they went on arguing.
"Dustfinger's death is just as hard for me as it is for you and your mother; I cared about him as well-"
"You had no right to care about him!" Brianna shouted. "You're just some play actor who pretended to be my father's son until he thought he had to die for you, like the fire eater in the story. But you're not his son, and my father died for nothing."
You've no right to care about him...my father died for nothing. Suddenly Farid felt very weary. He had no strength to argue back. Luckily, Brianna seemed to have run out of words as well.
Then Farid realized something. Brianna's cheeks were tear stained, as though she had been crying before they unexpectedly ran into each other. He was surprised, for he'd always thought of Brianna as very in control of her emotions, like her father.
She threw him one last look of loathing before she turned and walked away. And he, shoulders drooping, continued on his own way as well.
Now empty, the graveyard was once again quiet, as if nothing had changed. But the words had been spoken, and both Farid and Brianna were affected deeply by them.
oOoOoOoOo
The yellow bird was still sitting in the tree near the graveyard. If anyone saw the bird they wouldn't think there was anything the least bit strange about it. Just an ordinary bird, they would think, if they thought about it at all. But she was not an ordinary bird; she was more powerful than anyone else, except perhaps Death.
Her name was Lady Fate.
She traveled the world in different forms, twisting peoples' destinies and futures. She was sometimes kind, sometimes cruel, and always changing. Many things could be said of Lady Fate, but no one could deny that she was very powerful.
Right now she was displeased.
Farid and Brianna, she mused. A boy, a girl. So different, and yet so alike, much more so than they realized. They were two broken hearts, mourning the loss of the same man. That man had been a father to them both, though only for a short period of each of their lives.
They both felt that no one understood their pain, but they both longed for comfort. Lady Fate though they could give each other that comfort, though she was sure they would disagree. They could help each other, lessening both of their pain.
The only problem was that they hated each other, or at least they acted like it. That just wasn't right. It made no sense, and Lady Fate would not have it.
The Maze, she thought.
Yes, why not? The Maze of Death and Deceit, where nothing was as it seemed. Where the impossible was possible. Very few who entered came out alive, and those who did were never left unchanged. It was a long time since the Maze had been used. There wasn't any reason not to...
Of course, there was very little chance that the boy and girl would survive the maze. In fact, it was highly unlikely. But what did that matter to Lady Fate? She certainly didn't care if Death claimed two more for her own.
Lady Fate always got what she wanted, and right now she wanted the maze to be used.
And she wanted it used on Farid and Brianna.
A/N: What do you think of it so far? Interested? Please review!
Next chapter should be up in about a week, maybe sooner if people review telling me they liked this or asking for the next chapter!