The Furyan's Return: Chapter Three
NOTE: This story is based on the director's extended version of The Chronicles of Riddick, not the theatrical release. I claim no rights to characters from COR.
Toal's words reverberated in Riddick's head. Pieces of memory returned to him, images flashed of the woman with the strong cheekbones and glowing hand, a younger Lord Marshal's dark shape moving against a backdrop of fire. Bits and pieces had been returning to him since the first time he saw the woman from his vision. His chest continued to glow and ache from time to time.
Finally, he went to Renaul for some information. It was a bit gloomy as Riddick made his way down the newly relaid stone steps of the palace and out the void where the gates would be installed soon. He had ordered his body guards to remain behind; he needed to do this alone. Despite that, he felt a presence following him through the market place to the university where Renaul had been installed as director. As long as they stayed out of sight, he was too preoccupied to care that someone had disobeyed orders.
Riddick found Renaul in the university library, a corner of which he'd temporarily made into an office. Among the stacks of old tomes and data sheets were old blueprints stacked in careful rows. Renaul proved very useful as archivist and the contractors frequently called on him for old building plans or recommendations on how to accurately reconstruct facades.
Riddick stood over Renaul's empty desk, seeing a large dusty book opened to a faded picture of the university as it was before the Fall. The rebuilding on the university was Renaul's pet project Riddick knew. Riddick flipped through several pages and the enormity of trying to rebuild, find experienced and well-educated professors for every specialty from animal husbandry to civic engineering, let alone find teachers for the elementary and secondary levels was overwhelming. It was times like these that Riddick questioned why he stayed on to rebuild.
"Oh… Riddick! I'm so glad you're here… I have some wonderful finds to show you…" Renaul had entered the room carrying tray of dusty items. He was lost in the excitement of his treasures and started bantering away immediately about the historical importance of the everyday items he had recovered from an archeological dig in the less rebuilt part of the city.
Riddick feigned interested for about 2 seconds before interrupting. "Renaul, I came to see you. I need some… information."
Renaul stopped prematurely at his recitation of how a wrench-like artifact might have been used and looked at Riddick. Something in what he saw made Renaul put down the artifact gingerly and gave Riddick his full attention.
"Of course, what can I do for you, my lord?" It was a reference that Renaul made automatically. Riddick had stop reminding him not to call him "lord."
"The royal family… what can you tell me about them? How did they… perish in the Fall?"
"Ah, well, that is a topic of much discussion." Renaul smiled as Riddick frowned. "It must be the fascination with royalty but there are many theories."
"Theories? About what? I thought all the family members had died."
"Well, that's one theory. Ever hear of Princess Anastasia? It took 80 years to finally find the grave site and authenticate the bodies. Or the Duke of Calambria? He went into hiding for near a century before he returned home demanding the throne back from his brother," Renaul began to banter.
"Renaul, I am in kind of a hurry," Riddick reminded him.
"Yes, yes, sorry." He moved over to a monitor that lit up at a vocal command and projected a hologram of the planet.
Renaul spoke in an assertive voice and the hologram seemed to understand, shifting to a family tree. As Renaul droned on about the history of the royal family and matrilineal lineages, Riddick listened impatiently. It wasn't until Renaul's speech approached recent history that Riddick became interested. The flickering images ran through several images of a woman, the princess who was to become queen. There were wedding pictures, the kind staged for public consumption as well as more personal family pictures.
"There was much debate about which of the bodies in the palace belonged to the family. Some were so badly burned, it was hard to picture what sex they were, let alone who they were." Gruesome pictures of the aftermath of the Lord Marshal's attack flickered by. They were poorer quality than the other photos, more like recon pictures.
"But, the baby's body, the last princess, was not found. I suppose it could have been burned so thoroughly that –"
But Riddick had stopped listening, pausing the hologram at one image, the last royal family of Furya. The man sat in a broad heavy looking chair, short cropped, dark hair, creased, smiling green eyes, a boy, about 5 years old clung to his father's knee, brown hair and eyes more hazel-brown than green.
But it was the woman holding a baby swaddled in linens that he stared at – thin lips turned into a demure smile, glittering blue eyes, long sandy blond hair that was piled high on her head in thin plates, high cheekbones and a long straight nose. A woman's voice rang through Riddick's memory blotting out Renaul's blathering…
You shall carry the anger of an entire race… Riddick's chest burned, the pain bringing water to his eyes and a gasp from his lips.
Renaul turned at the sound of the gasp and, looking concerned, asked, "My Lord? Are you ill?"
Riddick caught his breath the next instant and straightened. "No, no… I'm fine. Thank you, Renaul. I need to return now." And without any more explanation turned and strode from the room shaken by the image of the woman who has appeared twice before in his visions – the former queen of Furya. And in her arms had been his future bride.
