DH AN: Back with another Oneshot. Read Susan Kay's Phantom last year, and I was inspired by a few of the quotes… sadly I forgot to note exactly which quote it was when the plunny initially struck. So I'm pretty sure this one is it. Enjoy Sanctuary By Name.

AN 2: Timeline: Three Years after Veracity

POV: Marik First-Person

#37: Marik & Mhera

"I found that I did not begrudge the boy in the silent protection of my name."

– Giovanni, from Susan Kay's Phantom

Sanctuary By Name

She silently stepped into where I had led her, the chin of her hooded face making contact with her chest. Stopping beside the only chair in the room and revealing her visage, she allowed her gaze to meet mine, eyes bearing one simple message.

Her message was clear; that I did not have to protect her. The fact that her stance was one laden with nonverbal cues merely added to the effective expression of this issue.

Part of me was very inclined to agree that she did not need my protection. Yet I felt a sense of insatiable obligation, as I was the misguided fool who thrust her into this. I gave no option of escape. I had already learned five years ago that Arlomhe Sharti would refuse them if they were presented her.

I briskly stepped past her, placing my hand on her shoulder as I paced to her left; my voice soft as it provided the only words it could.

"I have to protect you." I wouldn't allow myself to be ignorant as I had three years prior. It was something I would never forgive myself for.

"No. You don't." I halted as her voice shattered whatever barrier my prior statement attempted to build. "Not when I defend you, Sir." Her voice was hushed with slight shame.

I took two steps back to face her as my eyes instinctively narrowed slightly and my voice gained its natural icy timbre. Rather than take her to my office, I had taken her through the atrium to the adjoining chamber; the entrance of which was concealed by a Wall-Switch. As it was…not as private as I would like, and seeing I had a reputation to uphold should an uninvited listener by chance be within earshot; my tone could show no mercy. "What was so inexcusable that you felt the need to defend me, Sharti?" I asked hotly, inwardly dreading the answer.

"Noinreil…h-he insulted you, sir." She shook violently as I gently pushed her into the chair. "He made the mistake of saying it in front of me." Her voice was a whisper as she turned her gaze on the tiles at her feet.

"What did he say?" I asked, knowing that it was something that had upset her greatly; the impressive bruise that was forming on Nashin's left cheek was enough of a testament to that.

She did not answer me.

I did not wish to frighten her, but I felt my patience steadily waning. Without warning, I swiftly tilted the girl's chin with two of my fingers so that her eyes met mine. Standing at the beckon of my hand, she stepped to her right, after which she paced back, pallor ruthlessly sweeping across her face as I paced in synch with her; keeping the distance between us to a minimum. With my other hand, I then gripped the loose sleeve of her cloak, halting her; somewhat annoyed at her attempts to avoid me. "What did he say, Mheralo?" I hissed every word save for her name, noting that my voice shook slightly with worry.

"He…he called you heartless, and…said that you were only capable of destruction; that you were incapable of mercy, or anything benign." Her voice and body trembled with her words; face showing she was ashamed of her temporary lack of self-control. I saw that she had forgotten what I requested her to do upon her return to me from her horrifying two day ordeal within the deepest level of my corridors three years prior. I shook as those memories stalked mercilessly through my mind. "It's a lie." She finished softly, oblivious to my slight tremors.

"Three years ago, I asked you to do something." I stated firmly, pushing the memories into the depths of my mind, where they would best remain amidst other unwanted occurrences of my past. "Do you remember what it was?" I asked in the same manner, releasing my grip on her sleeve, yet keeping her chin tilted upward, her eyes still fixed upon me. "I asked that while within these corridors, to push all that ties you to me to the recesses of your mind; save for the few circumstances of which I made you aware." I turned my face away from her, my line of sight meeting the wall to my right. "You know that this was not one of those circumstances, Dear One." I exhaled softly.

"I know sir… but even when one pushes something to the back of their mind…it still remains." I did nothing to inhibit her attempt to lower her chin, after which I allowed my hand to drop to my side. She had answered my question, and at this point I could ask for nothing more. Mheralo's gaze fixed itself firmly on the tiles at her feet. It was a nervous habit of hers that I had grown accustomed to; something she did only around me, only when she was unsure of whether to speak or wait for me to.

"The R.H. should mean nothing to you." I whispered, pacing to her left. The statement hung in the air as I pondered her reaction to what I would say next. "You should know he is nothing without me." I could see I left her quite perplexed. "Very few know me as you do." I inhaled softly. "As such; The R.H. is all they see. In that perspective, Nashin's statement is fair." I circled her once, choosing not to face her upon its completion.

"The R.H. …he may not mean anything to me…but the man behind him does." Her next phrase was a whisper. "He always will, any aliases aside." Her voice bounced hesitantly off the wall. I took one step away from her, somewhat caught unawares by the remark. Sparing her a glance, I saw the eyes almost identical to my own gaze upon me; showing the conviction her voice could not; that her statement was sincere beyond any doubt I possessed. I had always known her statement to be accurate, but through actions and inactions rather than a verbal locution. It revealed to me that it was not The R.H. she defended; rather she was protecting…me. It was something I could not quite wrap my mind around.

"Why should I mean enough to you…that you feel the need to defend me?" I was visibly shaking. "Why allow your ties to me to resurface far too swiftly, when I permit my own to remain buried far too deeply?" I turned to face her, the quietly livid tone of my words ringing in my mind. The long-avoided Siren-Song of my contained emotions returned to haunt me. "Why?" I almost choked, fighting back self-directed fury.

I felt pallor sweep across my own face as Mheralo's timid voice seeped into my ears once more. "Concealing your emotions has been ingrained into you by something I needn't know…that is why you feel the need to hide those ties…they are the outlet for those emotions that seem not to have a place in The R.H. ." I watched as she stepped towards me, feeling her fingers grasp my hood. How accurate her statement was; she revealed her visage at the beginning of our encounter behind the wall; however I still kept my own face, and in turn my emotions, concealed. I nodded, permitting her to lower my hood. Her eyebrows rose upon seeing my ashen face. Her gaze then sought the floor for the third time that evening. After I did not speak, she continued, "I can only stand aside and let comments like those remain ignored for so long…surely you understand?" Her final statement was laced with hesitance; something that I was never quite comfortable with.

Mheralo is…quite easy to read; her face and body language providing more than a perusal of her mind ever would. Apparently she reads me with the same amount of ease at times; though she uses her discretion when doing so. I'm certain that being correct about things like these will always be a somewhat sobering experience for her. She was frightened by the pallor that had mercilessly conquered my face; for it indicated that she had stricken a chord somewhere within me, usually that was not met with the best results.

I concealed my face within my hood. "You best be going, Sharti." Her eyes met mine doubtfully. "I cannot find fault with your actions at this time."

"But sir-I-I slapped Noinreil on the cheek so hard that he no doubt has a bruise pooling; all because of some ignorant remark." Her eyebrows furrowed minutely. "I let my discipline slip from my fingers; something that should never have happened."

"It wasn't ignorant from your perspective; in your mind, he deserved it." I murmured softly. "I'm simply grateful that you were the one who quite literally may have slapped some sense into him; perhaps now he won't throw statements that are as careless as that one every chance he gets." I calmly pressed a Wall-Switch behind me, a smirk gracing my face as I watched her brows rise slowly in time with the sliding wall. "Why is your reaction when I reveal a new Switch always the same, Dear One?" I chuckled somewhat darkly. "I am not known as The Wall-Switch Lover without reason."

"The Wall-Switch Lover… is he nothing without you as well?" Mheralo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I cannot say." I stated, backing into the newly revealed corridor. "Now, come." I extended my hand to her. I sighed softly as I felt her hand fit snugly into mine. I led her into the corridor and up a set of seven steps. I pressed a tile in upon reaching the small staircase's zenith. The wall before me slid aside to reveal the hallway that held the room in which the proposition was brought to its final outcome with a single signature five years prior. I ushered Mheralo into the hallway, choosing not to follow her. "Now I must leave you in the upper corridors, as I have matters to attend to that do not require your presence." I took two steps back into the way I had just come, still facing her.

"I know why you seem so obliged to protect me within the lower corridors." Her soft voice merited a raise of my eyebrow as she turned to face me. "It's because of what happened three years ago, isn't it?"

"You are somewhat accurate." I stated softly, glancing toward my left, my line of sight meeting a door. Mheralo may not have possessed a complete recollection of her time in that subterranean chamber, but I was fearful of what she did remember about the ordeal three years prior. Memories came rushing back, and I did nothing to fight them. When I saw her restrained, on the floor, so weak that the wall behind her was the only support she had- it tore me apart, never mind the fact that I wished to tear apart Nashin just as badly. When I could not reach her to comfort her or do anything of that sort, I felt defeated.

I still cannot recall whether I was thankful or abhorred when I learned that she was unconscious through most, if not all, of the time she was in that arcane bondage. I tensed as Nashin's taunting sneer flashed before my eyes; implying that there was a bit of a condition to freeing my daughter that I could not meet. I shook with a quietly controlled fury as I realized that getting out of those memories once more seemed impossible. If only I hadn't insisted on aliases… it would have been easier to simply claim her -no that phrase was far too inaccurate, as it could incorrectly imply things that I would never allow- rather, provide her with the simple protection offered by my name, cemented by the connection which was hers by birth.

As much as that reasoning now appealed to me, I recalled the reason why she had been requested to abandon those same ties while she was within my corridors. I found it easier to push them aside from the start. It was supposed to offer her protection from harm because of her ties to me. In the end the effort proved futile; she was not protected; though it was not an attempt to get something from me. My inattentiveness was, perhaps, the true reason for my recent over-protectiveness, as some would see it. I am never one to make the same mistake twice if I can help it. I sighed softly.

"Are you…?" Mheralo's voice bounced off the wall once more. The lack of a complete inquiry bothered me; she knew something was wrong, but she was uncertain of what it was, watching her words as a result. I clenched my right fist minutely; not only should she never fear getting lost within my corridors again, she should never need constantly watch her words.

"I am well." Stepping out of the corridor, I pressed the tile on my left; refusing to move forward until I heard the wall finish its response. "You needn't worry about me." I placed my hands on her shoulders. "It is I who should worry about you."

"I know." She stated softly, her body minutely shaking underneath my fingers. "That does nothing to make my worry nonexistent." Her shaking ceased as I gently stroked her cheek with the back of my right hand.

"Worry will always exist." I stated. "How you deal with the worry that is yours to cope with is your responsibility."

She nodded slowly, taking two slow steps back towards the opposite wall. She sighed, slightly forcing a small smile. "Don't you have somewhere to be, sir?"

"Yes, you are correct." I turned away from her to press the Wall-Switch. Another thought crossed my mind. Very few, if any, would follow me silently if I were to somewhat forcibly take them out of a situation; I was somewhat shocked at Mheralo's compliance, as she was rightly incensed. As soon as I placed my hands on her shoulder, she became meek, and docile; allowing me to silently ponder the occurrence until we reached the destination. "One final thing before I leave you, Dear One." I paused, sparing a glance toward her.

"Yes sir?" Her tone was unsurprisingly respectful as she slightly tilted her head to the right.

"Why were you so cooperative when I took you out of that situation?" I pursed my lips as I continued, quite perplexed. "Of all the times not to put your feet down and resist…why were you so willing to be led once more into an unknown occurrence? Why do you continually trust The R.H., The Wall-Switch Lover, and your father as one entity, when they are all too clearly not?"

"The person behind all of them is worth my trust." She sighed softly with a small smile. "All three of those identities are yours; they make you who you are. You cannot deny that." Her face became expressionless. "That is why." She hesitated before adding, "Aside from that, I did not wish to draw any more attention than I already had; you know making scenes has a tendency to do that."

I nodded, pressing the tile into the wall, registering the wall slide aside. "Thank you for answering…it has provided insight into what I might not have figured out alone."

"Is there anything else you need from me sir?"

"That will be all, Sharti." Before pressing the tile again, I waited until I heard Mheralo enter her room and shut her door. I decided that it would be in my best interests to leave my remaining tasks for another day, selecting instead to content myself with reading a book from the room that held a tapestry and the memory of a proposition's fulfillment.

DH: It feels good to write like this again. Hope you enjoyed it too. Please Review.