The 'greasy bat' was, like Hagrid, staying at Hogwarts over the summer,
which meant that Annikaya got to see the inside of the castle too. This
made the trip down to the dungeons take considerably longer than usual, for
she had to stop and talk to every painting on the way as well as ride the
moving staircase no less than three times. Sirius was remarkably impressed
with her self restraint.
He knocked on the door to Snape's private quarters and watched the door crack open to illuminate the other man's hawk-like nose and hooded eyes. Those eyes narrowed angrily upon sighting Sirius Black.
"Black. Come back from the dead to bother me some more? Heaven doesn't want you?"
Sirius bit his tongue, knowing he needed the other man's help.
"Actually, we just stopped by from a parallel universe and we need some potions advice."
"I refused in your universe? I have excellent taste." Snape's voice was silken with a cutting edge to it.
"If you have such wonderful taste why don't you ever wash your hair?"
"At least my taste didn't make me friends with someone who'd send me to Azkaban." Snape's voice was becoming more annoyed and snarky by the moment.
"At least I have friends! Ouch!" Sirius turned to glare at Annikaya, who'd just kicked him rather savagely in the shin.
"Be nice!"
She turned to the surprised potions master. "Excuse me sir but we'd really like your help. We just need some information on a potion that will help us get back home."
Snape pretended to consider. "I think I'd rather like to see Black stuck here suffering for his own incompetence."
"But then you'd be stuck with him too." Annikaya pointed out logically.
"Ah yes. You do have a point. Proceed."
Annikaya stumbled through a description of the potion and their question about the effects it would have on a vampire.
"You're referring to Reinfold's Draught. The effects on a creature of magical nature are hard to predict. Depending on the strength of the magical nature, the vampire would either remain a vampire but be immune to all other magic, or revert to being a human mortal immune to magic. Does that answer your question?"
"Yes. Thank you so much! Now, do you know how we might get enough for two people?"
Snape raised an eyebrow. "I do not need to tell you the repercussions of a person taking such a draught. Even Black is not so dangerously stupid as that."
Sirius growled low in his throat and Sirius threw him a quick look to make sure he hadn't shifted to his canine form but he hadn't.
"It's in the nature of a trade." Annikaya elaborated. "We give the potion to a muggle adult and her fiancé and we get the means home."
She could see Snape trying to piece together the entire truth rapidly. When he spoke again it was addressed to Sirius.
"Perhaps you should administer the potion to your godson instead, Black. It might keep him out of trouble." He turned to Annikaya. "Come then. We will go to my classroom."
She continued smiling politely as the potions master gathered the ingredients, all the while directing cutting comments at her partner. Every once in awhile Sirius would become incensed and fire a return volley which would cause Annikaya to intervene. She wasn't as quick to interfere in the classroom though, for her natural curiosity led her to watch the creation of the Reinfold's Draught with wide-eyed intensity. Due to the dangerous properties of the potion, it was brewed in a very large cauldron to prevent splashes and Snape used thick gloves and tongs to pour the potion into two small vials.
"Don't expect me to help if you have problems with your own folly." He carefully handed the two vials with the pale pink tinted liquid to her.
"What do I owe you?" Annikaya asked, knowing the ingredients couldn't be free.
Snape managed to sneer at Sirius without even looking at him. "Consider it a reward for trying to train the mutt."
Sirius began muttering under his breath but Annikaya only caught the word 'Snivellus.' She pretended she hadn't heard it.
"Thank you very much sir."
They exited the dungeons and began the trek back to where they could apparate, the two precious vials safely stowed away.
"Now there is a prime example of the nature versus nurture debate." Annikaya mused.
"Come again?"
"It's a teacher psychology thing. Is Snape that way because of genetics or environment?"
"Who cares? It's Snivellus."
Annikaya frowned but didn't admonish him as he'd expected. Instead she turned worried eyes on him.
"You're not upset that I didn't defend you, are you? I didn't want him to get mad and refuse to help us." The concern and worry in her face looked like it was enough to give her a stomach ache at least.
"I'm not mad. You're probably right." He dropped a light kiss on her lips and watched as a soft smile formed on her face.
"We could go back and then you could do that again." She suggested.
He obliged her anyway.
"How are we going to find Marcus now?" Annikaya asked Sirius when they got to the end of Hogwarts' anti-apparating wards.
Sirius smirked, obviously impressed with his own intelligence. "I just happen to have cast a little spell on our dear friend Marcus. A perfectly innocent tracking spell only I can follow."
"I thought you couldn't do that." Annikaya commented, remembering the spell Sirius had used to track her so long ago through the last veil.
"It works because he's a vampire." Sirius explained, still eager to pat himself on the back. Annikaya didn't mind, as it had been good planning not to let the vampire just go.
"Shall we?" he asked and the two apparated away.
Surprisingly, the two travelers found themselves in front of a rather ramshackle building just as Marcus Elgin was exiting. He saw them from across the street and even in the evening dusk they could see the instant of surprise and worry before he began to cross the street.
Sirius nodded toward the building and spoke softly to Annikaya. "Wonder what he was doing at a homeless shelter."
Annikaya was startled and looked the place over again, for she wouldn't have guessed that's what it was. "How'd you know that's what it is?" she asked.
Sirius' voice was casual but Annikaya could tell it was feigned by the way he hunched his shoulders imperceptibly. "Ran away from home once or twice."
Before Annikaya could say anything Marcus had joined them.
"How did you find me again?" His tone was worried, for if they could find him, maybe so could the Death Eaters and his own revenge-seeking people.
Sirius held up a hand. "Don't worry. You're safe. But we need to talk."
"This had better not become a daily routine." the other man said, sounding tired and frustrated.
"With any luck we'll be gone soon, so I hope not." Annikaya quipped.
Elgin grimaced. "Alright. Come on. We can't talk here."
He led them through darkened streets that could have belonged in any town to a small apartment. The apartment was sparsely furnished with a television set, stacks of books in the corners, a table and chairs, and a computer but little else. There were no paintings on the walls, no comfortable couches, or potted plants.
Marcus pulled out a chair from the table and sat down, his movements belying a weariness that had not been as evident at their prior meeting.
Sirius, taking the initiative, began to speak. "We have a deal for you. These two vials..." Annikaya placed the rose colored potion on the table. "for an introduction at court."
Marcus lifted one brow, a poker face betraying nothing. Of course, he'd had millennia to practice such an expression.
"Reinfold's Draught." Annikaya said quietly. "It negates magic. And we have two vials." She didn't put any extra emphasis on the last, but the implications were still clear.
"And my...condition?"
At this Sirius hesitated. Which would Elgin prefer? "Depending on the strength, you'll either remain as you are or become mortal."
"Who brewed it?"
"Severus Snape."
A smile ghosted across the vampire's features. "A man with many vampire- like qualities."
Annikaya watched Sirius out of the corner of her eye and fought not to grin, for Sirius was clearly suppressing a scathing comment at Snape's expense.
Marcus' attention returned to the two vials before him. The overhead light shone through them, casting strange flowerlike shapes on the table. The poker face slipped and a stark longing, an old pain, shone out of his eyes. "Why me? Why not just give both vials to her?"
"Because I love her too." Annikaya said softly. "And she needs you."
Decisions and choices warred across his face.
He took the two vials.
They went back to Rosalind to figure out how to get an audience with Nevaria without her guards standing by ready to arrest them. Rosalind directed them to a woman named Tumbleweed. Tumbleweed worked for Nevaria but was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix. It seemed to be a catching affliction she told them with a grin.
"You could get St. Mungo's to fix that. Rare magical afflictions unit." Sirius said blandly.
Tumbleweed pulled a long face and sighed dramatically. "Only one cure-a job with a higher salary!"
All teasing aside, Tumbleweed was quick to get their audience. Hinting that the visitors had vital information against magic and feared retribution, which was true in a sense, Tumbleweed even got the guards placed outside the audience chamber. However, knowing a little of what they planned to discuss with Her Royal Majesty, Tumbleweed declined accompanying them.
"Unlike some, I don't have a habit of getting tossed in the slammer," she grinned at Sirius, who mock growled. Then she slipped away as the throne room doors were pulled open by the two door men.
Cloaked and hooded, Marcus, Sirius, and Annikaya waited until the doors had shut again before they approached the dais. They didn't want Nevaria to see them while anyone was in hearing range and, although she probably had a bodyguard or two hidden away, odds were they wouldn't attack unless there was a direct threat to the Queen. The three bowed low when they reached the dais where Nevaria sat, gowned once again in blue satin.
"You may uncover yourselves friends. You are in safe company here."
"You will forgive us if one of our party declines Your Majesty. While we are friends, even in private you would be compelled toward action should our companion's face be revealed." Sirius said diplomatically from beneath his cowl.
Curiosity lit in the Queen's face but she nodded. Annikaya let out the breath she'd been holding, for the Nevaria she knew hated surprises and always indulged her curiosity.
Gravely Sirius and Annikaya lowered their hoods and watched Nevaria's face pale and then set into an expressionless mask.
"Before you get upset, Em'ly, we have a deal for you." Annikaya purposely called on the secret childhood name. "If you don't accept we'll leave."
Nevaria said nothing so Annikaya plunged ahead. "We have a potion, Reinfold's Draught. If you take it, you'll be immune to all magic forever. No one will ever be able to cast spells on you or anything. The Death Eaters won't be able to hurt you. In exchange we just need one minute with the Veil of Lethe-an artifact you confiscated from the Ministry of Magic. It will take us home to our universe."
"How do I know it really works?" The other woman's voice was still emotionless and cold. Marcus was shifting restlessly behind them in distress.
"Whether you believe I'm Annikaya or not, you must know I've harmed no one since I've gotten here. I haven't lied to you."
"You have!" Nevaria burst out.
Now Annikaya was worried and confused. "How?" The question was urgent.
"You told me his name was Stephen Malcolm. I know who he is! I know he's Sirius Black! You should have known I'd know!"
Sirius spoke up. "If you know so much then you'd know I spent some time in prison for a crime I didn't commit. Which means I'm not in the habit of giving out truthful information when wrongly imprisoned again."
Elgin shifted again and Sirius shifted his head almost imperceptibly. They didn't want to stretch Nevaria's credulity too fast here.
Annikaya pulled out the two vials of rosey liquid and held them in her open palm. "Do we have a deal?"
The lost look was back in Nevaria's eyes. "Potions won't bring me back what I lost." She said softly, her voice suddenly a bit hoarse.
Annikaya's smile was sad. "No, they won't. The me from here will still be dead and you'll still be here."
"I don't want to be 'kaya."
Sirius wondered if she meant here as queen or here alive but Annikaya seemed to understand.
"I know."
"I have to be, to make sure it doesn't happen again to someone else."
"I know. But you can't get rid of all magic Nevaria. There are a lot of good witches and wizards out there trying to stop it too."
"You didn't see them. You didn't see the bodies. Your body. His." She still couldn't say his name and even thinking of him set her to trembling.
Unconsciously Marcus lifted a hand to her who seemed so far away. "Nev." He broke away from Sirius and Annikaya and knelt at her feet. "Nev."
Nevaria's lip quivered. "Mar..Marcus?" She leaned forward and pushed his hood back onto his shoulders. Time seemed frozen as he gazed into her eyes, his own so full of emotion. Nevaria inhaled deeply and then fell sobbing into his arms. "You smell the same!" she sobbed incoherently.
Sirius turned to Annikaya to suggest giving the two reunited lovers a bit of time and noticed that Annikaya had streams of tears running down her cheeks.
"Oh!" she said with a hitch in her voice. "That's so beautiful!"
Sirius smiled and shook his head. "Come on, you."
Annikaya sniffled loudly and, hand in his, left the audience chamber.
Tumbleweed was waiting for them when they came out. "Well, I don't have any orders to arrest you yet, troublemaker."
Sirius sighed dramatically. "I'm afraid there's still time 'Weed." We just sprang the old fiancé on Her Majestic-ness." He paused. "Solitary confinement isn't too bad."
Tumbleweed didn't question them on Marcus, only laughed and invited them to play exploding snaps while they waited. An illusion charm made it look like they were playing an innocent card game while in truth they practiced magic in the very heart of Nevaria's anti-magic castle. Sirius loved that.
The game started to suffer after about a half hour as they began to wonder how things were progressing. At the end of another half hour period the door men on some unnoticed signal pulled open the doors and beckoned Sirius and Annikaya to enter. Inside Marcus was sitting on the edge of the dais holding hands with Nevaria. Both looked more relaxed than Sirius could remember seeing them and Nevaria was smiling. Her crown was lying in Marcus' lap and he was toying absently with it using his free hand.
Nevaria spoke without preamble. "I..." She looked down at Marcus and smiled. "We will take your deal."
Annikaya grinned and held out the two vials which Elgin took gravely.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay though? You could certainly help me redo this whole magic thing."
"Sorry Nevaria but I'd rather not live someone else's life, even if it is mine." Annikaya said, then paused as she thought that out. "You know what I mean."
Nevaria sighed. She did understand. She summonsed her guards and ordered them to escort them all to the veil. A half dozen uniformed men surrounded them, leading them through the palace to the lift and to a previously unseen floor. More guards were stationed at checkpoints along the hall, guarding different magical artifacts.
Sirius looked distinctly uncomfortable being surrounded by so many of the peacekeeping force. Annikaya could see it in the way his fingers twitched nervously for his wand.
Finally they stopped in front of one door. The guard standing beside it took a large key and turned the lock, pushing the door open. The room inside was bare except for the fluttering ragged veil and silent except for the whispers of the artifact.
Nevaria shivered. "Are you sure you have to go? It looks like something an alien would leave behind to help take over the world."
Annikaya laughed, for Nevaria'd always been more inclined toward science and thus aliens than magic
Sirius answered for her. "Sorry Your Majesty. We have responsibilities."
Annikaya gave Nevaria a hug, watching the guards tense, and then impulsively gave Marcus a hug, as well. Marcus was surprised but he hugged her back.
"You two take care." She told them.
Sirius settled for a handshake. And then they stepped through the veil.
He knocked on the door to Snape's private quarters and watched the door crack open to illuminate the other man's hawk-like nose and hooded eyes. Those eyes narrowed angrily upon sighting Sirius Black.
"Black. Come back from the dead to bother me some more? Heaven doesn't want you?"
Sirius bit his tongue, knowing he needed the other man's help.
"Actually, we just stopped by from a parallel universe and we need some potions advice."
"I refused in your universe? I have excellent taste." Snape's voice was silken with a cutting edge to it.
"If you have such wonderful taste why don't you ever wash your hair?"
"At least my taste didn't make me friends with someone who'd send me to Azkaban." Snape's voice was becoming more annoyed and snarky by the moment.
"At least I have friends! Ouch!" Sirius turned to glare at Annikaya, who'd just kicked him rather savagely in the shin.
"Be nice!"
She turned to the surprised potions master. "Excuse me sir but we'd really like your help. We just need some information on a potion that will help us get back home."
Snape pretended to consider. "I think I'd rather like to see Black stuck here suffering for his own incompetence."
"But then you'd be stuck with him too." Annikaya pointed out logically.
"Ah yes. You do have a point. Proceed."
Annikaya stumbled through a description of the potion and their question about the effects it would have on a vampire.
"You're referring to Reinfold's Draught. The effects on a creature of magical nature are hard to predict. Depending on the strength of the magical nature, the vampire would either remain a vampire but be immune to all other magic, or revert to being a human mortal immune to magic. Does that answer your question?"
"Yes. Thank you so much! Now, do you know how we might get enough for two people?"
Snape raised an eyebrow. "I do not need to tell you the repercussions of a person taking such a draught. Even Black is not so dangerously stupid as that."
Sirius growled low in his throat and Sirius threw him a quick look to make sure he hadn't shifted to his canine form but he hadn't.
"It's in the nature of a trade." Annikaya elaborated. "We give the potion to a muggle adult and her fiancé and we get the means home."
She could see Snape trying to piece together the entire truth rapidly. When he spoke again it was addressed to Sirius.
"Perhaps you should administer the potion to your godson instead, Black. It might keep him out of trouble." He turned to Annikaya. "Come then. We will go to my classroom."
She continued smiling politely as the potions master gathered the ingredients, all the while directing cutting comments at her partner. Every once in awhile Sirius would become incensed and fire a return volley which would cause Annikaya to intervene. She wasn't as quick to interfere in the classroom though, for her natural curiosity led her to watch the creation of the Reinfold's Draught with wide-eyed intensity. Due to the dangerous properties of the potion, it was brewed in a very large cauldron to prevent splashes and Snape used thick gloves and tongs to pour the potion into two small vials.
"Don't expect me to help if you have problems with your own folly." He carefully handed the two vials with the pale pink tinted liquid to her.
"What do I owe you?" Annikaya asked, knowing the ingredients couldn't be free.
Snape managed to sneer at Sirius without even looking at him. "Consider it a reward for trying to train the mutt."
Sirius began muttering under his breath but Annikaya only caught the word 'Snivellus.' She pretended she hadn't heard it.
"Thank you very much sir."
They exited the dungeons and began the trek back to where they could apparate, the two precious vials safely stowed away.
"Now there is a prime example of the nature versus nurture debate." Annikaya mused.
"Come again?"
"It's a teacher psychology thing. Is Snape that way because of genetics or environment?"
"Who cares? It's Snivellus."
Annikaya frowned but didn't admonish him as he'd expected. Instead she turned worried eyes on him.
"You're not upset that I didn't defend you, are you? I didn't want him to get mad and refuse to help us." The concern and worry in her face looked like it was enough to give her a stomach ache at least.
"I'm not mad. You're probably right." He dropped a light kiss on her lips and watched as a soft smile formed on her face.
"We could go back and then you could do that again." She suggested.
He obliged her anyway.
"How are we going to find Marcus now?" Annikaya asked Sirius when they got to the end of Hogwarts' anti-apparating wards.
Sirius smirked, obviously impressed with his own intelligence. "I just happen to have cast a little spell on our dear friend Marcus. A perfectly innocent tracking spell only I can follow."
"I thought you couldn't do that." Annikaya commented, remembering the spell Sirius had used to track her so long ago through the last veil.
"It works because he's a vampire." Sirius explained, still eager to pat himself on the back. Annikaya didn't mind, as it had been good planning not to let the vampire just go.
"Shall we?" he asked and the two apparated away.
Surprisingly, the two travelers found themselves in front of a rather ramshackle building just as Marcus Elgin was exiting. He saw them from across the street and even in the evening dusk they could see the instant of surprise and worry before he began to cross the street.
Sirius nodded toward the building and spoke softly to Annikaya. "Wonder what he was doing at a homeless shelter."
Annikaya was startled and looked the place over again, for she wouldn't have guessed that's what it was. "How'd you know that's what it is?" she asked.
Sirius' voice was casual but Annikaya could tell it was feigned by the way he hunched his shoulders imperceptibly. "Ran away from home once or twice."
Before Annikaya could say anything Marcus had joined them.
"How did you find me again?" His tone was worried, for if they could find him, maybe so could the Death Eaters and his own revenge-seeking people.
Sirius held up a hand. "Don't worry. You're safe. But we need to talk."
"This had better not become a daily routine." the other man said, sounding tired and frustrated.
"With any luck we'll be gone soon, so I hope not." Annikaya quipped.
Elgin grimaced. "Alright. Come on. We can't talk here."
He led them through darkened streets that could have belonged in any town to a small apartment. The apartment was sparsely furnished with a television set, stacks of books in the corners, a table and chairs, and a computer but little else. There were no paintings on the walls, no comfortable couches, or potted plants.
Marcus pulled out a chair from the table and sat down, his movements belying a weariness that had not been as evident at their prior meeting.
Sirius, taking the initiative, began to speak. "We have a deal for you. These two vials..." Annikaya placed the rose colored potion on the table. "for an introduction at court."
Marcus lifted one brow, a poker face betraying nothing. Of course, he'd had millennia to practice such an expression.
"Reinfold's Draught." Annikaya said quietly. "It negates magic. And we have two vials." She didn't put any extra emphasis on the last, but the implications were still clear.
"And my...condition?"
At this Sirius hesitated. Which would Elgin prefer? "Depending on the strength, you'll either remain as you are or become mortal."
"Who brewed it?"
"Severus Snape."
A smile ghosted across the vampire's features. "A man with many vampire- like qualities."
Annikaya watched Sirius out of the corner of her eye and fought not to grin, for Sirius was clearly suppressing a scathing comment at Snape's expense.
Marcus' attention returned to the two vials before him. The overhead light shone through them, casting strange flowerlike shapes on the table. The poker face slipped and a stark longing, an old pain, shone out of his eyes. "Why me? Why not just give both vials to her?"
"Because I love her too." Annikaya said softly. "And she needs you."
Decisions and choices warred across his face.
He took the two vials.
They went back to Rosalind to figure out how to get an audience with Nevaria without her guards standing by ready to arrest them. Rosalind directed them to a woman named Tumbleweed. Tumbleweed worked for Nevaria but was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix. It seemed to be a catching affliction she told them with a grin.
"You could get St. Mungo's to fix that. Rare magical afflictions unit." Sirius said blandly.
Tumbleweed pulled a long face and sighed dramatically. "Only one cure-a job with a higher salary!"
All teasing aside, Tumbleweed was quick to get their audience. Hinting that the visitors had vital information against magic and feared retribution, which was true in a sense, Tumbleweed even got the guards placed outside the audience chamber. However, knowing a little of what they planned to discuss with Her Royal Majesty, Tumbleweed declined accompanying them.
"Unlike some, I don't have a habit of getting tossed in the slammer," she grinned at Sirius, who mock growled. Then she slipped away as the throne room doors were pulled open by the two door men.
Cloaked and hooded, Marcus, Sirius, and Annikaya waited until the doors had shut again before they approached the dais. They didn't want Nevaria to see them while anyone was in hearing range and, although she probably had a bodyguard or two hidden away, odds were they wouldn't attack unless there was a direct threat to the Queen. The three bowed low when they reached the dais where Nevaria sat, gowned once again in blue satin.
"You may uncover yourselves friends. You are in safe company here."
"You will forgive us if one of our party declines Your Majesty. While we are friends, even in private you would be compelled toward action should our companion's face be revealed." Sirius said diplomatically from beneath his cowl.
Curiosity lit in the Queen's face but she nodded. Annikaya let out the breath she'd been holding, for the Nevaria she knew hated surprises and always indulged her curiosity.
Gravely Sirius and Annikaya lowered their hoods and watched Nevaria's face pale and then set into an expressionless mask.
"Before you get upset, Em'ly, we have a deal for you." Annikaya purposely called on the secret childhood name. "If you don't accept we'll leave."
Nevaria said nothing so Annikaya plunged ahead. "We have a potion, Reinfold's Draught. If you take it, you'll be immune to all magic forever. No one will ever be able to cast spells on you or anything. The Death Eaters won't be able to hurt you. In exchange we just need one minute with the Veil of Lethe-an artifact you confiscated from the Ministry of Magic. It will take us home to our universe."
"How do I know it really works?" The other woman's voice was still emotionless and cold. Marcus was shifting restlessly behind them in distress.
"Whether you believe I'm Annikaya or not, you must know I've harmed no one since I've gotten here. I haven't lied to you."
"You have!" Nevaria burst out.
Now Annikaya was worried and confused. "How?" The question was urgent.
"You told me his name was Stephen Malcolm. I know who he is! I know he's Sirius Black! You should have known I'd know!"
Sirius spoke up. "If you know so much then you'd know I spent some time in prison for a crime I didn't commit. Which means I'm not in the habit of giving out truthful information when wrongly imprisoned again."
Elgin shifted again and Sirius shifted his head almost imperceptibly. They didn't want to stretch Nevaria's credulity too fast here.
Annikaya pulled out the two vials of rosey liquid and held them in her open palm. "Do we have a deal?"
The lost look was back in Nevaria's eyes. "Potions won't bring me back what I lost." She said softly, her voice suddenly a bit hoarse.
Annikaya's smile was sad. "No, they won't. The me from here will still be dead and you'll still be here."
"I don't want to be 'kaya."
Sirius wondered if she meant here as queen or here alive but Annikaya seemed to understand.
"I know."
"I have to be, to make sure it doesn't happen again to someone else."
"I know. But you can't get rid of all magic Nevaria. There are a lot of good witches and wizards out there trying to stop it too."
"You didn't see them. You didn't see the bodies. Your body. His." She still couldn't say his name and even thinking of him set her to trembling.
Unconsciously Marcus lifted a hand to her who seemed so far away. "Nev." He broke away from Sirius and Annikaya and knelt at her feet. "Nev."
Nevaria's lip quivered. "Mar..Marcus?" She leaned forward and pushed his hood back onto his shoulders. Time seemed frozen as he gazed into her eyes, his own so full of emotion. Nevaria inhaled deeply and then fell sobbing into his arms. "You smell the same!" she sobbed incoherently.
Sirius turned to Annikaya to suggest giving the two reunited lovers a bit of time and noticed that Annikaya had streams of tears running down her cheeks.
"Oh!" she said with a hitch in her voice. "That's so beautiful!"
Sirius smiled and shook his head. "Come on, you."
Annikaya sniffled loudly and, hand in his, left the audience chamber.
Tumbleweed was waiting for them when they came out. "Well, I don't have any orders to arrest you yet, troublemaker."
Sirius sighed dramatically. "I'm afraid there's still time 'Weed." We just sprang the old fiancé on Her Majestic-ness." He paused. "Solitary confinement isn't too bad."
Tumbleweed didn't question them on Marcus, only laughed and invited them to play exploding snaps while they waited. An illusion charm made it look like they were playing an innocent card game while in truth they practiced magic in the very heart of Nevaria's anti-magic castle. Sirius loved that.
The game started to suffer after about a half hour as they began to wonder how things were progressing. At the end of another half hour period the door men on some unnoticed signal pulled open the doors and beckoned Sirius and Annikaya to enter. Inside Marcus was sitting on the edge of the dais holding hands with Nevaria. Both looked more relaxed than Sirius could remember seeing them and Nevaria was smiling. Her crown was lying in Marcus' lap and he was toying absently with it using his free hand.
Nevaria spoke without preamble. "I..." She looked down at Marcus and smiled. "We will take your deal."
Annikaya grinned and held out the two vials which Elgin took gravely.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay though? You could certainly help me redo this whole magic thing."
"Sorry Nevaria but I'd rather not live someone else's life, even if it is mine." Annikaya said, then paused as she thought that out. "You know what I mean."
Nevaria sighed. She did understand. She summonsed her guards and ordered them to escort them all to the veil. A half dozen uniformed men surrounded them, leading them through the palace to the lift and to a previously unseen floor. More guards were stationed at checkpoints along the hall, guarding different magical artifacts.
Sirius looked distinctly uncomfortable being surrounded by so many of the peacekeeping force. Annikaya could see it in the way his fingers twitched nervously for his wand.
Finally they stopped in front of one door. The guard standing beside it took a large key and turned the lock, pushing the door open. The room inside was bare except for the fluttering ragged veil and silent except for the whispers of the artifact.
Nevaria shivered. "Are you sure you have to go? It looks like something an alien would leave behind to help take over the world."
Annikaya laughed, for Nevaria'd always been more inclined toward science and thus aliens than magic
Sirius answered for her. "Sorry Your Majesty. We have responsibilities."
Annikaya gave Nevaria a hug, watching the guards tense, and then impulsively gave Marcus a hug, as well. Marcus was surprised but he hugged her back.
"You two take care." She told them.
Sirius settled for a handshake. And then they stepped through the veil.
