The Gilded Cage

From far away in the dark she could hear voices; echo-y, disembodied voices:

"What's she sayin'?"

"I dunno, all I can make out is 'Ferrin'"

"Stupid git and her gobbledy-gook."

"Go tell Lord Riddick she's wakin' up."

Ferrin! Ferrin! I can't find you, why did you leave me, Ferrin? Why can't I see you, Ferrin?

"Min...?"

Ferrin, I can't move, help me!

"Min!" That voice was familiar, who was it? "Min, Poise!"

Fuck!

'Poise' had been a tool. It let her not be so crazy all the time, it let her listen quietly, it was their code word for 'pay attention, this bit is important.' And it gave the 'Mongers that feeling of power over her that they needed to not be so completely annoyed with her presence that they demanded her Ferrin just get rid of her. But this voice had never used it in the few short hours she had come to know it. Where the hell was she...

Min's eyes snapped open and her mouth snapped shut. Riddick. The planet. The damned unnaturally flat planet that... Min's stomach tightened. Well, he didn't look mad, and fortunately he didn't have that compassionate look on his face that would have made her cry right now. Crying would have been in character but she really didn't want to right now.

No, he had that challenging look on his face as when he had asked her, 'Are you cracking up on me?'

"Not today," she whispered and put her head back against the seat she was strapped into. "Ask me tomorrow." Min closed her eyes. She heard Riddick move away and start shouting at the back of the little ship. The nice hard ship with floors that didn't give way under her, and a ceiling that wouldn't let her fly off, and nice firm walls. Don't you cry, woman, don't you dare, she shouted inside her head. Don't you dare!

Tiger, Tiger, burning bright... she recited the poem over and over again until she felt calm.

When the work crew was finished and loaded back in they took off. Min kept her eyes closed and her body still and Riddick didn't speak to her at all as she was already buckled in. The ride was bumpy until it was smooth but Min didn't watch this time. Tiger, Tiger, burning bright...

The 'Mongers didn't fire on them as they returned so the Vaakos must be smarter than she gave them credit for and death wasn't going to give her freedom either. Tiger, Tiger, burning bright...

Riddick released her straps after they had landed and she let her eyes open but wouldn't look into his. Tiger, Tiger, burning bright...

He put out a hand to help her up and since she did feel wobbly in the knees she took it but kept her eyes on the floor and hands at her sides until he turned and led the way out. Tiger, Tiger, burning bright...

You really will go mad now, girl, the voice whispered.

Tiger, Tiger, burning bright! She shouted back in her head.

Dame Vaako met them with a barrage of questions but Riddick quelled her quickly by saying, "Commander Vaako is still First Lord," and walked away from her. Min just followed.

Riddick didn't know his way around the ship but he had a good enough memory to head confidently in the right direction. Min still followed but kept lagging behind. She wanted to split off and go to her own suite where she knew there were no eyes and she could just curl up and cry herself to sleep. She didn't want any company except later perhaps the company of her tigers, safe behind their bars. But Riddick seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and when she fell too far behind he would stop and turn towards her.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

Finally, at the last intersection she could turn down she just stopped and waited for him to come back. After a moment he did. Now she led them, silent and dejected, to the suite she had shared with her Ferrin for more than half her life. The suite where she had been happy and protected for a time, but was now, none the less, just a gilded cage. Tiger, Tiger, burning bright...