Gilding the Lily
Dark, dank, far below ground level. Far from the rays of the sun. The sort of place many an evil creature preferred. A place where one could reasonably expect the most hideous and terrifying of monsters to jump out, slavering and thirsting for blood.
The sound of a striking match. Then, a tiny tongue of fire, flaring, flickering into life. Match touched to the wick of an oil lamp, so, and then, the small, subterranean chamber was dimly illuminated.
The figure tending to the lamp was not at all what the dire and drear ambience of the location might suggest. In fact, in an odd twist of fate, the first word that might spring to mind was harmless.
It was the figure of an old man, finely built and slight of figure. The wispy, baby-fine white hair clung to his skull as if afraid to venture too far away from it. Conversely, the bristly, bushy eyebrows of the same hue stuck out in every conceivable direction, adding a touch of the comic. Perhaps unfortunately so, for they called attention away from the eyes themselves. Red-flecked, black orbs that looked as though they reflected the depths of hell and madness.
At the moment, the old man was carefully examining the dingy, off-white robe that covered his fragile-seeming frame, and speaking in the expected querulous, old man voice.
"Corinna?" He peered up one sleeve. "Corinna? Where are you, naughty girl?" He turned his attention to the other sleeve, and ceased his questing. "Well come on out now, baby girl. Come, come, daddy will give her a nice treat."
A spider, so large and hairy that it made one wonder about the old man that it could have been hiding in his raiment without his notice.
"There she is," he said, sounding mildly surprised. He gently placed the creature on its web and deposited something raw and bleeding therein. "Be a good girl now, daddy has work to do."
He turned away from his pet and began thinking. The report from Richard was a step in the right direction, the right sacrifice had been a long time coming. But there was something about the connection with the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart that bothered him. Best look into it. And perhaps arrange a meeting with the senior partners. Just to be on the safe side. No sense in getting into a conflict with them if it could be avoided. Not that he feared them. But it could be a hitch in his plans, and a great deal depended on them going through smoothly. A very great deal.
&&&&&&&&
"I thought you said that it would be here to meet you," Spike pointed out, pacing.
"It will be here," Angel assured him. "I have yet to meet a Q'xlzr who'll turn down the opportunity for money, no matter how little it is. Besides, this one is Rose's friend."
At the mention of Rose's name, Spike's face grew grim. He turned away and was about to punch the nearest thing to him, which would have been the interior wall of the sewer, but Angel checked the punch.
"That's not going to help, Spike," Angel remarked. "Take it easy, the Q'xlzr will be here."
"Two vampire?" came a familiar voice from the shadows. "Why two vampire being here? Rose okay?"
Spike buried his face in his hands. "No." His voice took on an odd, echoing quality, coming through his hands. "Rose is not okay."
"What happen Rose?" the Q'xlzr demanded accusingly. It glared at the two vampires, orange eyes almost glowing. "Where Rose?"
"When Rose came back from England it looks like she left the airport with someone named Richard McDaniels," Angel explained. "We don't know why she did it. And until we find out what's going on, we don't want to just go running in there."
The blue-gray demon turned on Spike. "Why vampire not there to get Rose?" Its ears were standing on end, quivering with indignation.
"I got stuck in the bloody L.A. traffic," Spike shouted defensively, head coming up. "Do you think I didn't want to be there? That I like the idea of her being with another man?" His voice began to break. "That I like having that empty space in the bed beside me at night?" He turned away, fighting to get himself back under control.
The Q'xlzr edged a step closer and timidly patted the vampire's arm. "We get Rose back."
&&&&&&&&
"Richard, you're being far too extravagant," she protested, feeling a twinge of déjà vu. Who had she been arguing with about clothes shopping?
"Nonsense," Richard replied firmly. "You need a whole new wardrobe.., Lily. Besides, if I win the election, you'll have to dress as befits a senator's wife."
A cloud passed over her face. It bothered her that she couldn't remember marrying Richard. A dim, half-memory flashed through her head. "Richard, what color was my wedding dress?"
"White, of course." He had no idea, obviously, not having been present when she actually had married. "It was your first marriage. And, I hope, your last."
She gave him a smile, but something in the back of her mind said that he was lying to her. Her mind's eye saw a wedding gown, and it was not white. More of a, oh, what did they call that color? A sort of dusty pink. She decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to ask Richard.
"Lily?" Richard was looking at her impatiently. "We really don't have time for you to go woolgathering, dearest."
"Gathering wool?" For some reason the phrase didn't register at first.
Richard sighed in exasperation. "Get your head out of the clouds, toots," he ordered softly. "Time's a wasting."
"Time is quite often a matter of opinion," she retorted, bringing startled expressions to both of their faces. Where on earth had she gotten that?
&&&&&&&
There was a knock on Angel's office door, followed by Lorne's head poking in.
"Got a sec?" the Pylean asked.
"Have you got any news about Rose or Richard McDaniels?" Angel countered.
"How about a call from 'please, call me Richard', to set up entertainment for a fundraiser?" Lorne asked. "Does that buy me a minute of your valuable time?"
Angel started to smile. "He wants us to be in charge of running his fundraiser?"
"Well, so far, just finding the talent to keep it from being so boring that people won't open their wallets," Lorne admitted. He studied Angel's face carefully. "What have you got in mind?"
"Ask him if he'd be interested in having us handle security as well," Angel ordered. "Then, maybe we can get close enough to Rose to find out just what is going on."
"Anything in the cause of getting the Rosebud back," Lorne vowed. "How are Spike and the kiddies holding up?"
"The kids are a little quiet," Angel reported. "But I think that Spike's getting homicidal."
Lorne shook his head, and started for the door. "Just like old times, huh, big guy?"
A puzzled expression crossed Angel's features. "What are you talking about?"
"Just like old times," the empath repeated. "Rescuing the blossom."
&&&&&&
Richard had said that he had some business calls to attend to, so he'd left her alone to put away her new clothes, directing her to pick out something nice to wear that evening so he could take her out to dinner. So, she folded, put on hangers, and removed tags. And started singing, something that just seemed to pop into her head.
"'Early one morning Just as the sun was rising I heard a maid sing in the valley below'." My, she thought, that was a pretty song. She wondered where she had learned it. "'Oh, don't deceive me Oh, never leave me How could you treat a poor maiden so'?"
Richard stuck his head in the door. "I didn't think I left the radio on," he muttered, half to himself. "And anyway, that doesn't sound like something..," He stopped short as realization hit. "Was that you singing, Lily?"
She blushed. "Yes, it was," she admitted. "I wonder where I learned it, though. I have the feeling that it's a very old song."
Richard laughed. "Don't sweat it, sweetie," he advised. "I'd go crazy if I tried to pinned down where I'd heard every song that ever popped into my head."
"But you didn't have amnesia," she pointed out seriously. "That kind of makes it a little more important to me, dear." She sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh. "Do you think I'll ever get my memory back?"
He joined her, and put an arm around her shoulders. "Sure you will, hon," he assured her. "Having that song pop into your pretty head was probably just the first step. Before you know it, you'll probably start remembering all kinds of things."
She allowed her head to fall on his shoulder. "Do you really think so?" she asked a little wistfully.
"Sure," he reiterated. He snuggled her close. "And maybe when it does come back, you'll remember just how much in love we are, my beautiful angel."
They just sat there as they were for a few moments, each thinking their own thoughts. Richard, of paving the path to power for his Master. And 'Lily' thinking that there was something she ought to remember about an angel.
&&&&&&&&
Oz had suspended lessons for the day. It wasn't as if the twins weren't already two grades ahead of their age group. Or that they could be considerably farther than that. He'd left them Friday, all bubbling over with anticipation over having their mother get back from England. And now, somehow, someone had managed to yank that rug out from under them. Even though Spike had filled him in on everything upon his arrival that morning, he still couldn't figure it out. Like Spike, he didn't for one moment believe that Rose had just up and left her family like that. If there was one thing he would put money on, it was Rose being utterly devoted to those she loved. So what in the hell was going on?
Mostly, the kids had been in deep telepathic rapport. Oz knew and respected this mode. Especially now, when he knew why they were doing it. He just let them be today, and kept an eye on them. He was surprised when Ariel gave an almost natural giggle, and came out of it for a moment.
"What gives?" he asked softly.
"Mummy almost remembered something," the little girl explained to him. "About arguing about shopping for clothes." Again with the giggle. "We never let her pick out her own stuff."
Alaric had joined them, but his face was twisted in a scowl. "Almost remembered isn't remembered," he grumbled. "And I can't make her listen to me."
"Then stop trying," his sister advised. "You might hurt her." She thought a moment. "Is it just me, or did it feel like she was already hurt?"
Alaric nodded. "Like there's a great, big bruise on her memory."
Oz looked at the pair of them quizzically. "A bruise on her memory?" he repeated. "Are you saying that she doesn't remember who she is?"
Both children gave him a 'well duh' look. "Why else do you think that mummy didn't come home?" Ariel asked. "It's because she didn't remember us."
"You don't think she would leave us for anything else, do you?" Alaric demanded. "Mummy loves us. She wouldn't leave us on purpose."
"Not ever," agreed Ariel.
&&&&&&&&
Wesley listened unashamedly as Lorne breezed into his office, still talking ninety to the dozen on his cell phone.
"Yeah, Richie baby." Lorne could almost see Richard wince. "Lorne here. I've got some entertainment lined up for you, and I guarantee, it is some primo stuff. But the boss man is interested in doing his little bit to get you into the senate too. If you let us take security along with, in a package, he's willing to give you a very attractive discount. Sure, sure thing, pal. I understand about these things. You go ahead and talk it over with your p.r. man. But I can practically guarantee that he'll race you to the phone to accept." He turned and gave Wes a wink. "You what? Want your new bride to sing?" The Pylean winced, thinking that love wasn't only blind, it was often tone-deaf. "I know you're still on your honeymoon.., She'll sing for me?" This was too much, and Lorne crouched down beside the Watcher, so they could both hear the soft, sultry contralto voice that issued from the phone.
"'That's why darling, it's incredible That someone so unforgettable Thinks that I'm unforgettable too'."
Lorne clicked the phone shut almost reverently, and Wesley handed him a tissue. Then, he got one for himself. Once heard, there was no mistaking Rose's voice. And the woman that Richard McDaniels had introduced as his wife was most definitely Rose.