Author's notes: Hah! An update! I suppose we're nearing the end, people… this will be told from 2 povs now, naturally, before… well, you get the idea. :P Anyway, there are some dialogues from Kay here, there was no avoiding it, since you have to know what is going on…

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Chapter XXXI

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Over the next few weeks, Raoul would often comment that Christine seemed lost in thought. She would always shrug the question off with a smile saying that she was simply missing her uncle and busy with her new part. After all, a new production required her utmost attention and since Raoul had already informed his brother that she agreed to come with them (much to Philippe's relief, due to the fact that Carlotta was bound not to be singing the main role now) she had no other choice but keep her word and return to Paris with them.

Despite the smoothness of their departure and arrival in the city, things went badly from the moment they entered the opera house. The managers, two rather non-musical and comical characters, very carefully informed a rather disapproving Comte de Chagny that Carlotta had tried, despite all odds, to study the part of die Königin. She managed quite well in the first part of the less famous of the two arias, somehow got past most of the coloratura, but even after five attempts – four of which have been accompanied by increasing rage – she had not managed to reach the required high note.

Throwing a tantrum about leaving if they wouldn't change the production, she stormed off and returned only when the managers came back groveling and assuring her that they would change the production and assured her that she would secure the title role. As the rest of the musical world was eagerly anticipating the soon-to-be-premiered "La Traviata" in Venice within a few months, Carlotta demanded a fresh triumph immediately. In desperation, the managers, neither much of a musician, chose "La Sonnambula" ("The Sleepwalker") as their main project until then.

Christine was right when she had thought that getting in would be difficult. In fact, hadn't it been for the involvement of the two de Chagnys, who insisted that they at least listen to one song, she wouldn't have even been considered as a potential performer. She was slightly nervous when she produced the sheet music for her aria, knowing perfectly what the conductor would say.

As she had anticipated, the conductor, Monsieur Reyer, looked at the papers, a slight crease between his eyebrows, then at her, then at the papers again, as if judging if she could do it. She doubted that herself, but since Erik specifically told her to go with that. After a few seconds, Reyer decided not to say anything and sat himself behind the piano, playing the first few notes. Christine joined in, absent-mindedly but perfectly, and sang the "vengeance aria" of die Königin der Nacht with apparent ease.

She slipped only on one note, and just because noises were heard outside, followed by very loud screaming of a woman's voice in what seemed to be Spanish, and Firmin, one of the managers, hurried outside. The shrieks and screams faded for a moment, but once Christine had finished, they seemed to have been strengthened by anger and hysteria. Looking around, Christine saw Raoul determinedly looking at the ground, trying not to laugh.

The remaining manager, André, clapped enthusiastically, apparently very surprised, but looked at Reyer for professional commentary. The conductor stood up, nodded slightly and collected the music sheets.

"Your technique and range are surprising, Mademoiselle, but to take on this part, you would have to practice somewhat nonetheless. For the first aria, it would be sufficient, perhaps. But for this, it would not – in terms of acting. You aren't being angry enough, considering that "the vengeance of hell stirs in your heart"." he noted, handing the papers over to her.

Christine nodded timidly, partially because of the ever-increasing volume of the shrieking outside. The second manager chose to go to his partner's aid, and it seemed that the combined forces of the two men managed to convince the screaming woman to at least come with them. While the two de Chagnys congratulated Christine and Reyer asked her if she knew what La Sonnambula was about and what part she wished to try out for, the pair of clearly intimidated and tired managers returned and as she was about to say that she would like to audition for Amina, with the main character's aria "Come per me sereno", Firmin interrupted.

"We've decided to accept you, Mademoiselle Daaé."

"And after some deliberations we've decided that the part of Teresa will be fitting for you." André added, rather hastily.

Reyer raised his eyebrows and stared at the managers. Christine stared as well – she was well aware that the managers were very eager to keep Carlotta and that the "deliberations" meant that they groveled and groveled until Carlotta would be satisfied with their decision. The de Chagnys, apparently unaware of the size of the parts, caught up with the rest by seeing the looks on the other two's faces.

Reyer was the first to recover. "Messieurs, she might not have the proper range for Teresa. A soprano acuto sfogato won't be able to hit the lower notes necessary for a mezzo-soprano part…"

"I'm certain the mademoiselle will manage it under your supervision, Monsieur Reyer." Firmin noted, glaring at the conductor.

Christine was at a loss of words. She knew something like this might happen, but she shared Reyer´s sentiments. While she didn't care how big her part was, she wasn't a mezzo-soprano, she would have problems with the role. She just stood there, only half-listening to Reyer.

"Perhaps she could sing Lisa, the innkeeper?" he suggested, "That is a soprano part, and it's not the lead, which I'm assuming you mean to give to La Carlotta…"

But André shook his head. "This is the fourth time this week she has threatened to walk out and after hearing… well, she wouldn't settle for anything else." He hastily amended, though there was no need to say the sentence out loud. Apparently, Carlotta had heard Christine's audition and wasn't keen to be outperformed by a newcomer.

Finally regaining her voice, Christine nodded. "I see. Very well – I'll do it." She said, to the relief of the managers and the conductor's surprise. "But only because your patrons are good friends of mine, Messieurs." she said, as close to a diva voice she could get, "Might I remind you that La Scala awaits my return to perform Leonore in Fidelio, and they don't confuse the size of a diva's ego with that of her relent." A twinge of regret passed trough her mind, but she said her goodbye and walked out without another look at anyone.

X X X

"You did not survive your dangerous journey through the Elburz ... a landslide ... a tiger ... a Turkoman, there are half a dozen deaths a solitary messenger could have met. Choose whichever pleases you and disappear. There is sufficient in that purse to ensure you never need to carry messages again. Go now and be sure you do not speak of this to anyone ... if you betray me, I promise that I will take the greatest pleasure in personally arranging your extinction!"

After a single month, the khanum had called upon Erik to return to Tehran immediately. The situation was growing darker and more serious with each day. Reza´s health was failing by the day, the khanum wasn't pleased, and Christine had left… permanently, this time. It had been two full weeks, yet still it seemed to drag on forever.

Two more months passed slowly, two months during which a rainbow had been painted for Reza, as Erik had put it, showing the sick boy the most beautiful music, the most amazing magic tricks, yet none of that could ever help avoid the inevitable. The boy's death had been quick, hopefully painless and easy, and a part of Nadir Khan's life had ended. They had returned to the palace, and the daroga had been summoned by the shah to be interrogated about the recent palace plans and whether or not Erik considered himself rewarded adequately for his services.

The daroga was unnerved. He could sense the khanum´s jealous anger behind all this, an anger that had been ignited long ago and blazed the strongest the night Christine and her companions had departed, and if looks could kill when Daaé had been asked to sing once more for the shah as a parting gift, the young soprano would have been dead before she had even opened her mouth to sing "Ave Maria" by Franz Schubert, bringing the first and probably last Christian prayer to the Islamic halls of the palace.

The gift was a slave from the royal harem, barely having finished her training as a concubine. As all in the palace, Nadir including, there was no greater honor for the shah to bestow upon a favored servant than the gift of a harem virgin ... the gift of a wife.

The girl was more than horrified, since she knew, as she had confirmed the night, what was expected of her. The daroga watched Erik struggle against his own desires as he offered her a bargain she was unlikely to receive from anyone else – one night… and then she would be free to live the rest of her life in wealth, no longer a slave. The Persian imagined that part of the reason was his understanding that she was terrified and another part was that none other than Christine Daaé would ever be able to sate Erik's passions fully. The other option she had was death.

But as she burst into hysteric tears and screams, not answering Erik's demands of whether she would rather die than spend a single night with him, he ordered an eunuch to take the child away, despite the general astonishment it caused and Nadir's protests that such an action would be the greatest breach of etiquette Erik could commit… an insult to the shah.

But nothing would persuade Erik, least of all Nadir's question why he would risk such things for a mere slave. Being thrown unceremoniously out of the chambers, Nadir soon found out that the next day, the khanum had called upon Erik to watch a demonstration of torture – none other than the slave girl that he had sent away the previous day was to be the victim of the infamous hexagonal chamber that day.

"I see that you have learnt nothing under my tuition, madam. I find your choice of subject vulgar and tedious, the work of an amateur who has failed to understand her artistic limitations." Erik had said after seeing what she had brought him to witness. Nevertheless, despite the insult, or perhaps because of it, the khanum didn't refrain from her entertainment, despite Erik's immediate departure.

"If you want to retain any sanity at all you have to get out of Persia soon," Nadir said, months later, after an attack on the shah himself, when all was fearing revolution, after the first time Erik had to correct a project that had displeased the shah. "You know that, don't you?"

"When the palace is finished, I'll think about it." Erik retorted with a light shrug, despite the Persian's warnings that the khanum was after his blood now. The palace was the greatest thing holding him in Persia. A grim mood had swept through the country, he was consciously aware of just how many enemies he had… but his greatest reason for leaving remained the promise he had made to Christine.

Whenever things seemed grim, he remembered her genuine expression of intense relief and joy when he had awoken from the deep coma he had been thrust into thanks to the crude attempt to kill him. Despite the feverish dreams he had been having, he heard her voice echoing around her then - "God is merciful and He loves you. I love you."

While his certainty of God's mercy was tested many times, it was proven that said mercy still existed when he heard her say that she loved him, despite the deaths, despite the horrors she had seen, despite his face. It was one of the few joyous thoughts he could cling to in the darkness that was beginning to draw nearer, as was the recollection of the smell of her hair when she had thrown herself at him and kept repeating that he must promise her not to do this to her ever again.

"Promises are made to catch fools in." he had said back then, "But I might promise if you promise never to deny or forget what you have just said."

And Christine promised, even as Nadir burst in, surprised by all the sounds. Yet the joy had had a short life – the day of Christine's departure was close. She told him where to find her, should he return to the Old Continent one day, repeated her promise when he insisted, and left. There had not been a day when he hadn't remembered this chance to start his life anew, far away from the dark.

"I am weary of manufacturing these living nightmares," he said once, "very weary."

After the palace was complete, Nadir had once again been summoned by the shah for a visit into his new domain, and again asked whether he thought the palace unique.

"There cannot be another monarch in the world who possesses a palace such as this," Nadir assured him. "You have a great jewel of architecture and a servant who is truly without equal on this earth."

Yet the shah was not as content with Erik as he had been years ago. Naturally, the khanum´s hand was behind this, though it couldn't be denied that it was true that the sultan and the emir both sought to lure him from the shah's service – Erik's fame had long since surpassed the Persian borders and reached Constantinople. No longer did the shah believe in any kind of loyalty Erik might have.

"I have devised the perfect means for you to demonstrate your loyalty to me now." the shah concluded, "It may interest you to know that the khanum suggests I should have his eyes put out. But on reflection, I am not convinced that such an act would necessarily extinguish his gifts and render him useless to another monarch. I wish to preserve the unique quality of this palace ... he shall build for no other king. Every man who worked upon this site is to be put to death ... including its creator. You will arrest Erik tomorrow night when he returns to Ashraf."

"Tomorrow?"

"Tonight he completes a minor alteration that I have required to my private chamber and I do not wish him to be disturbed. Tomorrow I have no further use for him. I shall leave the means of execution in your capable hands, daroga ... but be quite sure that no damage is inflicted upon the skull. It is my wish that his head should be preserved with embalming fluids and mounted on a pillar in the Gulistan. The sultan and the emir will both be sick with jealousy to hear of my new ornament."