Arc VI

Chapter LI

Dance With The One Who Brought You

"Fear is inevitable, I have to accept that, but I cannot allow it to paralyze me."

Isabel Allende ― The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir

"She was murdered," Black said in a matter of seconds, saving the barrister the need to explain the obvious. If Rosario had died of natural causes, then they wouldn't be trapped in what seemed to be a paradigmatic predicament. The doctor eyed him suspiciously, only to come to the stage of realizing that the truth voiced by the mercenary had been an evident one – their absence had opened up the gates for the Syndicate to step up and claim the brothel as their uncompromised territory. Getting rid of Rosario seemed like an obvious priority.

"That's why you need an alibi in order to return, I'm afraid."

"How did she die? When?" The gunslinger asked.

"Poison, boy," Yvo explained. "Her body was found yesterday evening. She was in her bedroom, they thought she was asleep."

"Can't you just tell them you sent me on a special mission or something?" Black inquired, his arms soaring in rage. "Tell them I was tracking the portals or following some lead, I'm sure you'll come up with something good."

"Of course, I can," the old man said, his eyes finding Alexandra. "But you're not the problem, boy. She is."

It became crystal clear then, for both of them, that no plot could ever justify Alexandra's absence. Black's figure could be covered by a million different stories and every single one of them would seem plausible enough so no-one would neither deny nor object Yvo's excuses. But there was no reason for the doctor to be gone. As the woman looked down, her complicated actuality set heavily on her soul: not only her absence was completely unjustified but returning with Black, at the exact same moment, would be suspicious even for the most benevolent crowd. Now she was wearing different clothes, she had even changed the color of her hair… pretty much as if she was on the run, pretty much as if she was trying to hide.

"There's something else," the barrister went on. "Rosario's last will and testament."

Black's hands traveled all the way up to his face to cover his wide-eyed gaze.

"What about it?"

"Rosario chose her as her only heir," Yvo announced. "She came by my office the day after you two crossed the portal. Perhaps she could sense you two were leaving her unprotected, and so she felt the need to make sure the Syndicate couldn't rise while you were gone."

A part of Rosario knew, deep down, that both Black and the doctor would return. It was painfully obvious now, Black pondered, otherwise the old manager wouldn't have bothered to make sure Alexandra would be the chosen one to succeed her. It had been her plan all along: no matter what Alex said; no matter how many times she had expressed she didn't want to become the manager of The House of Pleasure, in the end, Rosario had managed to get exactly what she wanted.

"Rosario's testament names one Alexandra Flynn as her only heir," Yvo explained. "The name was unfamiliar for most people except for one of the girls: El-A, who quickly pointed out that it was you, my dear."

El-A had heard Black calling her Alex, the doctor remembered bitterly. Looking back, El-A's discovery had precipitated her decision, forcing her towards Black and, in retrospective, towards the portal.

"Now, you cannot say, under any circumstance, that you were in Earthrealm," the barrister sentenced. "The Kahn is quite invested in this case; Rosario was a figure of influence, especially amongst the people known as the oppressed."

Black scratched his chin and stood up, pacing around the small room.

"Telling the truth could lead us to questions we wouldn't want to answer," he said. "If we confess that Alex is an Earthrealmer and that she has spent over a decade working for Rosario but only now she crossed the portal because she was trying to go back home they'll ask why she didn't join the census when she had the chance."

"Not just that," the doctor's voice, finally, interrupted Black's train of thought. "If I could cross through a portal and return, that means that I don't accept the Kahn's order that there's no place for Earthrealmers in Outworld. I would become a liability the second they notice that I was able to move so easily between realms. I crossed the portal then I returned. Most people can't do that. The only ones who can move so freely from one realm to the other and back are…"

"The traffickers working for the Syndicate," Black finished her sentence. "Ironically enough, that scenario would place you at the opposite end of this conflict."

"If I were you, I'd stay hidden for as long as possible," the barrister offered. "You can stay at my house; I won't be leaving this place any time soon."

Both Black and the doctor shook their heads simultaneously: they couldn't just hide away and wait for the commotion to be over. Rosario deserved more than that. They both deserved more than that.

"Please, I beg you to consider it," Yvo insisted. "At least wait until the memorial is over. I don't remember seeing the crowds so agitated, not even during the attacks. You need to understand the magnitude of this situation: Rosario was the queen of the oppressed, not even the Kahn could cross her, and still, she was murdered."

The Syndicate was rising. Their dark wings were enveloping the city.

"I want to attend her memorial," the doctor whispered. "I owe her that much."

Yvo shook his head in silent contemplation: he could understand what she was feeling but exposing herself in such a foolish way was beyond his comprehension. He looked at Black; the bridge built by his eyes was silently trying to tell him to at least try to talk some sense into her, but the mercenary's answer only startled him more.

"We'll both go. When and where?"

"In two days, The House of Pleasure," the barrister said. "The Kahn believes that an open memorial can deliver some sense of closure to the people."

"A simple memorial won't do that much," Black retorted. "Only justice will."

The doctor stood up, leaning her back against the door.

"Did she, by any chance, tell you how was she justifying my absence in the brothel?"

Yvo looked down and breathed through parted lips. "She told them that you and Black were together and that you needed some time after what happened during the carnival. But that's all she said."

Silence encompassed them all for a brief moment. Then the barrister stood up as well and walked towards the door.

"Let me get you some clothes, you can't be seen like that," he said as he exited the room. As soon as they were alone, the woman let her arms snake around the mercenary's waist, her face buried in his chest.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his fingers lost in the ginger bonfire of her hair. Lost in the warm embrace they were sharing, neither of them heard Yvo as he reentered the small room. He was carrying two brown, long-sleeved tunics and a scroll. The design was simple and somewhat old-fashioned, resembling the typical attire of monks or religious figures. As he handed them the clothes, the barrister patted Black on the shoulder with his free hand and took a step back – he couldn't contain the truth for much longer, he knew.

"I spoke to your superior the second Rosario left my office," he said, voice leveled. "I told him the same thing she said to the people over at The House of Pleasure, that you two were together."

"What?" An enraged Black asked, throwing the tunic aside. "Why would you do that?"

He didn't have an alibi anymore.

"I needed to make sure your superior wouldn't talk to the emperor," Yvo defended himself. "He came to me first, and he was looking for an answer. You know how much that man despises you, boy, I couldn't risk it; I could not make up a false assignment for you, what if he came looking for you? The second he smelled the lie he could talk to the Kahn himself. I was only trying to keep us all safe. As safe as I could."

Black's hands balled up in fists, but the doctor grabbed him by the shoulder, keeping him from harming the old man.

"You lied to me," the gunslinger yelled, unable to believe Yvo had played him in such a way.

"I needed to protect you," Yvo pleaded.

"From what?" An enraged Black asked, struggling against the doctor's tight grip around his arm.

"From going back to prison," the barrister raised his voice trying his best to make his friend see the obvious. "They would have thrown you back in that cell and they would have hung me for lying to the Throne. Without me out there, looking after you, you would have been left to rot like that corpse you used to talk to!" He was panting, nearly breathless, "I could not bring myself to risk and potentially destroy the very thing that Rosario was trying to protect!"

"What do you mean?" The doctor inquired timidly as she released Black.

The old man sat on the ground, with his back against the wall for support.

"You are in the testament too, boy," he confessed. "She is the heir, but Rosario chose you as the new manager of The House of Pleasure. She knew Alexandra didn't want the exposure, so she spared her. She secured Alexandra's future and ensured her protection: she knew that with you in charge, no-one would dare harm her. It was her last chance, the last ace up her sleeve, Erron. She knew she wouldn't last long without you there, so she made sure the Syndicate's biggest enemy would be the one taking her place."

Both Alex and Black took several steps back, contemplating the situation with eyes full of surprise: Rosario had played her cards well; she knew they would be back eventually. She understood they needed each other so she made them partners. What they had struggled to achieve, the understanding they had lacked for over a decade, she had provided it for them to finally come together as one.

"Does Kotal know about the testament?" Erron finally asked, finding his own voice after several minutes of complete silence and Yvo nodded his head and offered him the scroll that was still resting between his hands. Then he gave the couple a pen for them both to sign Rosario's last will and testament, making it official.

Black snatched the pen from the barrister's hand and signed furiously, unable to contain his evident anger. The woman was much calmer, letting the ink slide almost harmonically on the paper as she finished her signature. Then she handed the scroll back to the barrister, stretching her arm as an attempt to reach for the man without leaving Black's side.

"What about his job?" Alex asked, leaning forward and resting her hands on Black's shoulders.

"Your superior addressed you as a deserter. He claimed he could not believe you were willing to risk your life for a whore. You no longer work for the garrison, I'm afraid, not that you were ever happy working for it," the barrister explained. "You both know that under Kotal's law, deserters are executed. But I talked to him and convinced him not to play with fire. He won't touch you, Erron. You're safe."

"Of course, he won't. If the citizens are so agitated after Rosario's death, the emperor is not gonna risk making it all worse by touching the brand new manager, the one she herself chose," the mercenary figured. "The manager of The House of Pleasure is a clear figure of influence and power, and peace has been scarce around this place lately."

"Precisely," Yvo concurred. "Rosario spared you both, in all possible ways."

"Still, we can't just reappear out of nowhere," the doctor said. "Even if we are the heir and the new manager, we would be targeted as prime suspects the minute we step out of this building."

"Then we make it legal."

Black's words, simple yet determined, sounded like an alarm ringing unceasingly in the doctor's ears. Her mouth was agape, unsure if her interpretation had been accurate enough. Something seemed to have changed within him, resolution had found him once more. Yvo was having an equally hard time trying to figure out what the mercenary had meant with those few words. With arms folded over his chest, the old Edenian barrister let out a prolonged sigh before tilting his head to the side in silent contemplation.

"We eloped. That's what we did, that's what we say we did," Black affirmed, trying to engage both the barrister and the doctor in his outspoken elucubrations. The woman shivered at the thought; even when she tried hard not to look insecure, a million questions inside her mind were getting the best of her.

"Think it over, it makes perfect sense," the gunman continued, standing up straight and moving toward the confused woman. "El-A saw us together and she's been talking about us ever since that night. That's why we had to elope because we want to be together but we both know I'm not welcome in The House of Pleasure" He placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed gently as he spoke. "We didn't want to be found, that's why you changed your hair," he said as he let one his hands get lost in her rebel auburn locks. "And maybe Rosario knew something like this could happen, so she prepared her last will and testament as soon as we left to make sure that even with us gone, the Syndicate could not choose her successor."

The uncertainties that had plagued Yvo moments ago had now vanished from his face. Black was right: it made sense. Twisting a few details here and there with enough care and precision could provide them all with the perfect story they were seeking.

"We shall arrange a marriage contract then; first we need to find civilians we can use as witnesses of your formal union," the barrister suggested, already engrossed in Black's plotting but as soon as he said those words both the former enforcer and the doctor eyed each other in silent agreement: bringing civilians into their scheme wouldn't work - not only they could potentially jeopardize the whole scheme, but they also needed to address that Black was still a polemic member of the community and people would surely be in for a big surprise the minute they discovered that he would be in charge of the brothel.

There would surely come a day when they would call him The King of the Oppressed, but until that happened, they needed to be cautious about who they let into their secret pact.

While Yvo and Black had found some common ground, the doctor seemed dubious about the plan and her body language showed.

"It's not so bad," he said, looking tenderly at her. "I could break the Syndicate from the inside."

She had never thought she would ever marry someone other than Nathan. Even during all her years in the brothel, she had managed to keep a small portion of her hope intact in case someday a miracle would come her way. Opposite to the certainty that Nathan had been for her, Black had always been a distant harbor she knew she could not reach in spite of her best efforts - so he had mutated many times inside her core, like a prism exhibiting completely different shades every time: the object of her desire, her affection, her fear, her resentment, and even her hatred.

Her husband.

Earthrealm had toyed with their bond. The realm had brought them together in such a macabre way that now their fates seemed to be forever intertwined. Still, he was not naming love as his main reason to marry her; those lips of his were talking about power and revenge but love… love was still not a part of his speech.

"We're talking about getting married," she finally said, her voice nearly extinguished.

"I already did it once, to help a friend get closer to the power he was seeking; to help a woman be free from the life you had to endure for so long," Black offered, moving closer to her now until his hands landed on her shoulders, pushing her near him. "I can do it again. I can do it for me this time, and I can definitely do it for you."

It was his closest approximation to love, she understood as she remembered how his mouth had been unable to fully express everything he felt for her back in Earthrealm. Tangled and twisted, his words and his feelings were a labyrinth keeping him captive. It would take some time for the man to be free from his own riddles and she could only hope she had the energy to help him out of his own sentimental imprisonment.

He reached out for her, offering her one of his hands for the woman to accept him as her husband. The doctor hesitated briefly, taking a dubious step forward and giving him a puzzled look. Yet her fingers touched his eventually, as she gave him her silent acceptance in the shape of a weak caress.

Yvo grinned softly at himself at the scene. It wasn't the fondest, most eloquent declaration of love he had seen but it was enough. All things considered, it was more than enough.

The old Edenian man stood up and approached the lonely wooden desk placed at the opposite end of the room. In seconds, both the cowboy and the woman observed him as he produced a sheet of paper and a pen from the top drawer. Then he beckoned the couple to come closer and they both obliged, walking hand in hand as clumsily as they could, trying their best to avoid eye contact for as long as humanly possible.

As Yvo began to write, Alexandra Flynn began to disappear. She was lost now in the bright ocean of light encompassing that portal. She had been buried in that cemetery; the name speaking of an eternal absence. She had crossed the portal seeking a past that was hers no more and had fell when said past had slapped her hard across the face. Then she had returned, hand in hand, just like now, with the one man who had tried to end her, love her, understand her, help her… she had returned to a dangerous world she couldn't fully recognize as her own; had returned with a soul tarnished by uncertainties.

She had returned without a future.

She had seen her man; had seen the son he had chosen to have with another woman. She had seen the resemblance between those faces: the man she had loved and the one she was now marrying. And at that moment, she could see the bridge in his eyes beginning to break, demolishing the distance between generations; the distance and the similarities in those two women he had grown to love, the one who had made him a father and the one he was marrying now.

For they, the embodiment of second chances, were finally beginning to see eye to eye.

When Yvo paused and looked up at the couple, he saw the first symptoms of content beginning to set on their faces. He smiled quietly, feeling somewhat relieved.

"So," he began, "you got married and then left town; Rosario's orders. She knew the Syndicate was about to strike so she convinced you it was better for you two to disappear. She was protecting you; she was protecting the ones she trusted the most. Sadly, her suspicions came true and now I've come to you to tell you the news about her death – to grant her her last wish." He handed them the pen for the couple to sign the marriage contract. "Everything changed after the carnival. Rosario knew it would be impossible for Alex to stay in the brothel for much longer. They all knew Rosario wanted you as her successor but they also knew your heart belonged to this man, the Syndicate's most dangerous enemy."

Black was the first to sign, then it was the doctor's turn.

"Rosario feared they would target Alex, so she convinced you to run away together. She knew you would not leave her side, boy, she knew you would always protect her. But when the syndicate learned about your absence, they precipitated their decision thinking you would never be back. They attacked a defenseless Rosario without knowing that she had already secured the future of The House of Pleasure."

Black handed the piece of paper back to the barrister and watched as Yvo himself signed at the bottom as one of the witnesses of their union. The name of the second witness was still waiting to be filled, just like the date of the contract.

"Alexandra, tell me, are you familiar with Rosario's signature?" The barrister asked and the doctor nodded once. "Perfect. Then she can be our second witness. You got married on the same day you went away. Rosario told me that you had surely spent the night at Erron's and that you hadn't returned to the brothel yet - we can use that information in our favor: you spent the night with him and the following morning the both of you and Rosario came by my office. Many people saw Rosario entering my office that morning, so it is completely plausible. That morning, Rosario and I finished working on her last will and testament and you both signed it, accepting her offer. Then you got married, on that same day, with only Rosario and me as your witnesses. You were worried, boy, now that you two were about to run away together, because Alexandra was not an Outworlder, so you naturalized her, by marrying her."

The plot complete, the doctor leaned in and finally signed as Rosario. A steady pulse dominating her calligraphy.

"Since it was all part of Rosario's plan to protect you, you couldn't get married at a regular office in the Family Tribunal of Outworld where anyone could see you. It needed to remain a secret," the barrister concluded. Black shook the old man's hand; a gentlemen's agreement had been arranged, the tacit silence enveloping them now was more than eloquent. Now the three of them were partners in the quest of taking down the Syndicate. Rosario had given them her everything: Alex had her money, and Erron had all her power. If they played their cards right, they would be untouchable. They could truly have it all.

As Yvo wrote the date on the contract, Black stared at his brand-new wife: Alexandra Black, the name they had used back in Earthrealm was now a premonition that had come true.

"Our work here is done," Yvo sentenced, standing up and extending his hand for the doctor to shake it. "And since I found you, and I told you the news about Rosario's tragic demise, you can go now. I suggest the three of us visit the brothel tomorrow morning, we need to tell them about your new positions. Brace yourselves, though, they won't be happy about it."

One night was separating them from The House of Pleasure. One last night of complete freedom. One last night before submitting themselves to countless questions and vicious retaliation.

"Where to?" The woman asked, holding Black's hand.

"Home."