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"Vulko?"
"Yes Your Majesty?"
"I miss her."
He remembers Vulko pausing, tossing the squid ink aside. He is more reserved, stricter even since Kerei left him. And every time he sees her, all he can do is remember how easily she cast Aeryn aside. That hatred. Steadily brewing. Only out of respect for Vulko has he not ordered her executed.
"My King, it would be wise not to mention . . ."
"Aeryn." Her name is whispered like a prayer that has never been answered. It's been ten years since she was taken to the surface dwellers and left there for something she had no control over. And everyday, her trusting eyes torture him. He was so sure they would be together forever.
"You say her name like it's a nasty word."
"No. But you must remember Atlantis has a long memory King Orm. There have already been suspicions about your father's death, it is a miracle no one has already set out to kill her."
"I would have them executed if they tried," he insists. "I want to see her again."
And Vulko was insistent. Very insistent . . .
"She's almost fourteen years old Captain," the nun hisses angrily. "I really think there are better children who could complete your beautiful family."
The man along which she is walking is not tall, a little less than six feet. Bit the statue with which he carries himself, to the silence of his patented leather boots, and the crisp curl of his thin lips ensure him instant respect.
"My wife Mary is very insistent Sister Anna," the Captain remarks. "Are we getting close?"
"Here."
The door opens. And there she sits. The strangest field anyone has ever seen. Her lips mutter silently as if she were miming a song, but there is no music. Tattered rope hangs around her dry hands, her long dark hair matted in her fingers. She's like a dream. Hardly even there.
"Rebecca. Get up. Your new father is here."
The girl barely even acknowledges her.
"Rebecca!"
"It's ok Sister." The Captain raises a hand with all the warmth of an icicle. "Rebecca." Slowly he draws closer. Until she look at him through straggled hair. "Rebecca they call you. But we both know that's not true is it child?"
Still not a word. Until he snatches something from around her neck.
"No! Give that back!"
He holds it out of her reach. "Tell me your name child."
"Rebecca!"
The glorious green stone is clutched precariously in his grip. Squeezing. Crushing.
"Your real name."
It is with many tears and suffering that she chokes out the barely audible words. "Aeryn."
The Sister gasps in awe. "My my Captain. You do have a way with children."
"What can I say?" the Captain smiles cruelly. "I've always wanted one of my own." The Knife whips out. The Nun's body hits the ground. Aeryn is dragged screaming even as the gem goes flying to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. She's still screaming as she's dragged away. She has had Orm with her, in that gemstone for ten long, painful years. Now it's gone. And so is he.