"What happened?" Jack whispered. Dame Vaako sighed, looking older for a moment.
"I'll show you. Come with me." She helped her up, led her out of the little room, through the torturous maze of a city.
They were intercepted not far from the chapel. "Jack!" a child's voice, followed by a running child.
Jack swept the child up in her arms, joy crowding out grief. "Ziza! What are you doing here?"
"Uncle Riddick brought me and mama here!"
Uncle Riddick? "Lajjun?"
"It's good to see you, Jack." Lajjun, all in black, caught up. She looked haunted, sad, thin.
"Is Abu here?"
Lajjun looked even sadder. "He died in the invasion of Helion Prime."
All the blackness returned. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry."
Dame Vaako smoothly interceded. "My dear Lady Lajjun. You seem overwrought. Sergeants!" Two Necromongers came over, stood at attention. "Please escort the good lady to her chambers."
The soldiers gestured courteously. Lajjun glanced spasmodically at Jack. "I'll talk to you soon, dear." She and Ziza left quickly with the soldiers. Jack starred after them.
"What's going on?" she whispered to Dame Vaako, who smiled at her, with seeming compassion.
"I think it will make more sense if I show you."
Not sure I can handle anything else you want to show me, Jack thought. But not knowing what else to do, she let herself be led away. They had left the hallway before Ziza came running back, one of the sergeants following, a tired look on his face.
They soon came to a vast empty, room, with a cathedral ceiling, monumental statutes, and an enormous throne. The soldiers escorting them took up stations by the doors.
"This is where it happened," Dame Vaako said, with apparent sadness. "Where she died. The one you are replacing."
Dame Vaako twirled around the room, her lips playing with a serene smile. She stopped in front of the throne. "They were fighting along here, the old Lord Marshal and your Riddick." She mimed blows thrown and received across the middle of the throne room, her slight body parodying mammoth forces.
"The old Lord Marshal had the new one down on his knees. He was about to deliver the death blow. And then she – the one you are replacing, my dear – she stabbed him in the back."
She mimed the heroic thrust of a spear, twirled, fell like a man collapsing in an agony of betrayal.
She sat back up brightly. "He backhanded her across the room." With little steps she danced backwards, coming to rest against a pillar layered in spikes. Jack stared, frozen. After a polite pause, Dame Vaako continued.
"Poetic justice; she was penetrated, just like him, in the back." Vaako thrust herself back against a spike, lasciviously. Her eyes wide, seemingly guileless, locked on Jack's horrified face.
"She dragged herself off the spike, stumbled, and fell here." Dame Vaako did not even try to mime the death walk, but instead took Jack's arm and led her quietly up the steps leading up to the throne. She gazed at the throne longingly for a moment before collapsing, gracefully, onto the steps, arms languidly above her head, still and sublime. An uncomfortably long pause.
Then she pivoted to sit upright, all fluid and dignity, sitting easily on the steps. She met Jack's eyes as Jack, all too solid flesh and growing sense of horror slid gracelessly down to the same steps beside her.
"Her Noble Sacrifice," and you could hear the ironic capitals if you listened, "revived our young Lord Riddick, and he stabbed the old Lord Marshal in the head, killing him. Alas, the young lady was nearly dead. She died here, in his arms, right here. And he fell back into the throne." Dame Vaako stroked it reverently, sensuously.
She stood up. "The rest his now our history." She smiled at Jack, with authentic seeming sorrow.
Tears were spilling down Jack's cheeks. Kyra. Her best friend, maybe even her sister. Dead. Dead in Riddick's arms. Dead because of Riddick.
If she'd been thinking more clearly, it might have occurred to her that Dame Vaako had not told her anything new; just done it in a way that was most likely to hurt. But she wasn't thinking clearly.
Dame Vaako continued, softly. "We think he thought she was you. As soon as he learned she was not, he sent our men all over the galaxy to find you." She caught a few of Jack's tears on her fingers, tenderly.
"Do you know why, my dear? Are you his lost love? Lost so long he couldn't recognize an imposter? Though she did look like you."
Then the tenderness was completely gone. "Or are you another one of his pets? Is he going to put a collar on your throat and feed you scraps from his plate? Are you going to sit at his feet while we hold court?
"Oh my dear, don't cry. Either way, you'll be taken care of, as long as he is the Lord Marshal. Better than you can imagine. You will be part of our glorious future." She put her arms around the sobbing girl, prettily.
Feeling the arms around her, Jack struggled back to some sort of control. "Who invaded Helion Prime?"
"What?"
"Who invaded Helion Prime?"
"My dear, we did. The Necromongers."
What little control Jack and wrested back shattered. Riddick was in charge of the people who destroyed the best home she'd ever had. Riddick was responsible for the death of the only people who ever loved her. She started to sob.
Dame Vaako hugged her closer, a sardonic smile twitching at her lips.
The soldiers shifted uncomfortably.
0o0o0o0o0oRiddick was tired. Not a big fan of meetings. No, meetings to plan invasions were good, but these post-invasion post–mortems were tiresome. Yeah, he knew the casualty rates were high. Wasn't that what these folks wanted: to die in glorious battle? The army loved him for it, whatever these men were hinting.
No, he was deadly tired of this meeting. He wanted to get back to Jack. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and –
He forced himself to stop that train of thought, sighing noisily. The generals hesitated. Unsure.
In the silence, he could hear something. Ziza. At the door. Wanting to see her "Uncle Riddick." Huh.
Didn't really like her breaking into things like this . . . but . . . Fuck it, he thought. Shoved back from the table. The faces, mostly male, looked up worriedly. He'd added some women to the group, if only to annoy the old guard. "We're taking a break. Let her in."
The guards at the door did so, and Ziza came in, suddenly shy among all these people. He smiled at her, and she ran up to him, arms outstretched. He swung her up in his arms, knowing how much it irked his generals. They pointedly did not look.
"What's up, sweetheart?"
"Jack's here!"
"I know, kid. Where's your mother?"
"Dame Vaako made her go to her room."
His hackles raised. "Tell me," Riddick said softly. The room went dead silent.
"Me and mama were walking. And we saw Jack! And mama tried to say hi and Dame Vaako made her go to her room."
Riddick nodded to the tech taking minutes. She got to work. "Then what?"
"I ran back but they were gone. So I went to find you. 'Cause I saw Jack!"
"You did good, kid." He handed her to a random general, to the man's mortification. "Take her back to her mother."
The tech pointed to her screen, wordlessly. It showed where Jack and Dame Vaako had gone.
Riddick was not pleased to find Jack in the throne room. He was quite displeased to find her on the very spot that Kyra had died, looking more like Kyra than she had any right to do. He was especially displeased to see that Dame Vaako holding her, prettily, as she sobbed.
He nodded grimly at Lord Vaako, who fell into uncomfortable step beside him.
Riddick swept into the throne room, a room he avoided. Annoying. Dame Vaako looked up, a serene, almost maternal smile plastered on her face.
Shoulda snapped her neck already, he thought, grimly. Would have, if Vaako wasn't so doggedly loyal.
Jack looked up at him, and he saw the heartbreak in her eyes. Heartbreak and fear. Displeasure turned to rage. She was the one person in the universe who had known who he was, exactly who he was, and hadn't flinched. Who had even loved him.
And now she was terrified. Looking at him. Terrified.
He was across the room in a breath. "Go," he growled at Dame Vaako, who blinked up at him innocently. She hugged Jack one last time and uncoiled from the floor, gracefully. She and her husband left, whispering busily. Normally, he found their conversations amusing.
Without Dame Vaako's support, Jack slumped, half prostrate on the steps in front of him. She looked up and their eyes locked for an instant. His staring down at hers with unveiled fury. She seemed to become aware of her surroundings – armed men, many of them, and her half prone on the steps, unarmed. She scrambled back up the steps, away from him.
Riddick's eyes narrowed. Then she was in the air, held against him, helpless. "Not a word," he murmured into her ear.
He was drowning in her tears and it just made him angrier. What the hell had that snake said to her? And why did she listen to her? She should be able to tell she wasn't his friend.
Maybe that's the point, he thought, in the dim area of his brain that was not red tinged. That woman is not your friend. She might have been trying to take this from you. Take Jack. Take one more tie from the world away from you.
The thought stopped him cold. He tried to control his breathing, modulate his anger. Not fair to Jack. He shifted his grip slightly, moving her into a more comfortable position, guiltily aware that this was partially his fault for leaving her to be preyed upon by people like Dame Vaako. Hadn't felt guilty about anything since Kyra died. He should say something comforting.
Couldn't think of anything to say.
He tried not to stomp up the spiral staircase to his chambers. Almost took her to his bedroom so she could cry herself to sleep before realizing dimly that might panic her more. Instead, he took her to a random sitting room. Set her down on a couch. Crouched in front of her.
At least she had stopped crying. But her fear was still palpable.
He reached for her face to wipe away lingering tears. She jerked away from him. Despite himself, he scowled at her.
"It's me, kid. You know I'm not going to hurt you. What's gotten into you?"
She stared at him, wide eyed. "Abu's dead?"
Oh fuck. "Yes."
"Your . . ." she was clearly struggling with the concept, "your armies killed him?"
"Before they were mine. I killed the man who did it."
Did she relax slightly? At least she was making eye contact, searching his face, though her grief was still palatable.
What had she thought? That I killed the old man? Did that snake say that to her?
"These . . . armies . . . destroyed New Mecca?"
"Yes. Before they were mine."
Real pain in her eyes. After a moment, she said softly. "And Kyra?"
"What do you know about Kyra?" He rumbled, not able to keep the automatic menace from creeping back into his voice. Her relaxation vanished. She looked away, something new in her eyes.
Anger. She had the gall to be angry with him.
Riddick's fury returned full force, now directed at her. "It's partially your fucking fault. If you had just kept your fuckin' mouth shut; if you'd just stayed put, none of this would have happened."
Her anger boiled over. "If I'd what? You have no clue what you are talking about, you asshole."
He almost backhanded her. Controlled it, barely. Kept his voice low. "If you'd stayed put, I would have taken you and Abu outta here before the Necros came. Or if you'd just kept your mouth shut, I never would have thought Kyra was you, and none of this would have happened."
Her mouth was working, but no sound came out. Finally, she shoved him back. He was enough off balance that he let her.
"Right. Okay. Lemme tell you what happened. Why I didn't 'stay put.' Why I didn't 'keep my mouth shut.'"
He backed off, slightly, but left his hands lightly on her knees. Waiting. She seemed to be struggling with the words.
At last she returned to the story. "After you left, we told everyone you were dead. Even the mercs. Lied to their faces. Owed you that. Owed you everything." She looked down at his hands, her anger ebbing. Her grief was unchanged.
"Guess some didn't buy it. I got . . . They didn't bother asking any questions. Had a telepath take what he wanted right out of my head. They weren't happy that I didn't know where you were. But they were really interested in the fact you kept coming back for me."
Her eyes stayed down. "They thought . . . they thought you wouldn't want to see me hurt. That you'd come back for me again.
"So they hurt me. And they did it . . . artistically. And sent out pictures. Guess some people like to see that stuff. Thought it might get passed around, get your attention."
She closed her eyes. There was a long silence. "It got someone's attention. Kyra's. She and her crew hacked in, to figure out what was going on. Saw the telepath's report. That's how she would have known what happened. What you said. What I said. Everything."
She glanced up at him for only an instant. His eyes were murderous. She looked away. "She killed them all. Fixed me up, took me back to Abu. Left me there. Just like you. Didn't need a little kid hanging around. Just like you."
The room was silent. She looked up at him at last, eyes clear. "So don't you tell me I should have just stayed put and kept my mouth shut. I tried my fucking best. Sorry I fucked it up. I'm only human. Sorry I'm not made of fire and steel like you."
She thrust herself up, shoved past him, walked to the far side of the room. He stared after her, his earlier irritation at her for not being Kyra washed away.
Damn it, she was crying again, silently this time. He came up behind her, softly. Put his arms around her. She stiffened, seemed to consider pulling away. He pulled her closer, gently, inexorably.
"I'm sorry. I would have come," he growled, softly, "if I'd known."
She sighed, relaxing slightly into his arms. "Thank you."
"You sure they are all dead?"
"Yeah. Real sure."
"Hm."
Long silence.
"Why would she pretend to be you?"
Incongruously, she laughed. "I think she was trying to protect me. That's why I was at that school. She thought I'd be safe there." She laughed again. He could feel it deep inside him. Even if it was slightly hysterical, it felt good.
"Why'd the old man tell me you ran away?"
She made a little noise and tried to pull away. He wasn't ready to let her do that. Still, sensing her begin to panic, he eased off, a little. Let her get a step between them. She sank to the floor and drew her knees up to her chest. He crouched down beside her and waited.
Her voice was small, childlike. "I thought if I told the police I was kidnapped they'd investigate, and they'd find out about you. But if I said I ran away, I'd just be some stupid kid who got hurt. And I didn't want Abu to think it was his fault."
Something broke inside him. He stood up without looking at her, walked to a view screen, punched up one of his favorite images. An image of a sun falling into a black hole. He stared at it for a long time before finally looking back at her. She was a ball of misery.
He couldn't stand it. Two steps, he had her in his arms, carried her back to the couch. Took one of her hands in both of his. "I got this thing I gotta do. Just – just sit tight. Play with the computer if you want. Or you could hang with Lajjun and Ziza. We'll have dinner. Talk before bed."
She was staring at their joined hands, seemingly fascinated.
"I'll stay here. I could use some time to get my head together."
"Good girl. Tell the guards at the door if you need anything." He ruffled her hair affectionately, his hand pausing a moment too long on her neck, then he loped off.
0o0o0o0o0o
She stared after him for a very long time, long after the tears had finally stopped coming every time she thought of Kyra, or Abu, or home.
Thirst finally motivated her to start exploring.
Not all of the doors opened. Those that did were confusing. Beautiful rooms, absolutely immaculate, most completely unused. Multiple bedrooms. A huge, ornate dining room that did not look like it had ever had food in it. Well appointed conference rooms. A room with a waterfall and an enormous pool that might never have been swum in. Only the gymnasium looked like it was used.
Where am I? These rooms don't make sense. All this space, no people. Who lives here?
Then she found a bedroom. Obviously Riddick's, based on the number of weapons, some she recognized, lovingly arranged on various surfaces. It was tidy, but unlike the other rooms, this hadn't been cleaned immaculate. There were books, a computer that actually looked like someone used it for games. The bed was carelessly made. She could tell which side he slept on.
Morbidly curious about what he might keep in his closets, she took the opportunity to explore. The first had fairly casual clothes. The second a selection of uniforms and ornate helmets she could not imagine him wearing.
The third had the clothes Dame Vaako had picked for her already hanging neatly, and many boxes neatly stacked, with her name on them. Feeling a sense of inevitability, she opened one.
The things from her dorm room. Books, clothes, things Kyra had given her. The lesson plans for the rest of the term. Her eyes started to prickle again.
It was a big closet and there were a lot of boxes. She kept exploring, found most of the things Kyra told her to leave behind in New Mecca. She sat back. There were implications. Riddick had everything she had owned in seven years neatly packed. In his bedroom. She should get out of here. She wasn't up to dealing with Riddick's expectations about their sleeping arrangements.
Though it wouldn't be like they'd never slept together. But that was just sleep. Just safer to be close to him in some of the places they'd traveled through.
Safer. Yeah. He never shared a bed with Abu. Why hadn't that ever occurred to me before? She'd think about that some other time. She changed into jeans and a t-shirt she never thought she would see again and went hunting for a computer console somewhere other than this room.
Hours later, Jack knew much more about Necromongers. And it scared the shit out of her.
They worshiped, as near as she could tell, death. They called it, as far as she could figure out, "The Threshold." They claimed there was a better world beyond. The evidence was the reports of successive "Lord Marshals." Leaders who claimed to have visited there, who claimed that their lives were a living testament to this "better world" people kept talking about. Religious fanatics, dedicated to bringing the one true law to every living thing, and to purify the galaxy of anyone who would not accept the one true law.
Nonsense on stilts.
On top of this religious fanaticism, which was at least open to anyone, was something else that just didn't fit; a brutal materialist ethos. You keep what you kill. Why Riddick was the Lord Marshal, even though he had not accepted the faith, simply because he had killed the last one. He'd be the Lord Marshal until someone killed him, or until he named a successor and "passed the threshold." He maintained his position because he was the biggest bad around – and because he won his battles. The fights he led, the Necromongers came back victorious, though with truly astonishing mortality rates.
Riddick, doing horrible things in the name of a faith he had not accepted. He was more of a monster than she had ever imagined.
Then why is Ziza here?
Nothing on the computer had illuminated that point. Ziza looked fine. Happy and strong. Not converted. The Necromongers usually killed children, and never bore them. They converted what they conquered; they did not breed their own. It didn't make sense.
She realized she was starving. She didn't understand the time pieces, but it had been hours since Riddick had left her here saying he'd come back for dinner.
Gotta be food here somewhere. And some door has people behind it. She started exploring again.
Found herself back in the bedroom, staring at the bed. Maybe it was time to think this through.
Would it be that bad, to sleep with him? He didn't snore or hog the covers . . .
That's not really the problem here. You were a child then, and for whatever reason, he was protecting you. Now you're a woman he thinks he has some sort of claim over.
Doesn't he?
Doesn't mean he gets to fuck me.
No it doesn't. But back to the first question: would it really be that bad? He's breathtaking. You know he loves you, in his own idiosyncratic way. You loved him. Maybe you still do. You had a crush on him for years.
Yeah. Right up to the point I got tortured and gang raped because of him. And now he's taken me from everything I knew and locked me in his rooms on a warship.
And now I've got no one else.
She shuddered. Stood up, turned around, and walked directly into Riddick. She'd forgotten how silently he could move. She was mortified he'd found her in his bedroom. Riddick smiled down on her with more teeth than she liked. "Ready?" he rumbled, low, hungrily.
She backed up fast. "Uh -- "
"Food's here. Come on." He took her hand, and led her from the room, her face flaming, wishing she'd at least found shoes.