A/N: Marumae, I hope this chapter was what you were looking for!

Chapter Twenty Three -- Powers of Magic

Boa tilted her face to the sun, and looked at the sky streaked with colours of the dusk. The birds had stopped singing, but the atmosphere was still peaceful, even if it was, unnaturally quiet. Picking up her skirt so that it wouldn't get caught under her boots, Boa called for her father's dog and began walking through the field.

She had walked further today than she normally did, reaching the end of the palace gardens and then continuing into the wheat field. The crop had been harvested the week before; so all that was left were the prickly stumps of wheat ears, which reached out to scratch her legs.

She gazed around at the empty expanse of the field, watching the dog chase bugs through the grass, until she realised that she was no longer standing there alone. Someone had followed her, and without even turning around, she felt she knew who it was.

So he was here at last. Her fears hadn't been unfounded, she knew he would come, and here he was. She looked at his shadow falling just short of hers and knew that he was waiting for her to look around.

As she looked, Boa wondered if she had fallen into some sort of nightmare. The man who stood before her barely held any remembrance to the Christopher Carrion that she knew, and she diverted her eyes in shock.

His hair had been completely shorn off, and his eyes were circled with dark sorrow. Any colour that had once been a part of his skin, had been drained, until it was nothing but ashen grey. His face looked sunken and skeletal, and Boa could barely bring herself to look, as he presented himself before her as a vision of horror.

"The light save us," Boa whispered; an old phrase for warding off evil.

He walked towards her, and Boa stared at his face.

"They would not tell me what happened," she said taking a step backwards.

Carrion seemed uninterested in what she had to say, and even his demeanour had changed. He no longer looked for her approval, just stared at her with an eerie stillness. When he looked at her, Boa knew there was no longer any emotion there for her. The desire he had once held for her had gone.

Slowly, he reached into his coat pocket and brought out a handkerchief, and dabbed at his bloody lips.

"I was punished for my love of you," he said.

Boa looked away sickened. His lips were so mangled that they barely had any form, and when he spoke, she saw that his mouth was full of blood. Her stomach twisted in revulsion.

"What do you mean?"

Carrion grinned, his blood stained teeth bared at her.

"I shall show you," he said, his disturbed grin still affixed to his face.

One moment Boa was stood looking at him, the next she was sat on a cold floor with Mater Motley leaning over her. Her old face was manic, her grey eyes wide, wild and cold. She was shouting, loud and close to Boa's face, but Boa's mind was too muddled to know what she was saying. Boa felt as if she was awaking from a very deep sleep, in which she had had no control over.

As she woke, she realised that she was not the one on the ground, but a spectator. Carrion was on the floor, his arms tied behind him, and restrained against the wall with an iron bar. Motley was shouting at him, and now no longer inside Carrion's mind she could hear the words clearly.

"Love!" Motley screamed with venom.

Boa flinched. She saw something glitter in Motley's hand, and realised instinctively that it was something sharp. For a second she was seeing through Carrion's eyes again, and she recognised it as a needle.

Boa's eyes widened as it was brought towards her, and Motley grabbed her face roughly. Her head span, the drugged sleep was slow to leave her, but the pain was real as the sharp point touched her top lip.

"No!" Boa screamed, fighting against what was happening to her.

With a twist of her head, she was back outside again, a spectator looking over Motley's shoulder. She screwed her eyes tight shut. She didn't want to see what was happening, but the events continued whether she was watching or not.

The needle was forced down through Carrion's top lip, and whilst his mind was still numbed by the poison, his body was not. He cried out involuntarily, but Motley continued to shout and rave, drowning out any resistant that he made.

"Love? I cannot abide the word! Sickening, diseased, filled with maggots, that's what love is!"

Motley pulled hard on the thread, the rough yarn ripping through his bruised and swelling flesh. She was working fast, the needling digging in and pulling out, as easily as if she was sewing but a piece of cotton.

Boa screamed, there was blood everywhere, it was running down Carrion's chin, and covering Mater Motley's hands. Boa tried to cover her ears against all the pain, but even her imagination showed her images of brutality.

"Stop it!" she cried, trying to push Motley aside. Boa's hands went straight through her, and she almost fell forwards.

Motley turned her face towards Boa, her actions frozen in time.

"She was a poison," she said looking straight at Boa. "She should die."

Boa stood frozen with fear. Who was Motley speaking to? Was it Carrion, or could she really see her?

Motley's head snapped back to her torture, and Boa's presence seemed unsubstantial again.

"I will never hear such foul words again!"

Boa could see that Carrion was losing consciousness, and wished it upon him. It would be a blessing in such circumstances, but she knew Motley would prevent it. The Lord Carrion on the ground closed his eyes, but when he opened them he was looking straight at her. The shock sent Boa reeling back to the present, where she was looking into his eyes once more.

Boa stumbled back alarmed.

"What did you just do to me?" she demanded holding her head, hands clutched in her hair by her ears.

"She left me there but a day, but it was enough…"

Boa retreated backwards from him, shaking her head and staring wildly. Her mind couldn't comprehend what had just happened to her, and her body was slowly going into shock. She began shaking.

"You get away from me!" she warned.

"Look what you've done to me," he said in a harsh voice. "And you want to punish me further!"

"I didn't do this to you!" Boa screamed hysterically. "You can't blame this on me!"

"You did this Boa!" he shouted.

Boa saw him move his hand, and that was enough to send her running. Her father's dog began to bark, and chased after her, not realising that she wasn't playing a game.

Boa wiped the tears from her eyes as she ran, the dog snapping at her playfully, catching hold of her skirt every now and then. She heard Carrion calling after her once more, he sounded distant.

She turned to look at him one last time, and abruptly stopped when she realised that he'd gone. In an instant he appeared directly in front of her, his lips were bleeding again, just like in the vision of his suffering he'd shown her.

"Look at me, you did this," he insisted, taking her arms to prevent her from running again. "Come back with me Boa, only you can save me."

Boa tried to pull away from him. Was he going to start using magic to frighten her now? Magic was something she could also use, but very little understood. If it came down to magic, then he would win.

"I'm sorry," she wailed, desperately trying to free herself.

The dog leapt excitedly around them, enjoying the tension, and becoming more and more aggressive.

"You're sorry? What is sorry to me?" he yelled. Boa sobbed as he brought his face close to hers so that she could not escape his words.

The dog tangled itself between them, and in it's angry state dug it's teeth into Boa's leg. Before she had even had the chance to kick it away, Carrion had used his magics to throw the dog hard against the nearest tree.

Boa looked at it in shock. The dog twitched as it's nerve endings buzzed for the last time, it's legs shaking rapidly, until it stopped and lay not breathing.

Boa hit Carrion hard on his arm, and then found herself hitting him anywhere she could reach with as much force as she could muster.

"Why did you do that?" she cried as she released all her anger upon him. "Why, why?"

Carrion let her hit him, her attacks were weakening with every blow. They were finished, even he could see that now. Boa stopped, her energy gone, her hysterical crying now long wails of pain and despair.

He had caused this, but she had done the same to him.

"I won't let you marry Hobb."

Boa's head was against his chest, she lifted it with great effort, her face blotched red, and her eyes stinging from all her tears.

"Why do you even care anymore?"

"I will not suffer whilst you are happy," he said. "You either return with me, or you will suffer too."

Boa's eyes filled with all the hate she could manage, hate for him, for what he had made her feel, and hate for his self imposed suffering. At that moment, she had as much pity for him as she did joy for the dead dog.

"I would rather die than have to see you again. You make me sick, I hate you! I never want to want to be near you again."

Boa watched the darkness in his eyes cloud over any friendship they had ever had, until all that was left was bitter hatred. She watched him walk towards her palace, knowing he would take the turning back to the docks, and finally out of her life.

Looking sadly at the dog, Boa walked towards it and gathered it into her arms. Sitting down beside the tree, she held the lifeless animal in her arms and cried over it's tiny body.