I sat down in the chair and regarded Ben. It hadn't been that long before when he'd been ripped up looking for me. I don't recall the particulars of the speech, but he asked me about Bailey, and I told him flatly that she was to be considered for all intents and purposes dead. He offered to look for her, and I told him to just get well.
For if you jump into the Abyss for someone, and somehow manage to survive but not find her, what hope is there?
*****
Gen looked at me, her face curious, hoping. probably, that Bishop's news of things in Ivory would spring me into action. And I did not mean to come across so harshly towards her; but I knew the reality of the situation.
"First off, you yourself have proved that any of us can walk that Pattern there, allowing access to that Jewel. So any of our enemies, such as Anna or Isabelle, could have done this." She mentioned opening the gates, which was a valid response, until... "Ben and I found a gate already opened on the other side of the Dancing Mountains, which means someone other than her and us know how to open them up." Gen nodded, expression dimming.
"Besides, even if it was her, that would mean she's been.... corrupted somehow, and we would have no choice but to... stop her." I saw Gen equate "stop" with "kill" in her head. I turned and sighed. "But thank you for trying," I said, putting a hand on her arm. Gen nodded at me, and we returned to the house, a room full of cousins who were willing to try, even though there was no more reason to do so.
*****
My only hold on my sanity, my daughter, was sitting on the top step of the movable stair used to get at the very top of the bookshelves. With a couple of good meals in her, she looked so very different from the small bundle of parka swinging on a gymset somewhere east of Winnipeg.
Her eyes, very green, scanned each page with alarming speed, pages flipping every few moments. She reminds me of Mom and Ben so much. She would have gotten along so well with Bail...
Fresh stitches pulled and bleeding, I turned back to the window and my drink.
*****
Sarah bounced off with her two new bundles of joy, and Gwyn and at sat on the couch. Trying to make conversation and failing miserably, I asked her if she was going to keep one of the kittens. She began saying that she was too busy, but a kitten only required food, and attention every now and then...
"Just like a person, " I said, regretting it as soon as it came from my lips. My cousin, my closest friend, excused herself, looking just as miserable as myself. All around me now, nothing, nothing...
*****
I picked up the small, frail form, her long hair flowing onto my shoulder, and tried not to cry. Here was my love, somehow alive, found by Luke in the care of our most hated enemy. Save the ring round her neck (which gave off serious tones of magic) she seemed alive and real.
But it is too good to be true, of course.
More than likely, Bailey has been... corrupted, somehow. I guess that the ring around her neck will need to be broken, maybe Bleys can do it. I'm not even sure Bailey is still Bailey. We will put her through the battery of tests to confirm, of course. And we will put her under serious lock and key.
But the worst part of this all, now that I have one small spark of hope?
If Bailey was not being controlled or coerced -- and she did not refuse Ciro's demands, even with her life --
Why?
The Spark that starts the fire of Hope Can Burn the foundations of Trust
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