Dagor was in the city.
Rio kept the feelings hidden as best she could, though. Petreya and Aivon didn’t need to know about her Gaidin’s presence so nearby if they didn’t already know. He came for me, though, she told herself. The very thought of it steeled her into strengths she never knew she’d had inside her. Dagor will be here to take me back to the Tower soon, she soothed herself. He will. And then I can begin my healing from all this that has taken place.
She watched Petreya out of the corner of her eyes suspiciously. The younger woman had neither said nor done anything for the past candlemark. She’d only sat in a chair reading a thick book with a thoughtful expression on her face while Rio sat at the table nearby with another book all her own. It had apparently been penned by Petreya some time in the past about her adventures in killing. Much of it had already unlocked new things in Rio’s mind, little mentions of her past with Rio and what Rio had taught her bringing forth yet another lighted pathway in the dark abyss that was her memory. Rio could sense the breaking down of all the walls becoming an imminent occurance, and the knowledge terrified her to the point where she was tempted to try and escape on her own before Petreya “helped” her again.
“You aren’t reading, Mother,” Pet chastised a bit from where she sat. “I can feel your eyes on me even if I’m not wearing the bracelet.” Rio’s gaze darted to the mentioned piece on the table near her and she longed once more to have the accursed a’dam taken from her neck. It was almost enough to make her want to remember everything, sometimes, just so she could be free of the heinous contraption. Almost. From all that she had seen thus far, the full memories were something she felt she could happily live and die without ever knowing.
And yet, there was a curious growing within her that seemed to be getting stronger with each hint of memory that she received. She had always known there was a darkness inside of her heart that had lain dormant, as in every human heart, but she had rarely seen it in her life that she could recall. She frowned as she turned her gaze back to the book in front of her, though her eyes never saw the page of legible script. The darkness within her was growing stronger, she knew. Even now, the revulsion she had felt when she had begun to read the book Petreya had written had faded, had been replaced by a certain dreadful curiosity and wonder at the methods the younger woman had used. A macabre need to know more was trying to fill her, though she fought it every step of the way, and was apparently winning. The dark was winning, much to her terror. She had even, in the past two days since being leashed, seen it appear in the way she moved and dealt with others. Her steps had become soundless, her eyes had begun watching everything suspiciously, and her first instinct when startled had been to reach for the dagger at her belt which Petreya had removed and placed in a ward. Her walk and her snatching up of the dagger had been from before the memories, and she knew it, but now that she was beginning to realize the reasons for it she seemed to be doing them more and more, often without knowing she did. The watching of everything had become rote for her now. She didn’t need to guess to know that once all of the memories returned, she would once again be the assassin she was. Only...I won’t be, she realized suddenly. I couldn’t ever be the same woman I was back then, not after what all I have gone through since losing my memories in Altara. Not since I fell in love with Dagor, and loved Milamber before him. Not since I have been clinging to the Light for so long. But their return will darken me, most definitely, and I don’t see how I will ever be able to walk anywhere but in the gray area between the Light and the Dark. Dear Creator, but it will be so hard to live life swinging from one side to the other!
The closing of the book Petreya had been reading snapped Rio out of her reverie with a slight jump. She studiously began to read her own book again in the hopes she looked as if she were interested, but Pet rose and moved towards the bracelet. “Have you remembered anything, Mother?” she asked casually.
Rio suppressed a shiver at the words and the hidden threat of the a’dam and answered hastily, “Indeed, I have recalled a little. The memories seem to be coming faster and more frequently now.” There, you viper! she wanted to growl at Petreya. Now you have your hope, so leave me in peace.
The bracelet was lifted anyway and placed on a slim wrist. Rio winced involuntarily at what was coming, then found her newborn strength and steeled herself once again. When she looked up at Petreya, she saw that the other woman could feel it as well and approved greatly. “If you are recalling at such a rapid rate, then there is no better time than now to help them along. I think you will remember everything soon, with a little help.”
Rio nodded silently, watching Petreya carefully and wishing she had some way to kill her. Petreya felt that, as well, and her smile was suddenly delighted. “I will soon have you back, Mother,” she stated softly. “Now, let’s try to work on your past just before you found me.”
Would that I had never, she sighed to herself, then the task began and she had no room for thought.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dagor looked at the two men and the woman in front of him at the table in the room. Rolaino had indeed wanted to help him, though Dagor was fairly certain it was because he wanted to be part of the story rather than for any friendly thoughts on his part. After all, who in their right mind would want to go against Dreadlords? Dagor asked himself wryly. Rolaino had readily accepted the story as the truth, then had told Dagor he had known of two people who could help find the missing Aes Sedai in question and had left for a time. When he had returned, he had brought with him a tanned blond-haired woman with flashing green eyes and a large dark-clothed man who looked to be a swordsman. They had all sat together and had listened to Dagor tell his tale once again, but the man and woman had demanded proof of his claim that he was Gaidin.
Dagor had calmly gone to his pack and had retrieved his colour-shifting cloak with a lifted brow for them. The man and woman had exchanged looks before the man had nodded and they had both agreed to aid him. Dagor had wondered about their relationship to one another briefly before being introduced to Sian and Valin, respectively. Sian, he had found out, was a thief of great skill who had the ears of many various sources of information in Cairhien. Her companion, Valin, was a swordsman who knew many guards in the various Houses of the city. Though Sian sounded Cairhien, Valin had an accent that was pure Tairen in nature.
Had Dagor not known any better, he’d have said they were Aes Sedai and Gaidin. Since he really didn’t know any better, the chance was still there that they were. Even as he watched them where they sat, two days after he had come to Cairhien, he still wasn’t certain that they weren’t. Or that they weren’t at least affiliated with one of the Towers somehow. It was simple enough to sense that they were both hiding things about who they were, and he respected that about them both and didn’t pry no matter how badly his curiosity was up.
They had noticed when he had felt pain coming through the bond. He knew Rio was in Cairhien the moment it began from the stark intensity of it that could only have been brought on by distance. They hadn’t asked for an explanation at all thanks to the prior one he had given about the torture his Aes Sedai had been going through, but instead had pulled him up, wrapped the blindfold around him, and had ushered him outside with the whispered orders to follow the direction the pain had been originating from.
He had done so the best he could, but the searing agony had ceased before he had found the exact location. Two of the others had gone back to retrieve the group’s things while Dagor and Valin and entered a nearby inn and paid for rooms for the night. Then, they had simply settled in for a while to wait.
Three days had passed, three long days of waiting. He never thought he would be anxious to feel the uncomfortable sensations through the bond, felt a deep guilt that he did look forward to it since it meant that Rio was being harmed, but knew it was the only way that he could find her. Valin and Sian had left at least once to see what they could find out in the way of rumour or information, but had come up dry. They warily watched Dagor as he paced restlessly, trying not to look too closely into his eyes the more upset he became as time passed.
And then Sian had returned only a few minutes prior with news. Her green eyes almost glowed as she stated softly, “An associate working in the area of powerful Houses overheard a conversation between two men in an alley where he sat hiding. They had just exited the House across from him when they turned into the alley to speak amongst themselves. He is a good burglar and they never saw him. What they spoke of was a woman named Petreya who had ordered them to be watching for you, Dagor Raurok. The description they gave of you included your golden eyes.”
“Tis a good thing you did by hiding them, then,” Rolaino had commented with a nod of his head.
“So where is this building?” Dagor commented after the long silence that had ensued after Rolaino’s comment. The entire thing had taken all of a few minutes so far.
“Next to House Trevamon,” Sian replied promptly. “Apparently it’s a lesser House, so Lord Trevamon doesn’t mind too much that it’s there next to him.”
“What do you know of this Petreya?” Valin asked gruffly as he leaned back in his chair. Three pairs of eyes fastened on Dagor intently--gray, green, and black--and he resisted the urge to swallow heavily.
“I don’t know anything,” he confessed after a moment. “I have no idea who she is. The name is unfamiliar to me.”
Sian nodded, then glanced from Rolaino to Valin, who both nodded at her. “Dagor,” she said quietly, “Petreya Dyelra is a Dreadlord who is almost like... Shaidar Haran, you would say. She is not the strongest of them, but she is quite possibly the most insane and most definitely the most vile. She was told that her occupation as Dreadlord would be to kill any other Dreadlord or Darkfriend who she was ordered to by Shaidar Haran only. She follows no Forsaken as the others do, as it was forbidden of her. Such is the story given to Valin and myself by a...reliable source... who was affiliated with the White Tower’s Blue Ajah Eyes and Ears network.”
Dagor nodded to them. “Then we are against at least one Dreadlord?”
“It would be my guess,” Valin answered thoughtfully, “that she is not alone. From the way you have described the tortures, there had to be another person nearby who could Heal. Petreya, from what was told of her life in the Tower, could not Heal.”
How did they find out so much about this woman? Dagor wondered to himself. Are they hunting her even as I? “It doesn’t matter if she channels or if she has others with her who can,” he replied seriously as he moved to his things and lifted out the ter’angreal he had brought. He showed it to them all. “I’ll be the one to go in and get Rio. This negates all channeling thrown at me.” He frowned as he looked at it. “I never thought I would have to use it, really, but it has come in handy at last.” Memories of his close friend and a man he thought of as his brother, Chance, flashed through his mind like lightning only to be brushed away for later consideration.
Three sets of brows climbed towards the ceiling at the statement and Sian spoke. “My, my, you do like to pull the occasional surprise, don’t you?” Her lips twisted in a wry smile. “But that is beside the point. If they cannot get to you with the One Power, then they will attempt to kill you with weapons. This is why Valin and I will be going with you, to help watch your back.”
Rolaino made a noise in his throat. “I wouldn’t miss this opportunity for anything in the world,” he chimed in flippantly, “and you will need some form of diversion in order to take attention from you when you sneak in. I can provide that.”
Dagor smiled thinly. “If it is all settled, then when shall we leave?”
“Tomorrow at sundown.” Valin’s voice was decisive and left no room for argument. “I suggest you sleep well. It will be a long night, with much fighting.”
But well worth it if I get my Aes Sedai returned to me, Dagor thought with a sigh as he nodded to them all. I just hope she will be able to put this behind her when it is all said and done, regardless of why they wanted her. He had already asked Sian and Valin about a reason for taking Rio, but they had been able to give him no answers whatsoever. I will ask Rio when she is in my arms again, he told himself firmly as he walked into the other room to settle in for the night on his pallet. And then we will forget it all.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Something snapped inside of her.
That was the only way Rio could describe it when it happened. It was almost a physical sensation of something in her head giving way during the agony visited upon her by Petreya and the a’dam. One moment she had been fighting the memories trying to flood her, and the next moment she had gasped as her past, all of it, had suffused her brain to bring her to her knees. Petreya had snatched off the bracelet at that point with a look of shock on her face, not prepared for the sensations she had experienced nor the feeling of utter darkness which had enveloped Rio in the space of a few moments. Pet had quickly stepped forward to release the collar from her and had let it fall to the floor with a hollow clanging sound that echoed throughout the room, then had backed away to consider Rio speculatively as the other woman had lain curled up on the ground holding her head in her hands. Rio babbled in the language Petreya had been taught to speak so long ago, the language of the Dyelra clan in the mirror world she and Rio had come from years prior, and Petreya nodded a bit as she listened. She has remembered, Petreya said to herself quietly. Now, if she has remembered what my Master wants her to, then all will be perfect for them.
As for Rio, she felt as if she were drowning in a sea of black memories which swirled around her incessantly. She tried in vain to halt the flow of them, or stem the tide somehow, but it was impossible. She was swept away with them and forced to look at every single one in detail, to say to herself, “Yes, this is me and this is what I did.” Names were forced into her mental hands to be stored away on their shelves again, names of people and of places and of things. She couldn’t store them fast enough, it seemed, so they all flowed around her in a circle so that she couldn’t stop until they were all in their places once again.
And the darkness sank into her bones, coming home at last and settling in as if it were a tired pup who’d found its mistress once more after a long journey.
Rio did the only thing left to her to save her sanity: she channeled and threw open the block on her bond to Dagor to cling to it in desperation.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dagor sat bolt upright from the dream of despair and violent madness he had been immersed in and felt his bond clear and strong once again, though he immediately found it to be the source of the evil feelings from the dream. He paled considerably and ran his trembling hands over his face, reaching out through the bond to give some modicum of comfort to his love. We’ll be there soon, he wanted to tell her soothingly. We’ll be there soon, just be strong.
He settled back down but knew he wouldn’t sleep again for the rest of the night. He had to wonder what was doing this to Rio, what could possibly be creating in her such feelings, and hoped that it was something as simple as the One Power so that he could find a way to get rid of it. He couldn’t wait for the dawn.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Time had no meaning for her in her internal struggle. She really wasn’t sure when she slept, or if she did, but knew that at some point she had been lifted and carried elsewhere. She had sensed it dimly from where she sat sorting through her own mind, then had gone on sorting through it as she felt it didn’t matter. She relived each memory, trying them all on one at a time like old clothes, and found that both the old and the new ones fit her. She took in both her Light and Darkness, therefore, and made them work together as she worked through herself. At some point in the process, the sorting slowed to a crawl and dreams took over, and somewhere in her consciousness she guessed she really did sleep. She felt no heat or cold, no pain or hunger. She simply existed and refused to let go of the other person she felt connected to her by the bond. She knew she was alive still by holding onto the soothing feelings she kept feeling emanate from it. It especially helped her when she dreamed her dreams, knowing they had actually happened at some point in her life and yet being able to stand on the safety of the bond during them, so that her terror was eased a bit.
When the dreams slowed and ceased, she found there was a different feeling to her. The black flood was gone, though the darkness was deep inside her still so that it stained her bones and soul, and all of her past memories were carefully filed away where they belonged once again. She couldn’t pinpoint the difference inside herself right away, but simply said that it was overall personality that had changed. Where there had been softness, there was now iron covering it; and where there had been love, it was now tinged irrevocably with suspicion and distrust. All of this and more she sensed at once, and then realized that the sounds of voices were coming from around her. If I can hear them, she groused moodily, then I am conscious.
She opened her eyes and looked around, taking in the area at a glance, and found Petreya and Aivon speaking near the doorway of the room she was in. Her gaze darted to the nearby table and found her dagger waiting for her there, unwarded and gleaming invitingly, though she remained utterly silent and still. She was still dressed in the green silk gown she had been wearing when taken, though it had been laundered not but the day prior before the return of her memories, and it was becoming uncomfortable. Light, but I want breeches and tunics again, she decided firmly. Never again will I wear one of these cumbersome outfits. They hinder my movements too much while hunting.
Hunting? she wondered, then found nothing wrong with the idea. The first thing that had come to her mind had been her victims, but she found that she no longer wanted to hunt people for sport unless they were Dark. Further consideration of it revealed that the thought of killing those who served the Dark One, whether they were Darkfriends or Shadowspawn, thrilled her almost as much as killing innocents had when she was an assassin. So, what am I now? she asked herself quizzically. I am Aes Sedai, and yet now I do not know that I can ever be a proper one again. Am I of the Dark, or of the Light?
She flicked a finger a little experimentally to see if she could move at all, and saw that she could. She dared not attempt to channel with Petreya anywhere around her, wanting to find out for herself if at all possible to see what she could do, and once more looked with suspicion at the dagger on the table beside the bed. The a’dam was nowhere near her, and she didn’t feel the necklace on her neck either. Perhaps I can channel, she pondered. Perhaps. Best to bide my time.
She closed her eyes again and slowed her breathing. She knew she wouldn’t sleep, but if they thought she was all the better. I must escape this place and return to the Tower. Dagor is nearby, so close...
And yet, she found that thought less comforting than she had before. What will he think of you? she asked of herself. He can feel your change. Even should he continue to love you, and you love him, you are now far too unpredictable to give him any kind of safety. What happens if you go to the Dark after all?
“He will kill me,” she said aloud, and no longer cared if Petreya heard or not. Despair washed through her briefly, to be swept out of the way instantly as she watched her adopted daughter walk towards her with a smile. Dangerous, her mind hissed as her eyes narrowed. I will kill her if I can before I leave. She is my creation and must be destroyed.
Petreya’s voice was happy as she sat on the edge of Rio’s bed and spoke with her. “You are well, Mother? Aivon will bring you food, if you want to eat. I know you must be incredibly hungry by now. You’ve been unconscious for almost a full day now.”
That long? Rio mused to herself. Only a day to utterly change me into this hybrid of Light and Dark? “That would be acceptable, daughter,” Rio answered slowly. She chose her words carefully and knew they would have an impact on Petreya.
The other woman’s eyes and face became one huge sunrise of joy, and her eyes began to water a little besides. “Aivon, do as she says!” Her tone was light and excited, and the tall man shot her a look of disgust before walking out of the room. “Mother, you remembered it all, didn’t you?”
Rio nodded silently, then said. “I would like a change of clothes. Tunic and breeches. Then we will discuss this more.”
Petreya hopped up from the bed. “Yes, Mother,” she agreed compliantly as she walked to the closet in the room and opened it. “It’s all in here waiting for you. I had them brought in when I saw you had regained your memory yesterday.” She beamed proudly. “See? I do still remember what you like!”
Rio rose off the bed and stood, looking very much like a sleek predator uncurling from where it sunned itself on a rock ledge, and stretched slowly. She flexed her fingers to loosen them as well as she soundlessly padded to the boudouir and perused the selection. Most of the clothing was of dark hues. Blood red. Deep blue. Dark green. And there were even a few black outfits as well, she noted in amusement. “Indeed, you did remember. I am proud of you.” She found that she was absurdly pleased with Petreya somehow, and that regardless of everything she did love the woman as her own daughter still. It’s why I will allow nobody else to kill her but me, Rio realized suddenly. I made her what she is, and she has known no other way of life. To let her die by anyone else’s hand would be a terrible wrong. She would expect it of me, regardless. She chose a dark red tunic and breeches of black, then a black cloak as well. Her boots were above her knees and black, though they shone from a good polishing. She brushed out her hair after she’d dressed and then rebraided it, and by that time her food was ready and waiting for her. She sat and ate with Petreya doting on her every move and word and whim, then relaxed a little bit and waited. Rio was too smart to not know that there had to have been another reason for her to have been brought here other than Petreya wanting her mother back.
She was rewarded for her patience when Petreya sighed a little and rose to pace. “Mother, the others want to know the weave you used to bring us here,” she finally announced, stopping to look at Rio as she said it. “The Portal Gate weave is apparently a Talent that the others want to see if they can do.” Her gaze was almost pleading. “Do you remember it, Mother? I know that you were hurt after it, but still...”
“Perhaps.” Rio’s voice was insidious in its idle tone.
Petreya took a deep breath. “Mother, if you do not know the weave, they will kill you. That is their only use for you, the knowledge of that weave.”
Rio’s lips twitched a bit. “They can try, my daughter. I am not so easily killed as they would like to think.” As you have seen, she wanted to add, and left it unsaid.
Rio closed her eyes and smiled as she leaned against the back of her chair. Petreya watched her and grew frantic. “Please, Mother, you must tell me! They will be here tomorrow for the information or your head, and I cannot fail them! The Great Lord demands success in this! You must understand....” She trailed off.
Rio heard footfalls before Aivon appeared in the doorway, but didn’t deign to open her eyes or answer Petreya. Petreya, however, whirled as soon as she knew someone was coming and stood glaring at Aivon when he entered. “There is someone at the door, a gleeman, looking to entertain the House this night. The Lady Allatar has allowed him inside and is asking that all of our guests,” his gaze moved to Rio and then went back to Petreya, “come down to the dancing hall to listen to him. Lord Allatar sent me to fetch you and the Aes Sedai to him, if she is trustworthy enough to leave her rooms without attempting to escape.”
He doesn’t like me, Rio chuckled to herself as her eyes opened to consider him. The feelings are quite mutual. Her gaze seemed to unsettle him a bit. “I will not attempt an escape,” she said calmly. “I have no reason to do so.” All of it was true, as well: she had no reason because, from the way her bond was reacting, Dagor was already inside the House and coming for her. “But I do not think I will go downstairs, as I am still weary.” She nodded to them both as she stood. “Feel free to do so, if either of you choose.” She knew it sounded as if it were an order from a queen because that was how she had planned to make it sound. Aivon stiffened visibly and left in a flurry of dark brown as his cloak waved in the breeze of his own movements, but Petreya hesitated to follow.
She frowned at Rio. “Are you certain, Mother, that you will not tell me if you remember the weave?” she asked quietly. She was troubled by the idea that she would, perhaps, have to destroy Rio and it shocked her to feel such softness within her.
Rio sat on her bed and met her daughter’s gaze without flinching. “I will tell you after I have slept a while,” she responded slowly. “My mind is too wearied at this time to hold anymore conversation.” She nodded once. “Now go, daughter. Return to me in two candlemarks and I will surprise you.”
Petreya brightened quite a bit at the last words and smiled as she turned to walk out. She shut the door softly behind her and hurried off to listen to the gleeman. She did so love to listen to their stories and songs. I will have to commend Lady Allatar on bringing him in on the eve of my victory, she thought to herself with a laugh. How fitting that this should all be coming to an end so happily for me!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dagor slid along the darkened hallway like a thief, holding his colour-shifting cloak close about him to blend in even better. Somewhere below him he could hear Rolaino’s voice echoing up through the halls as he sang a song about the Hunt for the Horn. Sian and Valin were on the floor above him searching for the room where they were keeping Rio, and he prayed to the Creator that they wouldn’t meet a channeler and alert the others as to intruders being inside the House.
His keen ears picked up the sound of oncoming footsteps and he ducked into the shadows of a cul-de-sac where a statue stood on a pedestal, covering up as much of his face and head as he could with the cloak and then going still as the stone he suddenly resembled. He heard the footsteps approach a minute later, then continue on without a pause until they rounded the corner he had just rounded on their way elsewhere. Dagor peeked out carefully to make certain no one else was hiding near them before heading for a set of stairs at the end of the hall that led up to the next floor. He hadn’t found Rio where he was, and guessed that she had to be on the third and final floor.
He took the steps two at a time in silence, then halted and listened carefully for the sound of anyone approaching before slipping up the next stairs stealthily. His first glance at the floor revealed nothing unusual and he continued on up. His sixth sense suddenly pestered him, telling him something was amiss nearby and that he was walking into it, and he stopped warily to look around. He again saw nothing ususual in the hall and so walked on to where his bond told him Rio was.
It was just before he tapped on the door that he realized what was wrong: Sian and Valin were nowhere in sight, as they should have been, and Rio was still in her room. The scent of death and of a horrid madness wafted to his nostrils without warning, tainted with the obvious hint of male gender. He sensed through the bond Rio’s faint curiosity at what had him alarmed, then threw himself into a roll and stood, drawing his sword and making ready. He couldn’t see the person in question, which told him that whoever it was had a weave to bend light around himself, and so listened as well as smelled for his would-be assassin’s presence. Where are you? he asked, tense and ready for a spring or block. “Blast you,” he growled, knowing the man could hear him, “you won’t find me as easy to kill as Sian and Valin.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dagor. Rio’s eyes opened as she frowned. He’s close now. She waited for a long moment while she put her dagger back on her belt, then paused as she sensed her Gaidin’s abrupt alarm. “Aivon,” she snarled throatily, knowing that Petreya wouldn’t have returned so soon after she had been told not to, and her boots had hit the floor only a second later. She threw the door wide and stepped out, taking in the sight of Dagor standing at the ready against his invisible opponent in one quick look, before she channeled Earth and Air to stir the dust covering everything on the third floor. She watched as it settled once again and outlined a tall figure, then sneezed violently and felt hideously stupid as they both looked at her. She shrugged slightly as if to apologize for ruining their tense moment and threw a ball of Fire at Aivon a second later, which he blocked with saidin.
Dagor rushed forward to try for an attack with the sword, but Aivon’s own sword blocked it. He channeled a bit of Air to knock the Gaidin away and turned from him back to Rio. Aivon then dropped his weave on himself and began to say something to her that would have been derogatory by all regards from the look on his face, but his eyes went wide in stunned surprise and he looked down at where Dagor’s sword protruded from his chest as if he couldn’t quite believe it was there. “Fox-head medallions,” Rio commented in the silence, “aren’t the only things to block out channeling anymore. Listen to your spies next time.”
Aivon looked at her, hatred in his eyes still, and Dagor removed the bloodied sword as the big man toppled to the ground. Rio’s lips twitched a little as she watched Aivon die, a feeling of pleasure rippling through the bond to Dagor. He frowned at her a little and cleaned his sword off on the corpse’s clothing before he sheathed it once again. He came to her with arms outstretched to hold her, a soft look on her face, but she halted him at arm’s length with a hand to the chest. “We leave,” she told him sternly. “Now. Petreya won’t be so easy to kill, and she knows now that I have channeled.”
Dagor blinked a moment, then nodded as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him until that very moment. “It will take too long to leave by the way I and my two other companions entered.”
Rio chuckled humourlessly and held out her hand. “I know. That’s why we will leave by that way, and give me your ter’angreal so that I may surprise Pet if she chances upon us on the way.”
Dagor eyed her curiously as he handed the ter’angreal to her. “It’s this way,” he said as he turned and began to jog back the way he had come. Rio took his pace easily and yet without sound to mark her steps as they hurried down the stairs and towards the servant’s quarters. Her hand closed around the note she had written while still in her room. Let her go directly upstairs, Rio dared to hope, so that I have enough time to place this where she will see it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Petreya’s head snapped up towards where Rio was being held as she sensed saidar being channeled. What are you up to, Mother? she asked herself as she slipped from the room towards one set of stairs leading to the next floor. It was a short distance, no more than a few steps away. She paused, however, with one foot on the first step. She said not to return until the second candlemark, she berated herself. It was not enough saidar to be anything too terrible. She may have blocked off her bond to her Gaidin more. Her foot came off the step and she turned to walk back towards the room where the gleeman was still entertaining the House.
Saidar was used again, this time in a greater quantity, and she realized Aivon was missing. “If that man’s attacked my mother,” she snarled as she ran for the stairs like a spirit of vengeance, “I will feed him his own stomach.” She stopped at the second floor and ran the distance in between where she was and the closest set of stairs going to the third floor, but it cost her precious time to get there. The House was spacious, and the stairs connecting floors were scattered haphazardly around as if the building had been built by a madman. She reached the third floor and saw Rio’s door open and Aivon dead in front of it, but her eyes narrowed dangerously. Something was amiss and she knew it as soon as she saw that he had been run through. Mother’s dagger isn’t long enough for that, she noted as a flood of cold rage began to fill her. But a sword most certainly is. And I would bet my life that the sword was a heron-mark held by a bloody Wolfbrother Gaidin.
There were two sets of tracks in the newly-scattered dust on the floor that led to the stairs she had opted not to come up to get to the room. She followed them till they vanished on the stairs, then hurried down the stairs and headed towards the servants’ quarters. It’s the only way he could have entered, she surmised, and so it’s the only way for him to leave. If I am quick...
She headed down to the first floor and past the hall where the gleeman still sung, but her ears were deaf to his lovely voice now. Petreya felt Rio channel briefly somewhere in front of her and sped up her pace as much as she could. She was a predator in search of her prey, and did not intend to lose it. She never even stopped to think that perhaps the gleeman was the very reason that Rio had escaped and that by going to deal with him she might have learned all that she needed to know about where her quarry had gone. She passed by her only redemption for the loss of her mother and hurtled through the hallways to the servants’ quarters, then burst into them as if Old Grim himself were hot on her heels. The servants were listening to the gleeman, however, and the place was silent as a tomb.
At the other end of the hall, the door was standing open which led out of the servants’ quarters into the streets of Cairhien, but what caught her eye was the note which hung on the door by a weave of Air. The wind breezed in through the door, but the paper didn’t move a bit where it sat. Petreya walked up to it, grabbed it, and sliced the weave of Air through with saidar. Unfolding it, she read only two words that were written in Rio’s florid script, in the language of the Dyelra, but those two words were enough to make her throw her head back and howl like a soul damned to the Pit of Doom: I remember.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As they walked through the forest towards the place Dagor had left his saddle, his things on his mount and the reins in his hands, Dagor could take the silence no longer. “You... are different,” she said hesitantly.
“Yes,” Rio answered succinctly, but didn’t add anymore.
He frowned worriedly at her and she knew why thanks in part to the bond they shared. “If it is Compulsion that they used, one of the Sisters at the Tower could--”
“No,” she interrupted without looking at him, her steps making no sound on the ground they walked on. “It wasn’t Compulsion. I was tortured, then had an a’dam used on me, and I regained my lost memories. What you feel is the real me.”
Dagor snorted derisively and scratched at his beard. “The way you were before was the real Rio’lan Shade, love, even as much as the one right now is. Part of you is like a stranger to me, I must admit, but the rest I know well indeed.”
She smiled wryly, and not a little bitterly. “You’re not the only one,” she agreed drily. “And my name is Rio’lan Shade Dyelra. The woman you knew before is dead, Dagor.” Light, but I wish she weren’t, she sighed.
Dagor halted, his golden eyes almost glowing in his anger. “Rio, you are still you, and I can still feel the woman I love inside you. I still love you even now when you seem to have given up on yourself. Have you never stopped to think that perhaps you are not completely Dark because there is love inside you?” He shook his head at her. “You are still Rio, even if you are different in some ways, but that just means that I have to love those parts now.”
Wait till he sees the scars, she told herself glumly. He won’t want to touch me again. That soft skin he loved so much is now rough. “It will take time,” she offered gently, even if it was a tad coldly. “I must get used to these memories and how the affect everything about me. As will you.”
He sighed cavernously and almost slumped. “Have it your way, then,” he responded dismally. “But know that I did not ride here for your rescue only to lose you to yourself.” And I may anyway, he brooded even as something else occurred to him. “Why did Petreya want you, anyway? And why did you put that note on the door for her?”
Rio began to walk again and Dagor followed. “Petreya is my shame. She is my daughter.” Shock hit her from the bond and she refused to look at him. “Not by birth, though. I was once an assassin in a mirror world that was more advanced that what this one is. I will tell you more of my life when we reach the Grey Tower again. I stole Petreya when she was only five and raised her for the next two or three years as a smaller version of the killer that I was. I wove a Portal Gate while escaping pirates, and it brought the both of us here. I lost my memory, and she apparently survived. She wanted me to become the way I was before, to be the mother she had always remembered. Her masters wanted to learn the secret of the Portal Gate so that they could possibly use it themselves.” She stepped over a branch on the ground before continuing. “The note was my message to her that I did, indeed, remember the Portal Gate weave.”
“Then they may try to take you again,” Dagor growled. “I’ll kill them if they try. I won’t leave your side, if that’s what it takes.”
Rio shook her head solemnly. “No, Dagor, you won’t touch Petreya, and it will be Petreya who tries for me again. She will need to redeem herself in her masters’ eyes. But you will not be the one to kill her, nor anyone else for that matter. She is my daughter, my shame, and my creation, and it is only right that she die by my hand.”
He stopped her with a touch on her arm and she looked at him questioningly. “Rio, you are my life and my all,” Dagor said softly. “I will die for you if it is needed, and if I must put myself in between you and your daughter to save your life, I will do it gladly.” He stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers and she longed to embrace him, to be embraced, to melt into his arms and be weak there for a while, but that new iron in her being refused to allow her to ask for such a luxury. He felt the need through the bond anyway and slipped his arms around her to hold her close to him.
They stood like that for a long moment before she broke away from him and squinted up at him. “You will be shaving that hair from your face when we return to the Grey Tower.”
He scratched at it again, this time with a grin and humour in his voice and gaze for her. “I don’t know, Rio, I rather like it.”
Her dagger was out of her belt and at his throat in the bat of a lash, and a sweet smile was on her face. He looked at the blade, his fingers frozen in their act of scratching under his chin, and lifted a brow at her. “You’ll shave it or I will,” she retorted drolly, then watched him nod a bit with a faint grin on his face. She sheathed the dagger without taking her eyes from him, then smiled sedately and grabbed his tunic in both hands to drag him to her for a long kiss. When she released him some time later, she nodded shortly and slipped from his grasp to continue on her way. “And a bath, as well,” she called over her shoulder to him.
He chuckled and simply shook his head as he and the mount hurried to catch up to her. “Nice reflexes,” he quipped as he drew even with her again.
“Hm, yes. Perhaps these assassin skills will be good for something other than fighting Shadowspawn and tormenting you,” she answered thoughtfully. He laughed loudly and started up a flock of birds in a row of bushes nearby as the first hints of dawn’s light touched the sky with pinks and purples to chase away the darkness with the incipient day, even if the darkness within her was only pushed back a ways. She slipped her hand into his free one as they walked and figured it didn’t matter for the moment, and enjoyed the little bit of Light that shone through in her soul.