Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Witch Incarnate, Daiva 03
   by Nysidra
Summary: Different characters introduced, but the same story.
   <->
   -_ Phoenix _-
   Felicia Chellary Metoyer wrinkled her nose as she backed away from the
body of the drunk man.  She pulled the handkerchief from her pocket and pat
her face dry of the stink of sweat and moonshine.  The rank smell of him
was preferable over knowing a person's life, their soul.  This man's mind
was so muddled by booze that she could make no sense of him.
   However, the woman from the night before suffered nightmares of her
dying child.  Felicia had been so broken she had to sleep in the woman's
living room before leaving the house.
   The man belched and shifted in the dank alley way.
   She made a stealthy retreat.  She took note of the time on a store
front: two in the morning.  Each alley she passed, she checked, hoping to
find one more reveler sleeping off the festivities of the week.
   She always wanted more, but she didn't know how much a person could
stand to lose, what might happen if she took as much as she wanted.  The
fear of killing another person and the disgust of needing the energy left
her to absorb the slightest amount from one or two people a night.
   Felicia took a flight of rickety steps to the second floor of an
abandoned building.  It was dusty, smelled strongly of mildew, urine,
rotting refuse, and eye-watering fumes.  The support beams needed repair. A
wrecking ball or another vagrant might come through during the day.
   Back to the dimly lit, deserted streets.
   Another building came to mind, but it was a mile down the road.  If that
one didn't pan out, she would have to sulk back into the home of a man she
met a month back.  He talked a lot, wondered how a woman like herself
didn't have a better place to go.
   While she was grateful to him for a crash course in marathon lying, she
needed to curl in a corner and get some much needed rest.  If she stayed
much longer with him, he'd end up dead.
   If there was some place of refuge for people like her, Felicia didn't
know about it.  Her vengeful ex-boyfriend, Michael, had left her to
discover this hell on her own.  Her only wisdom had come in the form of
stories.
   She now lived in constant punishment for laughing at him, for calling
him delusional.  All of it couldn't have been true, but she couldn't ask
him which parts he teased about, what was real, and what was a joke.
   It wasn't because he had died.  No, he was very much alive.  Michael
stalked her.  She knew because of the messages he left while she slept,
threatening to kill her if he saw her in an area he did not like.  The last
message she read on the corpse of a woman who gave her a room to let.
   Felicia was a ball of string and Michael was the barn cat, taking a swat
at her when he bored.  There had been a few close calls, but she had done
well by herself.  This city was big enough to hide in as long as she kept
moving.
   She pried the wooden board open and slipped inside the condemned
building.  There was a decent room on the first floor, but she continued
browsing.  She climbed the steps, each one placed with cat-like grace.
   She poked her head in each room and sniffed.  People had a smell: food,
excrement, sweat, body odor.  She could not close her eyes when the threat
of discovery loomed.  Room after room smelled empty.
   The third room, a man stood to an open window, looking down.  His back
to the doorway.
   Felicia didn't hear him, couldn't smell him.  She still didn't, not in
the way she expected.  If she closed her eyes, she could convince herself
the room was empty.
   Was he a spirit?
   She reviewed the quickest path out the building.  To her left, around
the corner, down the stairs, but on the right side, jump over the last two,
turn all the way around and straight back until she hit the door.
   She moved a board to get in.  What method did he use?  Would he chase
her if she ran?  Maybe he didn't notice her standing there.  Was he a
vampire or something else?  Felicia's mind whipped into a dervish of
paralyzing panic.
   "I will not harm you."
   Felicia pressed her fingertips to her lips to hold back her desire to
scream.  She replayed his voice.  He will not harm her.  Rooted in place,
outside the doorway, staring at his back.
   'Will you walk into my parlor?' said the Spider to the Fly.
   The recollection of the poem warned her against walking any closer. 
Sweat dripped between her breasts and down her arms.  A long silence passed
between them.  The man stood still as ever.
   He must be like her, Felicia decided.  The genuine article: a real
vampire.
   "You from around here?"
   "No, my lady," he said with a note of sadness, "but you are."
   "Yes," Felicia smiled proudly.  "All my life.  I am gens de couleur
libre." She added that bit since he didn't care to look at her.  Before the
silence could grow, she pressed ahead with her impression.  "Why so blue?"
   "I've lost something precious to me." The note of sadness rose to a
powerful dirge.  Felicia blinked the tears from her eyes.  She had felt his
pain as if he released it, deep and dark like the river at night.  He
needed her company.  "I can help you find it?"
   "No."
   She could help him.  He could help her.  Felicia took comfort in the
thought.  "It's only lost if you give up looking."
   "That notion leads to insanity."
   Though hearing him speak saddened her, the intensity of his melancholy
fell away.  "Please, sir, tell me, or tell me you won't."
   He gave one solemn nod.  "Since you insist upon engaging in
conversation. What do you seek in this building?"
   Felicia shifted her weight from one foot to the other.  She laughed, but
it did not carry.  "Shelter.  What's your name?"
   "Setamious.  And yours?"
   "Felicia Metoyer."
   "Tell me about your city, Miss Metoyer."
   Felicia shared her knowledge of the place, the people, families of
importance.  She told him about the food, the fantastic smells and sounds,
the festivals, the music.  She detailed the merriments that the current war
had taken away.
   He did not ask questions, did not move, did not look at her, but she
sensed him listening.  She managed to push his sadness back into the dark
of the earth.
   Regardless, she could not afford to talk the night away.
   "Have you checked this place?" Felicia asked at the conclusion of her
verbal tour.  "I was going to hide out here for the day."
   "No," said Setamious, "but I will leave you to it." He turned and they
saw each other for the first time.
   Felicia smiled, happy to get a face to put with his unusual name.  He
had a thin frame.  His angular face appeared foreign to any of the several
nationalities that entered the city.
   A flicker of shock registered in his light colored eyes, but she
couldn't understand why.  She told him what to expect.
   "Come to my home.  You will rest in security."
   Felicia had not read attraction in his face, but reading him in anything
other than his words proved difficult.  She had not met anyone like this
man, anyone like Michael, like her.  Whatever he saw, it moved him to
protect her.  "Is it far?"
   "No."
   They exited the building together.  Felicia grinned like a girl when he
cradled her in his arms, but a sudden wave of vertigo caused her stomach to
lurch.  Her world turned dark as she passed out.
   ***
   Setamious lay Felicia on his bed and held the lit candle near her body.
He knew what he wanted to see.  He had felt that pang of remembrance every
time he saw a woman of familiar height, similar frame, even that same
haunting eye color.  He had spent centuries as guardian of women who shared
just enough to remind him of her.
   Too much time had passed since he saw her likeness.  That was the only
explanation.
   But this young daiva.  When he looked at her he saw no similarity, no
approximation.  He saw her as if she had been reborn.
   His memory could have warped with the passage of time, blinded him to
differences.
   He sat on the bed and fingered the soft curls of hair around the side of
her face.  How long had this poor thing been awake to sleep so deeply?
   ***
   Felicia woke and pushed the heavy woven blanket back.  Beneath her, firm
bedding.  She pushed herself upright and looked around.  She was used to
waking in a strange place, but the same spot where she had closed her eyes.
   This place felt like a mausoleum.  Cool, quiet, dark.  No windows, one
dividing wall.  She knew a thing or two about that, having used more than a
few root cellars to hide and sleep.
   The man from last night, the pale Arab with the gray eyes stared at her
as if trying to find something.  "Who are you?"
   "As I said, sir, Felicia Metoyer.  Born and raised on Cane River.  Is
something wrong?"
   "Tell me about your family."
   Felicia shrugged.  "Momma died when I was ten.  Poppa remarried and
finally got that son he wanted.  I left home soon as I was able.  Poppa
didn't put up much of a fuss.  The Metoyers do well, got some good land on
the river.  I worked a few years on my uncle's spread, but it weren't for
me.  I made my way to town, but lost touch with my people."
   "The Metoyers are your father's people?"
   "Yes.  Of course."
   "What of your mother's side?"
   "Nothing much.  Thin, straight line.  Mamere warned me not to expect
more or less than a single girl, but to have faith that she would be
healthy and smart.  I didn't pay her words no mind.  Superstition is gravy
for the soul around here.  Look at me now.  I'll never give birth, and not
for lack of trying before my troubles."
   The walls were made from clay and rocks.  The furniture all looked hand
crafted or carved, simple, like some luxurious primitive display.
   "Before my attack, there was much truth to it.  Madame Rosette, Mamere's
ma, knew the line by rote.  One woman, one girl, going all the way back to
a woman called ...  Jonah?  Joe-ann de Porto.  We got women on my ma's side
all over.  Mamere used to say that we don't keep still, roving the world
like cats.  No more than five generations to a single nation."
   Felicia huddled against the wall on the far side of the bed.  "The hell
you doing?!"
   Setamious had moved quick as a snake strike.  He turned two knobs back
and forth until a chest popped open.  He lifted stacks of papers and books
out and set them aside on the earthen floor.
   "What is wrong with you?  How you move so damn fast?" Felicia grabbed
the blanket and covered the front of her body.
   He carried a string-bound book to his desk.  "Come.  Look."
   Felicia eased over to the desk and looked at the page Setamious held
open.  She didn't recognize any of the text, but if she stared long enough,
she could make out the names.  It was a list of women and locations.  The
last five were of Joana Paiva and her daughter and grand-daughter, and so
on.  She moved his hand and turned the page back, but it was blank.  She
turned the page forward and the list continued.  More and more until she
could no longer discern the text, the names, or the writing.
   "Why you have this list?" She went back to the bed.
   "Do you believe in destiny?"
   "Much as any person.  Plenty of lip service, no results." Felicia
searched the room.  What lay around that wall?  Stairs?  A door?  Could she
get out?  "You been staring at me real hard.  Why?  What you want?"
   "You are the final daughter of a my love."
   Felicia's face went slack.  "Pardon?"
   "My love, Silurie, placed a curse on her family line.  Each female bore
a single female child.  All other children died or withered in the womb."
   "So you say your list and my list.  They what?  I'm this woman's
daughter?"
   "Yes."
   "How she do this?  Why?  She was pregnant?"
   "No.  She lay the curse before I impregnated her."
   Felicia frowned and shook her head.  "Give me the truth.  What you mean?
How she lay a charm on her line like that?"
   "She was ...  powerful.  When I met her, I thought she was as I, but I
came to understand she was a creature of magic unlike any story has ever
told."
   "This was before you become a vampire?"
   "No." He paused a moment.  "After."
   "Then how?"
   "As I said, her power was great.  You might call her a witch, but she
was much more."
   "The baby was normal?"
   Setamious nodded.
   "You got other children?"
   "Absolutely not.  Silurie carried the power of deities in her soul. 
There is no way a child can be born from daiva.  We are not, may I clarify,
vampires."
   "Well," Felicia huffed, "that's a grand weight off my shoulders.  I
don't know what I am, but acting like a vampire has kept me alive."
   "Is this why you choose to sleep in daylight?"
   "Of course, I -- light won't kill me?"
   "There are some of us who find the light harsh, but no, it won't kill
you."
   "What am I?  What are we?"
   "Daiva.  We are called daiva.  It is passed from one to another.  We are
given the ability to restore ourselves, and as such, gain powers beyond
that of a normal person.  Is this why you say you were attacked?  This was
done against your will?"
   "Yes." Felicia twisted the skirt of her dress around her fingers. 
"Well, this woman, your love.  She did all this, lay a curse on her line.
Why?"
   Setamious sighed and closed the book.  "Our love was great, but not
greater than the power that consumed her.  I could not give such power to
her darkness.  She told me that she would return to me cleansed.  She used
all the power within her to pass through time to this moment."
   Felicia's hand touched her chest.  "You telling me that..." She could
not think of any way to give words to the notion.  She felt like fainting.
He thought she was someone else?
   "Yes."
   A nervous laugh burst from Felicia.  "My foot!  You stop this damn
foolishness."
   Hadn't she learned her lesson?  Was becoming this monstrosity not
enough?
   Felicia lowered her head and swallowed her laughter, but didn't mean she
believed him.  How was she supposed to pretend that this man's true love
was a witch that cursed her children for the sole purpose of becoming his
concubine?
   She had heard some strange stories in her time, but this one took the
pit out the cherry.
   The vampire thing was true, Felicia reminded herself.
   Partially.
   Silurie sounded a lot like Chellary though.
   Felicia shook her head.  "I am Felicia, not this Silurie you talking
about."
   "I can abolish your fears.  I can fill you with truth rather than lies.
I can protect you, teach you.  You will come to understand what you are,
not a creature that must scurry in alleys like vermin."
   Whether he was telling tales or trying to woo a foolish girl, he was
powerful.  Even more reason for him to manipulate her.
   Wouldn't it be manipulation if she stayed?  Where else did she have to
be?
   He returned the book to its chest, piled it in with all the other books
and papers he had pulled out.  Why would the man set up such an elaborate
ruse just for her?
   "All this, as you say, has sustained my existence."
   "I ain't no witch.  I don't touch know that stuff.  I'm probably nothing
like this woman."
   "I hope you are right." Setamious locked the chest and joined her on the
bed.  "Silurie's endeavors led to the corruption of her soul.  While she
amassed great power, she was also quite mad." He stared into nothing for a
long while.  "It was," he swallowed, "the closest thing to hell knowing
her. I have spent ages cleansing the world of corrupted souls.  Your purity
and broken pairing were clearly her gift to me, the way for her to rid
herself of her curse." He looked at her not with curiosity but hope.  "You
look exactly like her in every way."
   Felicia closed her eyes and breathed through the urge to laugh.  Better
for her to focus on other urges.  Thinking she might kill or turn someone,
Felicia chronically starved herself.  She could not risk a night of
laziness or she would be too weak to move.
   Getting stuck here was not high on her list.
   "I thank you for the hospitality and the insight to my people." Felicia
stood and smoothed the folds of her dress, "but I have a pressing matter to
address."
   "Felicia." Setamious stood and placed his hand on her shoulder.  "You
will never have to worry about that again.  My energy will give you
strength, greater power.  You will require the energy of others less when
you learn to preserve yourself."
   She could become more powerful by staying with him?  She considered the
prospect as Setamious coaxed her back to sitting on the bed.
   "I will grant you this now.  I will repeat the process of your pairing,
sever your connection with your mater, the person who did this to you."
   Felicia cringed and tasted bile in her throat.  What part of that
process had been necessary?!  Could she really go through with this?  She
was getting better at the survival thing.  Now that she had good
information, she could do better.
   Better than this?
   The man is crazy!
   "And then?"
   "Judge me on what I have said this night.  When you wake, think of what
else I could give you."
   She who takes a partner, takes a master.  What did it matter?  The man
promised to sever her connection to Michael.  This was to her advantage. 
Felicia never had to compromise her morals when she went to town, but she
told herself on the journey, if it meant living to see another day, she
would use all her tools to her advantage.
   This was the choice she coached herself into facing.
   "I accept your offer."
   ***
   Setamious cradled Felicia in his arms and smiled.  He had his love,
Silurie, reborn as this gorgeous Felicia.  He had her in his arms, against
his body, refilling with his power.
   Pairing was as close a daiva could come to knowing death.  Some never
came back to tell the story.  If Setamious were going to die now, he would
rather it be to her.
   With the exchange complete, she lay sweating and feverish in his arms.
He settled on the bed and stretched out beside her.  Setamious had paired
with another before, but this was different, beautiful.  He felt as if the
weight he'd been carrying in the pit of his soul had washed away.
   She made him feel young again.  He lay beside his gorgeous Felicia and
absorbed every feature of her face.  He tucked in beside her body, breathed
in the musk of her sweat.
   He spoke to her, told her the truth about the daiva, explained his
ageless love.  To her, he said the things he had imagined saying for years.
   ***
   Dirt, grass, animals.  Felicia rolled onto her side and took another
breath.  The swamp, but not low land.  From this spot the breeze could
carry all kinds of smells.
   A man, hair smelled like almonds and sandalwood.  She hadn't had sex
with him.  Why not?
   Because she was a vampire.
   Felicia sat up, but everywhere was dark.  For a moment, she thought the
dream had begun again.  She smelled all the same things.
   She was a daiva.
   She wasn't going to kill anyone.  She could walk in sunlight.
   Felicia rolled her head back and took another deep breath.  She let the
stronger notes fade and focused on the lower notes.  She had done this
before, when she pulled too deeply on another's energy.
   She grinned and felt for him.
   Setamious.  Waves of knowledge flowed through and under his words.  Did
he mean to do it that way?  When he talked about how much he loved Silurie,
Felicia couldn't hear it.  Another voice rose over his.
   'He has more than this to give you.  Stay with him.  Use him.'
   Had it been a trick?  Was it a bad idea?
   He'd said so much.  Even when he wasn't talking about Silurie it felt
like a herd of elephants were caught in civil war in her body.
   Once he caught on that hearing about how much he loved and adored her
eased her pain, then that other voice was returned.
   Overall it hurt worse than she feared it would, far worse than the first
time, but nothing hurt now.  The gnawing emptiness, the yawning chasm of
fear had faded.
   And here she had this lonesome, powerful man wanting to help her.
   Felicia rolled him onto his back.  What better fortune could there be?
   He shifted and a tiny firelight illuminated his face.  The corners of
his mouth turned into a subtle smile.  "How do you feel?"
   "Alive.  Whole."
   "I am pleased."
   Felicia lay down beside him and curled to his body.
   "You will join me tonight.  We begin as one."
   Was that some kind of word for sex?  "What are you doing?"
   "I told you my purpose in life.  The things I have done."
   She had to think past the pain, filter his words through her memory.  Ah
yes, she would have laughed if not for the pain.  He abolished evil in the
world, scrubbed the it of tainted magic powers.  Just thinking about it
made her grin.  "Yes."
   "I'm glad this pleases you.  Though I loved Silurie, what she became was
a great burden on my soul.  She was the very person I should have stopped,
but I didn't realize it at the time.  I did not have the strength of
conviction.
   "You are my greatest gift from her.  All of her beauty and elegance
purified, stripped from the foulness that blackened her soul.  When I look
at you, I know that she loved me back.
   "My greatest gift to you is that you will never become like her.  You
will know the danger and help me guard the world from it."
   Felicia rolled away from him and sat up.  "What do you mean?"
   "We are going to rid the world of a corrupted soul.  I have been
watching her for some time.  I visited her and made attempt to convince her
to stray from her path, but she has not listened."
   "You going to kill her?"
   "No.  You are."
   The instinct to laugh died in her throat.  She stared at him, really
looked him over.  Was this his way of making a joke?  She waited a long
time.
   "Why?"
   "I want to believe that you have it in your heart to do the deed.  You
need not be cruel." Setamious rose from the bed and began to dress.
   Need not be cruel?!
   Felicia put her clothes on as well, but she kept her back to the wall,
her eyes on him.
   He could not be serious.
   "What has this witch done to make her evil?"
   "She causes the deaths of others, enslaves the mind and commands the
body." He paused.  "I have nothing against the use of the arts.  There are
a great many who wield their powers to bring health and prosperity to their
people.  The qua of a daiva are qua that can be sometimes be awakened
within others.  I have seen this with my own eyes.  This woman is not one
of those."
   "How did you find out she was doing this?"
   "Seek evil and it readily makes itself known." He walked around that
dividing wall.  "Follow."
   No reason for her to mess this up now if she was really a murderer. 
"Yes."
   She was right about the location they rose from the cellar to a small,
above ground house.  Outside, high ground surrounded by the woods and
swampland.  Small huts dotted the landscape.
   He led her along the foot path that carried them to a service road. 
Along the way, Setamious recounted stories of past witches and the thing
they did, the crimes they committed.
   By his account, he made them all sound like horrific crimes.  People
killed each other with weapons.  Why didn't he find their crimes
punishable?
   "Did Silurie kill others?"
   Setamious answered heavy with sorrow.  "She held no regard for the
sanctity of life.  Age, station, morality - people were grain and she was
their reaper."
   He pointed to that house ahead.  "This is the car we will use."
   Felicia could not convince herself this man was a sane person, or that
she was really entangled with him.  She promised to judge him by his word,
and she woke feeling better.
   The voice from that darkness nagged.  He has more to teach her.
   One death was a small price to pay, if it meant she would not run in
fear.
   So when he started in with other crimes and methods of dispatch, she
listened.
   He parked the automobile and Felicia felt her stomach twist on itself.
   "I have never taken a life," she said the moment the engine died.  "I
spent years starving and scared because I didn't want to harm any person by
making them too too tired or sick.  I took great care to leave no trace of
my presence.  You want me to throw all that away?  To go in there and take
that woman's life?"
   He walked to the other side of the car and helped her out.  He embraced
her and kissed her on the neck.  "You have a good heart, and I commend you.
This is the way you should act.  It is crucial that you possess
self-control, restraint.  In doing this you protect the spiritual arts.
   "If these criminals are allowed to continue in their selfish ways, it
would lead to a society where all magic is banned, and all witches,
regardless of their sanctity, are condemned.  Daiva would follow behind.  I
have seen this happen before, time and time again." He let go of her and
straightened.  "What you do here tonight, Felicia, is for protection and
care in kindness."
   She looked from house to house wondering which one she would invade.
   "I know you doubt me," he said.  "I will leave it up to you.  You can
discern the nature of others?"
   Felicia turned to him and furrowed her brows.  "Oh?  You can too?"
   "I can sense the ability in you, but I do not share it.  Use it.  Touch
her mind.  Judge her by your own methods.  Dispose of her as if another
person had done the job.  I will wait here." He pointed out the house down
the street.  "She is alone, sleeping, and the way is clear."
   Felicia crossed the street and entertained the notion of running, but
she kept a steady path to the house.  Had her ancestral mothers been
running, dodging, migrating the world, knowing deep down this man was out
there looking?
   A man like him was no good as an enemy.  One small death was a small
price to pay for having power on her side for a change.
   It was time to stop running.
   ***
   Felicia returned an hour later.  She had finished the job in half that,
but the last half hour she spent dry heaving, shivering, and feeling choked
by fear.  It was easy enough to see into the woman's mind before she took
of her spirit, but once she got there, it was hard to pull away.
   She was a ruthless murderer.  Setamious had not lied about that.  But
the why and how had been hidden.  She had acted as a relentless
executioner, taking the powerful along with the poor.  As she took from her
spirit, she learned what the woman knew.
   She pulled far more than she ever took from a person, but it was not the
energy that drove her on, but the flood of knowledge.  The objects in her
home, the purpose of her rituals, the intricacy of roots.  The more energy
she took, the sharper the knowledge became.
   In that moment, pure bliss, but followed by mountains of fresh fear. 
She couldn't know those things.  What if he found out?
   What if that's what he meant by knowing a person's nature?  This was
normal.  He already knew she would know.
   But what if?
   She entered the automobile and hugged her knees to her body.
   "Relax.  You did well." He started the car.
   All along the drive she waited for him to say more, to start in with the
questions.  They parked and set off on foot along the trail again.
   "How do you know I could read people?"
   "The same way you can assume a light source without seeing it. 
Sunlight, moonlight, firelight, lamplight.  Each word, each memory of that
light perceived has a different imprint.  When you attempted to read me, I
felt that light on my body."
   "So, someone has to use their ability on you for you to know about it."
   "Most of the time, yes."
   She rolled her head forward, let her curls come down in a blanket.  He
doesn't know how it works.  What she used on him was nothing like that. 
Snippets of their pairing, the energy blocked from him.  Something else
bonded with her that night, educating her.
   'Play along.'
   He lifted her hair and took her hand so that they could head down the
stone path.
   "I am proud of you this day, Felicia.  We will be close, and soon, love
again."
   And how long did she need to play along before she could live again?
   ***
   Setamious kneeled to a desk, writing, his back to her while she lay in
bed.  A twine bound wrapper rest on the side table.
   "The package is for you.  I've boiled water so that you may wash up. 
The clothes should fit."
   The bath smelled of warm sage, lemon grass, and a bright flower.  She
undressed and tossed her clothes aside, walked naked to the bath.
   She dipped into the tub until the water covered her shoulders.  Five
days and nights of close proximity to the man, sleeping in the bed beside
him.  He may as well have been a sack of potatoes the whole time.  They
were like two strangers, and for such a small space,
   He was different.  She needed to make the first move.
   Once she was clean, she tightened the curls of her hair, then sat on the
bed, waiting for to notice.
   Okay, not enough of a first move.  She could handle that.
   "What are you writing?"
   "Observations made while in the city yesterday.  Understanding how to
blend into other cultures requires study."
   Or he could just talk to people.  "Tell me about where you came from."
   "That time is past."
   Strike out.  Was he ignoring her nudity on purpose?  Maybe she was not
alluring to him.  He said a woman who looked just like her was his love. 
He's attracted.
   True enough, but maybe he wasn't telling the whole story.  He liked her
body, but that was not all.
   What more?  What in the hell could she know about a woman she had never
met from a place he won't talk about?
   Felicia walked over and sat to the edge of his writing desk, careful not
to disturb any of his papers or inks.
   "If you're not going to tell me your culture, at least tell me how to
communicate that I'm horny since you haven't learned that yet.  Or, may I
get permission to leave and solve that puzzle on my own?"
   Setamious' pen stopped moving.  His silver-gray eyes traveled up her
naked body and met.  "Get away from my desk." His words were cold, sharp,
but Felicia saw the mirth in his face, that extra shadow in black of his
beard.
   She lifted her chin and walked away.
   He went back to writing.
   She grinned as she approached him from behind.  All those whispered
words came back.  She was always powerful, that deep power that never ran
dry.  He had been around her age, fretful and confused.  Her looks did not
trap him to her memory.
   Felicia was no fool.  She knew she was 'cute' as they say, but she was
not a prize winning beauty.  Too short, too little up top, too rebellious.
She stopped pacing.
   The woman she had been before Michael.  Stop questioning herself.
   Felicia formed a vague plan, but she had no assurance her crazy idea
would bare any fruit.
   'We have to try.'
   "Setamious," Felicia leaned on his shoulder and kissed him on the ear.
"I need you to come in this bed and get my pussy wet.  Whatever you are
doing can wait until you please me."
   He set the pen down and stood.
   She kept her firm look though she wanted to crawl away and sputter a
string of apologies.  This wasn't how she truly felt.  This was no way to
address a man, and yet a certainty in her gut said this was exactly how he
wanted to be treated.
   "Is that a fact?"
   "It is." She crooked her finger at him and thanked her steel nerves that
her hand did not tremble.
   Setamious gathered Felicia into his ams and smothered her in kisses. 
She wanted to melt in his arms, but she didn't.  She took rather than gave,
forced her tongue into his mouth, dug her hands into his back.  She stuck
with the plan and treated him as if she was the powerful one and he was the
sapling.
   If his moans were any indication, she had been right.  As she rode him,
his energy rose to fill her.
   Oh, yeah, she could get used to that.
   Don't relax.  Felicia thought.  Stay in control.  This is no pleasure
ride.  She had to make sure this man wanted to protect her.  If that meant
playing along with his fantasy girl, she would do that.
   She bucked against him, pulled on him.  She played the demanding lover
as if she had always been that way.  She got what she wanted: Setamious,
lying on top of her, his body slack on hers, breathing heavily.
   "Did I perform as you wanted?" He caressed the side of her face.
   "I think your eyes got brighter." She had watched them lighten to a
silvery gray moments before his ejaculation.
   "They do that." He reared up and buried his fingers onto her hair.
   "My eyes have never done that.  They always stay red."
   "Is that what you call that color?"
   "Well, what do you call it?"
   "A rich copper, like a well worn penny.  Rum tinged with drops of bright
blood."
   Felicia smiled and blushed.  "What color were Silurie's eyes?"
   "Originally or before she changed?"
   "Both."
   "Originally, just as yours, as you say, red.  Afterward, her eyes took
on a sick yellowish orange." He winced.  "I was afraid to look into them at
times."
   "You?  Afraid?" Felicia laughed.  "After what?"
   "When her evil began to take hold."
   "Oh."
   "Her eyes were most perfect when they looked like yours.  Purity. 
Beauty." He leaned down and kissed her.
   Felicia smiled and held him close.  "Think you can give me one more?"
She whispered.
   "Yes, anyway you want."
   -_ Woman Within _-
   Over the next year, Felicia remained in hiding with Setamious, trading
her freedom and independence, even some of her joy, for the elixir of his
potent energy and protection from Michael.
   Like a mother bird, Setamious was the sole source of her vitae,
preferring to offer himself rather than allow her to associate with others.
It irritated her, but only a little.  Each time she pulled from him,
knowledge and greater insight would sift into her.
   No regrets.
   He treated her well, opened up and told her stories about other daiva
and the world as he experience it.  He educated her on history, languages,
art, and literature.  Given her limited schooling and lack of worldly
experience, her lessons consumed the greater part of their time.
   Life was him was isolated, but anything but boring.  He converted one of
the upper rooms into a work room where she was able to craft, paint,
restore, and read in peace.
   Under better circumstances, they could be a perfect couple.  Without her
being stalked or his obsession with ridding the world of evil, two name her
top two.
   That was the most sour note in their song.
   "She has shown a great deal of wisdom when it comes to extending the
security of daiva.  For this reason, when she is honored and revered."
   "But those rules don't even make sense.  We need other people to
regenerate our power, but we're not allowed to live around them?"
   "Her warnings have proven right.  No more than five daiva to a residence
for more than a year.  We must be wary of causing laws that restrict our
freedom in the future.  If not for the safety of other daiva, then for
yourself."
   She arched her brow.  "What good is living for a future you still won't
get to enjoy?  Someone needs to take that meddling bitch out."
   "Never kill another daiva," he said.  "That freedom is from fear,
Felicia.  That no one barges into our home searching for a demon is
evidence of our success."
   "What if we have a gathering nine months out of the year?  That counts,
doesn't it?" She chuckled.
   "No gathering in excess of ten daiva can last more than two weeks.  No
gathering in any region more than once solar cycle.  No one can be paired
at a gathering." Setamious sighed heavily.  "Learn from the mistakes of
others, do not repeat them.  These are the rules and you will follow them."
   "I will, but I don't have to agree."
   "Your dissent on the matter is well noted."
   "So, there has never been a daiva governor or mayor or king or
anything?"
   "Not for long." He stepped back from her and appraised his work on her
hair.
   "So who is this prison warden with all her joy-kill rules?"
   He cupped his hand to her ear and whispered as soft as a falling leaf.
"I say this for your knowledge alone: Kessi."
   She shrugged.  "Dumb name."
   "Perhaps, but her code is passed from honorable mater to beloved progeny
and adhered to throughout the world."
   "What if someone makes up their own rules?"
   "They have, do, and will in the future.  The behavior is corrected. 
This is the system that will have Michael reprimanded for his actions."
   She nodded.  "Or I find him first and kill him for the 'survival of
self' clause.  Any other excuses?"
   "No, Felicia.  Self is the continued intake of vitae, not your ego or
wounded spirit.  If not for your death, the other person would be punished
for this rule."
   "If you find out." She rolled her eyes.  "What if he killed me?!"
   Setamious shook his head.
   She smacked her teeth.  "Okay, I know the rules now.  When can we go
out?"
   "You plan on killing him?"
   "I plan on having a good time and not getting killed."
   He offered his arm.  "I will show you what I know."
   Setamious accompanied her in town slightly more than the number of
allowed gatherings in a country.  She unlaced the top of her maroon gown
and fondled her breast.  "Do you read my thoughts?"
   "No.  I would not sift through your impressions to divine a message that
you might intend for me."
   "I am the end of Silurie's line, so I'm more like her than any of her
daughters, right?"
   "Correct." He flipped the page of journal, the one she used to pen her
thoughts about the work he gave her to read.
   "Did I inherit anything else from her?" Years of living together in
close quarters, learning the vast store of his knowledge, sharing his bed.
Surely that had been long enough to build trust with each other.
   He grimaced as if hurt.
   She tightened the lace of her gown.  She knew damn well he hated this
subject.  Each time he spoke about magic and other types of evolved
creature, he would stray into the evil, misuse, and hatred for those who
abuse their abilities.
   Years, but she couldn't stop asking.
   ***
   Silurie warned him.  He wanted to admit it less than he believed her
then.  Her champagne eyes radiated brilliance.  "You," she tapped her head.
She pressed a hand to her chest and motioned upward.  "I will be born as
her."
   "You don't know the life you give." He said and motioned with his hands.
"You crush the infant with such a burden."
   "A woman will take the burden you hold." She lowered her arm as if
holding something heavy in her hand.  "She will feel its weight.  Give it
to her." Silurie swiped her hand left, then pulled toward her belly.  "If
she teaches herself, the burden will crush you."
   She was so expressive when she spoke, much like Felicia when frustrated.
The movement of her arms, face, and even her legs added to the message. 
Words were only part of the way she communicated.
   If he punished her for asking or denied her the right, she would
discover her power alone and kill him.
   "You carry," Silurie framed her swollen belly, "Your way.  Protect me."
She turned her palmed fist away from her mouth and opened both palms into a
fan.  "I am scattered." She reached into the air and formed two fists as
she lowered her elbows.  "Carry me."
   Felicia would need his protection and guidance, which he had given
exactly the way he knew how best.
   But that last motion she made, like the spread of a dandelion and pulled
down a rope.  There was no equivalent in any language he knew.  The closest
interpretation was more weight to life.  Lift her burden?  Did she mean to
say that Felicia would also take his weight?
   Could she take on his responsibility?  Give her the power to lighten his
burden.  In this land, hard work was a solid sign of importance.  She could
use Silurie's power to help him, to correct the wrongs Silurie cause.
   Felicia was a daiva.  She could walk at his side.  In the scant three
years he'd spent with her, she had been a quick study, eager to learn. 
Given their relationship, whenever she had questions, he would be the voice
that guided her.
   She sat in his lap, her dressing restored.
   "Yes," he said.
   "How much?"
   "Everything." He escorted her to his chest.
   "I can't read this yet."
   No matter his fears, he had to trust in her love.  It was the only
purity left in her.  He pulled a box from within the bottom layer of the
chest and set it on her desk.  "This is yours.  Whatever she wrote was
intended to help you on this path.  There is a translation puzzle on the
first few pages.  She assured me this would work for you, though I haven't
seen a proper family lock in years."
   "Family lock?"
   "Language was different for her.  She used gestures and vocalizations
with her words.  Learning the language, the code, was part of belonging to
a family or community.  A family lock is meant for those left after your
departure.  Only people who knew the unspoken parts of the language could
solve the puzzle: children, friends, neighbors, lovers.  Family.  You have
no concept of this."
   "Says the one who didn't come up on the river." She took a chair and sat
in front of the book.  "Is it delicate, like the others?"
   "No.  Nothing you do will destroy those pages."
   ***
   Pictures.
   The first two pages were filled with tiny drawings.  They formed a
cluster around a symbol or word, but not in the way she expected.
   'Suma' surrounded by a mountain, an insect, and a thin petaled flower,
all stained with bits of bright red.
   She grinned.  She'd hang out at Suma's muck-yard in the summer.  The
reeds grew high and the mud was too thick for children with weak legs.  If
you had the strength to march through, you got to a clearing, boulders as
big as carts to sit on.  You could hear for half a mile around, but nothing
outside the muck yard could hear you.
   She had her first kiss there, standing ankled deep in fragrant mud.
   Mountains were hard to reach the top of, like trudging through mud. 
Insects could walk on water or fly with the right tools.  Thin flowers were
so to be efficient.  A hard to reach place, with the right tools, and
wisdom of efficiency.
   Felicia applied her theory to the other words, but it didn't work.
   She poured over the scant few pages for the rest of the day.  Though she
made progress, she worried about Setamious.  He feared what Silurie knew.
   "Guess I can't read it yet.  That lock is strong." She closed the book
and put it back in the chest.  "I don't need to mess with that now.  Plenty
of time.  There's still so much I'm trying to learn from you, yeah?"
   She caught his smirk before he suppressed it.
   "Would you like to go into town tonight?"
   Felicia bounced on the balls of her feet.  "Dancing?!  Can we go
dancing?"
   "You don't need to be that close to others."
   "Please?" She nearly went to her knees, so easily she swayed toward her
innate desire.  Going to the floor and begging did nothing for him.  He
wanted assertiveness.  "You asked your question.  That was my answer.  If
you hold a better idea in mind, then speak it."
   "I don't know a suitable place for this."
   "I know one."
   "I have others I can ask.  Give me time."
   "Who?"
   "Other daiva.  They have a safe house in the town."
   He got to talk to other daiva in town?  There were other daiva?  "Well,
okay."
   "Within a moon's cycle, I'll find a dance hall for you.  Do you know the
waltz?"
   She shook her head.
   Though she had her doubts, Setamious remained true to his promise.  He
found a party outside the city.
   Felicia grinned as they parked beside the rows of cars in the field. 
The band inside played an uptempo beat that had people dancing outside the
building.  Inside, the din of laughter and conversation.
   She remained reserved and observant.  Genuine curiosity.  She didn't
want to have to be reminded.  Each place he took her, everything he showed
her was rarely for her enjoyment, but an opportunity to learn.
   What had become of her?
   Stand around and watch didn't sound anything like her.  If Felicia heard
music, she jumped in and started dancing.
   A man would...
   Dressed in a bright colored jacket, the clean shaven man took her hand
and led her into a dance.
   A few seconds.  Felicia moved with him across the floor, luxuriated in
his vigor and passion.  When her back went to his chest, she embellished
the next move by sliding her body down his.
   This was how life was meant to be lived.
   ***
   Setamious perched on the stool.  Felicia exuded cheer and joy with each
movement.  He'd never seen her dance like this when she was alone.  Worry
nagged at him.  Had he taught her enough?  Did she understand his
reasoning?
   A young woman approached his table.  Her beaming smile revealed the
bravado of wine drinking.  "Hi."
   "Hello."
   She stood near him, making eyes and smiling, her pinky fingers brushed
his arm.
   Thankfully, Felicia had been keen enough to know this approach had no
appeal to him.
   "Aren't you going to ask me to dance?"
   "No, madam."
   "Not trying to get between you and the girl.  Let Dora put a smile on
that pouty face."
   "Thank you for the offer, Dora, but I do not want to dance with you."
   "All right," she giggled.  "Can I keep you company right here?"
   Could she be convinced that she didn't need to conceal her true feelings
from him?  He had time to find out.  "Would you favor a game?"
   She propped on the stool beside him.  "Sure.  What we playing?"
   "I name a subject, and you tell me of your opinion.  You name a subject
and I shall tell you mine.  If you like my answer, you give me a point, if
not, reserve a point.  Same for your answer to mine.  The first person to
three points, or three reserved, wins."
   "Wins what?"
   "An informed decision on whether we enter round two."
   She laughed and smirked at him.  "I like you, sugar.  Let's play."
   "Those who take another to bed within hours of meeting."
   "You ain't from around here." She smirked.  "I am of two opinions. 
Shameless hussies who flaunt this habit, and repentant women of class who
keep it a private matter."
   "I reserve my point."
   "Well, now I want to know yours."
   ***
   The woman sitting beside Setamious was petite, shapely, vivacious.  To
her surprise, Setamious engaged the woman, giving smiles of his own.
   The man beside her smelled like shaving cream, moonshine, and musk.  The
music and their bodies became as one.
   She was just a normal woman.  No reason to get upset.
   Did she really want to leave him alone with another woman?  Next thing
he'd claim that she was his reincarnated sister.
   No, she didn't care, but the voice had told her to play along.  Besides,
Setamious took one look at her before deciding to keep her captive.  She
was not ready to lose her position because she placed pleasure over her
goals.
   This was a skill she had to hone, Setamious told her so.  Blending in
was the key to survival.  Becoming his Silurie was the role she had to
play.
   Felicia excused herself from the broad shouldered man and headed for
Setamious.
   "Hi." She giggled.  "No harm.  He didn't have a ring, and the game was
his idea.  I decided to play round two.  Why don't you see if I can win my
prize, yeah?"
   Felicia had a prize for her.  She looked directly into the woman's eyes
and gave a slow, complete sigh.  "Disappear."
   The woman twitched and scurried away from them.
   Setamious grabbed Felicia by the arm and dragged her out the building.
   "Think first, Felicia.  Do not act on your emotions.  You must get that
under control."
   "How do you expect me to control something I don't understand?"
   "You asked to understand it, remember?  I gave you the books to do so.
Look at them."
   "No." She pointed at him.  "You don't want me to, and I don't have to
read your mind to know it."
   "I want you to read them and learn to avoid what happened back there."
He pulled her to her feet.  "I cannot allow another Silurie in this world.
You have to help me stop that."
   "I will." Felicia hugged him.  "I'll learn to control it, but that means
learning where she went wrong.  I need you to help me with this.  Okay?"
   Setamious nodded.  She pulled him closer so that she could kiss him. 
Reading her books was something she ached to do.  Now she had his
permission, his approval.  She hurried to undress him, to get him in the
bed.
   "Please me, Setamious.  I'll make sure I learn how to control this."
   Felicia rolled her head back, but her grin had more to do with herself.
Control was exactly what she needed to make it through this.
   Now she had a lock to solve.
   ***
   Felicia crawled out of bed, pulled on a jacket and some boots.  She
stepped out the door of the house and took in the neighborhood.  All was
still in the predawn hours.  Something big passed through going west.  Low,
wide body.
   She went east.  She stared up at the dark, rolling clouds that kept the
morning dark.  She paused at a tree, closed her eyes and inhaled.  Green,
and brown, and mucky black.  Wet and rotting, bright and chilled.
   Charlie would hold his fishing tournament soon.  Dancing, gossiping,
drinking.  Felicia knew all about blending in.  She went into the city from
her backwater village and learned fast.
   She picked her path along the trees, crushing leaves underfoot.  A ring
of mushrooms captured her attention.
   Her meandering path lead from one place of interest to the next.  She
rolled her head back to stare into the branches, pick out the nests, hand
and foot holds, the sky through the breaks.
   She took a deep breath.  Sweet smell of damp black earth.  Warmth of
wood and decay.  Others smells came as memory: spice, fire, seafood, bread.
   Felicia stood upright.  She should not focus on what she lost.  She
would have those things again, this was like a journey to a monastery, a
period of intense learning.
   To her right.  A bright white patch of thin wildflowers shifted in the
breeze.  Those were in the book!
   Felicia picked her way through the brush and trees toward the flower
patch.  She needed to know what they would smell like.  She crouched and
took a slow breath.
   Place of flowers.  Time of blocked path.  Festival.
   Every muscle in her body tense.  Her heart raced and her mouth went dry.
   Michael opened up to her, but Felicia thought he was joking.  In one
breath he said he wanted to spend his life with her, and in another he said
he was a vampire.
   She had laughed.  No, not just laughed.  She fell out of bed giggling
until she couldn't catch her breath.  Once she caught her breath, she used
the time to make jokes.
   He punished her for it, physically, mentally.  He tied her to the bed
while he tortured her.  She would wake to intense pain throughout her body
until it was drowned by a dark cloud.
   Felicia had woke with a scream.
   He sat over her in bed.  "Run, rabbit.  When the wolf catches you, he
will tear you apart."
   "Good morning, Felicia."
   "Good morning to you, Michael." She stood and faced him.  He looked
good, healthy, strong, emotional.  All the rights notes to a dirge.
   "Too long, girl, since I caught up with your tail." He walked a path
around her.  "Been following your tracks though." He tugged her into his
arms.  "You believe me now, bitch?"
   "I believe you."
   "Yeah, you must, looking good as you do.  Girl," he sighed and frowned
at her.  "You going to bite me?"
   "Aren't we vampires?"
   He rolled his eyes.  "Who been protecting you?  Knew you were here, but
couldn't find you.  Never been so hard."
   She pulled him into a hug and kissed him on the neck.  The moment she
reached, his energy flowed into her.  Along with it came the flood of
knowledge.  He'd been furious that she laughed at him.  She had broken his
heart.  He truly wanted forever.
   Felicia tugged on the rest and sighed.  He had the right destination,
but the wrong map.  Michael's vitae filled her soul, wrapped around her
spine, the bones of her legs and arms.  The energy she took as a daiva did
not compare to this.
   Felicia skipped and twirled along her path back to the house.  She did
so with a glow.  Her body felt like a bolt of lightning, striking out and
blinding the world with her energy.  All she wanted to do was get home and
fuck for the next twelve hours.
   She bounded into the house with a warm fiery glow.  She tossed her
jacket aside and danced to a beat only she could hear.  Went to the floor
and kicked her legs in the air, stretched her arms overhead.  She curled on
her side and giggled.
   "What have you done?" His voice calm, as she stood barefoot on the top
landing.
   "Self defense." She rolled onto her back, spread her arms and legs. 
"Come down here and make me feel good."
   Why did she bother coming back?  She could have gone for a swim, gone
running, dancing.  She missed her freedom.  The freedom to choose a man who
could be commanding...
   Setamious gripped her chin with cool fingers.
   ...in a sexual way, not her life.
   She needed to pay attention to him.  Her could be dangerous if she was
not careful.  Pay attention.
   His anger dampened her mood.  "Michael attacked me."
   "Where did you go?"
   "Out back.  I was walking."
   "Were you successful?"
   "Yes."
   He rubbed her jaw and settled on the floor beside her.  "That proves
it." He grinned.
   "Proves what?" She didn't know whether that was a good smile or a bad
one.
   "He is not your mater.  I am.  He deserved punishment for his treatment
of you.  How did you kill him?"
   "Choked him." Felicia giggled.  "He wanted me to believe I was a
vampire. He died like one."
   "You drained his vitae?"
   "Every.  Drop." More peals of light laughter.  Perhaps she wasn't
supposed to mention that one.  Whatever.  He could know.  She did the right
thing.
   "What did you do with the body?"
   "Left it for the animals." She curled up against his side.  She rubbed
her pussy to his thigh, panted as she approached orgasm.
   "You are in quite a state."
   "Enjoy me.  Take me."
   "There is nothing about your current state worth having."
   She unfurled herself and crawled to the couch.  "My apologies.  You make
a good point.  I will learn to control this."
   "A good time to practice the skill.  I'll clean up your mess.  Learn to
stay inside from now on."
   She frowned at him.  In this case she could not speak freely, confront
him or defy him.  He needed to believe that he was her mater, and as such,
had the ability to command her.  "And I'll feel safer knowing he won't come
and take me away from you.  Thank you."
   He smirked and placed a brief kiss to her head.  "At least not without
me, love."
   From this day until a vague future, she would be installing the bars of
her cage, painting herself deeper into a corner.
   With sagging shoulders she went downstairs, quelling the urge to bounce
or laugh, to sing or dance.
   She pulled out her book and set it on the desk.  Instead of a clash of
lines on the front cover, some of them had colors.  Seemed to be a
lightning bolt through a black thundercloud.  Deeper in the background
appeared to be a grove of trees.
   The lines brushed her fingertips as like stiff bristles.
   She flipped through the family puzzle, having worked on it almost every
day, working through the connection until her mind hurt.  She reviewed the
first and second page, then moved to the next, expecting to see another
riddle.
   'Felicia,
   'You think the knots have tightened, but I promise that you are most
free now than you have ever been in your life.  Be patient.  Do not give
in. As we say, play along.  You now read my words.  My greatest work is a
success.
   'What Setamious sees within is there.  Do not fear embracing this
change. You look like me because you are me.  About a great many things,
Setamious is mad, but not this.  You and I are the same.  There is no
difference, no fight between us.
   'He suspects this, but do not confirm his suspicion.  Do not tell him.
Do not share anything we discuss.  There is a reason he could not read or
destroy these words.  Do not let him hear your middle name.
   'I applaud your foresight in this matter.  Our time for reveal is long
off.  I could not speak until you made the choice.  You were given a
chance: listening to Setamious over listening to yourself.  Each time you
chose yourself, you unlocked a bit of the key.
   'I had to to be sure only I could read these words.
   'As for Setamious, he can be a pain, but he means well, and we still
need him.  He is loyal to a fault.  Stay strong.  Play along.  You will
know when to move on.  You have great instinct when dealing with him.  You
know when the be commanding and needy or docile and agreeable.  You have
given him enough of a memory of me without too much of the fear.
   'You have no mater, but do not tell him this either.  There will come a
time in the future when you must, but we will see it coming.
   'I had no concept of the world you now inhabit.  I stored my powers and
knowledge with Setamious, knowing that he would pair with you.  Thus in
you, I planted the seed to please and follow him until the day you could
understand why.  He must think he is your mater.
   'As your power blossoms, hide it away.  Do not speak to him about it. 
Remain timid, fearful, dependent and cautious of your treatment of power
when you speak to him.  Ask him the questions he expects to hear.  Know
that you do this because it is convenient for you, not because you must. 
Setamious wanted the illusion of control, and pleasure of being commanded.
He loves that most, and that is what he will have.  The pleasure of being
with me, as requested.
   'We will get the time to shine.  In the meantime, feed from him, learn
from him.  Take as much of it as you can.  Take of his power and let it
become your own.
   'Do not fret for what you leave behind.  Look forward, girl.  It will be
a hard road before we are on our own.
   'Setamious loved me, worshipped me.  He was magnetized by my power like
the moth to a flame.  The danger filled him with vigor and lust.  However,
Setamious is the kind of moth that carries a pail of water behind his back.
He envies great power and has set his principles against it.  He is
murderous and merciless when he encounters a creature more powerful than
himself.
   'You will know your exit.
   'I am?
   The next two pages were covered with puzzles and locks.  She closed the
book, trapped in the echo of words from the page.  She could not force
herself to laugh this off.
   "I am Felicia," she whispered.
   She had the book put away by the time Setamious returned.
   "Well?"
   "I should have read them when you first gave them to me."
   "Why do you say that?"
   "I got my first lesson about being careful." Felicia peeled off her
soiled clothing and stepped over the wash basin.  "Rather harsh.  If I had
known these things earlier, I would have thought better of what I did."
   "You know now."
   "When did you first meet Silurie?"
   His eyes darkened and he seemed to shrink a little.
   "She was," he sighed, "fourteen." Then he looked at her.  "It's hard to
think about that time and not use the language."
   She nodded.
   "I stumbled into a clearing.  The young woman sat on a rock outcropping
along the water, playing her toes over the surface.
   "A fog bank formed and glowed with blue and violet light.  She pulled
that ball of glowing mist until it was a rope.  Then she bounced it from
hand to hand like a toy.
   "Naturally, I asked her how her spirit had taught her this." Setamious
frowned a moment.  "Ancestral power."
   Felicia understood that.
   "I was concerned for her life.  I wanted to direct her to someone that
would teach her about restraint.  I gave little thought that what I saw was
not normal."
   She crawled onto the bed and sat beside him.
   "She turned to me and said, 'Setamious, I go too far and learn restraint
or find strength.  Come here, I will give you a taste of my power and see
which path you take.'
   "I ran.  I was filled with terror.  We had never met and yet she knew
what I was.  After that brief exchange, I sought to forget her, but she
took interest in me.  I went to a place.  She would be at that same place.
I leave.  She followed.  She would not leave me alone.  In time, I could
not stay away from her.  She was something there was not a word for, and
she knew more about my abilities and needs than any daiva knew about her."
   "How long did you know her?"
   "I don't know, but they were the best and most terrifying years of my
life.  She could have passed for a daiva.  I knew nothing of her parents,
her circumstances.  For all I know, she came into existence the day I met
her."
   -_ Betrayal _-
   Felicia had been reading all day on the front porch of the house. 
Setamious cast her a look, but she refused to go inside.
   The neighbor's radio had taken a break from music to broadcast a news
bulletin.  She ignored both Setamious and the radio in favor of her
reading.
   'I could not stay him, not with my power, not with his jealousy.  I used
his loyalty reincarnate myself.  You have all that I possessed and the
capacity for more.  I needed to get certain things in your hands, and this
was the way to get my books and power without causing harm.  He was the
most efficient carrier of my gift.
   'Here is the lesson: the greater the change, the greater your desire. 
The core of your soul must want the change you choose to affect. 
Half-hearted requests lead to half-hearted results.
   'Know the right timing.  Learn the hush hours, the buzz of inspiration,
the receptiveness of an open home.  If you intend to work on a person, you
must learn to time them.  As you progress, you will know how to tune this
person to your frequency.  Attack when you get a clear signal.
   'Know your center.  You cannot do this without pushing yourself.  Find
your limit and learn from it.  Take time to consider the consequence of
your actions and how to learn from it.  Think ahead and consider the ripple
effect of your work.
   'Creating you killed me.  Having Setamious bear witness to my work has
brought death to many others.  He became a plague on our kind.  Did I
consider that?  Yes.  There are few who live that can rival you while you
find your voice.
   'You have my writings, but there are resources I hid from him.  You have
an ally in this world.  Her name is Visha, an immortal spirit, but she is
in the hands of very dangerous people.  Do not go looking for her until you
have unlocked the spell.  Attempt it too early and you will fail.
   'Death, as you know it, is not in your future.  There will be pain.  You
will suffer.  You will know heart ache.  You have had a taste of the blood
shed to come; some of it will be your own.  Never death.  You are more than
a daiva.  The good ones see the road, we can chose the destination.
   'I am?'
   Felicia closed the book and placed it back with the others.  She smiled
to herself and mumbled, "I am immortal."
   "Silurie?" said Setamious.
   "Yes, Setamious?" Felicia froze.  No part of her body moved.  She didn't
even breathe.
   "I had a moment's curiosity."
   "Regarding?"
   "Whether you would respond to that name."
   None of that.  Felicia marched over to him.
   "Well, I remind you of her.  You look at me and you see her.  You only
get hard when I remind you of her.  You wish she was here and not me.  I am
surprised you haven't called her name in the throes passion rather than
mine."
   Felicia pulled her shawl overhead.  "Ah, well.  You have never called my
name, have you?  Good thinking, that." She walked around the house.
   "We agreed that you would stay here."
   "I want to look at the sky."
   He waved her off.
   She took a few steps away from the cabin and sat on the ground.  She
stretched onto her back and stared up as the sky darkened.
   Her words were meant to be a bluff.  A way to cover that she answered to
Silurie's name.  She expected him to apologize, to protest, to claim that
it was her, Felicia, that he loved.
   Ever the pragmatist, he didn't bother with the pretense.  He didn't love
her.  What would it take for him to see her as Felicia?
   What good was her immortality if she ceased to exist?
   Two warm tears slid back toward her ears.  The night air pressed upon
her, thick, hot.  Waves of fragrant flowers joined the spirals.  The energy
hovering near tempted her to reach out and touch one of them.
   She resisted.  She did not want to risk doing anything else to irritate
him.
   He stepped outside and kneeled beside her.  "Yes, Felicia, I worry that
you will have Silurie's power one day.  I do not want you to be her.  I
adore you, Felicia.  It was not my intention to offend you."
   She sat up and kissed him.  While she knew she needed to put more
passion and fire into efforts, she had to consider the next part of this
test.
   He picked up on her thoughts when she focused on projecting them.  Now
she had to test herself.
   "Your hair is so soft," she whispered, letting her finger twirl in the
baby soft curls at the base of his neck.  The rest of his hair was
straight. "I can put the curl back in your hair.  If I fail, you'll see I'm
nothing like her."
   He pulled her hand out of his hair.  "No.  There is need, especially for
the purse of vanity.  Failure strengthens the your ability."
   He knew about that.  "Sorry," she whispered.
   "Your powers, whether magical or qua, should not be abused."
   "That's not harmful."
   "No." He walked back into the house.
   She got up, brushed her clothes and went inside.  "What makes a daiva
different from what Silurie was?"
   "Morality." He answered without a second's pause.  "Limitation,
boundaries."
   "You call morality forcing a young woman to kill people?"
   "The deaths you brought were out of mercy, not spite.  They were
retribution; they were a test."
   She stood on the precipice of another lost argument.  Was that what she
meant by seeing the destination?
   "You make a valid point." Patience.  Now was not the time.
   "I will be in town.  I have letters to post."
   She went into her workroom to focus on her woodworking project.  It was
a box, little more than small scale practice.  Once she got it perfect,
she'd make a chest to keep her belongings separate from his.
   ***
   Floral perfume joined the normal smells of the cabin.  Felicia pulled on
her robe and searched the house.
   A pale young woman with two golden fish tail braids stood to the
counter. She had a jewelry box open, and several pieces laid on a towel. 
"You don't want to use the soda on that one." She lifted her head and
smiled.  "Are you Felicia?"
   "Yes," Felicia looked to Setamious then back to her.  "And you are?"
   "Diana.  You have some trinkets here that require cleaning."
   Those were not hers, but she let that pass.
   "She lives in the local house in town," said Setamious as he worked on
the other end of the counter.  "She is here to help you.  She can run your
errands, go into town for you."
   "In town for what?"
   "You had a list in your desk."
   Idle notes she had written weeks ago.  "Can you find all those things?"
   "Yes, Miss."
   "You have the funds?"
   "Mmm hmm, I'll manage it." She looked to Setamious.  "Takes to her new
station with ease."
   Setamious nodded.
   When Diana left the house Felicia said.  "How long have you known her?"
   "A year now.  I brought her to the safe house.  The daiva here are fond
of calling themselves vampire.  Misguided, but their methods are similar to
daiva law.  I have helped educate them on the rules.  She is the best kind
of person to help you.  Young, native to the area."
   "Why are you helping them?"
   "For you."
   She scanned the room, looking for something to take her mind off that
girl or why Setamious would bring another woman into their cabin.  Had she
brought this on herself?
   She settled on the flat hair on top of his head.
   "What are you doing?"
   "I want to fix your hair."
   "I have told you my opinion on that matter."
   "This useful."
   "How so?"
   "It is a small thing.  Inconsequential.  It allows me to practice.  If I
don't practice, how will I be able to perform when it really matters?  When
I have real need for my powers?  You told me to get control of them.  I
can't get control of a thing I never use.  An emergency would be a terrible
time to figure out my limitations." She delivered her argument in a careful
manner, wary of showing any semblance of need, defiance, or frustration.
   "I do not want you practicing on me."
   "Stop acting like a child and calm down." Felicia pushed his head
forward.
   "No.  You told me you understood."
   "You brought another woman in here." Felicia smacked him along the side
of his head.  "Let me try."
   He moved to the chair and pulled on a small pinch of hair.  "This much."
   She grinned and took the thin lock of hair in her hands.  "Relax."
Felicia closed her eyes and inhaled deeply and exhaled full four times. 
She would show him.
   He didn't relax.  The chair creaked as he cringed.
   Several minutes later she made the final pass through his hair.  "It
worked!"
   "They make products that achieve the same result." Setamious said
flatly.
   "Not forever." She panted as if she had been running.  "Let me finish,
please?"
   "If you think you can handle it." He smirked.
   Half an hour passed before she removed her hands from his head.  It was
a small thing and yet a major undertaking.  Reshaping the internal
structure, matching the existing pattern.  "I did it." She said between
heaping gasps for breath.
   "Felicia."
   She went to her hands and knees on the floor.  "I'll be fine." She head
swam and her arms went numb and tingly.  She gasped, struggling for air.
   Each time it felt like the next breath would not come, that she would be
black out, she reminded herself of a single truth: 'I will not die.'
   "You hurt yourself.  Push too far and you could perish from your
foolishness."
   "You're angry?"
   He helped her onto her back.  "You hurt yourself because you did not
know when to stop."
   "A nap."
   He lifted her and carried her to the bed.
   She curled on the bed.  Her lungs burned and her fingers felt as if they
had been raked over hot nails, but she would not admit these things.
   "I'll be fine." She closed her eyes and balled her hands to her chest.
   ***
   Felicia bit the inside of her jaw as she inspected the bundle on her
desk.  "Diana?"
   "What?"
   She closed her eyes and took a breath.  Diana had dropped the 'Miss'
weeks ago.  She lifted the mesh bag and held the tag for her to see.  "You
see what this say?"
   "I do."
   "I told you to get me some bigarno from Imo's shack on south River
street."
   "That's from River street."
   "Well, yes, I'm sure you're right, but this ain't from Imo's."
   "What difference does it make?"
   "I ought to," Felicia growled through her teeth.  "Do you think I add
those details for fun?  I'm not going to use this!"
   "What are you getting upset about?" Setamious asked.
   "She's being difficult, as usual," said Diana.  "She gives me these
weird out of the way directions on purpose.  She wants a reason to treat me
like I'm her servant."
   She was her servant.  Felicia shook her head, but that didn't have
anything to do with the ingredients.  They were important.
   "There's a difference between the flavor.  Imo has his boats go further
than the others."
   Setamious inspected the list and the items on the table.  "Why are you
bothering with that stuff?  We have enough for our substance here."
   Substance.  Diana and Setamious would stay up chattering half the night,
but there was no need for that either.  She dug hers nails into her arm.
   "Forget I said anything.  Thank you."
   She took the ingredients outside to bury it.
   "I don't know what you let her make you live in seclusion like this. 
That woman is damaged.  No amount of your kindness is going to set right
what is wrong with her."
   If he replied, Felicia didn't hear it over her own tearful fury.  She
made him live like this?!  She forced him to be a different person?
   ***
   Felicia tried everything she could think of to make friends with Diana.
She stopped sending her on errands, but that meant even the smallest of
requests were purposefully botched.  When she attempted to make
conversation with the woman, her questions all had to do with Setamious.
   He always made time to speak freely with her.
   It was easier, Felicia supposed, when he did not have to wonder if she
was harboring a latent evil behind every word.
   Felicia took to walking when Setamious had his head turned by Diana's
molasses charm.  She was on the way back from that walk when she heard
Diana's voice.
   "You may stop there," he said.  "I appreciate your efforts, but I no
longer need your services."
   "She made you do this, didn't she?  Don't let her control you.  You are
too powerful for this.  Put that girl in her place, as is your right."
   Felicia frowned as the rain soaked into her hair.  Right, that was why
she was heading back, to avoid getting wet.  The rain would not be so bad
if that meant Diana was leaving.
   "She won't learn to listen to you.  Come with me while she's gone.  Do
you know what she's done?  Why she has to hide in this swamp?  She's done
more than you know.  That murderess needs to be stopped.  I can get you
some place safe, but she will pay for her crimes.  They will hang her by
next week."
   "What did you do?"
   "I love this town and I want to keep it safe.  You told us that we are
to police ourselves.  I told the authorities where to find her.  Murder is
against the law of this country."
   Felicia marched into the cabin, grinning from ear to ear, but she
dropped that grin before Setamious saw it.
   "Felicia, don't worry.  I'll take care of this."
   She didn't stop moving until she had that Diana's fair wrist twisted
behind her back and another around her neck.  "Pack our items.  This
murderess is taking out the trash."
   "Let me go!" Diana screamed.
   She dragged her outside and turned her smiling face to the rain.  After
all the hell she put her through, it was time to pay.  Threatening her
safety?  Having her hanged?  She dragged the woman along until they were
face to face.
   "Dangerous game, woman.  You think you deserve him?  You think you're
adaptable enough?" Felicia laughed.  "You been trying and trying to get
closer to that poison.  Pathetic."
   Diana yelled and screamed and wailed trying to outdo the rumbled of
thunder.  She smacked Diana until blood ran from her mouth.  Enough to mute
that racket.  They traded blows, fought, and though Felicia tried to play
on level ground, she could not get the upper hand.
   Diana pinned Felicia's arms above her head.
   She tried it their way.
   "Done playing with you.  Death of you, crossing me." She spit in Diana's
face then tossed the woman away from her.
   Felicia pushed herself to her feet as the thunder rolled overhead.
   For a minute following, there was only the patter of rain and rumble of
thunder.  She cut her eyes to the cabin, saw Setamious looking, but all she
felt was her own anger, cold and silent.
   Did it work?  She never tried to do it on purpose before.
   A keening wail of distress joined the storm.  Diana squirmed and writhed
like an earthworm on a hot rock.  The high cry lowered and thickened to a
chilling groan.  Like a distance breeze, Diana's power seeped into Felicia,
wound its way around her body, filling her with arousing energy.
   What if Setamious discovered?
   She pounced upon Diana and tore her apart.  She grabbed the neckline and
part of her dress and tore it away along with her flesh over her breast. 
She drove her fists into her torso, bruising her fists with the impact.
   Felicia grabbed Diana's foot, stepped on her knee, and didn't let go
until she felt the bone shatter.  The woman's screams ceased long ago, but
Felicia's new goal was make sure no part of the woman could be identified.
   She plopped down onto the ground, turned her face into the heavy rain.
Though the night had been pleasant, the rain felt like icicles on her skin.
She removed her clothing until she was naked and headed for the cabin,
wondering how she was going to justify her savagery to him, or whether she
should try.
   Five steps from the entrance she passed out.
   She woke surrounded by warm water, a bristling sensation on her hands.
She peeled her bleary eyes open.  Setamious scrubbed her nails as he seemed
to have done with most of her body.
   "You angry?" Her voice was hoarse and raspy.
   He set her hand down and picked up the other.
   "I'm going to be sick," she pressed the heel of her palm to her head.
   "Rest." He placed a kiss on her forehead.
   She lay in her nauseous haze while Setamious entered and exited the
cabin, packing their things away.  A strange sense of vindication came over
her as she realized she had been right all along.  That woman did not
belong in their life.
   But what about her?  What was she supposed to do now?
   He carried her to the vehicle, and Felicia stared out the window as the
world passed by in a blur.  The vehicle bounced and jostled as Setamious
navigated the roads.  He pulled up to a house, drove around the back and
opened an underground safe.
   He carried his trunk and hers and stored them in the vault.
   Her books were in that vault.
   Felicia opened the door, but she needed it to steady her balance.
   "Back in the car."
   She frowned, staring at the spot where her books were being buried, her
connection to her true teacher.  "What are you doing?  Where are we going?"
   "I'm thinking, Felicia."
   "Thought you had that planned as well.  Why are you leaving that there?"
   "For the moment, so that we travel without burden.  If you have a
suggestion, I am listening.  She alerted the authorities.  We need to get
away by morning.  We can't do that carrying our chests."
   Felicia got back in the care.  She winced at the unfamiliar discomfort
building in her head.  "How do you know someone won't find it?"
   "I don't, but I will return before that happens."
   He refueled the car twice before they abandoned it and took off on foot.
The houses in this area were nice, but any proper house felt like a luxury
to Felicia.
   She often stared up at the grand houses in town and imagined living like
that, with more rooms than she could visit in a day.  Her love for those
structures infiltrated her dreams while sleeping in the tiny, cramped
spaces Setamious preferred.
   She lifted her head and pointed down down the block.  "That green
house."
   "What about it?"
   "Get there and find out."
   From outside they heard crying, prayers for the safety of a baby.
   Felicia pointed to the door.
   He shook his head.  "We need a place that doesn't have people in it."
   Fuck him.  She took off for the porch with the heel of her hand pressed
to her head.
   "Did you hear what I said?"
   "Heard you.  Don't agree.  You find a grave to crawl in.  You good at
that." She knocked on the woman's door.
   He followed her up.  "I can do it."
   A haggard looking woman cracked the door open.  She stared blankly at
the pair of them, her brows pinched in sorrow.
   "We are here to help you," said Setamious.
   "My baby girl?  You help my baby?"
   "Yes.  I mean you no harm."
   She glanced and forth between them a few seconds before opening the
door.
   "How long has she been bleeding?" He set his bag aside and kneeled
beside the girl on the kitchen floor."
   "Not long.  I wrapped her leg, but the cloth soaks through."
   "Get me a pot of hot water and any bandages you have left." He looked at
Felicia.
   She heard him speaking, but could not make out his words around the
ringing in her ears.  She didn't need to hear him to know he started
cursing.  Whatever he wanted, he did it for himself.
   Oh, water.
   He cleaned the girl's leg, but before he bandaged the wound, he traced
his finger along the edge of the damage.
   "What did you do?" The words were slurred.
   He glanced up to her.  "I applied a salve along the edge to reduce
infection.  I do not possess the qua to do more than this.  What is wrong
with you?"
   She shrugged.  Was it so hard to understand that she was tired?  Her
head hurt?
   He lifted the girl in his arms.  "Stay here.  I will speak with the
mother."
   ***
   Setamious found the girl's mother on her knees, rocking back and forth
in delirious prayer.  "She will be fine.  Sleep, consistent care,
nurturing."
   "Praise him.  Thank you, sir.  Follow me.  I'll show you where to lay
her down."
   "What is your name?"
   "Roberta, good sir."
   "Roberta, will he return soon?"
   She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes and opened the girl's
door.  "Not for a few days.  He ran scared.  I called the law on him once,
but it don't do me no good.  Past few months have been hard on him, and he
brings that hell home."
   "I have a favor to ask of you."
   She sat beside her daughter on the bed.  "Anything I have to give is
yours."
   "Be careful of that."
   "Sorry.  I thank you so kindly for saving her life."
   "For that I ask for use of your phone, and we need a place to sleep for
the next day or two."
   "Of course, sir.  Take my room.  I can fix you something to eat, maybe
something to take on the road."
   "We need nothing more than what I asked.  The use of your phone and a
respite to rest and plan our future travel."
   Roberta rushed forward and embraced him, placing firm kisses to each of
his cheeks.  "Bless you, sir.  There are blankets in the linen closet if
you need them, and there's a phone in the sitting area."
   He found Felicia sleep on the kitchen floor.  He cleaned the floor and
carried her to the main room.  As he lay her down, she wrapped her arms
around him, the tug on his energy followed soon after.
   He pushed Felicia away and stepped back from the bed.  "Woman, what is
your problem?"
   "Needed it," she mumbled.
   "No."
   "Fuck you." She turned her back to him, mumbling more bitter curses
under her breath.
   He closed the door on her and went to the sitting room.  He stared at
the phone a long while though he knew the people he needed to call and
their numbers.
   He needed to keep her isolated, away from people and the seduction to
use her powers.  However, she needed interaction with other daiva, to learn
restraint.  Most importantly, he needed to stop giving her his energy.
   Only one safe house came to mind that could provide both.  Setamious
lifted the receiver with a knot in his gut.
   ***
   Felicia pulled the covers back.  The vice grip on her skull eased and
the high note in her ear stopped.  She sat up and rolled her shoulders. 
Weakness, hunger, lethargy.  She found the bathroom and washed up while
trying not to disturb the owner's things.
   She gave an apologetic smile to her drawn reflection.  He was going to
be angry with her, again.  She needed her books, needed to unlock the next
page.  What did she do wrong?  How's she get so sick from something she had
done several times before?
   Setamious found her first.  "As soon as you are ready, we need to
leave."
   "I'm ready.  What you ...  where were you?"
   "I rested in the common room."
   "Did you figure out where we're going?"
   "Yes.  This will be the best place for you."
   ***
   Felicia rubbed her swollen eyes, pressed her fingers to her swollen
lips. She was still crying, but her sorrow was without tears or sound.  She
had never known heartbreak until this moment.  When Setamious crossed the
state border, she left her home soil for the first time.
   No, not then.  That had been panic.  Heartbreak was the when he revealed
they had days of travel ahead.  More hell in this vehicle, then a train.
   After the long, cramped train ride: another car.
   Felicia didn't ask questions.  Where they were going, why, to do what -
it would happen whether she knew the details or not, whether she agree or
not, whether she wanted this or not.
   Suffering.  It was her time to know its name.  All she could think about
was all the things she would never be able to do again, see again.  Why did
they have to travel so far only to bury themselves in another cave?
   -_ Elders _-
   She lifted her heavy eyelids.  The car parked at the entrance of a
massive iron gate.  Ornate wrought iron, twisted with vines, leaves,
flowers, thorns.  It stood as tall as two men.
   Setamious pushed the buzzer and waited.
   The silky smooth masculine voice spoke in a clipped sophisticated
language.  "...you, brother?"
   Setamious responded with a few words in the same language.  "Yes, open
up."
   A motor whirred, the gate clicked, and the iron gate opened.
   Felicia held her breath as the massive house took shape beyond the
trees. This was more grand than any estate or work house back home.  This
was a true mansion.  It could easily house multiple generations and staff
under its roof.
   "Where is this?" She whispered reverently.
   He parked the car and opened the door for her.  "You will see." He took
her arm and escorted her up the walkway to the door.
   A tall man greeted them.  It did not take much for Felicia to feel
short, but this man had a hand over Setamious.  Ice blue eyes, shoulder
length silvery flaxen hair, a heavy brow, and kissable pink lips.
   He liked his women forward, but not demanding.  All she would have to do
is whisper the request and it would be his pleasure.
   Woman.  Stop.
   Felicia blinked and stared down at her shoes.  She looked and felt like
cold shit warmed over.  She felt like a swamp carcass: bloated, swollen,
sallow.
   He spoke to Setamious' and she recognized his as the voice from the
intercom.  She could only discern a few key words.  Though she knew the
language.  It seemed as if they knew each other.
   Setamious mentioned her name.  She looked up.
   "This is Alexander, head of the elder safe house."
   Elder safe house?  The kind that operated like a jail, keeping daiva 'in
shadow' until they learned the error of their ways.
   She smiled at him and put his dashing looks in the trash heap.  Was he
as cruel or as obstinate as Setamious?
   Alexander took her hand with a smile.  "Neither," he whispered against
her palm prior to placing a kiss there.
   Felicia could have melted on the spot.
   "Welcome to my house, Felicia." He did not release her hand as he
ushered her inside.  "She is quite the surprise.  I thought you swore off
the companionship of daiva."
   "She is Silurie's daughter."
   Alexander held her hand out and stood before her, his eyes looked upon
her with a new wonder, as if meeting a woman of importance.  "My lady, I am
honored." He took another step back and bowed deeply at his waist.
   Her face itched with the heat of her blush.  Her heart hammered like it
wanted to escape from her chest.
   Alexander straightened and all the warmth and starry eyed wonder was
gone from his face as he looked to Setamious.  His words were no longer in
a language she understood, and the message could not have been kind.
   Setamious sputtered to answer whatever accusation Alexander made.
   She bit down on the inside of her lip, rolled the flesh between her
teeth.  That anyone could lecture Setamious was a mystery.  What had he
done?
   "I will have your room ready." Alexander turned to her.  "Do you require
nourishment?"
   Yes!  She wanted to scream the words, but only Setamious could make that
decision.
   "She is under my care.  She has a greater capacity to endure than it
appears."
   Alexander led them into an opulent sitting room filled with polished
dark woods, bright white upholstered furniture, sparkling crystal lamps,
and large oil paintings of gorgeous foreign vistas.
   She spun in a slow, mesmerized circle.  She had heard of fine things
such as this, but never had she lay her eyes on such opulence.  The view of
the room was cut short by the appearance of two equally stunning women.
   "Miss Felicia Metoyer," Alaxander said, "Allow me to introduce you to
Mistress Antasia Lisowa and Madame Kalahari Moretti."
   Kalahari offered a gracious smile and dipped her head causing her wide,
raven ringlets to fall forward.  She was dressed in a tiny slip of a dress,
the hem just brushing the tops of her thighs.
   Antasia strolled over to Felicia, her massive cleavage bounced in the
confines of her corset.  Her hips swayed in the elaborate skirt of her
dress.  Antasia lifted Felicia's chin with her crooked finger and those
dark eyes looked right through her.
   Antasia had harsh words of her own.  What was it about her appearance
that made them so upset?  That she looked visibly broken, upset, damaged?
   Whatever Setamious said in answer placated Antasia.  She hugged Felicia
and whispered foreign, but soothing words to her.  Jasmine and honey notes
carried on the woman's scent.  She could fall asleep breathing in the
comfort of this woman.
   Felicia was content to memorize this smell while Antasia, Alexander, and
Setamious traded foreign words.
   Antasia took her hand and caressed her cheek.  "Kali, see to our guest."
   Kalahari nodded and extended her hand to Felicia.  Setamious' look of
distain and stalled her.
   "Go," he said.
   Kalahari smiled as Felicia accepted her hand.  "I show you."
   "You don't have to speak English.  I can understand many of the romantic
languages." Felicia hoped that she had placed the accent correctly,
otherwise she was about to get an earful of more foreign words.
   Kalahari's smile broadened.  The woman had a glorious face.  "You are
from the south?"
   "Yes."
   "You know Kara, yes?"
   "No, I don't know her.  You are the first ...  elder daiva I've met."
   "Elder?" Kalahari blushed.  "Thank you." She extended her hand to a
plush white lounge chair near the stairway.  "A moment."
   Felicia sat stunned by the thought of what lay beyond the door.  No,
just plain stunned.
   The walls were covered with one stunning painting after another.  Glass
and gold light fixtures cast a twinkling light.  Even the lamp oils smelled
sweet and pure.
   This house was harboring some of the most gorgeous people and things she
had seen.  These people were living like royalty.  It was impossible for
her to wrap her mind around how Setamious knew them at all.
   ***
   Alexander said to Setamious, "Are his her possession?"
   "Yes.  You can set it--"
   "Take this to the Bassetti room."
   Setamious fumed.  As the manservant carried her bag away.
   "I need to keep an eye on her."
   "She is daiva and my guest.  You can resume treating her as your
prisoner when you leave."
   "I take full responsibility for my progeny."
   "Seems I have the better memory.  How fares your ice princess?"
   "She was a different case." Setamious closed his room door and followed
Alexander to the common room.  "Any others in residence?"
   "One other."
   "That's cutting it close."
   "Veronica is away, and I doubt you will stay long."
   "Veronica," Setamious grinned.  "Is that all you do with your life,
collect cortigianas?"
   "Yes, brother.  I prefer to surround myself with people of notable
quality rather than hunt, interrogate, and kill them." He pointed to a
chess board.  "Time for a game?"
   "I need to see about Felicia."
   "She is with Antasia and Kalahari, and hence, in good care.  My
cortigianas live and breathe by their code.  Your reborn will not learn of
your horrors from them.  Be at ease."
   "That is not my concern.  Felicia knows of my work." He sat to the chess
table.  "Who is your other?"
   "Jeremy.  Young man, suffering under a cloud.  I am doing what I can for
him."
   "Trouble?"
   "Potential.  Nothing to speak of at this early hour.  He has experienced
a great tragedy, death to his homeland, the suffering of his kin.  He has
been plagued by it."
   Setamious nodded solemnly.
   "It was my intention that the ladies would bring him solace, but he
keeps to his quarters.  Weeks pass without sign of his stay.  The staff
tells me that he is kind."
   "Have you received word of others?"
   "Kara writes when she has the time.  She left her safe house to travel,
says that her boys have scattered and made a mess of her plans.  I sent
word to Terrance.  When we speak next, I will secure paperwork for you and
your progeny."
   "I appreciate that."
   "Is Silurie's daughter everything you hoped?"
   "And most of what I feared."
   "Despite my disapproval of your methods, it appears you have been a
beneficial influence on her.  She has shown you great deference."
   "For now," Setamious moved a piece on the chess board.  "Keep an eye on
her.  When the worse of Silurie's nature surfaces, it will take quick
action to quell it."
   ***
   Felicia woke early that morning and worked her way back to the indoor
pool.  Kalahari had only mentioned it during the tour of the grand house.
   She was not disappointed.  One wall was all glass through which the
predawn light cast the lush collection of plants into an eerie light. 
Ripples of water reflected the light onto the ceiling.
   The edge of the pool was surrounded by plant life, rocks.  She breathed
in green, wet, soil, florals.  She pushed the hanging vines aside and sat
on the rocky edge and dipped her feet into the water.
   She closed her eyes and rolled her head back.  The bouquet of water and
plants enabled her to imagine sitting on the dock of a botanical lake.
   She wanted to get away from him, now more than ever.  The one thing she
needed from him, Silurie's books, were still lost to her.
   With all her might, she needed a way out.
   A soft splash caused Felicia to snatch her feet out the pool.  She
stumbled back several steps into the wall of vines and dwarf trees.
   Breathe.  Just breathe.  Perhaps they keep fish in there as well.
   That was a mighty big fish.
   She didn't take her next breath until the head of a man broke the
surface rather than that of an alligator.  Who was he?  Given her odds, she
doubted he spoke any language she knew.
   He stared at her; she stared at him.  Felicia had no idea what to say or
what language to say it in.  He put a finger to his lips then crooked that
finger at her.
   She sat down at the edge of the pool.
   He made a big display of looking her over.  "Morning light agrees with
you.  Who might you be?"
   She smiled at his roguish accent.  She matched his whisper and answered,
"Felicia Metoyer, and you, sir?"
   "Ah, no need for the sir.  My name is Jeremy, Jeremy Kildare."
   "Why are we whispering?"
   "Privacy, dear lass.  Come in and have a swim."
   "I would love to, but," she lifted the end of her skirt.
   "Tis a bathing pool.  The minerals will do your skin wonders.  If this
is about the man you arrived with, he won't know a thing from me."
   How did he know about Setamious?  Felicia unlaced the front of her
dress. "Do you hear much?"
   "A great deal, even the birds outside making their lovely melodies."
   "You're not going to turn around, are you?"
   "Glory, why would I?"
   She stepped out of her dress and eased into the water.  He glided over
to her and held her close.
   "You are quite improper."
   "Perhaps.  I lose track of propriety.  Best I be honest and wait for you
to strike me." He ran his palm up the back of her thigh and cupped her ass.
   Felicia sighed heavily.  When was the last time a man touched her with
such confidence?
   "I intend no harm, gorgeous, only pleasure."
   "Seeking pleasure has caused me plenty harm." She turned her back to him
and relaxed as his hands caressed her front.  "You have a lovely tongue."
   "Ah, you too, Felicia.  Speak to me.  Don't you whisper.  I only want to
hear your voice."
   "I get the," she stopped and spoke normally.  "If you hear as much as
you say, then you know I am with someone.  Someone I cannot anger.  He's
odd.  Is that what happens when you have lived as long as he has?  Perhaps
this accounts for your oddity as well.  How can I know the difference? 
Five years in darkness, I miss the light."
   "You are a light in my darkness." He kissed her neck as he parted her
thighs.  "Does this bring some light to yours?"
   She moaned softly.  "A little light can be snuffed.  It does me no
good."
   "A little light ignites hope.  You are crying.  Little noises in the
back of your throat, the warbled pitch in your words.  He has ripped you
from your native soil, smothered your light.  Terrible pain, is it not? 
Cry in my arms, allow me to change its key."
   Felicia dove beneath the surface.  Her eyes stung, but instead of
running away from him, she sought the bottom.  She only surface when the
need for air demanded it.
   Was that what the others saw?  Why they rebuked Setamious so harshly? 
Could they see the strangled agony inside her?  Did they know she was still
afraid, that she had only made herself more trapped, alone, and confused?
   She was supposed to be strong, powerful, save for the man she depended
on for protection.  He waited for any sign to destroy her.
   She leaned on the edge of the pool, and Jeremy settled beside her.  When
he nudged her to sit on the edge, she did so.  When he pushed on her knee,
she parted for him.  Water dropped from his hair onto her thighs.
   This was not the first time a young man approached saying all the things
she wanted to hear.  They were usually the most fun, but also the most
perilous.  He could ignite her hope if he wanted.
   While he tongued her, she whispered to him.  She confessed her sins and
fears until her orgasm stole her breath.
   The door to the bathing room opened, startling her.
   "Felicia?  Are you here?" said Antasia.
   Jeremy disappeared under the surface of the water.
   "Yes."
   "Come with me." She gathered Felicia's clothes and held out an
absorbent, fluffy robe and large towel for her hair.
   She followed the statuesque goddess up the stairs and into a room with
wall to wall clothing.
   "Remove the robe.  I need to see you."
   "I have clothing in my bag," said Felicia.
   "I have seen this clothing." Antasia circled Felicia's nude body. 
"Stitch it yourself?"
   "Most of it."
   "Sturdy technique." Antasia pushed aside a rack of clothing and pulled
open a closet.  "These are your fit.  Find what you want."
   She approached the closet.  "Thank you."
   Antasia pressed a button on the wall causing a hum from the speaker. 
"Hazel?"
   A soft click.  "Yes, Mistress?"
   "Warm basin, and two hand towels to the dressing room." Antasia sat in
one of the cushioned chairs.  "How did a waif like your end up being his
reincarnated witch?"
   She shrugged.  "Fate, to hear him tell it." She pulled out a slip and
put it on straight away.  "How did you come to be here?"
   Antasia filled the room with her sultry laugh.  "I have cold cream on
the table for your face.  Come, I will apply it.  I spent the balance of my
life as a courtesan, a woman of comfort."
   An olden woman entered with a steaming bowl of water.
   Antasia pointed to the low table.
   She placed the bowl there along with the two white towels and left.
   "A while more, then you may clean the cream from your face and the
fragrance from your thighs." Antasia winked.  "At least he allows you that
pleasure."
   "He doesn't," said Felicia.  How much would this woman be on her side?
   Antasia nodded and tucked her lips into her mouth.
   "How do you know Setamious?" Felicia dipped the towel into the warm
water
   "We daiva meet on occasion, he has told you of gatherings?"
   She nodded as she slipped into the dress she picked out.
   "No.  That is no good.  Pick another."
   Felicia frowned and returned it to the dress closet.
   "In time, you will get to know many of us.  Go to as many as you can. 
It is good to be around your family, especially after so long in shadow."
   "In shadow?"
   "A saying," she said the phrase in other languages.  "Some daiva get
along just fine drifting from one place to the other.  I live in shadow.  I
do not know of other daiva, but I grow weary pretending to be someone I am
not." She huffed.  "I cannot deny my nature as easily as others."
   "Does Kalahari feel the same way?"
   "Oh, yes.  We amassed our wealth as ladies of good fortune.  We could
fund a new empire with our vault, but we built a home within these walls."
   "Why stop?"
   Antasia frowned and cursed under her breath.
   Felicia took her cue to change the subject.  "So, it's just you,
Alexander, and Kalahari now?"
   "No." Antasia tossed her hand into the air and stood.  "There were
others: Mary, Nico, Kara.  They are gone now."
   "Dead?"
   "Mary and Nico, yes.  Kara has her own ambitions.  She chose them over
us long ago." Antasia pulled a dress from the closet.  "Wear this one."
   Felicia traded out her current dress for that one.
   "Magnificent.  I will get you undergarments and shoes.  Take the towel
from your hair."
   ***
   Each day Antasia pull her aside to help her dress.  She taught her about
fabric, weights, and how to put a look together.
   Felicia did not recognize herself in the mirror.  She could almost
imagine herself as a woman of good fortune.  Though Setamious watched her
like a hawk, the house was big enough to find small freedoms, little
rebellions.
   "You see your beauty?"
   "The dress has a lot to do with that."
   "No," Antasia chuckled.  "A common misconception.  How you feel within
this," she swept her hand down her body.  "Is what makes you shine.  Learn
to hold that same essence when you drop your clothing."
   "I'm trying."
   "You do well.  Ready to join them?"
   "Yes." Her skirts flowed like breaking fog when she moved.  It was
low-cut and framed the tiny amount of cleavage she had to offer.  More
shocking was the skirt length - midway above her thighs, leaving her bare
legs between the end of that fabric and the leather heels.
   Jeremy leaned against the railing, concealed by a support beam.  He
winked at her and kissed the tips of his fingers.  Though she had asked, he
would not attend the soiree.  As was their custom, she would tell him about
it later.  Under the cover of darkness, their breath shallow and strained.
   Felicia was glad for the stuff painted onto her face.  It hid how deeply
she blushed as she descended the stairs.
   Setamious leaned over a map beside Alexander.  "Dissolved?"
   "The country is no more."
   "That won't last."
   Alexander nodded.  "Will you join us?"
   Setamious said, "I could be persuaded."
   "We would be glad for the company.  Bring her.  You've taught her to
hunt, yes?"
   "Hunt?" Felicia asked.
   Without looking up from the map, Setamious answered, "This is not a
skill she needs."
   Kalahari inhaled sharply and stood from the table.  She gave a warm
smile to Antasia and offered a sympathetic smile to Felicia.
   Alexander looked up, but his reaction was clear in its steadiness.  He
stared at her for several long seconds.
   Setamious was the last to notice, but was equally captivated.  "Well
done," he said to Antasia as he approached.  "As usual, but a bit much for
the house." He kissed her on the cheek and whispered, "Don't take her bad
habits as your own."
   ***
   Setamious and Felicia sat on one of the upper balconies of the house. 
The full moon shown down on the distance trees.  The stars blanketed the
clear sky.
   "Do you prefer this place?"
   Felicia grinned.  "Yes, it's so grand and gorgeous.  Are the other safe
houses like this?"
   "None quite like this, and not for any significant length of time.  Only
Alexander keeps his home so lavish." By his tone, he did not approve of
Alexander's taste.  That didn't surprise her.
   "Kessi didn't say anything about leading an impoverished life."
   "It is against wisdom.  With wealth comes attention.  There is no memory
as long as wealth, hatred, and love.  Have you met the other, Jeremy?"
   "Yes.  Do you know him as well?" She stared up at the moon, thinking
about the way it would catch the water.
   "No, he is new and a recluse.  Alexander does not know much of him
either.  If he does or says anything to makes you wary, tell me
immediately."
   Felicia nodded.  Wary was not an emotion that man evoked.  She spied a
thin booklet on his table and walked over to it.  "This is?" She flipped
through the pages.  Small drawings, poems written in a language close to
one she knew, but the words did not make sense.
   "memento.  Each elder house has one.  Visitors include passages or
sketches of importance.  They are often cryptic, meant to confuse all but
the intended reader."
   "Like a family lock?"
   "Yes, though in this case, there is nothing to unlock, and a piece of
self that is shared."
   "What does this say?  Can I add to it?"
   "This is not Alexander's.  It comes from an elder house crushed by war.
Ancients were crushed under the rubble." He got up and flipped through the
book.  "That was my entry when I stayed there.  I made used symbols to
present the daiva I knew, in the center is my symbol."
   "How do you know when you did this?  There aren't any dates."
   "By the significance of the page.  This is how we build our history. 
Some daiva exist only on the page of a leather bound tome.  When we lose a
house or its memento, we lose all reference its residents." He sighed
heavily.  "As we should.  There can be no record of our existence available
to normal scholars."
   "Normal scholars?" She laughed.  "Where is Alexander's?  I want to write
in it."
   "They are meant for elders, then you inscribe the symbols of your soul."
   Elders.  More rules and separation.  Elder daiva were those who lived
beyond normal years.
   An accomplishment that meant they lived in hiding and communicated in
secret.  That would not be her life.
   She closed the book.
   <->
Written: 1993, Feb 2013
   Contact: nysidra at hot mail dot com
  
03_WitchIncarnate