by Leslie Lee
thanking her, and took his leave.
Syll finally allowed herself to shiver. The envelope trembled in her hands. The outside revealed nothing. Age had yellowed the paper but it still held together. Undoubtedly, the intelligence services had all read it. Maybe they were trying to see what kind of response it would elicit from her.
Opening the envelope carefully, she extracted a single sheet of paper. She considered going back indoors and reading it where it was warm. More private here though, she decided. The scrawl was hardly legible in the light from the weak torches. After all these many decades however, she recognized the handwriting.
Dear Syll
If you are reading this then something must have happened when we went to the ship. I hope it is because I was killed by the bad people hunting you. Or maybe even by an accident. In all probability though, I have died by your hand. Whatever the Romulans want, you can trade to get back home. You know this to be true. And I know that I am a loose end. Romulans do not like loose ends.
I curse you. You are evil. I trusted you and you betrayed me. You turned your back on everything we had built. Murdered me. Abandoned me. You are a terrible creature worthy of nothing more than despise. You betrayed me as you betrayed Vain. No better.
This letter is unlikely to find you but if it does I hope it finds you in very good health. In a position of glory and triumph. At the pinnacle of your success. And it all crashes down on you.
I hate you.
Kari
There was a postscript but she looked up before reading it. Someone stood in the shadows. She shuddered as the wind whipped the heat from her bones.
“Who is there?” she shouted.
The figure inched forward.
“I said, who is there?” she demanded again.
The figure emitted a ghost of a laugh.
“Did you think that I would never find you?”
She cried out stumbling back. “You are dead! I shot you myself.”
“You did. Yet here I am. I hope your surprise is not too great.”
“No!” Syll’s control slipped. “You are DEAD!”
“I do not feel dead. I feel very much alive. Now that I have you at last.”
“You are dead! You are dead!”
The figure stepped out into the dimming light.
The Beloved Nephew.
She looked for the guards. There were none. The lights of the party had gone out. The Beloved Nephew had massacred everyone.
He sneered his smile at her. “You are a perversion, a murderer, a traitor. I am going to tear you apart piece by piece. And you shall scream all the way to hell, bitch.”
Syll sobbed and clutched the letter to her as she backed up against the stone railing. She had no escape. As he walked towards her, he unsheathed a knife. It was hooked, shiny with its cruelty.
“There is nothing you can do, Syll. You are alone. You yourself made sure of that. You are completely alone. No one can save you.” He towered over her, the knife held high. “No one.”
Syll glanced at the letter and gasped. She straightened and looked him in the eye. “You are mistaken.”
She turned the letter to face the Beloved Nephew. “Do you see what it says here?”
The dagger flashed, stabbing through the letter, burying itself into her chest. She screamed, pain ripping through her body.
“It says,” she groaned, her eyes closing. “P. S. Come home.”
Darkness gripped her. Dragging her down. She fell. Then...
Seren caught her, cradled her tightly, rocking her gently. The darkness lifted. She was home, in their home, in their bed. Seren was repeating something. Over and over. Softly.
“Our souls are our temple, our hearts are our shield, our minds are our weapon, our lives will not yield. Oh, hello, you’re back.” She kissed the Romulan on each cheek. “Welcome, beautiful Vain, welcome home.”
Vain clung to her, sobbing.
“That was a nasty one,” Seren smiled, nuzzling her head. “Short at least though.”
“I am so sorry, Seren.” Her voice quivered, hoarse with screaming. “I am so sorry.”
“Shh, it’s alright now. You’re here with me.”
“I shot you.”
“Yes, you did.” Seren lifted her shirt to show the fresh bruise on her chest.
“I shot you three times.”
“Hmm, I counted one time. Maybe you missed twice?” she asked, chuckling.
“I killed you. I abandoned you. The coffee can.” She pointed to the shelf. “You wrote a letter. Bring it to me.”
“How do you know about that?” Her hair waved as she shook her head in amazement. “I really can’t hide anything from you can I?”
“Of course not. Now please.” Her hand trembled like a leaf in a storm as she held it out.
Seren sighed and brought the can over. She let the Romulan’s shaking hands open it and retrieve the letter.
“How can you write a letter to me and have it be almost illegible?” Vain scowled.
“My handwriting is fine. You’re shivering so hard you can’t read it.”
“You read it then. Read it for me.”
“Ok, we can read it together.” She cleared her throat. “Dear Vain...”
“Vain? Not Syll?”
“Yes. Vain. You don’t think I’d ID you in a letter that any fool could find do you? You must think I’ve been a really poor student.”
“Read, please.”
“Ok, see, it says Vain. Right there. I think. It is pretty bad isn’t it. Alright. Ouch! Stop pinching me. Ahem. Dear Vain, if you’re reading this then something must have happened when we went to the ship. I want you to know that I love you. Be strong for us both, love, Seren. P. S. This is decaffeinated, the caffeine one is on the other shelf. I thought a little joke...”
Vain pushed her onto the bed falling on her, weeping, her tears a waterfall.
When her eyes would give no more, she said, “Seren, I would never kill you.”
Seren kissed her forehead, then each eye, then her lips. “I know. I trust you. I trust you to be who you are.”
“I do not know who I am. I do not know at all,” she breathed. “You saved me. Again. When the darkness would kill me, you saved me.”
“If you say so,” Seren kissed her. “Now rest. And don’t think that this lets you off the hook for my ten minutes on each of your ears.”
“Five.” She paused. “He was there too.”
Seren nodded. “We killed him. If he keeps showing up, then it would be our pleasure to kill him again.”
“The nightmare was truly terrible.” She was silent for a moment. “I had a husband.”
Seren snorted onto her head, her body shaking with laughter. “You shoot me three times, encounter the little bastard, and the worst thing was having a husband?”
“It was. He was not my type at all.”
Seren kissed her smile onto the Romulan’s face. “You make me laugh, Vain. You make me so very happy.”
“I did have a daughter though. I wonder what she was like.”
The quiet surrounded them, allowing their breathing to slow.
“I have no memory of returning here.”
“You said I could have an hour on your ears, I told you that you should take the ship and leave, you refused, then sort of collapsed. I got you back here as fast as I could. I didn’t feel safe hanging out by the Vacation. I did check and there was a trap that set off a flare when we entered the cave. My guess is they found the ship but couldn’t get in. So they just waited for us.”
“We may have to move our Vacation. You did well. B plus.”
“What? That was excellent work I’ll have you know.”
“Maybe I shall let you earn a little extra credit. And I would never give you an hour on my ears. You get five minutes. Maximum.”
Seren kissed her again. “You know, you really should just take that tech and return home.”
The Romulan cocked her head in consideration, then slowly said, “Fuck t
hat.”
“Vain!” Seren gasped, shaking her gently.
“You heard me. And be careful. I am delicate.”
“Uh huh.”
The Romulan buried herself into Seren’s embrace. “Have I mentioned Vain during my ravings?”
“A few times.” Seren kissed her on her lips. “Should I be jealous?”
She returned her kiss fierce with hunger, then sighed, “No. But I need to tell you about her. Then I think these dark times for me might be over. It is not a happy story. I will not blame you for hating me for it. But you should know of her.”
They cradled each other.
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
###
The story of Vain will be in the next book of The Drear Gyre.
About the Author:
Leslie R. Lee writes fiction, takes photographs, and tries not to spend too much time on the Internet. You can contact him at:
E-mail: [email protected]
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lrlee
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeslieRLee
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