[Mercy Merchant]

By the time Calista finishes her story, Robyn is in tears.  She has not moved during the story but now gets up and glides to where Calista is sitting and kneels beside her, placing her arms around the waist of the woman.  "I cannot imagine living that sort of nightmare.  We are both like the wind-up toys I used to play with as a child, only broken.  At least someone tried to put me back together and I have had forty years to move past what was done, but for you it is all so recent."

She pauses, because she does not know how what she says next will come out and fears that Calista will walk out the door and not come back.  But it has to be said.  "I can only imagine what inner strength you must posses.  First to survive what they have done, and now to tell it to me.  I would guess that few people know what you have said.  That gives me hope that you want to stay here.  With me.  I am feeling emotions that I have never felt before, even with Anton.  And after only knowing you for a few hours.  I believe that I am in love with you and ask if you can accept that, whether or not you feel the same."

Robyn raises her tear-streaked face to Calista's.  "I hope that I have not just scared you away from the crazy blind woman, but I feel that I have to tell you what I am feeling.  To answer your question as bluntly as possible; hell bloody yes I want you around.  Do you want to stay?"

[BrickyardBabe]

Calista stares at Robyn for a long moment. Love...home...life...the simple words, elemental concepts that are nonetheless foreign to Calista reverberate in her head and in her heart. She is at an utter loss for how to cope, and a moment stretches into a minute  as she shakes her head slowly, trying desperately to cope with the emotional onslaught and the offer of a world she had given up on when she was still somewhere between training wheels and training bra. She's crying again, the same soundless trickle as before without even a catching breath to mark her tears, but she knows that Robyn knows because she's dripping all over the top of Robyn's head. Her fingers clutch almost painfully at Robyn's shoulders and her hands are trembling violently.

Finally, Calista speaks, just to break the awful, pregnant silence. "Its not strength. Strength is what you have when you've got a choice. I am a creature of endurance and malicious good cheer, but not strength." Her tone is irreverent, but the effect is ruined when her voice breaks on the last word. "No one knows. Not up here. Below, its something of an open secret. There are whispers about me, most of them uncomplimentary, but my story is out in bits and pieces all over Earl's Court." Then she is silent again, thinking and feeling and fearing.

Calista shudders again and in a tiny voice confesses, "I'm scared. Scared of...you, of me...of this." She leans down to kiss Robyn's hair lightly. "Its been a single night, two conversations, and one mindlink. How are we..." she gestures at them, "...how did we get here? We've share d a lot, heard each other's stories and been in each other's heads, but..." She laughs helplessly. "I'm terrified, Robyn. I'm terrified of taking this chance and even more frightened of throwing it away. Bringing you into my world is dangerous. Melissa is insane and she owns me, you know how Below is, and I'm still a young vampire with all that being a bloodsucking nightmare entails." Again, she goes quiet, her hands shaking and her tears pattering down, and it is perhaps thirty seconds before she finally says, "But you're three times my age. I know you're a shadowrunner, because this place is not on a concert cellist and bookstore owner's salary. You've earned the right to make your own choices, probably more than I have. If you're willing to risk being with me..." She leans back and bridges their minds again so Robyn can see herself, "then I would love to stay and call you mine."

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn remains kneeling as Calista talks.  She can sense raw the emotion pouring from the woman almost as a hammer blow to her psyche.  She cannot stop the tears, but she does place her hands on Calista's and puts her head on her thigh.  As the Dryad finishes talking, Robyn again feels the slight vertigo that she recognizes as presaging the visual link then is looking at her own tear-streaked face.  She has waited for minutes, fearful at every long pause that Calista would tell her that she was not interested in what the older Keeb could offer and was leaving.  Her relief at hearing just the opposite is immense.  "I, too, am terrified.  Terrified of loving you and losing you to something stupid that I say or do.  Terrified that you will not want me because I am old and less experienced.  Terrified that, oh bloody hell, that for any other number of reasons you will want to go away.  But I am even more terrified of not taking the chance and wondering for the rest of my life what might have been.  And I do not want to be so afraid of losing you that I do not try."

Robyn does not bother to try to wipe her tears away as she continues, "I can make my choices and choose you until such time as you tire of me and leave.  Do I need to be clearer?  Or say it again?  Because I do not know how to make it clearer, but I will say it as often as I need to.  So, what do we do now?"

[BrickyardBabe]

Calista giggles, an incredibly happy sound. Its finally starting to sink in what she's just done, and with acceptance comes relief and a soaring of her heart. Suddenly she's all smiles and little touches and warmth and light. "I think...I think I need to go shopping." She muses, and her smile turns into an urchin's grin. "If I'm going to stay over, I'll need to have something to wear, and a toothbrush, and oh, a hundred other things!" She giggles again, then her expression turns serious as a realization hits her. "I'll have to tell Melissa. If she thinks I'm courting another power rather than simply living my life she'll kill you. And me." She squeezes her eyes shut as her mind paints a vivid picture of what Melissa would do to the sweet elven woman, fighting down the image, and Robyn knows that she speaks from experience rather than supposition.

After a few seconds, Calista shakes her head and opens her eyes again, calming down. Her smile returns, smaller but no less sure and she opines, "But that can all wait until later. I can't move in full time, of course. My work and my...needs mean I have to keep my other doss, but I'd like to spend as much time with you as I can." Calista purses her lips, thinking. "For now, though, I'd like to give you something. Its not much, but..." she blushes, her cheeks turning peony-pink, "Would you like to go to the West End and take in a show with me? I suspect its been a long time since you've been to the theatre, and now that you can borrow my eyes I thought maybe you'd like to take advantage of it?" She runs her hand along Robyn's cheek, wiping away her tears. "Then I can bring you back here and thank you properly." Her voice drops on the last word, becoming throaty and full of promise.

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn nods when Calista brings up the Below government.  "Yes.  The Earl may have something to say to me about that, I suppose.  I am more afraid for you, knowing what Melissa's reputation is.  Even more after hearing you talk of her.  Would she sell you?"

And yes, you will need things here.  Would you want me to have things at your place as well?  I would like to visit your place."

Robyn actually laughs at the mention of the theater.  "You are right.  I have not been to the theater in decades, vid or live.  I could go for the dialogue and the music, but I can get that here as well.  My acquaintances stopped asking me long ago.  Most did not even try.  You may spoil me for my own talents and skills.  Some of what I can do is because I am blind and have had to focus on other senses.  Even without my implanted enhancements, I would be able to sense things better.  But which show did you have in mind?  And do I need to put a posh frock on or can I go as I am?"

[BrickyardBabe]

Calista smiles easily. "You can go as you are. I have a box at several theatres, perks of the job. Melissa may treat me like a subhuman slitch, but there are fringe benefits." She consults a small, expensive commlink and says, "Wicked and Les Mis are in the middle of their revival runs if you're interested." Calista shakes her head slowly and says, "I don't think Melissa would sell me, even if she's angry. She's more like to break my arms and legs and keep me in a cage so she can use my blood to charge her own magic. I regenerate, so she could use me as a battery indefinitely."

Calista glances at Robyn's closet and asks, "Do you want to send some things over, or are you going shopping with me? I'd love to have you come see me, either up here or Below. I have a skyraker apartment downtown up here, and a much small apartment in Knight's Bridge down Below."

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn feels that talking about such mundane things as clothes and shopping means that the deal is set........or as set as it can be, given what each of them does for a living.  "Your pick for the show.  I know all the songs but have never seen them acted.  When I was a child, I was only allowed to leave the compound to attend church............."    She breaks off and jerks her head around in the direction of Calista.  "Is it a problem that I am Russian Orthodox?"

[BrickyardBabe]

Calista shakes her head. "Not unless its a problem that I'm a Dianic Wiccan with Irish Pagan tendencies. My magic is rooted in celtic traditions." She grins. "Religious symbols won't bother me, love, and I support you doing whatever brings you peace, though if that cross is silver it'll burn me like a brand." She shrugs. "Minor concern, though. I'm usually careful and even if we slip up, I'll heal." She thinks for a moment. "Wicked, then. Its a little more lighthearted." She nods to the bathroom. "Do you need to go get ready? For that matter, do you need someone to do your makeup?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Over the next month, Robyn and Calista settled into a sort of routine.  They mostly lived in Robyn's flat, but spent some of their time in Calista's.  She called it her doss, but it is actually better appointed than Robyn's in some ways.  The sex remained volatile and great for both women, stretching the bounds of what Robyn knows and even though there is little technique that Calista can learn from her lover, she does experience a wave of love, which is new, a bit scary, and desperately needed in her life.  Secrets are whispered and Robyn is exposed to a different lifestyle than she has experienced in the past.  Even though her short forays into alternate sex are quite new to her and take a bit of getting used to, she knows that Calista is just showing her the tip of what she lives with.

The pair learned a lot about each other and about the pitfalls that can occur in even the best of relationships.  Still, at the end of the day, there was more reason to stay together than to split up and both of them knew it.  And the sex after making up was great.

At times, Calista had to respond to the demands of her mistress and disappeared for a day or a night.  The first bad one happened two weeks after they had started living together.  Robyn had gone to Calista's flat to wait her return from one of her required activities and had been awake when the Dryad had come in.  The young woman was weak and almost stumbled when she came through the door.  Robyn was at her side and helping her when Calista removed her coat and exposed what had been done to her.  The posh frock she had worn had been shredded on her body and Robyn could feel cuts and tears to her friend's skin through the gaps.  Catching her breath, Robyn helped Calista out of her clothes and laid her down on the floor and went for the first aid supplies she knew were in the flat.  Parts of the frock were so encrusted in blood that they had to be cut away.  Robyn's tender touch was not quite tender enough in places and Calista cried out, despite saying that it was all nothing.  Robyn understood that the vampire would regenerate the damage, but there was just so much of it.  Robyn was mixing her tears with Calista's blood on her skin as she wondered, not for the first or last time, to herself why her friend lived like this.

Then came the day she continuously dreaded but had hoped beyond hope to never have to face; Calsita did not come home after one of her appointments for Melissa.  That in itself was not so uncommon, but this time there was no call and no text message to let Robyn know that her lover was alright and on the way home to her waiting arms.  Calista never talked much of these jobs, and Robyn had come to accept that, and this time had been no different.  They had been out shopping when the call had come to Calista's private commlink; the one she kept for Melissa's calls.  Calista had had to leave right away and had disappeared.  Now it was two day later and still no Calista.

[BrickyardBabe]

The Monster strains and howls, railing against its confinement as it had a hundred times before. The knife in its stomach burns with an unnatural chill, and The Monster struggles to get away from the awful, killing cold.

As a hundred times before, it fails. Even the strength of the desperate damned cannot free wrists and ankles nailed to an ebony table with iron spikes nearly the size of tent stakes, and it howls a piteous, feminine cry of anguish as the sable-skinned woman above her slowly buries the athamé to the hilt in her trim, silky flesh. She felt her stolen life leaking away, taken to fuel the Dark Lady's power, and tears carve through the filth and blood on her face as she struggles. Bones grind, muscles tear, and the back of her head beats a rapid tattoo on the old, scarred wood as she thrashes.

But she cannot break free.

Two days she has spent like this, confined and tortured for some dark and terrible purpose. The Dark Lady laughs often, and loudest when The Monster's screams fade away to the broken sobs of a terrified girl calling out for her friend. In those moments, when the pain recedes enough for fear to take its share and The Monster retreats, Calista wishes for Robyn. Lying in pools of her own dried blood, hearing the screams echoing throughout the House of Pain and fearing that maybe this time would be the last time, maybe this time Melissa would pass even her incredible limits, Calista calls out into the dark for her friend and lover, then curses her weakness and prays Robyn will not come.

Then the pain starts again, and the virus keeps her alive despite the endless torment and as the cycle begins anew Calista's mind frays and warps and snaps, leaving the awful instinct-driven hunter of men in its wake. She struggles with the terrible strength of a vampire, but Melissa knows her craft well, and the bindings mystical and physical are too much for the badly-depleted girl to overcome. If she had fed, perhaps then things would be different. Then she could quicken her muscles and empower her magic and shatter her bindings with borrowed power.

But Calista is starving. Melissa has stolen her blood with her ritual blade, taking its power for use in whatever grand working she was attempting just out of Calista's sight, and without it Calista's magic and muscles were too, too weak. Three times Melissa has brought in a victim for her to feed upon, giving her enough blood and power to keep the virus strong, to keep her body intact, but never enough to muster the power to break free.

The bodies of her three victims, two nameless teenagers and Holly, Valerian house's youngest adept, lay in the corner where Melissa had casually tossed them. They lay naked and broken, staring with horrified dead eyes at the vampiress who had killed them.

The knife comes out again, and Melissa whispers, "Soon, pet, soon it will all be over and you can go back to playing at being more than just a pet." She stroked Calista's hair, eliciting a low whine and a full-body shudder as her ensorcelled touch sends sparks of pleasure to dance amongst the threads of agony permeating the bound girl's mind, further weakening her resolve and warping her thoughts. "You're being very good, pet-" Calista howls again, cutting Melissa off as she finds some deeper reserve to try her bindings once more. Melissa drives the knife in again, higher this time, cutting off Calista's shriek in a welter of blood and snarls, "Be silent! If not for you then a dozen more children would be dead to realize my work! Is that what you want?"

Calista quiets, trembling violently and shakes her head. Blood runs from the corner of her mouth and Melissa stares down at her with hard, pale eyes until she chokes out, "No, mistress."

Melissa nods, satisfied. "Good. Now say you're sorry."

"I'm...sorry...I'll be...good..." the words are heavy and wet-sounding, the blood in her throat and lungs choking her voice and the pain and pleasure and fatigue and horror dulling her mind. She continues shaking, but her struggles have ceased, and she lies slack on the table, crying softly as the athamé comes down again.

"Robyn...help..."

[Mercy Merchant]

At the end of the second day, Robyn knew that something was wrong.  She gathered her drones and took a cab over to Calista's flat, letting herself in.  She walked quietly through the luxurious suite, half afraid that she would find the Dryad passed out and injured beyond the ability to call for help, and half afraid that she would not find her there.  All in all, she was just afraid.  And the vampire was not at home, stirring all sorts of new fears.  She stretched out with all of her senses to see if there was anything that might help and immediately came across a blinking ARO from the bedroom that was abnormal just for its presence.  Robyn walked into the room and found a small commlink blinking.  Looking at the device carefully, Alyce noticed that a message was being repeated.  It was for her.  She commanded the device to play back the message and listened to her lover as she left the message.  "Robyn, my love.  This message is set to begin broadcasting two days after I leave for my job today.  You know that sixth sense I keep telling you about?  Well, it is going off like crazy and I am worried for the first time ever.  I know that you will find the 'link and want to come looking for me.  I know that it would do absolutely no good to tell you to stay away from this.  So here it is: go to the LCZ and look for 127 Parker Street.  I do not know what is waiting for me there but I feel it is bad.  I love you.......just in case."

Robyn tossed the device away as she turned and ran from the room and the suite, calling for Pyotr.  She took a cab to as close to the LCZ as it would go and walked the rest of the way.  Just before entering the Zone, she sent a text to Arch, the leader of the Mechanicas and someone she knew she could trust.  Six of the Mechanica met her as she walked into the near ruins of London that are commonly referred to as the LCZ.  Although she knows it very well and has some status here, there are unfriendly gangs that roam parts of the Zone.  One of the men doffs his odd steampunk hat and says, "Evenin' Miss Ripple, not a good time to be gettin' over to Parker Street.  Mighty unfriendly place, that."

"I know, Master Sixer, but my friend is in trouble."

"The Valerian?  I doubt anythin' could be a trouble to her."

"No.  She sent me a message.  Something bad has happened."

"Then let us be on our way, Miss Ripple.  We'll get you there safe as roses."

The seven people and one drone hound make their way across what looked like a warzone of ruined buildings and burn barrels.  The terrain grows progressively rougher as Robyn and her escort go ever deeper into the Ork Lands, a name reserved for where the toughest of the Ork gangs hold sway.  Master Sixer stops and confers with the two men he had sent ahead as scouts before turning to Robyn.  "Somethin' got the Orks riled, Miss Ripple.  Might have trouble at the border.  Just sayin'."

The small group forges ahead but is brought to a stop at a barricade across the street.  Burn barrels illuminate several large Orks and three huge Trolls patrolling the barricade.  One Ork comes away from the barricade as Robyn and the others approach.  He peers through heavily browed eyes and says, "What the Mechas doin this far from the cathedral?  Not a good nite to be about.  You should go."

Robyn steps forward.  "I know that voice.  Gron.  You know me.  My friend is in trouble.  I have to get to 127 Parker Street."

The mention of the address seems to rile the Orks and Trolls and several call out unpleasant things in Or-Zet.  The Ork Robyn had addressed as Gron snarls and says, "And what ye be knowin of Parker Street?"

"Something happened, didn't it.  Tell me."

The trog looks angry then shrugs.  "Nothin ta hide.  You can come, but leave the Mechas here.  Don't be needin em running free in the Lands."

The leader of the escort bristles and look about to respond angrily when Robyn puts an arm on his.  "It is good, Master Sixer.  You have taken me as far as you can.  I am safe with Gron.  Please tell Arch that I appreciate the help."

The oddly dressed man looks to disagree but backs down, nodding.  "Reckon they got no beef with ye, alright.  I be leavin a few men here to watch, just in case.  Night to ye, Miss Ripple.  I hope you find her."

Robyn watches the escort fade into the darkness before turning to the Ork, who says.  "Not sure what ye see in them Mechas.  Yer coin be good here for past things ye done. I will get ye to Parker Street.  Place not be pretty ta look at.  Yer friend, she were hired for some rough stuff, if ye know what I be sayin.  Anyway, some horrible screamin got started, but the boys near thought it were just normal like.  But it did not stop and some went to look.  Others went when the screamin carried on and then stopped.  What they found be worse than any nightmare.  Orks just ripped apart and pieces just tossed about all over the house.  And no sign of yer girl.  I knows ye cannot see, but you can smell what happened.  The Masters be there and they be mad.  Might take poorly to ye bein there and bein her friend."

Robyn nods and takes a deep breath before asking the Ork to take her there.

[BrickyardBabe]

The low-rent doss looks exactly like what it is, a fragging firetrap flophouse. Its a mess, scarred with bullet holes and graffiti. Robyn has to step over a passed-out wino in the hallway, and she can hear the sounds of a woman being beaten by her husband, a counterpoint to the crunch of of fallen drywall and peeled paint under her practical boots. The carpet is old and matted with god-knows what and half the lights are burned out. The only thing the building has to recommend it is anonymity. As long as it didn't leave a body, one could get away with anything in a place like this and even if it did leave a body, it would be only the most perfunctory of investigations.

When Robyn gets to Calista's apartment, the door is hanging open. Well, what's left of the door is hanging open. Only a third of the cheap synthplast door remains. The rest is gone, blown away by some titanic force. The pieces are scattered all over the front room. Robyn looks around and sees burn marks, bullet holes, and blood, blood, blood. Whatever happened here, Calista didn't go quietly.

In addition to the usual detritus of a struggle, Robyn can smell burned blood, ash, and the scent of wild roses and nightshade. They're smells she associates with Calista; the banshee has perfumes and oils that smell of both flowers, but its much stronger this time. Looking around, Robyn doesn't find any notes or covert clues, no clever hints as to where she went. Instead, there is a message, written in what smells like Calista's blood. Robyn has to read it by touch, running her fingers over the tacky lettering on the bathroom more that says, "I have her. If you want her, she will be at the House of Pain in Earl's Court. If you value your life, don't come find her."

[Mercy Merchant]

Gron takes Robyn to the address.  Outside are several Orks and Trolls, several of which try to block Robyn from entering.  After some discussion, she is allowed into the building and taken to the flop room.  Robyn needs not guide to explain that something horrible has happened her.  She runs her fingers over the bullet holes and fragments of what must have been cheap furniture.  Gron tells her that all of the dead Orks have been moved to a place where they can be studied, but that it takes no mystic to see that sorcery was used here.  Gron takes her arm and leads her to the bathroom and tells her, "We know who has friend.  Feel here."

Robyn's blood runs cold as her sensitive fingers trace out the letters.  Standing, she turns her head to the Ork.  "I need to get to your gate."

"Friend already dead.  Why go............."

Gron's words are choked off by the dead expression on Robyn's face.  He mutters something in Or'Zet then nods.  "Ye be warded there.  Even she would not dare ta make the First House angry.  But ya should be goin ta the Earl first.  Gron take to gate."

As they leave the building, Robyn takes the arm of the Ork and whistles her drone hound to her side.  It does not take long for them to reach the doorway to the old bunker that is the entrance to one of the passages that lead to London Below.  Robyn thanks Gron and asks him to make sure her Mechanica friends know where she went before she slips into the bunker.  Her mind is working overtime; she feels that the Earl will not interfere in something that is internal to another House.  And as long as Melissa does not overstep her bounds Below, she can do almost anything she wants to overworlders and her own people.  No there is little chance for any help in that area.  Robyn might go to The Old One, but that could take precious time she does not have, and she may still be turned down.  She will have to make the first approach on her own.

The trek through the passages is uneventful, due entirely to the tattoo on Robyn's right cheek.  The warding of the First House is enough that only a fool would want to interfere with her.  She eventually reaches the Knightsbridge area.  She knows that she is close when she begins to hear the noise that is part and parcel of life Below.  She breaks into a large open area and stops to send her senses out.  to get a feel for what is ahead of her.  Orienting herself, she turns to the Bridge and heads in that direction.  People are moving back and forth along the Bridge and a line has formed at the Tollkeepers.  These six soldiers are the guardians of the Bridge and collect tolls from those that are not warded.  The truth is that although many people live Below, few are actually warded and give the protection of one of the Great Houses.  The whole political tangle that keeps the Houses in power is beyond Robyn, but she knows how to take advantage of it.  Robyn had first walked these rods more than thirty years earlier, looking for the Yak assassin that had killed her fiancé and left her for dead.  He had taken refuge here but had been denied the protection of any House.  Robyn never learned what the reason was, but she used it against him by working her way into the favor of the Earl's House and getting tight with the Old One. 

Shaking her head at old memories, Robyn walks down the side of the line that is waiting to pay a toll and cross the Bridge.  Her facial marking means that she does not need to pay the tolls to cross and she walks straight past the men in their brass armor.  Only a handful of the people in line even say anything and those that do are quickly hushed.  The Bridge itself is a marvel.  At nearly 100 feet wide from edge to edge, the actual portion that is walkable is barely 40 feel wide at its best.  The remainder of the span consists of two levels of buildings, shops on the lower level and living areas on the upper.  Almost a small town in itself, the Bridge is neutral ground and no House holds sway here.  It is actually the absolute province of the Tolltaker Knighthood.  The tolls collected are used to maintain the span, with the remainder split evenly among the Great Houses.  No one questions the shares passed out by the knights, not even the First House.  The Tolltaker Knighthood has existed longer than any of the Houses and is immune to any oif the petty bickering between them. 

Robyn barely considers any of this as she crosses over to Earl's Court and sets her way to Valerian House.  She does not pause as she climbs the torturous metal stairs that lead to the castle made of iron and steel that is Melissa's home.  Reaching the landing, Robyn is sure of two things: first, Calista is here and, second, that she will get the vampire out somehow.  If the Bridge is an example of lost craft, the Iron Castle is an example of sorcery gone wrong.  Robyn stands before a set of immense metal doors engraved with all manner of depraved scenes of excess.  An iron ring of at least two feet in diameter is attached to the end of a chain that descends from a turret above the landing.  Robyn pulls on the ring and can hear the somber tones of a bell from somewhere inside  the massive structure.  The door opens, apparently unaided by any hands and a House acolyte stands several feet inside.  The young woman speaks in a deep. almost sepulchral voice.  "What business doe the First House have with the Second?"

"I am not representing the First House this night.  I am here on my own."

"Then enter, Robyn Lysander.  Enter and meet your fate.  You should have stayed away."

Robyn steadies her nerves but does not hesitate as she steps across the threshold and into the room beyond.  The doors close silently behind her.

[BrickyardBabe]

The inside of the castle is much as the outside, all iron and fire and blood and pain. Scantily-clad adepts and well-dressed patrons populated its halls, the adepts giving Robyn a wide berth and the patrons sneering at her for not being the picture of a demure slave or a bloodthirsty dominatrix. The guards, however, watched Robyn's progress closely. Many qualified as living art, sculpted by cyber and bioware and magic within an inch of their lives, breathing monuments to the depravity of Valerian House, but Calista had briefed Robyn well and the blind elf knew that all that constructed beauty hid blades and poisons and savagery aplenty.

A young adept with red hair and bright, earnest blue eyes met Robyn only fifty meters inside the house. She was of a height with the blind elf, and her voice was high and sweet as she said, "Lady Lysander! Welcome to House Valerian. Duchess Shirai has left explicit orders concerning you. Please follow me." The young lady, who by the sounds of it was clad in heels and little else except a collar with a bell on it led Robyn through a complicated series of twists and turns, climbing through the medieval-but-ultramodern castle. There was wireless, and electric lights, and modern security side by side with torches and iron gates and torture chambers.

Finally, they climbed the south tower, all the way up to its highest level, and the girl- who had said her name was Holly- stopped at a large ebony door, bound with iron. Holly wore a look of fear, and Robyn's enhanced senses caught the scent of fresh blood, metal, burned flesh, and ozone. Holly stepped aside but before Robyn could raise her hand to knock, the drifted open revealing a woman with sable skin and silver hair and sapphire eyes. A nocturna, but lacking the characteristic body hair. She wore a cream-colored gown of real silk and carried a long, slender knife in one hand. Her gown and hands were stained with blood and she wore a look of mild irritation as she asked, "What do you want?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn enters the building with all of her senses on high and lets the young man lead her about fifty meters inside before he stops, instructing her to wait before walking away, bare feet padding against the metal floor.  She senses several people in the large room but they avoid coming too close to her as she is neither a pleasure acolyte nor another patron of the macabre forms of pleasure and so is someone to avoid.  The guards, on the other hand, were someone for Robyn to avoid.  The perfect map of the near vicinity provided by her ultrasound sensors has picked out two of the perfectly bio-sculpted near-statues and she remembers the warnings that Calista had given her about them.  She momentarily turns on the sight link she shares with her vampire lover but gets nothing so she must still be more than ninety meters distant.  Robyn refuses to even consider the alternate reason, fully believing that Calista is still alive.  Pyotr has been programmed to walk on her outside leg to help keep her from walking into the street, or in cases of open rooms, to remain on her left side, where he is now.  The two miniature drones are running silent and are concealed in one of the many pockets of her steampunk frock.

She sound of approaching high heels on the floor causes her to turn in that direction.  The woman is either wearing an extremely close-fitting body suit or nothing at all except the heels and a small collar at the neck, to which is attached a small bell that tinkles softly as she moves.  Robyn cares little for the appearance of the woman, but is glad that someone has come for her.  The acolyte is, indeed, her escort and leads her on a journey through the halls of the castle.  The path leads her past rooms from which echo cries of passion and whimpers of pain, sometimes from the same throat.  Although Calista has taken pains to describe some aspects of what goes on here, Robyn still cannot suppress a shudder at some of what she smells and hears.  Sadly, she feels that her greatest asset will be her biggest problem because she knows that what she senses here tonight will forever be trapped in her mind to be replayed over and over.  She has traveled the world for many clients and been in some of the harshest places on Earth, but Robyn is mortally afraid for the first time in her life.

As she walks, she takes advantage of a gap in the guards to remove Ivan and Sasha from her pocket and gives the mosquito-sized drones mental commands to fly to the ceiling and follow her.  She alternates her ultrasound with her radar and frequently tries to open the link to Calista's eyes so she could perhaps know when she was close.  The guide has not said a word since the initial greeting, which suits Robyn well, as she suspects that anything she had said would only make things worse.  Robyn gets a sight link for the first time as she is ascending a stairway up into one of the several high towers of the castle.  Her sense of joy at the knowledge she is getting closer is tempered by what she sees; a cut and bloody arm with a spike driven through the wrist to secure it to some sort of table.  Beyond the hand is another, probably similar, table with a young woman on it.  She, too, seems cut and bleeding, marked in some fashion but still alive, if only barely.  Robyn has little thought for the other girl other than passing horror for her condition, but her gut clenches in fear, anger, and love for her friend.  Bile rises in her throat, but she resists the urge to let it out.  She considers closing the link to avoid further sight of the arm, but the damage is done and she would see it without the link, so she keeps it active.

The escort stops in front of a large door and for the first time seems tentative, even fearful.  Despite the strong smells coming from beyond the door, Robyn picks up the telltale odor of fear from the acolyte.  The escort does nothing but stand in a corner of the hall and tremble, so Robyn's unasked question seems completely unnecessary; this is the destination.  Before she can raise her hand to knock, the door seems to open of its own volition, revealing a tall woman beyond.  Without hesitation, and hoping to keep any tremble from her voice, Robyn answers the woman's question.  " I am sure that you know why I am here, Your Grace.  You have my friend and I will have her back.  May I enter?"

Melissa has to have known she was coming but still the words seemed to surprise her.  She wavers at the doorway, finally letting her cruelty win, and steps aside to allow Robyn to enter the room.  After all, what could be more precious than showing the absolute pain and misery she was subjecting Calista to?  And indeed it was as bad as Robyn had imagined, probably even worse.  The digital views form the drones provided her with enough detail to fill several of the graphic novels that young goths were always asking about at the shop.  What detail the drones missed was picked up by the ultrasound map created of the room.  Robyn stands at the door and does not take her face from the Mistress of the Second House.  The words she wants to say are momentarily drowned out by every facet of self-preservation she has, but love wins out.  "Your Grace, we are both women of our worlds and understand the meaning of useless gestures.  I am not here to threaten or plead, but to bargain.  Take me.  Use me as you want.  I offer myself freely in exchange for Anguish.  My body is not completely contaminated by implants and I know that you can make use of what I have.  I am sure that you can sense the terror in me at what you might do, but I would willingly accept your knife in exchange for letting her go.  I know that it might take longer to get at what you desire because you would have to continuously heal me rather than rely on Anguish's regeneration, but my body and blood, my fear and horror, would be given freely.  Plus, you get the immense satisfaction of commanding Anguish to watch as you torture me, knowing how it affects her and knowing that she cannot break her emotional bond to you to save me.  Part of our bargain would be that you keep me alive and eventually let us leave together, although the process may take days or even weeks.  You have the satisfaction of hurting what she cares most about in the world, and I will hold myself available to return to you at a later time for additional loving caresses from your knife.  Does that not make up for the trouble you would be put to?  It is a fair offer and I urge you to accept it."