Sanria stared at Kaliadra, her mouth hanging open, her eyes beginning to water. She quickly tried to cover the horrified shock that stretched over her face, succeeding only in further bunching it up. She was on the verge of breaking into sobs. A fine pebble of pain seemed to embed itself in the center of her heart as her vision swam in tears. They stood in the library, the rest of the cottage fast asleep. "Are you in love with him then?" she choked.
"No," Kaliadra said. "Carnal lust, that is all."
Sanria groped for the chair behind her and sat heavily. Her friend, her life link, the only wizard left in her life she could trust had just returned, freshly anointed, from sex with Colin. Sanria knew Kaliadra could feel everything she felt, and knew the elf knew. "Why?" she asked, leaning forward to counter the steady rise of anguish. Anyone else but her... anyone else.
"Because I'm tired of you not keeping your word."
"What do you mean?" Sanria asked in a helplessly small voice. "You would have gone back, it was only a matter of time. You'd mess up this family, these lives. But now you know. All it takes is a nude body pressed against his... anyone's will do... even a friend's."
The breath was sucked from Sanria with the last statement, and whatever held her up left her spine; she bent forward into her lap and sobbed. She had no right, she knew. She was married, expecting, a mother... but Kaliadra was right. As always. She would have gone back... she would have made a mess of everything. "But... you were my friend," she managed. "I needed you to see. I needed you to stop." Kaliadra knelt in front of her, looking up into her face, whispering: "Sanria, I can't take it anymore."
Sanria could do nothing but shake her head. She looked back to her hands and burst into renewed sobs. This display, these emotions, told her everything she needed to know in regards to her situation. She would have messed it up. All of it. Now... "You don't have to," Kaliadra said, knowing her thoughts. "If he only wanted you, he would have made me stop. But, he didn't. Please. Stop wanting him and honor your word for a change."
Sanria looked up slowly, pain making it an effort. "Please go."
"I did this for your own good."
"I have nothing more to say to you."
"Or..."
"... or... to him."
"Then I go knowing I've saved a family and spared myself."
Kaliadra vanished and the weight of the anguish dropped onto Sanria. She cried until her heart numbed. Then she stood up, her face vacant, and teleported to the castle to drown herself in work, knowing sleep would not come to her that night.
