Personal Hell, Public Chaos

She had been married for less than twenty-four hours and already it seemed everyone that  she didn't want to know, knew.  She sat with Matinus on the edge  of his bed, tucking him in.  She had ensured the boy  had a bath and  his hair was combed, and he  looked at her with his lilac-colored eyes and gave a drawn out yawn.  "I'm glad you're  here," he said simply.  It was a small act of gratitude in her day that made her feel emotional.  Chaos was too easy a word to describe what Sanria had walked into.

She'd gotten into a shouting match with Thasmudyan, though she'd anticipated his anger in a way.  Left without his powers, fresh from saving Lyvinnia from Maya, he had admitted he felt betrayed and angry.  She could only  say she felt fear.  Thasmudyan had left her before, disappeared on her before, even slept with Maya while he was supposed to be with her.  Yes, she  loved Gilean, but the speed with  which she'd acted on their  marriage was  predicated by the fear of being with Thasmudyan.  After all those years of  wanting nothing  more, she couldn't handle the idea of being back together  with the one who had held her heart for so long.

She gave him some of Nioma's clothes to take back for Lyvinnia and confronted the  second irate person - Leandra.  Her  daughter was utterly furious, and accused Sanria of not only ruining her life, but Colin's as well.  The rancor that poured from  Leandra's mouth  shocked Sanria and made her feel  small.  The ultimate insult was when Leandra insisted that, no matter what Sanria felt, she had an obligation to  be with Colin.  It was so final, so snappish, Sanria was stunned  into silence.  "You don't need to worry, I'm leaving this place.  The farther  away I can get  so I'm not reminded that I'm *your* daughter, the better."

Matinus had salvaged the night. She had made at least one person outside of Gilean happy.  She stood up and blew him a kiss goodnight.  When he sleepily returned it, Sanria could barely keep herself from crying.

Mrs. Gilean Eosos!

Sanria slid  from the bed, leaving Gilean's side, her husband's side.  She had gone against all advice from her advisor, and though the idea made her nervous, married Gilean.  She was now living in the cottage she had bought for Emalia long ago, had given to Claire, who had given it to Gilean.  She walked down the hallway to Matinus' room and looked in on the boy. His arms and legs  were sprawled akimbo, and she  took a moment to  move him into a  better sleeping position, tucking him in before going downstairs. 

A mere few hours previous, she was Sanria Stone. Now, she was Sanria Eosos. The name felt strange on her tongue.  She felt even more strange given the day before Mirin  had become a Mrs. Stone.  "Sanria Eosos," she whispered, and the condensation from her breath fogged the window.  Her fear had driven her here.  Not that she wasn't happy. She was just finding it a little  hard to breathe.

They were married beneath the sliver of a waxing moon, beneath the glow of a  million stars, right there in  the Druid's Grove.  Her third  marriage, Gilean's second.  The Elder  Druid seemed pleased with her choice, and had some foreknowledge that caused him to smile when he pronounced to the assembled trees and owls that they were wed.  Mr. and Mrs. Gilean Eosos. When had such a thing happened and could it possibly have been any faster?

"Sanria Eosos," she exhaled again.  She had anticipated any name save that one.  The force of the reality broadsided her completely.  A new beginning with an old friend.  The marriage was quiet, private, and she had no plans on  telling anyone anytime soon.  She climbed  the stairs and Sanria Eosos slid into bed with her husband.

Meditation

Sunshine streamed in through skylights. Ror was sitting at the edge of a brook amidst leafy green plants. Cross-legged and with his eyes closed, the elf was meditating.

A bar. Phil's. Conversational tatters.

"...I am not the only one apparently..."

- "...No... no, you are not...."

- "...a file on me, probably from the TriPower..."

"... back from life?"

- "...It cuts me off...I have no memories....Something keeps sending me back...."

The bracelet. So peculiar.

- "...awareness... must persist after death."

The image of Thasmudyan flickered in and out of existence, his mouth moving, but what was he saying?

- "Ever since I can remember.... hazy..."


The image flickered again.

- "...a daughter of mine is in danger..."

Sanria's voice, "Thasmudyan doesn't want you raising his daughter."

"Rrrrrorrrrr-rrr."

The voice changed, and had an edge to it, an edge that wanted to kill.

"Thasmudyan's other lover...Concieved Nioma the day Lyvinnia was concieved."

A tavern. Ror saw himself sipping from tea.

"Lloth still awaits you after death?"

Two voices.

- "... A lot to do with it. Almost everything...I betrayed her... Before this guise..."

Market Square. Ror was talking to Rahvin and Maezura.

"And there you have it, Master Surion. In a nutshell, we seek to prolong death as long as possible..."

The world twisted away again.

- "...To learn the lifestram I presume. My daughter.... Able to tap right in."

Thasmudyan.

- "It's ...complicated, yes."

"I'll ask no more."

- "Thanks for that."

The angry yelling.

"...better stay the HELL AWAY from LYVINNIA!'

It was sinister.

"...Closer than anyone...To perminant death...Real death, everlasting death..."

Ror's eyes opened. Meditation was over. Placing his hand in support on the grass in front of him, he swore under his own breath,

"Shit."