6 Archer, Later in the castle gardens during the coronation masquerade...
Paige slumps against the inner keep wall, thankful for the solitude, but still hungering for his touch, still angered by his cruelty. "Damn him. It�s hard enough to see him most days and ignore the hollowness in my soul, to forget the thought that part of my self was torn away when he left. But when he pulls shit like this..."
"When *you* pushed him away, even if you claim you never meant it to be like this. Never *forever*," another voice mocks.
"If it were just the twins..." she whispers, echoing his words. Her fists beat a quiet tattoo in frustration against the cold stone face. "Oh, goddess. He�d be such a father to them. Why can�t he just draw me into his arms and tell me everything�s going to be all right, like he�s done so many times before?"
"Like he does for *her* now," she can see the clear green of the speaker�s eyes, even as her own begin to fill with tears.
Shaking her head, "I�ve got to be strong, for Folly�s sake. I can�t be who I was, not with him. I can�t go back, and he�s made it clear that there�s no forward with him. Goddess, why does he have this hold over me? I thought there were years ahead of us, centuries. That in time..."
"Paige, in the end is this even about him? Or is it just about the fact that you can�t stand to be alone?" he continues without mercy. "Even once it was over there was Alan, Worth... Folly. Now, you�ve lost them all."
Her heart seems like it�s about to explode in her chest, as she argues, "Oh, they�re still there but..."
"You�re still alone."
"I have Father, Aunt Fiona and Conner," she proclaims as the crying begins to wrack her body. Little shakes that set the jewels of her costume sparkling with light. "Lilly, even."
"None of those give you what you think you need. And Lilly? Perhaps, but only until her father divines your intentions."
"I have none," she rails against the intruder. "Why can�t you be happy for me?"
"Because you won�t let yourself be, Paige. Do your really believe that I'm arguing with you from the depths of the Abyss? That I care for your petty affairs of the heart?" he baits her, his green outfit clear in her mind�s eye, a cruel smile on his lips. "I�m nothing more than you, the part of you that�s honest, that doesn�t play the games you�ve learned to lose so well."
"Go away," she sobs softly. "I�ll have my children. I won�t need anything or anyone else."
"You truly think Julian will let you keep them? They�ll be a constant reminder that his son accomplished what he never did... bed a redhead."
"Go away," she insists, her voice ragged.
"Then I�ll leave you as you wish, niece, as I found you... Alone."
Long moments pass until she opens her eyes to see the garden as it has been since the conversations began, empty.
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last updated 05/14/2003 - The aftermath of this...