Of Dreams During the Night

And to think, he might have simply let her go after she had led him to the dragon hoard. But Lady Luck had chosen to be kind and Rift had grasped who she really was. And that changed everything. She was now his obedient slave, and oh how Rift felt good about that. And Fred? Well things had changed for Fred as well. Rift couldn't very well just let him go on his merry way any more. No, now that Astra had become an integral part of Rift's future plans, Fred was a very real liability. Too bad for Fred.

Fred had had a hard enough time falling asleep as it was. The night seemed filled with the sounds of darkness. And most were nowhere near as soulful as a lover's song. Wolves' howls and the rush of bats' wings filled the mid-night air. Rats and other unclean things scurried through the barn's woodwork and burrowed through the heaps of soiled hay. Fred was no tender boy or soft merchant, he was not unused to less than perfect accommodations; but still, he would be glad when he finally reached home. And at some point he could not remember, Fred finally closed his eyes and slept.

Until he suddenly woke up. As if from a dream. The night was still black, the moon still floated above the horizon. But something had changed. It took a moment, but Fred finally realized what it was. A new sound had joined the dark rustlings of the night. Laughter.

Astra was softly giggling within the folds of her wool blanket. To Fred's ears it sounded almost...crazed. There was no happiness in the sound, rather it was filled with a frantic anticipation. And an undertone of desperation. Fred closed his eyes, praying that the giggling would stop. "Freddy?" Astra's voice softly called out. "I know you're awake." Her voice was eerily calm and almost child-like. Fred found it rather unnerving. Earlier, Astra had been crying, and then came the strange laughter, and now this. Fred knew that when a woman was with child that she was prone to mood swings, but he wondered if there was more to all this. He wondered if Astra had somehow lost her mind.

"I'm free, Freddy," Astra whispered. "My dream told me I'm free." There was a giddiness in her voice. If she hadn't spoken so clearly and convincingly, Fred would have thought she was tipsy. He almost laughed, picturing Astra as a drunk, a tankard of mead sloshing about in her hand. But this was no time for laughter. Indeed, Fred wanted the laughter to stop. "What do you mean, you're free?" he asked, hoping the question would quiet her down.

"I had a beautiful dream," she said. "I was standing in front of mirror made of white water, but my reflection was coal black. Which was strange because I wasn't. My skin was as it had always been, my hair just as red. And then the reflection spoke to me; it asked me who I was. 'Astra', I answered. And then the reflection asked me who it was. And then I woke up." Astra broke out into another bout of giggles, and now more than ever Fred feared she had fallen into madness.

"Don't you see, Freddy?!" she cried, "if I'm Astra then the reflection can't be. But if I am the reflection then I can't be Astra! And if I'm not Astra then Rift has no hold on me!" Astra again descended into a gale of ferocious laughter, but this time Fred did not think she would stop. He reached out across the darkness and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders. He shook her, once, twice and yet again, until her mad laughter subsided and only hoarse breathing and the shuffle of horses filled the cold stable.

And then her little girl voice spoke out once again. "You wonder why I sometimes call you Freddy, don't you?" she asked. Fred nodded in the darkness. "When I was a little girl I had a playmate named Freddy. He was a boy of the household. A mischievous little one, he was. I liked playing with him."

Astra was unprepared for what Fred said next. "Why did you want to join the Paine Gang?" he asked.

"You don't remind me of that little boy, Fred," she laughed, ignoring his question, "you're too damn serious. He's older now of course, but he's still full of laughter and tricks. Sometimes I miss the fun we had together." Fred heard her sigh; a breath of melancholy and heartache. "I don't know what I expected, Fred. But I had hoped to free myself of my bonds and then free you."

"They would have killed you if you had tried. And then me," Fred answered.

"Yes, but I would have died in combat, and not like a trussed up pig," she said, any hint of childishness suddenly gone. "Perhaps then, the gods would have pardoned me my sin."

"Sin?" Fred asked, uncertain of what she meant.

"The life I carry in my belly," Astra replied.

Fred was surprised by this; he found Aqualarian society quite baffling. "But I thought you said you were unmarried. Where then is the sin?"

"Can't you see!" she cried out in frustration. "Married, unmarried, that is of no matter. But I am a Daughter of Artemis! I have given my life to the Goddess of the Hunt. But now my vows lie shattered and my soul is forfeit. When a woman becomes a warrior she binds her fate with the Virgin Huntress. I swore on my soul and my life that I would be chaste!"

Fred now began to understand the gravity of Astra's situation. "And so, if Rift sends word of your...conduct, then your House will be dishonored. And you will be..."

"Cast out," Astra finished. "Exiled."

"But as long as your condition is kept secret, known only to me and Rift and Tarin," Fred continued, "then there is hope that you can avoid such a disastrous outcome?" Astra nodded her head, "Yes. My family need never know what has happened. It is only the Goddess that I would have to appease. I must offer the child to her, in the proscribed manner. It would be raised by priestesses in the service of Artemis. I then will have to bear whatever punishment Artemis places on me." "Your gods are strict," Fred said, "to punish you for an act you had no control over. You were bewitched, and did not even know what or who you were." Astra sniffed haughtily, "The gods demand much and without equivocation, as all true gods do." Fred disregarded Astra's rather arrogant reply. She had never really spoken to him of her faith. If she deemed it a private matter, then so be it. But it was obvious now that she was very dedicated to them. Still, Fred preferred his own gods. While they could be just as demanding, they were never this particular.

"But if you enter into service with your priestesses and suffer punishment at the hands of your god, won't your parents notice?" Fred asked. "My mother knows all that happens within Aqualaria," Astra answered, "but the dictates of a god's will, even a divine punishment, is a secret that cannot be revealed except by the gods themselves. She cannot intervene nor even inquire. It would be just between me and Artemis."

"Well that's a relief," Fred said encouragingly. And then, lowering his voice, "Then the sooner we break Rift's hold over you, the better. But how shall we do it?"

"There's no need to whisper," Astra said with a touch of anger. "That little monster, Tarin, can hear your every word. And though your face is hidden in shadow, the darkness hides little from his dwarven eyes." Fred's face turned red with embarrassment. He had forgotten all about Tarin. And even though in the Great Kingdom dwarves were more rare than an eclipse of the sun, even he had heard of the superior capabilities of the diminutive race. Deciding on what to do about Rift right now was obviously out of the question. But there was one other question Fred felt he could ask. And Tarin might be the one to answer it.

"But now that Rift has discovered your situation and knows that he can...push you around, what will he do with you? What does Rift want from you?"

Rift got up from bed. He was restless and unable to sleep. He just couldn't wait to get back on the road. The treasure should already have been his, but the fates seemed to be playing games with him. Like a man lost in a desert, chasing phantom oases, every time he got close to the lair, something would happen to keep it out of his reach. First the bandit gang and then that black knight. But this time nothing would stop him from reaching that treasure. Rift took a deep breath, walked to the small cupboard and poured himself a brandy. Perhaps that would calm his nerves.

He took a small sip, letting the warmth of the fluid flow down from his mouth into his body. It tasted wonderful. He took another drink, and relaxed as the amber spirit spread to his anxious bones. Sometimes life was good, he smiled. But sometimes it wasn't. Rift thought of all that he had endured during the course of his career, and his eyes darkened. He was tired of his life. He was tired of biding his time, diligently working his way up the BMC ladder. He was tired of taking the crap that all those above his station were wont to throw his way. He was tired of just being a cog in a very small wheel. And for what? Medical benefits and a pension fund? With unlimited wealth, who needed health insurance or job security? And why should a man of his obvious quality just settle for an under-secretariat or a burghership? Why not make a play for the BMC itself? A partnership with one of the Ruling Concerns? Before he met Astra the thought of rising to such a great height would have been ridiculous, but now...

The hard part was getting the big boys' attention. Well, he would soon have the financial wherewithal to make them pay attention, and once he was let into the game he would play Astra as his ace-in-the-hole. 'Ahh, Astra. You have changed everything for me', Rift smiled and took another drink.

The Cult Masters of the BMC would dearly love to open up Aqualaria to their particular services. To date however, their market share was less than half-a-percent. But not due to lack of trying. Rather, Aqualaria kept its borders closed up tight and had blocked all of the BMC's attempts to move in. The amazons were a less than friendly people, and in fact stayed isolated from most of their neighbors. But Rift was betting Astra could change all that. She wasn't just some she-warrior with a tiara, she was a member of the Royal household. One way or another he was sure that she would open a great many doors for him. Whether she wanted to or not.

Oh there was risk, of that Rift had no illusions. But the payoff was absolutely worth it. He put the empty glass down and suddenly flinched. His hand had accidentally brushed up against the pouch that held the Crystallic. Rift did not like the thing, especially after what had happened when he used it on Astra. But if Astra's motherly condition was what had placed her within Rift's control, then it was the dragon's magic gem that would keep her there. Like it or not, the thing was a part of his life now.

1. Rift lay back down on the bed and quickly drifted off to sleep. Snug as a bug and with all his worries laid to rest, the middle-aged barrister dreamed only happy dreams. Sometimes life was good.

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