Wake

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

Daniel raises the glass and drains down the last of his beer. It tastes a bitter to him.

"So that's one avenue gone."

Electra raises an eyebrow at him.

"She was never going to turn," she says. "I don't see what we could have made of her. You should have killed her ages back."

He shakes his head at her.

"It was never that simple. That sort of rigidity was hiding something massive, painful - not just to her but bigger, wider. Maybe we wouldn't have turned her, but she would have been a gateway to so much more if we had just been able to get under her guard."

"If you had managed to get under her guard."

"Indeed," he concedes. "Maybe I'm not as charming as I think."

He sighs.

"If all the nation were like her, this fight would be easier. Maybe we'd die quickly in a world of claws and teeth or maybe we would save the Mother from her torment - but the fight would be more righteous and our path would be clear. If they would just stand up and say 'By any means necessary' then we could respect them, rather than listening to their pitiful attempts to justify their actions."

She narrows her eyes and says, "It sounds like you liked her."

He narrows his eyes back at her, reflecting her expression exactly.

"I did. And that's a nice change. I want to respect my enemy, it means it feels good when you kill them. And it makes it all the more easy to convincingly speak with her family of my grief at her loss."

Electra inspects her mate carefully for a few seconds and then smiles.

"Well, to the memory of Sulien then. Now maybe you can show me and 'Blade some of the tricks in bed that you learned lying with the enemy."