Child of My Body

[Kender Bard]

Fausta tossed and turned on her bed, her brow slicked with sweat that plastered her bangs to her forehead. Her face was a mask of pain as she struggled, as she did most nights, to seek a position that would bring a relief to the aches of her body and let her sleep. It never came, of course, because no such a thing existed.

She had medicine that would chase the pain away of course. Well. Drugs. But Calan controlled the dosage strictly and she generally didn't receive any unless she went too long without sleep.

Finally she gave up, tossing aside her blankets with a moan of distress. Coldness immediately settled upon her and she reached for her coverlet again. Her face was especially cold.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...."

Fausta froze. That hadn't been some nocturnal noise; that had been the sound of someone drawing out a long shush, and she'd heard it right next to her ear. Was it Deodan, come to kill her? Or Calan or Cloak come to test her reflexes. The coldness increased and her teeth chattered slightly.

"Hush little one," the voice whispered, definitely feminine but it wasn't Cloak's voice. The voice was hauntingly familiar though. "You look so pained. What pains you, my baby? Hmm? What have I missed in my long exile? I roamed the halls of my home and found strangers there. Nissar had led me to believe that your brother had succeeded in his coup... But where is he, Fausta? Where is my sweet, sweet Shyamal?"

Fausta made a strangled sound and sat straight up, eyes wide as her head whipped towards the sound of the voice. And there sat a spectre, achingly familiar to her but covered in chains. They wrapped around her neck, bound her wrists, snaked around her body. They trailed broken behind her. "No," Fausta whispered, struggling backwards on the bed. She hit the ground with a thump.

"Fausta, that's no way to greet your mother," the shade of Rajani's voice lectured sternly. "Now stand up and tell me where my son is. My Shyamal..."

"You're dead," Fausta said in a strangled voice as she got up quickly.

"Yes," Rajani agreed. "One's mortal remains seldom last long in the Abyss." Her voice took on a warning tone. "You're not answering my question, daughter dearest."

"Stay away from me!" Fausta hissed. She darted for the door, flung it open, and raced for Calan and Cloak's bedroom.

[tuo]

Fausta's hasty, and noisy entrance to their room quickly woke the lightly sleeping Calan, causing him to rise from his bed in a quick, fluid motion and with dagger in hand. "What on Naruta is the matter with you brat?!" He spoke harshly, too surprised by the sudden waking and the fact it was an upset Fausta to settle into his normal cold demeanor.

[Kender Bard]

Cloak was up quickly as well, a knife in her hand as well. Neither assassin slept without one of course.

Fausta glanced back over her shoulder. "I saw a g.. ghost," she replied shakily.

Cloak blinked slowly. "Are you kidding me?" she growled, putting the knife down. She gave Fausta a slap. "What are you, three years old?! A ghost? Outside of Spirit Night!"

Fausta cringed, holding her cheek. "It was my mother! Rajani!"

[tuo]

Calan remained silent and approached her, examining her closely for hints of her lying. "Is your pain significantly greater recently" He asked, clear that although he isn't dismissing her claim out of hand, he thinks she might just be suffering from some form of delusion.

[Kender Bard]

"No more than normal," Fausta replied quietly. Why hadn't Rajani pursued her?

Cloaked stalked out of the room to investigate. With her gone, Fausta looked up at Calan was an expression of fear more naked than she had ever shown him. She shivered. "She wanted to know where Shyamal was."

Cloak returned. "Nothing."

"What?" Fausta gasped. "She was right in there! She woke me up!" A half lie since she was already awake but she'd certainly been made more alert by the encounter.

[tuo]

Calan glanced over at Cloak, several thoughts running through his head. "Does this..dream bother you so much daughter?" He asks Fausta in a neutral tone, internally wondering if she is actually having some feelings of guilt, which would be unfortunate to say the least.

[Kender Bard]

"It's not a dream!" Fausta protested.

Cloak seemed to catch on to what Calan was thinking. "You don't have nightmares of the supposed murdering of your brother?"

"No!" Fausta snarled. "I wish he was alive so I could kill him again!"

"What?"

Evidently Rajani had simply been invisible and listening in. She appeared now, her expression one of shock. Cloak rapidly mirrored it--she could recognize the former priestess, even as a ghost.

"Oh my Taed," Cloak murmured.

"I told you!" Fausta cried out shrilly, inching to hide behind Calan.

Rajani's expression of shock twisted into one of pure, ugly hatred. "My Shyamal is not dead!! He can't be!"

[tuo]

Calan felt a spike of fear as Rajani's ghost appeared before them and he had to clamp down hard on his emotions in order to keep control of himself. "How long have you been stalking my child for spirit?" He spoke, trying to buy more time and acquire information about what Rajani knows at the same time. Even as he spoke though he tries to subtly move back, every muscle coiled and ready to spring to move himself and Fausta away from the ghost before them.

[Kender Bard]

"Your child!" Rajani replied with scorn. "I carried her and birthed her. Who are you, anyway?"

She seemed to remember her earlier outburst and turned venomous eyes on Fausta again. "You stabbed him!?"

"Yes," Fausta said through gritted teeth, glaring balefully at Rajani.

"Wicked child! WHY!?"

Fausta had never really been questioned on the why of it before. But the answer leapt to her lips, without even needing to be thought about. "You loved him, and Nissar preferred him over me. But he was weak and stupid. Love accomplishes nothing. Especially not in Morilanta." She couldn't help but smirk slightly, triumphantly. "Look at the three of you. You're all dead... But I'm still alive."

Rajani howled then, a blood curdling shriek. Cloak turned and pushed both Calan and Fausta towards the door. "Go to the temple!" she ordered them. After all, spirits haunted people on Spirit Night and it was known that the temple could provide refuge from an angry spirit.

[tuo]

Calan easily moved with the push Cloak gave him, pulling Fausta along to ensure she moved with him as he quickly sped up to leave the mansion by the quickest possible route, not bothering to waste breath responding to Cloak or telling her to take care of concerns she knows as well as he does.

[Kender Bard]

Fausta barely needed any prompting. That scream had made her blood run cold. On the upside, she didn't hurt anymore as fear coursed through her veins and she ran with Calan. By the time they'd reached the temple, she was breathing hard. "Which..." Huff. "Wing?" She had no real preference, though she doubted the main temple of Evil would keep angry spirits out. Like Evil gave a shit about anyone. So instead her eyes strayed to Taed's wing.

[tuo]

Calan took a few moments to catch his breath, his age wasn't doing him many favors for sprints like that but he nodded as he caught Fausta's glance to the Taed wing. "Be ready to exit to another wing just in case." He warned as he began to walk briskly towards the wing, already thinking about how to deal with this ghost if it doesn't go away soon.

[Kender Bard]

Fausta hurried after him, letting out a sigh of relief once they'd crossed the threshold. Somehow, she just felt safer here.

A few moments later, Rajani materialized outside the entranceway. She tried to enter... In vain. With a shriek of frustration, she disappeared again. Fausta shivered and moved close to Calan. The priests gathered glanced over them with some surprise and bewilderment but then went back to ignoring them. Most of them there were administering to the dead--or helping people to die as gently as possible. It was one of the few places in all of Morilanta where even a little bit of compassion could be so blatantly displayed.

"Do you think she's just going to haunt me forever?" Fausta asked in a small, frightened voice. She leaned in towards her guardian a little. "Let's find somewhere private to sit."

[tuo]

Calan allowed Fausta a moment to better catch her breath before giving her a nudge for her to steady herself as they searched for a place to sit. "We may need to find a way to..'kill' her."

[Kender Bard]

Once settled, Fausta smoothed her skirts and tried to calm her racing heart that still beat fast for fear. But as she calmed, the pain crept back and she shuddered at its return. "How?" she asked weakly. "Taed above, if I knew I'd be glad to be rid of the bitch forever. How dare she even claim to be my mother? Did you know what she had planned for me?" She clenched her hands into fists. "I was to be wed to some stupid get of the bitch-queen of Ekaitz. At least Emperor Saul got that much right when he went and subjugated them, as proper."