Xilanada - The Four Fold Dissonance/Part 10

The rest of the walk was accomplished in silence. When they left Nexus District, the traffic began picking up. Apparently in this segment of the city trade hasn't shut down for the meteor anymore than it had for the nighttime.

Sen caught the eye of a carriage driver and summoned him over. Opening the door, he held out his hand to Solitary Coil. She looked mistrustful, but at last stepped close enough to hand Xilanada over.

Carefully, Sen brought his date into the carriage and settled her body and it's soaking wet dress across the back seat. He reached out again, politely, and wasn't surprised with Solitary Coil scoffed the proffered courtesy in favor of climbing in herself.

"To the School of the Six Poses of Lightning!" he called out to the driver. The slap of reins against the horses heralded their movement and Sen settled himself into the front bench across from the unconscious form of Xilanada. He wished he could see her better, but the lighting was poor in such a downfall.

The bone-white woman climbed into the bench next to him, tucking both of her legs underneath her. Her hands cupped her knees and she regarded Xilanada with an expression that so closely approximated worry and sorrow that Sen found himself uncomfortable. He didn't like her. She'd had demons throw him into the river! But it was hard to stay mad at someone who looked far more miserable than he did.

Unknowing, Xilanada slept beneath their mutual regard.

"Will she...recover?" Sen asked at last. "I still haven't gotten a good look at her and I'm concerned how bad her injuries are."

"Yes, she should," Solitary Coil said. Her voice was flat and empty.

"I trust you dealt with her kidnappers as they deserved," Sen shrugged. "I'm glad you found her."

"Tell me about her." Solitary Coil's words changed the subject rather abruptly, but Sen was inclined to let her, given that she could probably tear this carriage apart and make off with Xilanada again. He knew how to fight demons, but he couldn't handle a well trained Anathema as this one seemed to be. He didn't know what she could do. The unknown was a dreadful security risk.

"Xilanada's...well, she's new to the school. She just started teaching First Age Lore in the last few weeks, but she's been at the School for a couple of months now. She's already made a few friends there, and the students actually enjoy her classes. And that's not easy for First Age Lore."

Sen chuckled and was surprised to see the smallest flicker of a smile crack that expression of heartbreak. Encouraged, he continued.

"She has this little habit of swearing when she thinks no one's listening or paying attention, but she has a very kind heart. She listens to people. She seems shy, in a way, and I think that's what helps her make friends. She's always seemed a little lost, and that makes people protective of her."

"You love her," Solitary Coil said and her face turned to examine his. Sen tried to hide his surprise, and thought he did fairly well at it. He hadn't expected such perceptiveness from this absorbed creature. But looking in those sorrowful eyes set within such an astonishingly lovely face...it made lying seem impossible.

"So do you," he quietly answered.

They watched each other over an almost tangible barrier made up by their words and their feelings.

"You do not deny it?" she asked.

"No more than you do," he answered again.

"You must know she can only be with one of us," Solitary Coil whispered.

"I suppose that's true," he nodded. "It's funny. I didn't know that she loved women. I never got that impression from her."

"I didn't either," Solitary Coil said, and her eyes closed over the pain that swelled in them. Her face turned away and she went back to watching Xilanada. "I didn't either," she repeated.

"I'm...sorry," Sen fumbled, hating this forced conversation. What was he supposed to do, feel bad for her and help her get the girl? The one he loved beyond reason? By Hesiesh, he was trained as a gentleman but a gentleman had limits! "Maybe it won't much matter," he offered.

"Perhaps not for you." Solitary Coil shook her head.

"Perhaps not for either of us," Sen pressed. "I don't think she's really looking for a relationship at all right now. We had a friendly dinner, but she's as far away from more as the Moon is from the Sun."

"Whether she wants a relationship or more or less, it won't matter," Solitary Coil insisted fiercely. "You can walk away whenever you wish. I'm not so free."

"What makes her so different? Who is she, Coil?" Sen wondered if it was wise to press her on the answers, but he understood too little to have a clear enough picture here. Having the clear picture was important. Not just for security but for...personal reasons he was still reluctant to admit to.

"She's the one I'm meant to be with, Sen. The one I am to love." Solitary Coil turned around in her seat, embracing her knees with her arms. The posture was oddly defenseless and seemed dramatically at odds with her facility with demons, as well as that spot of blood still on her mouth.

"I'm the Moon, Sen. Solitary, just as my name suggests. I'm distant, removed. I gaze upon the world, but it doesn't touch me. No one will forget me, but no one will know me. No one would really want to."

"Xilanada...is my Sun, Sen," she said, and tears gathered in her eyes. "She is the Light. My Light. She touches me where no one else can. She doesn't see the Moon, distant and unreachable. She sees me. She's the only one who really sees me."

"You'll never know what that's like, Sen." Her glare, the sneer, yes that was the true Solitary Coil coming out, the one Sen had seen and knew. "Child of the Dragons, a son of privilege. My power is greater than you'll ever taste in your lifetime. But where your power brings people, mine pushes them away. People throw themselves at your feet, Scion of House Tepet. Men swear allegiance to you and women gladly writhe under you in hopes of bearing your children."

Sen shrugged. He didn't deny it had happened and didn't see a reason to do so.

"Xilanada is the only one in my life who will ever know me. She's the only one who can reach out and touch me. And I want her to, Sen. I want her love. I burn for it. It's a fever that consumes me. It...makes me cry, I want her so much." Solitary Coil bowed her head, white hair falling forward to conceal the tears that doubtlessly ran free.

What kind of an Anathema was this woman? Was this demonic creature so secure in her power that she would show such weakness to him? Maybe she was trying to bait him, convince him she was too sad to be a threat and then she'd devour him. She was certainly harsh enough for him to believe it.

It was moments like this that made Sen grateful for the way the Realm did things. No one usually loved their spouse and he didn't expect to either, whenever his House finally figured out whom to marry him to. He could love Xilanada unconditionally and not worry about happily ever after. In the rules of the Dynasty, there was a freedom.

He prayed that if Xilanada ever really rejected him, that he would not be half so much the fool that this woman was acting.

Like a good Dynast, he showed nothing of what he thought. Instead, he gave Solitary Coil peace and space to cry as she wished, politely averting his eyes. The carriage ride was uncomfortable, all the more so because of what they were to each other, because of Xilanada. At least the golden-haired teacher slept peacefully. If that deep sleep borne of injury and exhaustion could be called peaceful.

At last they reached the School.

Sen opened the door for Coil, who at once lifted Xilanada and stepped out of the carriage with as much grace as he could manage himself. Her face was composed again, regal in its icy aloofness. Something dangerous lurked in her eyes but it worried him less. The School was right there and, even at this hour, enough people would be awake to rally the teachers quickly. He could hold her until they arrived and flattened her.

"So this is where Xilanada lives now," she said instead. "So be it. Since you...care for her, I will charge you with her health. Treat her well and be at your best in doing so, or you shall answer for it from me. In the meantime...I will call again. I pray Xilanada has the courage to see me."

The Anathema glared down at the unconscious woman and slowly walked away, leaving the schoolteacher sleeping in Sen's arms. He couldn't resist a smile. He had the woman of his dreams in his arms, literally swept off her feet. What a shame the truth of the matter was as ephemeral as this moment was.

In the end, Tepet Sen had the feeling that there was no happy ending here.