Chapter 49: Sascha's Story -------------------------- The air above Doma Castle was quiet and undisturbed. It was a clear, balmy day, and a soft breeze blew from the east. A brightly coloured butterfly fluttered its resplendent wings in the warm sunlight. The, suddenly, the air above the palace shimmered. The sun was blotted out by the appearance of the Imperial fleet. A chill passed over the area, and the butterfly became just another shadow... One by one, the dark ships made their descent to the landing pad behind the castle. From the sleekest, blackest craft stepped a young woman. She had bright, alert green eyes, and chin length wavy red hair. Had she not been dressed in such sinister fashion, her beautiful, honest face would have seemed misplaced in this environment. Then, from the hatch behind her, emerged a man in a bright violet cape. The young woman's eyes lit up, and she smiled radiantly as she took his arm. One would never have guessed that she was the leader of the New Imperial Forces...What happens to the bloom of youth to make it blacken and wither so? How did an innocent young girl from a small town get mixed up in this? What could be on the mind of such a uniquely formed individual? "Give me a status report on our ships, Oliver." Lieutenant Thomas Oliver snapped off a salute to his commander before replying. "All ships are on schedule, Mistress," he answered, "except the Chimaera. But if it arrives in the next half-hour, it will still be within allowable time parameters." "Very well, Lieutenant," said Sascha. "You may go now. I think we all deserve a rest." With this blessing, Thomas scurried off to his quarters, followed closely by the rest of the Defiant's crew complement. The young leader turned to her dark-haired companion, and smiled her beautiful smile again. "So! Here we are! Doma... my home now." Garland looked up at the huge structure before him. "It's... very... big!" "Oh! Wait till you see the inside! Some of the rooms are like caverns! But it's all so beautiful...Come on, I'll show you." Pulling him by his arm, she walked towards the back entrance of the castle. Much later, the two newfound lovebirds were sitting in Sascha's personal quarters. Her rooms were very large, with high vaulted ceilings. There was a huge stained glass window above the canopied bed, depicting the War of the Magi. The curtains that fell around it, dropping all the way down to the floor, were the colour of blood, to match the deep carpet. The dark stone of the walls did nothing to enhance the cheery atmosphere of the chamber. Sascha, however, didn't seem to notice. She sat cross legged on the bed, prattling away. "And what I showed you today is just the west wing!" she said exuberantly, speaking as much with her hands as with her lips. "The east is still undergoing refurbishing. But soon, there'll be lots of labs and factories in there, just like at Vector... So, what do you think?" Garland looked around at the very Gothic bedchamber of his lady. "Well," he began, "it's all very nice, and I'm sure it's all quite expensive... but... don't you find it a little... depressing? It's so dark!" Sascha looked puzzled. "Huh? No, I guess I never thought of it that way. I always thought it was....inspiring." She giggled, crinkling up her nose. Garland couldn't help but notice how irresistibly cute she looked, and his dark mood evaporated. "Inspiring, huh? Well, what would inspire me right about now is some food! I'm starved!" He fell to the ground clutching at his stomach in mock agony. "Hunger... pain... too much! Can't... make it... Aaarrgh!" "Come on you," she said playfully, grabbing his cape, "let's see if I can't find you some dinner before you waste away to nothing, huh?" * * * * * The dining hall was as big as everything else at Doma; that is to say, cavernous. As, apparently, was Garland's appetite. The entire lower half of the main table was covered with plates, which he was doing his best to clean. "I have *never*," began Sascha, sounding rather stunned, "never, seen a human being eat so much!" "Well, the answer to that one is simple, my dear," he said, looking up from his scarf-a-thon with a mischievous grin. "I... am not human! Mwa ha ha!" "That's right!" she giggled, "you're... a pig! Oink, oink, oink!" This bit of insight caused Garland to burst out laughing, which of course sent food flying everywhere. "Ewww!" shrieked Sascha, laughing hysterically. "That's... disgusting!" "I did it just for you, baby," said Garland with a wink. "But seriously," he continued, looking thoughtful as he munched on a drumstick, "I think it's this castle. It's so big, it's even enlarged my appetite!" "Well then," she said, punching him playfully, "I guess I'd better tell the chefs to be on twenty-four hour duty!" She laughed again. After a period of comfortable silence, Garland spoke up again. "Sascha, there's something I've been wanting to ask you." "Hmmmmm?" "Why *are* you with the Empire, anyway? You don't seem to fit the mould. You're not like them!" "Garland, Garland, Garland." She sighed in mock exasperation. "You're going to have to lose that silly Returner thinking, you know!" Grinning, she ruffled his long brown hair. "But if you really want to know, I'll tell you." A faraway look drifted across her face. "I was born and raised in a village called Kohlingen. You've probably heard of it." Garland nodded. Every Returner knew of what had happened there... "I was the innkeeper's daughter, and I worked for my father as a waitress. I saw lots of adventurers in there; knights, merchants, pilgrims, assassins...and Kohlingen began to seem, well, boring. I wanted to be an adventurer too. I wanted to be... so much more... "I had nothing to lose. Merine was my only friend; my parents weren't rich enough for me to be really popular. Anyway, I told my dream to my family. And they laughed at me. They all laughed at me. The whole town... I can still hear it ringing in my ears..." Here Sascha's voice took on a bitter note. "They told me I would never make it; that the only thing I would ever be good for was looking pretty and serving drinks. That hurt, more than anything I had ever experienced before, and I hadn't had an easy life. That was when I began to hate them," she continued venomously, "*all* of them. As soon as I'd saved enough for a flimsy suit of armour, I quit and left. My father didn't care; he figured I'd be back within the week, begging for my job back. I would rather have died than give him the satisfaction. And I almost did. "I was cold, wet, tired, and sick when he found me. I had nearly been killed by a monster, and I was dying by inches from the poison in my blood. He saved my life... he saved *me*." "Who?" "Akfek, of course!" she answered brightly. "He saw something in me that no one else did, and he took me under his wing. He gave me everything I could ever have wanted: power, fame... And the first thing I did with that power was burn my hometown to the ground." Sascha smiled a smile that sent shivers down Garland's spine. She looked so breathtakingly beautiful, and at the same time, so incredibly evil... 'Nah,' he thought, must be the light...' Sascha continued. "Thanks to him, I have respect. People look up to me now. They respect me. They *fear* me. They don't laugh behind my back; they cringe when they hear my name! And..." Her sweet, radiant smile returned. "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have met you!" Garland just nodded. Much as he loved Sascha, he wasn't going to try and figure out *that* piece of logic. "Akfek has made me what I am today. I owe him *everything*." Garland was about to say that *he* owed Akfek something too - a punch in the nose - but thought better of it. Then, suddenly, Lieutenant Oliver burst into the room, looking excitedly from left to right and frantically waving a piece of paper above his head. Finally, his eyes alighted on Sascha. "Mistress DelAubre!" he shouted, dashing towards her. "What is it, Tommy?" "I have an urgent message from Vector for you, my Lady!" He handed her the much distressed piece of paper. "It just arrived via cutter!" "Thank you lieutenant. You may go." Oliver nodded, then dashed off the way he had come. Full of energy, that one,' thought Garland to himself. For some reason, he got a mental picture of Lieutenant Oliver bouncing around dressed in white spandex and talking to a cat-headed sword. He shook his head to clear it of the disturbing image. "Must be all those spices..." he muttered. "What?" said Sascha distractedly, looking up from the letter. "Oh, nothing. What's the note say?" Sascha's brow furrowed slightly. "It's a bit muddled... Akfek's writing is terrible! Something about getting our Magitek labs ready for a big project... and, he wants to meet with me here tomorrow... about some guy who wants to help us, or something..." "Some guy?" Garland inquired curiously, toying absently with a glass. "Anyone I would know? Anyone I should be jealous of?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "This says his name is... hm, is that a 'C' or an 'L'?... Oh, OK. Cardia Lemieux." The glass fell, shattering in an explosion of crystal shards. Wine the colour of blood pooled on the cold stone floor.