[Author’s Note: we're back a year before the events of the previous episode.]
Rin was used to finding unwanted guests in her room; it was par for the course in a place like Freetown. That was why she always returned by a hidden back alley. Even if watching the street, they wouldn’t see her until it was too late.
The door didn’t lock, and a modest kick would have broken it anyway. The room itself lacked basic amenities, but Rin didn’t care. She had slept in far worse places and had no intention of being there long. Nor did she have any possessions worth worrying about. If her passport (Canadian, at the time) was lost or her wallet stolen, it would be a minor inconvenience and nothing more. Her purpose was all that mattered, and that purpose was here. Or so she hoped.
Naturally, an attractive foreigner would invite attention. She had dealt with several intruders already, with varying levels of severity. There even was one boy who couldn’t have been more than ten, probably sent to rape her as a rite of passage. She doubted he was old enough to actually desire her. Rin let him off with a warning and a couple of bruises, though she confiscated his AK47. She doubted his comrades would be impressed, but that was his problem not hers. Nonetheless, he could count himself lucky. Others had not been.
Rin froze when she perceived a silhouette, praying it wasn’t her. The woman was quietly examining Rin’s effects, but absentmindedly rather than with the urgency of a thief. Obviously, she had been waiting for some time. Sensing a presence behind her, the woman turned and tried to make out who it was. A few moments later, she blushed.
“I’m terribly sorry, I thought you were somebody else. Unless that’s you. Is it you, Rin?”
Rin adopted a stern countenance as she emerged from the shadows, and replied in her best Afrikaans accent. “Who the hell are you?”
Sree appeared mortified and stood. “I’m so sorry, I thought somebody else was staying here.”
“Just get the hell out, crazy woman,” Rin barked, stepping aside to clear a path.
Sree looked sad and walked toward the door. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated in her soft voice before leaving.
Rin felt a surge of guilt and an almost irresistible compulsion to call her back. But before she could do anything, Sree’s head popped back through the door.
“You aren’t concerned that I stole anything?”
“You are crazy,” Rin snapped back. “Just be glad I let you off. Do you know what the jails are like here?”
Sree didn’t move, and pondered the matter aloud. “You found a strange woman in your room, rummaging through your things. But you aren’t concerned that I stole anything.” She looked up. “Why aren’t you concerned that I stole anything?”
Rin casually picked up the confiscated AK47 and pointed it at Sree. “You know, I think you’re right. Did you steal anything, crazy woman?”
“Yes, that makes more sense,” Sree mused to herself and walked out again.
Rin dashed after her, but Sree suddenly turned. “Be careful,” she warned softly.
“Says the one who hid in my room like a coward. Maybe it wasn’t money you were after.” Rin rubbed her own breasts.
Sree suppressed a laugh. “No. Thank you, though. You are very beautiful, and I’m sure it would have been delightful. But I fear I would not be pleasant company tonight.”
Rin always was amazed at the grace with which Sree deflected unwanted advances and the effortless manner in which she spared the feelings of others. “One never should scorn a compliment,” she once explained. “It is undignified.” This made little sense to Rin, but so did most of Sree.
“Wait. Maybe I could help you find this woman,” Rin offered.
Sree glanced back from the end of the hall and shook her head. “Thank you, but I do not think so. Unless you saw another woman. She looks a bit like me, I think. I’m her sister, you see.”
“You don’t know what your own sister looks like?” Rin stammered in faux shock.
“It is difficult to explain, but thank you for trying.”
Sree seemed downcast, even defeated. But that was better than the alternative. Far better. Rin realized her own fear had been misguided. She need only pretend, and Sree never would find her. This was not the first time Rin had been grateful for her unrecognizability, but it could very well have been the most important. Rin breathed a sigh of relief and began to walk away.
“Well, that’s rather insulting, sister,” she heard her own voice call out. “I didn’t think you’d give up that easily.”
It took Sree a moment to register her words. Suddenly she brightened and clapped her hands together, then burst into tears. “Is that really you, sister?”
“I suppose so,” Rin grumbled as she led Sree back into the room. It was frustrating enough that her own tongue had betrayed her, but worse that the damned thing was as indestructible as the rest of her. Rin would have liked to tear it out and burn it. Why wasn’t she the type of immortal who simply regenerated, the type in those books about magic and wizards and vampires? Then she never would run out of tongues to burn. But part of her also was glad. She had made a promise, and it would not do to break a promise, least of all to Sree. How could Rin pretend that anything had meaning if even this simple thing was beyond her?
“But why did you say you weren’t?” Sree asked. Sometimes she was so muddleheaded that Rin wanted to hit her, not that it would have done any good. Perhaps that was all the more reason to do so. Instead, Rin settled for ignoring the question. She sat down and studied Sree.
“What do you want?”
“That’s not very nice, sister,” she admonished, clearly disappointed with the reception.
“Sorry, it’s been a long week and I’m in no mood. Drink?” Rin offered. Sree thanked her but declined, settling onto a small cot in the corner of the room. It was an odd way to have a conversation. Rin walked over and yanked Sree to her feet. Then she picked up the cot and placed it opposite her own chair. Sree smiled and sat back down.
“What are you doing in such a place?” Sree wondered aloud.
Rin scowled. “I’m hunting. War zones are good for spotting Proteges. They tend to stand out by not getting killed.”
“Don’t you stand out too, sister?” Sree asked.
Rin tried not to roll her eyes. “I’m not an idiot. These …,” Rin waved expansively, “assholes all think I’m Afrikaner, one of those S.O. bozos.” She paused to clarify. “Strategic Outcomes. Actually, at the moment I am. Hopefully, you won’t drive away my quarry.”
“What if I am your quarry?” Sree laughed cheerfully.
Rin really wanted to punch her. Instead, she too laughed. “Then, I’ll be sure to punish you accordingly.” Suddenly, Rin had a thought. “Better not let any of the S.O. guys see you. They may become troublesome.”
Sree smiled sweetly. “It’s so kind of you to worry. I met a few people along the way, but I charmed them. They didn’t bother me after that.”
Rin walked over to the window, and her eyes lazily swept the street. She cursed. How had she not heard Sree doing this? It must have meshed with the ever-present background sounds of violence. That was the downside to sneaking in the back way.
“Yep, you sure charmed them,” Rin sighed, and plopped back onto her chair.
“One of them told me that I should leave soon because the rebels are approaching. They’ll massacre everyone, it seems.”
“No need now,” Rin muttered.
“He was nice,” Sree remarked wistfully.
Not nice enough to avoid being gutted, apparently. Sree sometimes surprised her. She always had been a pacifist when young, which was troublesome in a culture where pacifism wasn’t even recognized as a meaningful concept. Even now she spoke as if appalled by violence. But then … this.
Rin had heard the rumors, but this was the first time she had seen it firsthand. Apparently, anti-violence meant no weapons. And no people who carried them. Did even sweet little Sree appear a monster to the world? Was it impossible to maintain innocence in the face of eternity?
Rin chuckled. “They should massacre everybody. It will be a fun time.”
“They’re mostly children,” Sree objected with an air of distaste.
“So were those guys outside,” Rin observed. “By our standards everyone is a child.”
“Better childlike than a child,” beamed Sree.
Rin shook her head. “I don’t know who is worse. Did I make you like this?”
“Of course, sister. Everything I have I owe to you,” she chirped, throwing herself on Rin and planting a kiss on her lips.
Rin gently pushed her away. There was no helping it. Before she could attend to any real business, she would have to deal with Sree. She was about to ask again what had prompted the visit, but Sree preempted her.
“It wasn’t very nice of you to run away,” she pouted.
Rin was tempted to feign ignorance and claim that she simply moved cities from time to time in the ordinary course of affairs. After all, what proof did Sree have that those movements had anything to do with her? For all she knew, Rin was utterly oblivious to her pursuit. But that wouldn’t do. She had promised, and Sree of all people deserved better than lies. Rin looked down and replied slowly.
“I know what it is you want of me.”
Sree suddenly was sobbing. “You promised. Does that mean nothing?”
Rin held her tight. “I did not realize what I was promising. You tricked me. I thought you would do the sensible thing and choose to be last.”
“That’s not what I asked for. Are you sure you didn’t know?” Sree asked, her eyes pleading.
Rin almost nodded, but realized that Sree was right. She had known, even if she only realized it later. She desperately wished to avoid the responsibility of having to kill Sree and had jumped at the chance for another to shoulder it instead. Sure, Rin would have to act — nobody else could — but Sree would say when. By giving Sree a choice, Rin had abdicated her own. If Rin wanted to choose, she should have retained that prerogative. A queen does not revoke a privilege bestowed, and a woman does not deny her sister’s dying wish.
Rin suddenly dropped to her knees and pleaded. “Please, sister, don’t ask this thing of me.” Sree was shocked and got on her knees as well, making the spectacle even more awkward.
“It is not proper for a queen to kneel before a subject,” she remonstrated. “Or an older sister before her younger.”
“We’re the same damned age for all practical purposes,” Rin retorted. Then she held her sister and cried for several minutes.
Finally, she looked at Sree. “You are the only one I do not wish to kill. Without you, what will I …,” Rin almost cried again but had nothing left. She stood and wiped her face.
Sree too stood, wearing a bittersweet smile. “You have gone centuries without me. Even since we last met, what has it been — almost a hundred years?”
Rin nodded.
“That was your own fault.” Sree’s voice was gently accusative. “It could have been less. We agreed on a way of getting in touch. I tried many times.”
Rin grabbed her sister. “I’m so sorry. When I understood, I knew I had to avoid you. It was … dishonest of me. How unqueenly to flee.”
Sree gave a maudlin laugh. “It is sad, that. I wasn’t going to ask you yet, I merely wanted to see you. I had hoped …” Seeing Rin’s pained expression, she hesitated before finishing the thought.
“I had hoped to spend some time with you before making this request, to live in your world for a little while and get to know my sister as she now is. All of who she is. I missed you terribly.”
Aww, Rin has a soft side! Who even knew she was capable of producing tears? I don't trust Sree, for some reason...