xxiii. dictated

[heloise]

Spike
He came home.

What terrible months we have seen, before even the dog days arrive!

I say we put an end to it, at once. The Castle drinks our joys as greedily as it feeds on our sorrows; we might show it that happiness is what we seek. Happiness beyond bound, which we would gladly offer as payment for our borrowed time, and no more tears.

Summer brings music and merriment to the streets of Rome, gypsies and pilgrims alike dancing together. We can do similarly here.

Comments

[gottaknockhard]

I've been told I sometimes waste opportunities.

[heloise]

[ That he does, and as much as she doesn't mind humoring him, she is growing irritated by all his dodging. ]

Will you come to visit me?

[gottaknockhard]

[And he thinks this is opening up.]

I'm surprised I haven't worn out my welcome yet.

[heloise]

Never. Joshua enjoys your company.

[gottaknockhard]

I wonder how that happened.

[heloise]

So do I. [ And not only in his case. ]

Why, do you think?

[gottaknockhard]

Associations, maybe.

[heloise]

His sister?

[gottaknockhard]

I don't think I ever met her.

[heloise]

She was never here.

[gottaknockhard]

They must have an interesting family.

[heloise]

[ She thinks better of speaking about his family, when he was so upset over her sharing details about their little family comprised of the magical child. ]

More interesting than mine?

[gottaknockhard]

[That works out for Spike. He likes to keep the details he knows to a minimum.]

I haven't met yours either.

[heloise]

My brother was here. [ She swallows. Her throat is dry. ]

The Pope is my father.

[gottaknockhard]

[... He seems to remember Joshua making a comment about some kind of religious background she had. The Pope must be the head of it, from what he can recall.]

Do you miss them?

[heloise]

My brother, every hour of every day.

[ The Pope on the other hand, she is glad to be free of his designs, for the moment. ]

Have you any family, Spike?

[gottaknockhard]

[He remembers that too, how she looked at him when she got the two of them confused, and he regrets asking.]

Not any left.

[heloise]

[ She regrets asking too, when she would rather die than be the one left behind. By some luck, she would die of childbirth sooner than any of them die of poison or battles. ]

Do you miss them?

[gottaknockhard]

[His family is a little unconventional. Spike had just been sponsored into the syndicate when his father died, and Mao took over that role. He never knew his mother, and the person he would have considered his brother killed him years after Spike's betrayal.]

Maybe.

[heloise]

You do not know?

[gottaknockhard]

It's been a long time.

[heloise]

How terribly sad.

[gottaknockhard]

... [When he puts it that way, it probably does sound sad.]

Different circumstances. My father wasn't a Pope.

[heloise]

He was your father, still. He would always be.

[gottaknockhard]

Yeah. I've got a lot to thank him for.