Dark Whispers, Chapter 6

 She sat in her office listening to the rain outside, her eyes closed and focusing on the sounds of each drop striking the glass behind her. Her eyes were closed, and she was deep in thought.

The knock on her door brought her back to the present.

"Enter," she said with a sigh.

Opalynna, her daughter, entered with a stack of papers in her hands.

"I have the reports you asked for," Opal said as she walked across the room and laid them on the desk. "The laboratory results and the reports from the magicians who studied the coffin and the body."

Alustrae looked up at her, her eyes feeling heavy. "Put it all over there, in the box by the fire."

Opal walked to the fireplace and dropped the papers in the box. She was a bit confused as to why she did not read them, but she did as she was told.

"Mother?"

"Yes?"

"What is wrong?"

Alu took a deep breath, about to speak, when Captain Varlikh walked in the door. Taliamini followed behind him.

Alu's eyes narrowed. "I know. Varlikh. Please, this is not any easier-"

"Business is business, love." He shrugged. "The Queen has closed the case. It's over. My merry band of killers is on to the next group of sick bastards to kill."

He handed Alu a royal decree. Alu read it and nodded.

"So, that is it, then," Alu said. "It is over. We can move on."

Varlikh smiled. "I've killed scores of freaks and death worshippers over this, and I am not sure any of them were the actual perpetrators. The killings outside of the cities have stopped, the trails have gone cold, and I can only assume that we killed enough to snuff them out, or force them to go to ground deep enough they won't try anything like this again."

Opal's eyes widened. "So, all those people dead, and we don't even know who started it?"

Varlikh smiled. "I've killed the bad guys. What more could you ask?"

"To know who did it." Alu narrowed her eyes. "I would have liked to have known who was behind the death and chaos."

"I'm sure you would have," he said, placing a document with a royal seal on her desk. "This is for you to sign. The missing girl. Presumed gone, this notification needs to go to her place of employment and the Halas Registrar."

Alu sighed and nodded. "I'll be sure to get it to them. You didn't want to do this?"

He shrugged. "I avoid the place."

Alu nodded. "Yes, I would too, if I were you. You are not exactly a welcome sight there."

"It is a former whore house," he shrugged. "Places like that don't change their stripes."

"And you have no more clues or leads?" Alu asked.

Varlikh shook his head. "Nothing. Just the rumors, and we followed up on them all. No one has seen hide or hair of the cult since we killed them off. I guess we killed the right people. There is no one else to be found. The case is closed. You know the old saying, all ends are dead ones."

Alu nodded. "And you are fine with this ending? Just letting it go and saying, We think we killed the right ones?"

Varlikh shrugged. "It's the best we can do. There is no one else to kill. I mean, until the next sorry son of a bitch is handed over to me."

Alu looked at her desk and nodded. "So, what do you want from me? You came all the way here to tell me it's over, and you have no idea who the actual perpetrator was. Why?"

"Because you are the one who started it all," he said, coldly. "You started this. And now, you have to finish it."

Alu bit her lip. "All right, I'll take it to them."

"The Queen wants you to do it," Varlikh said. "She wants you to take these papers to the Spider. I would have done it myself, but we both know how much the owner hates me."

Alu nodded. "Deservedly so."

He shrugged. "It is an ugly job. Someone has to do it. And if that means a few undesirables get their throats cut, so be it."

Alu nodded and bit her tongue. She was not going to argue this point with him. Not now. She had to do what he said, or he would cause more trouble for her than it was worth. She knew he would be happy to see her fail. He was looking for any excuse to remove her from her position and exile or imprison her.

She would make sure that never happened. She would prove Var wrong and show that she was capable of handling any situation. She would show the Queen that she could handle this. She would do her job and make sure that the people of Qeynos were safe and protected, even if it meant working with this man.

She stared at him in silence.

He smiled an executioner's grin, nodded to Taliamini, and they left.

She leaned back in her chair, motioning to Opal to put the files in storage instead of the fireplace. Then, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind. Opalynna came over and sat in the chair across from her. She was silent for a moment.

"I wish it didn't have to be like this," Alu said. "I wish it didn't have to be like this. The truth is, we never found the killer. We just killed the bad guys we knew. They are all dead, or in the dungeon, or hiding so deep underground we will never find them."

Opal looked at her, her eyes full of tears. She had a feeling she knew what her mother was going to say. She could feel the sadness and anger in her voice.

Alu sighed. "The truth is, Opal, sometimes the bad guys win. Sometimes, they get away with it, and there is nothing we can do about it. We can't always stop them, no matter how hard we try. We can't always bring them to justice. We can't always protect the innocent and vulnerable."

Alu paused. "But we can't stop trying. We can't stop fighting. We can't stop trying to make a difference. We must continue to try, work hard, and strive to do our best. That's the only thing we can do."

Alu's voice was low and quiet.

"And we can't always pick our co-workers."