(OOG: Part B.)

"I'm sorry..." Mariko quickly provided, wiping off her dripping face with a brush of her sleeve. "I..." She managed a subdued sniffle, uncomfortably aware that her nose was beginning to drip. "Nobody's told me anything, in my family... nobody would tell me anything... so I didn't think you would either..."

Cyrene reached into a drawer and offered the girl a hankerchief, finally leaning back in her chair as Mariko wiped her face. "You know, of course, that you will have to atone, somehow. The Parliament may not be gentle." It was going to scare the girl, of course, but there was no easy way to put it. "Such an act is usually considered treasonous."

Mariko stared at the handkerchief for a few seconds, blinking; it seemed almost oddly subversive to be taking a handkerchief from the Queen of Shevat. She reached for it, though, not wanting to be so rude as to turn down the favor, and patted at her eyes and nose with it.

Her hand tightened around the cross, thumb rubbing over the red gem set in the center.

"I... understand," she said finally, swallowing.

So perhaps this was really it; perhaps she would end up spending the rest of her days in a dingy, ill-lit prison cell, or with her head in a basket, or... how did Shevat deal with treason, anyway? She shook her head lightly, realizing it would only panic her further to speculate on it...

Cyrene rose abruptly, moving around desk and visitor both, to head for the glass doors and the gardens beyond them. "Come with me," was all she said. She had finally, finally reached a conclusion, in her head -- but whether it would work or not depended on Mariko. And she did not want any prying ears to overhear them; not now.

Mariko stood up, shaking folds out of her uniform and brushing half-compulsively at her shirt. Hoisting her schoolbag onto her shoulder, she frowned-- was this the prisoner's march off to execution? The Queen was 500 years old, after all-- wasn't it probable that she had perfected the art of feigning kindness to doomed prisoners?

Glancing back, Cyrene noted the fleeting expressions passing through the girl's eyes, and berated herself for her lack of tact. "Leave your belongings here, child. We'll be back later on." She didn't give the girl time to reply, but proceeded through the doors instead, to stand at the edge of her vine-shaded patio to wait.

Mariko gently lowered the schoolbag to the ground. An odd thought passed through her head, and it seemed peculiarly fitting somehow: what if her aunt and uncle came to the Palace looking for her, following some mysterious lead, and found no trace of her but the schoolbag?

Hanging onto her pendant as if it had been a rope tethered to a sheer cliff, she mutely, dutifully followed the Queen through the glass doors leading to the adjoining garden.

As soon as the child joined her, Cyrene continued on, blinking a bit in the bright afternoon sun. The burning orb was low on the horizon; She led the girl toward the west edge of her garden, after a moment's thought; though it lead to the rail, and the drop into Bable Tower -- which would most certainly give the girl another scare -- she thought it would be peculiarly fitting, to complete this at such an hour.

There would certainly be no one there, to overhear, to spy...... except perhaps Syncalir. And he knew how to keep his mouth shut -- at least, until he had her alone. Lord knew what she would hear, then. But that was, of course, only if the girl decided to accept her alternate offer of dicipline.

Peculiar, that now -she- depended on the decisions of such a young girl. Time was an interesting river indeed.

Mariko followed behind her with guarded obedience; the sunset glare assailed her eyes, and she blinked, holding the handkerchief against them and dabbing away drying tears.

It wasn't long to her destination -- the palace was built close to the center of the ring that was Shevat, for security purposes; it was, supposedly, safer, though she wouldn't have bet money on it after the Diabalos attack. The paths and flowers, vines and trees, she passed without a glance; she was too intent on her contemplations, though she did slow her step twice to allow the girl to catch up.

When they finally did reach the spot, Cyrene could do nothing, for a moment, but lean on the rail and stare into the depths of the tower, wondering just how wise it would be for her to sidestep her ministers at a time like this. But..... what was done was done. She had already made up her mind.

So she turned, back to the sun, to once again meet the eyes of the girl she had pursued for the last few days.

The girl, for her part, hung back tenuously, hands still around the golden pendant. The faceted red gem caught a glint of brightness in the sunset, and reflected it into dozens of tiny stars in its depths.

"What is this place...?" she inquired softly. Evening winds swept brittle dead leaves across the patio with whispery rattles; they caught and tangled her hair, swept and batted at her skirt.

She'd been here twice before, but never much thought to take a look around-- she'd not noticed the railing at the edge before.

/If I was the Queen, and I wanted to get rid of a prisoner... this would be a good way to do it.../

**Politics, or the point?** Cyrene thought for a moment on the question, though it didn't take much in the way of brainpower to decide which -- this was a thirteen year old child she was dealing with, after all, not a back-stabbing courtier. Though...... well, it was always smart to take hold of potential enemies before they realized their power, correct? And this girl woult be of great interest, now that she had revealed herself.

"You were apologetic......" Cyrene raised her voice a trifle, hoping the winds would not push it away, or worse, to other ears. "How do you feel you should atone for your crime?"

Mariko took a deep breath of the cold winds, letting them dry away the remaining tears clinging to her face, waving bannerlike black strands of hair before her view.

"Do... you think I should die for it?"

She closed her eyes. In her mind, she saw her father's face for just a heartbeat, an image that made her closed eyelids burn and twitch. In the nebulous darkness of her mind, he reached out his hand...

"...... Die for it?" Cyrene's eyebrows felt as if they were rising to her hairline. "Certainly not. I would execute every one of my ministers if they even suggested such a thing."

Behind her closed eyelids, as she watched, her father's face cleared, solidified, and Mariko felt herself gasp physically-- the black hair was streaked with grey, the face wrought deeply with wrinkles that belonged on a man far older. The eyes were dark, deep, a well of bitter black water, so deep and very sad...

She snapped her eyes open. The wind whirled a cyclone of chittering dry leaves around her feet.

"I... stole classified information. What is the usual punishment for that?" The sun was starting to dip below the horizon; it would be dark within half an hour.

Cyrene shrugged. "It varies, really...... For someone of my stature, for instance, the penalty would be death, and understandably so; I would be a threat to the nation, were I left alive. But someone like you......." She shook her head. "It may be a bit insulting, but you would not be considered much of a threat. Confinement would be the worst they could do."

She turned back to the rail, this time staring across the void, and the glittering golden shield that seperated her from it, to the city of Aphel Aura in the distace. Even a mile away, its gentle curves and towers seemed to sooth her, as her eyes traveled their lengths.

"However, I have something else in mind," she continued, after a moment's pause. "Unless of course, you would prefer the Parliament. I cannot keep this from them, one way or another. Certainly not after such an open, hasty search as we sent......"

Mariko looked up at the Queen's face, daring eye contact for the first time and hastily finding a focus elsewhere, afraid that might be interpreted as a sign of rudeness. It couldn't be very polite to /not/ look at her either, she was sure, but...

She moved a few steps closer, following the woman's gaze to the sun-illuminated spires of Aphel Aura. "What is it...?"

Gaze dropping to the tower, Cyrene eyed its depth once again, wondering if she was jumping into a pit such as that, or if her Court would see this as beneath their notice -- as she hoped. Once could never tell, with such a volatile bunch of half-traitorous, would-be Solarians.

"I suppose you could call it a form of community service." A smile did grace her face then, if shortly. "I speak from experience when I say it will not be easy, or pleasant, most of the time, but...... I suppose it is better than incarceration." She shrugged again, an elegant hitch of her shoulders. "I didn't think so at the time, however...... But it is up to you."

"Community... service?" She was curious, now, about what personal experience the Queen of Shevat might possibly have had with it, but didn't dare to ask.

At any rate, however-- and it hit her all at once-- she would be allowed, at least, to have her life.

Irrationally, her heart continued to pound, even with her fears disproven and her crime all but absolved.

"Yes, just so. Service to me, rather than the community." On impulse, Cyrene lifted her slender hands, and slid the circlet from her brow, letting it dangle at her side from her fingers. "I have an aide, but in tradition, there are always others attending the queen -- I was one of those others, when I was your age.

"Usually it means a career here, in the palace, or at least a good mixing of politics, though......" she paused, that smile once again passing over her face. "...... I was chosen for the position after a fiasco worse than your own, if it makes you feel any better."

Slowly, Mariko offered a nod, though she recognized her own hesitance to be illogical: it was better, by far, than the prospect of facing an unreceptive bureaucracy.

"It's a simple thing." The words echoed, just a bit, as if Babel were throwing them back to her. "If you wish...... I can employ you as a..... handmaiden, I suppose is the closest term, and take you under my care. I would handle your education, and your needs, in place of your family, though only for the time you must perform service......

"Then, the choice to remain with me or return to the Koha residence would be your own, and you will be free if you so desire." She toyed with the circlet, wondering just how this would turn out -- or even if the girl would accept. It was an insane endevor, but worth the risk, she thought. "It is, of course, up to you - I will not require this of you."

Mariko kept a sort of silent vigil while the Queen spoke, and then, waiting a few seconds to chance a response, inquired, "What about... what about my parents? Er, I mean--" Her cheeks went red as she realized her instinctive slide into the lie. "My... aunt and uncle. What would you tell them?"

Cyrene shrugged, still fiddling with her circlet. "Whatever you would wish me to tell them. The truth hopefully, but......" She paused to smile to herself. "If you'd like to keep it from them, I can simply inform them of my discovery and tell them I want to keep you here for your own safety."

"I..." Mariko began, and then shook her head decisively with a flurry of hair. "I don't think they'd... think much of me if they knew what I'd done..." She glanced fleetingly at Cyrene, her eyes suggesting that more details lay on the tip of her tongue, but for politeness's sake she was keeping silent.

"Well then....... It can be arranged. This is the government, after all - I'm sure I can choose a fellow who can lie with a straight face." The promise out, Cyrene turned back to the girl, raising a delicate eyebrow. "Do you accept, then?"

A moment passed; the sun retreated further beneath the faint curve of the horizon, and leaves scuttled and chittered around the empty garden. Mariko stared down at her scuffed leather shoes, and almost timidly inquired, "Will... will you allow me to visit the surface? Even if I need to take guards with me?"

Cyrene thought for a moment, caught rather off-guard at the question. "The surface?" She shrugged after a moment, smoothing her expression. "Perhaps, if there were a reason for such a trip. But not likely for recreation, I'm afraid. It's too dangerous, with Solaris patrolling so many of the territories."

Mariko looked distant and forlorn for a moment, tugging aimlessly at the thick red ribbon which bound her hair; and then, with a quick toss of her long black ponytail, raised her head.

In a voice so quiet it nearly blended with the lonely chorus of the winds, she began, "If new information... about my father..."

Cyrene nodded, before the girl could gather courage to finish her sentence. "Yes, of course. He is your father - I am not so cold-hearted as to deprive you of that information, now that I know you're here. However......" She sighed, watching her circlet glint in the dying light. "It will depend entirely on your ability to keep that information confidential."

Mariko raised her head once, caught a glimpse of the Queen's eyes-- though they held a hint of gentleness, they were old, so very old, had /seen/ far too much-- and quickly lowered her head, facing the dry leaves scattering past her shoes on the stone patio. It was better than being executed, or imprisoned...

A petty, but nonetheless alluring thought pulled at the back of her mind: the Queen had promised to see to her schooling. The promise of any relief from those horrible, horrible children made it seem far less like a punishment, Mariko reflected, than it really ought to have.

"Well, are you ready to make your decision, child? I don't want to rush you with something so important, but my Minister of Defense is likely pacing a hole thorugh the lobby floor, waiting for me to see him." She felt a hint of amusement enter her tone and she nearly sighed again, imagining just what Synclair was going to bring to her this time......

"I'll stay..." Mariko's voice rose sharply above the cry of the winds for a second. They sounded like lost souls calling out for help from far away... She shook her head, glancing at the last sliver of the sun on the horizon as the world plunged into darkness. "With you..."

After a moment, Cyrene nodded. The look in the girl's eyes...... She suppressed the memory it conjured with a little difficulty, hoping it was just a product of her age that kept reminding her of the past. Memories of mistakes...... well, she hoped, very much, that taking this girl under her care was -not- a mistake. It was obvious she needed to be anywhere but where she was now..... but she wasn't sure the palace would end up much better than the schoolyard......

"Very well." She tapped the golden circlet once between her fingers, then extended it toward Mariko. "Take this, and ask Medena to escort you to my Head of Household. She will have your rooms prepared, and you will be allowed to call your family - I will explain things to them, unless you request otherwise."

Mariko reached, almost shyly, for the circlet extended in the woman's soft hand; a thin glint of light, the remains of the sunlight, played over its surface. "Thank you..." She paused a moment, wondering what title would imply the proper respect for such a display of mercy, and came up only with "Your Majesty..."

But...

But, at any rate... it was something. Something more than being small, and stupid, and pathetic, and helpless...

She didn't dare to imagine what would become of Solaris, or Father... or even to the rest of her family. But for now...

For now, at least, she had something better to cling to than shadows and whispers and misty dreams. Something real.

She didn't dare to call the feeling "hope," but to have an echo of it was better-- far better-- than nothing at all.

(Summary: Cyrene finally meets Mariko again, and the girl reveals her identity. After a long discussion, Mariko agrees to enter Cyrene's service.)