[RPG] [DWI][PeL] Alanna Anaris ~ The Temptress's Touch

[Timothy Collett]

Alanna sits down in the chair by the fire in her suite in the Askileon
Purlieus with a satisfied smile, pleased with herself for the message to the
realm advocating unity. Soon, she will have to join the assault on the
monsters in Nid Tek, but for now she needs to rest...

The fire crackles, and the shadow in the chair across from her suddenly
grows darker. "A pretty speech," a voice remarks, seeming to come from
everywhere at once. "And a good excuse for keeping people together so that *
you* can continue to order them around, hmm?" As the voice speaks, it begins
to resolve itself to the shadow in the chair, which also coalesces into a
frighteningly familiar figure.

Alanna surges to her feet, the mug of tea in her hand falling, forgotten, to
shatter on the floor. "You! Still you torment me! Why do you continue to
mock me? Are you trying to punish me for my service to your sister?"

Elanzil looks genuinely surprised. "Mock you? Punish you? I? My dear Alanna,
you have greatly misunderstood."

"Have I? You come to me in dreams, you laugh at me, you show me all that I
have failed in—"

"And all that you have succeeded in! Look at yourself! After you left
Ikalak, where the best of your plans failed against the onslaught of vastly
superior forces and the apathy and anarchy of your own men, you wandered,
lost, until you finally began to remember who you *really* are!"

"Oh?" Alanna challenges. "And who is that, then?"

Elanzil laughs—not a mocking laugh at all, but a warm, low chuckle. "You are
an Empress. In Outer Tilog, you knew it—but they could not accept your ways
any more than you could accept theirs. In Sirion, you knew it—you sought to
overthrow the entire *continent* and reshape it in your image! But the time
was not right, and you, you were too impatient.

"So you came here, seeking "adventure," which we both know truly means
conquest! And look at you! Now you are the Grand Imperatrix of a growing
nation! They do not all respect your authority yet—but they will soon."

Throughout this speech, Alanna's defiance has faltered. *All these things
She says about me...they are true. How can the Dark Lady see straight into
my soul? See things even I had not realized until now?*

But the Goddess has not finished. She leans forward in her chair, eyes wide
and bright with passion. "And how did you do all these things? Was it by
following the ridiculous precepts of my sunny Sister? "Mercy, prudence,
guardianship, and forgiveness"?

"No! It was by not letting anything stand in your way. Not superiors, not
customs, not laws, not even the truth.

"You got where you are...by following *my* path."

As She speaks, Alanna realizes with dawning horror that She is right. Knees
weakening, she sinks back into her chair. "No...no...Arelien, forgive me..."

Elanzil laughs again, standing as Alanna sits. "Why would you want Her
forgiveness? What can She give you that is better than what I offer?" She
comes around behind Alanna's chair and strokes her hair, gently caressing
her cheeks. "I can lead you to power beyond what you dreamed of in Ikalak.
There, you were merely a *Prime Minister*—elected by the people, first among
equals."

She leans down beside Alanna and murmurs in her ear, "Here, have you not
already thought that you could lead—not by consent, but by the force of your
own will? Not as a Prime Minister, not even as a Queen—but as an Empress, as
you were always meant to be?"

Alanna puts her face in her hands, and her shoulders begin to shake with
silent sobs.

This time, as Elanzil fades, there is no laugher: only a soft voice
whispering, "Think about it, Alanna..."

-- 
"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire is your heart."
~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan
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