{"id":1047,"date":"2024-12-31T19:35:49","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T00:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/?p=1047"},"modified":"2025-01-28T23:09:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T04:09:02","slug":"the-changeling-game-chapter-94","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/the-changeling-game-chapter-94\/","title":{"rendered":"The Changeling Game, Chapter 94"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\">\ntt {\nfont: .857em menlo, monaco, consolas, monospace;\nmargin: auto;\n}\nh2 {\ntext-align: center;\n}\nh2.chapterhead {\nmargin-bottom: 2em;\ntext-align: center;\n}\n  .nowrap {\n    text-indent: 0;\n    display: inline-block;\n}\n<\/style>\n<p><b>Title:<\/b> The Changeling Game <small>(Formerly <i>Identity Theft<\/i>)<\/small><br \/>\n<b>Author:<\/b> Ardath Rekha<br \/>\n<b>Chapter:<\/b> 94\/?<br \/>\n<b>Fandom:<\/b> <i>Pitch Black<\/i> (2000); <i>The Chronicles of Riddick<\/i> (2004); <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury<\/i> (2004)<br \/>\n<b>Rating:<\/b> X<br \/>\n<b>Warnings:<\/b> Adult themes, controversial subject matter, harsh language<br \/>\n<b>Category:<\/b> Het<br \/>\n<b>Pairing:<\/b> Riddick\/Jack<br \/>\n<b>Summary:<\/b> Dame Vaako attempts to get to know Audrey, or perhaps Jack, better. But when she tries to help her find a mysterious book, things spiral out of control. No good deed goes unpunished\u2026<br \/>\n<b>Disclaimer:<\/b> The characters and events of <i>Pitch Black,<\/i> <i>The Chronicles of Riddick,<\/i> and <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury<\/i> are not mine, but belong to Universal Studios.  I just <i>wish<\/i> I were in charge of their fates.  No money is being made off of this.  I\u2019m writing strictly for love of the story.<br \/>\n<b>Feedback:<\/b> Absolutely, the more the better!  Shred me, whip me, beat me, make me feel grammatical! I post \u201crough,\u201d so I can always use the help. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<input type='hidden' bg_collapse_expand='6ae36c7b8b7295024282878' value='6ae36c7b8b7295024282878'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-more-text-6ae36c7b8b7295024282878' value='Long post is long. Click to read the story.'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-less-text-6ae36c7b8b7295024282878' value='Hide the story again.'><button id='bg-showmore-action-6ae36c7b8b7295024282878' class='bg-showmore-plg-button bg-green-button  '   style=\" color:#D9ECFB;\">Long post is long. Click to read the story.<\/button><div id='bg-showmore-hidden-6ae36c7b8b7295024282878' >    <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"chapterhead\">94.<br \/>\n<u>The Vengeance God\u2019s Devotee<\/u><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou\u2019re wrong about the Riddick, Chantesa.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It was, Dame Vaako thought, the first time her husband had ever said such a thing to her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She was used to him doubting her, questioning her, especially whenever he\u2019d intuited that she was preparing to demolish a rival to their rising power. But he had <i>never<\/i> told her that she was wrong before.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat makes you think that?\u201d she asked, hiding her unease as she removed her makeup.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI spoke to him. He is planning on marrying his Jack. They are currently negotiating the terms between them.\u201d Vaako was pacing, the way he often did when something was bothering him. \u201c<i>He<\/i> expressed concerns that the wives of other Lords might not have been consulted about <i>their<\/i> marriages.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI know what I saw, husband.\u201d She sighed, taking a plundered tub of lotion out of a drawer. \u201cThe girl was terrified. Stammering. Shaking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI remember you shaking and stammering when you sold me the lie about your first husband committing heresy. You even had tears in your eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Damn it. <span class=\"nowrap\">But\u2026<\/span> he had a point. She\u2019d had to manipulate eight different men into challenging the Lord Vath before one of them survived doing so and killed him for <span class=\"nowrap\">her\u2026<\/span> and she had been much the same age that \u201cAudrey\u201d was now.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou believe she was duping me?\u201d It was an unsettling, unpleasant thought.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe Riddick thinks so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cTo what end?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI don\u2019t know, Chantesa. You tell me what your games were. Why did you want Lord Vath dead?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She frowned at him, staying silent. That was nobody\u2019s business but hers. Even the Quasi-Dead had no idea. She had already been in love with Amahle before she had been old enough to really understand what love was, and she had finally managed to crawl into his heart, to make him feel the same way about her. It had been their wedding day when the Necromongers had attacked, when she\u2019d been forced to watch, screaming, as Amahle was cut down before her, still in his wedding attire, and that <i>slime<\/i> of a \u201cLord\u201d had declared her <i><span class=\"nowrap\">his\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">And the Lord Marshal had <i>let<\/i> him claim <span class=\"nowrap\">her\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Her hatred of both men was something she had concealed as best she could. Her awareness that she\u2019d barely escaped being used up in one of the many \u201cStews\u201d scattered throughout the Armada had only added to her rage. A Breeder Pit or the bed of the man who had murdered her soulmate: what kinds of choices were those? She\u2019d succeeded in engineering both men\u2019s destructions, but what she wished for most of all, control over the Armada itself, eluded her. As wife of the seventh Lord Marshal, she could <span class=\"nowrap\">have\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe Riddick made a policy change today, and has hinted he will make more,\u201d Vaako continued at that moment. His gaze on her was intense.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat change is that?\u201d It had been nearly a year since he\u2019d created any edicts. She supposed he needed a new one now that his Jack had been found.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHe closed down the Stews and ordered all of their inhabitants converted. With the assent and backing of our god. We could all feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Given that that was one of the things she\u2019d wanted to do most of all, she wasn\u2019t sure why it peeved her so, aside from the fact that <i>she\u2019d<\/i> wanted to be the one to do it. \u201cThe Breeder Pits are no more?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNone remain. From this day forth, no one in the Armada, except members of the Riddick\u2019s own entourage, may be unconverted humans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cCurious.\u201d Her makeup removed and her hair braided for sleep, she undressed and joined her husband in bed. \u201cDo you think the other Lords will accept it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI think our god will not give them an alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She closed her eyes, focusing on her connection to Him. In her heart, she called Him Tokoloshe. He was vengeance. As much as she had hated the conquerors who had destroyed her world and her <i>true<\/i> love, they <i>had<\/i> brought her to Him. The god of her soul. And she knew that He had watched over her for years, guiding her hand as she worked to destroy first Vath and then Zhylaw, who had taken so much from her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">And she felt it, just as Vaako had said. Her god\u2014their god\u2014<span class=\"nowrap\">was\u2026<\/span> pleased.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">And, she realized, would be displeased if anyone attempted to disarrange things.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Why, she wondered, had the Riddick waited a whole year to do it? What did he intend to do next?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">And what, she asked herself as she let her husband draw her into his arms, was the role of this Jack\u2014or Audrey\u2014in all of these changes?<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">By lunch the next day, she decided that she wanted to meet the girl again. But first she needed to speak to the witch. She had several pressing matters to attend to before then\u2014the politics of the Court had only grown more convoluted in the year since Riddick\u2019s ascension, and the spreading word of the Stews\u2019 closure had generated some consternation among the Court\u2019s Ladies\u2014but she finally managed to return to Lord Irgun\u2019s old quarters, now the abode of the witch Aereon, as evening fell.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI need to understand more about who this girl was,\u201d she told the Elemental. \u201cWho she is. You said that a mercenary told you about her; what else did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNot so very much,\u201d Aereon, seated in a chair with her gown draped to artfully hide the chains she still wore, told her. \u201cShe was one of three survivors of a spaceship crash. Riddick was another. Later, all three were captured by mercenaries. Toombs claimed that she had proven her loyalty to Riddick then, but he would never say how. I believe he was among the mercenaries involved in the capture. She was hospitalized in a psychiatric facility not long after. Toombs told me that he initially believed she had been traumatized by \u2018what Riddick made her do,\u2019 but said that later he began to suspect she had been Riddick\u2019s accomplice the whole time, especially once Riddick himself returned and broke her, and Kyra Wittier-Collins, out of the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo,\u201d Dame Vaako mused, \u201cshe has a history of fooling people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cPossibly so,\u201d Aereon said. \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhen I met her yesterday, she seemed terrified. But my husband believes she may have been toying with me.\u201d Damn it, why was she confiding in this unbeliever? Just because there was no one else for her to talk <span class=\"nowrap\">to\u2026<\/span> \u201cWhat possible reason would she have to run a game like that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThey are both criminals,\u201d Aereon said, her voice smugly complacent. \u201cLike the girl who died last year. Deception is what they live for, undoubtedly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The witch rose from her seat and walked across the room, her chains\u2014the ones the old Lord Marshal had called \u201ccherry bombs\u201d\u2014rattling behind her as she did. She glanced down at them as she poured both of them glasses of water. \u201cBloody <span class=\"nowrap\">things\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhy are you still wearing them?\u201d It had struck Chantesa as odd that, after all the help the Elemental was supposed to have given the Riddick, he would still keep her chained.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYour new Lord Marshal trusts me no more than the last one,\u201d Aereon told her. \u201cI think he believes I knew more about the girls than I told him. Although I admit, I only just realized their connection to Toombs\u2019 stories when last we spoke, so perhaps he was right in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo he keeps you chained up? For not knowing more?\u201d She wasn\u2019t entirely sure why that fueled a small kernel of anger in her\u2014she found the Elemental off-putting at best\u2014but it did.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIndeed.\u201d Aereon sighed. \u201cThey aren\u2019t the most comfortable things to sleep in. Or shower in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe guards make you wear them even when you change clothes?\u201d This was, she thought, sounding worse and worse. <i>And to think that Niels\u2019s news about the Breeder Pits almost made me <b>like<\/b> the Riddick for a moment!<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThere is a young lady who comes and supervises while I change,\u201d Aereon told her, \u201cand shower\u2026 anything where the cuffs must come off. She only frees one wrist at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat the hell does he think you\u2019re going to do if they come off completely?\u201d It was hard not to seethe over it all.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cPerhaps he imagines I will spout new \u2018prophecies\u2019 at people to turn them against him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">That arrested her attention. \u201c<i>New<\/i> ones? Do you mean that <i>you<\/i> were the source of the prophecy that sent our last Lord Marshal to Furya?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe Elementals rely upon <i>calculation<\/i>, not divination. But from time to time, we <i>do<\/i> forecast major events before they happen. And when the odds bear them out, we share what we know.\u201d The elderly woman smiled a thin, humorless smile. \u201cMore than thirty years ago, we had two such forecasts, both of which seemed impossible, <i>especially<\/i> in combination with each other. In one, the Lord Marshal of the Necromongers joined forces with the Lord Shirah of Furya to bring an end to the Federacy itself. But in the other, a Furyan warrior killed the Lord Marshal, taking his place and, within a few years, bringing the Necromonger campaign to its close by opening a gateway into the Underverse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Could Riddick actually <i>do<\/i> that, unconverted as he was? Had Zhylaw actually been <i>holding back<\/i> Underverse Come by trying to prevent their confrontation?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSoon after that discovery, a Necromonger Lord came to us to try to gain insights into how to <i>find<\/i> the Threshold to the Underverse.\u201d Another thin smile from the Elemental. \u201cHe was the First Among Commanders and hoped to be able to lead the Armada across the Threshold when he ascended to the role of Lord Marshal. I told him about the dueling forecasts and how, strangely enough, all of our calculations were insisting that they were, somehow, simultaneously true. And <span class=\"nowrap\"><i>he\u2014<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHe only cared about the one that said he might die at the hands of a Furyan warrior,\u201d Dame Vaako breathed, understanding. \u201cBut by attacking <span class=\"nowrap\">Furya\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI believe that he made the first forecast impossible while making the second inevitable,\u201d Aereon confirmed. \u201cFurya is a ruined world now, for all that the Federacy has been attempting to get it back on its feet. The Lord Shirah is no more, and his successor is a woman with little diplomatic skill and no heirs. And Riddick, having heard both fore&#173;<span class=\"nowrap\">casts\u2026<\/span> blames me for the fall of his world. I suppose he thinks I might concoct more trouble for him if I had leave to roam the ship and speak to its people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">He\u2019d probably have been right even a few days ago, Dame Vaako reflected, before the tides shifted and somehow, even unconverted, the Riddick became Tokoloshe\u2019s chosen instrument. She had felt the change, herself, even if she hadn\u2019t wanted to; the instinctive feeling that the Furyan was unworthy, an intruder, something the Armada needed protection <i>from<\/i>, had van&#173;<span class=\"nowrap\">ished\u2026<\/span> and left her with what, exactly?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">What she\u2019d always had. Her desire to destroy the old Lord Marshal hadn\u2019t come from Tokoloshe, either.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>I need to find out what side the girl is truly on,<\/i> she decided. <i>And how likely it really is that simply allowing the Riddick to rule will bring on Underverse Come.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She didn\u2019t want to repeat Zhylaw\u2019s hubristic mistake; the Underverse was all. She would not work against her god. If He wished the Riddick to lead them, she would accept that. Provisionally.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">But in the meantime, with the Riddick in Tokoloshe\u2019s good graces and the random assassination attempts likely brought to an <span class=\"nowrap\">end\u2026<\/span> what harm could it <span class=\"nowrap\">do\u2026?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI will speak to your attendants,\u201d she promised the Elemental.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The Riddick had been unavailable for consultation on the issue of the \u201ccherry bombs,\u201d once more in the Chamber of the Quasi-Dead, where he had apparently been meditating for just over a day. That, however, had made it easier to simply command the attendants to remove the Elemental witch\u2019s chains. Dame Vaako felt a small glow of virtuous achievement at that; witch or not, no woman should be forced to sleep in bonds, much less dress and undress under watchful eyes. She set off for the Lord Marshal\u2019s Quarters feeling a little more balanced.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The wing that housed the Quarters, previously echoingly empty except for the guards on the Riddick\u2019s doors, was cluttered with things and occupied by a dozen people. Tables had been set up and covered with random objects; furniture and statuary littered the space between them. A group of young men and women were going through the objects casually, chatting with each other, surprising her by randomly breaking into bits of song. And among <span class=\"nowrap\">them\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Apparently I\u2019m not the only one who refuses to live in shades of black,<\/i> she thought with an amused sense of kindred.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Dressed in a mixture of greens and blues, the Riddick\u2019s Jack\u2014Audrey, as she recalled\u2014was crouched over a box, sorting through the books inside it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat <i>is<\/i> all this?\u201d Dame Vaako asked, gratified when those closest to her bowed upon spotting her. There was something different about all of them, something she couldn\u2019t quite put her finger on.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Audrey looked up and smiled at her, no trace of fear about her now.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Niels was right,<\/i> she thought in astonishment. <i>Either she and the Riddick resolved their differences al&#173;<span class=\"nowrap\">ready\u2026<\/span> or she was never really afraid to begin with.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She watched as the girl climbed to her feet, dusting her hands against the sides of the forest green leggings she had probably acquired from one of the many piles of heaped clothing on the tables. What remained was almost entirely boring black.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAll this,\u201d the girl gestured around the hallway, \u201cis stuff we pulled out from the suites in this wing. They\u2019re being cleaned out so my, <span class=\"nowrap\">uh\u2026<\/span> <i>detail<\/i> can occupy them. Riddick wants to surround me with bodyguards, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe,\u201d one of the young men near them said in reply, \u201cAre an <i>entourage<\/i>.\u201d That set his companions off into a gale of laughter, making Jack\u2014or, perhaps, Audrey\u2014grin.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Chantesa could understand why the girl would need companions, especially bodyguards. Dressed in Necromonger attire or not, she was clearly unconverted and would be a thousand times more alluring than ever, to the men on the ship, with all the Breeder Pits shut down. Single women of the court had hoped to gain the Riddick\u2019s attention, for one night if nothing else, because of his unconverted state; even if they didn\u2019t personally win him over to the Way, they\u2019d said in prurient whispers, they could still know once more the feeling of having a <i>warm<\/i> cock inside <span class=\"nowrap\">them\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">A pun had come to mind to her when they\u2019d told her that, one she had never shared with them. It was only funny when she didn\u2019t let herself think of how <i>true<\/i> it had been for the women trapped in the Breeder Pits\u2014the \u201cStews,\u201d as everyone else had called them\u2014and it was far too crass to let anyone attribute to her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">None of those Court Ladies, she reflected, had ever succeeded in their aims. The Riddick had spent his first year of rulership living like a monk. Her husband had hinted at the reasons why, which had made it all the more perplexing when word circulated that he refused to frequent the Stews.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat are you going to do with all of these things?\u201d she asked after a moment. There were some astonishing treasures among the discards.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWell, now that we pulled it all out,\u201d Audrey replied, \u201ceverybody can go through it all to look for anything they want to keep. If you see anything <i>you<\/i> want, feel free to take it. The rest can, I <span class=\"nowrap\">guess\u2026<\/span> be donated? Do you guys have a donation center or anything? For new recruits?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe Necromonger Way is \u2018you keep what you kill,\u2019\u201d Chantesa told the girl, feeling a rueful smile cross her face. \u201cYou acquire your possessions from your vanquished foes. New converts come with nothing of their own except the clothes we put on them. They must either claim more through battle or, occasionally, from rewards given to them by their commanders. A donation cen&#173;<span class=\"nowrap\">ter\u2026<\/span> I haven\u2019t heard of such a thing since before I was converted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The girl glanced around the hallway, frowning as she took in the sheer mass of clutter filling it. \u201cThat\u2019s a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOr an opportunity to create something new, perhaps,\u201d Dame Vaako told her. \u201cThe biggest problem will simply be the way most Necromongers view each other\u2019s discards. If we keep what we kill, what we don\u2019t wish to keep is what we have decided is unworthy. Your Riddick created some trouble last year when he discarded and banished the old Lord Marshal\u2019s wives. Such a thing had never been done before. They had no rank or standing to take with them, and what the <i>Lord Marshal<\/i> casts off, no one else wishes to touch. I believe they now work as servants on other ships in the Armada.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The girl, to her credit, looked appalled, even more than Chantesa had ever felt. She had never liked the other women, and had always been uncomfortably aware of the fact that, if her plans had failed and, instead of killing the Lord Marshal, Vaako had been killed <i>by<\/i> him, she would have ended up below all six of them as a very junior wife of the man she\u2019d hated most in the \u2019verse, seventh in line for his repulsive atten&#173;<span class=\"nowrap\">tions\u2026<\/span> if he hadn\u2019t simply discarded her as unworthy and stripped away her last hopes of sticking a knife in him while he <span class=\"nowrap\">slept\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat\u2019s terrible. Why\u2019d he <i>do<\/i> that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cTo be fair, one of them had tried to assassinate him. I suppose he had no reason to trust the surviving <span class=\"nowrap\">wives\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWait, he killed one of them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOnly after she made multiple attempts to kill him,\u201d Dame Vaako admitted. \u201cI heard a little bit about it from the other wives as they were being escorted off of the <i>Basilica<\/i>. He tried to disarm her without killing her. She didn\u2019t cooperate. She was the Lord Marshal\u2019s <i>first<\/i> wife, you see. The one he had chosen, not one he acquired from a vanquished rival.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The girl grimaced as she pulled out another box and began rifling through it. \u201cGuess there was no way around <span class=\"nowrap\">that\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAre you looking for something?\u201d Chantesa asked. There were things she needed to learn from this girl that she couldn\u2019t if the child remained preoccupied.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah, a book.\u201d The girl turned and gave her a quirky smile as she finished sorting through the box. \u201cBack when the <i>Tenth Crusade<\/i> launched, like four hundred years ago, its owner brought a set of three books with him, all written by Minnie Sulis. I found two of them already. I\u2019m looking for the third. Could be impor&#173;<span class=\"nowrap\">tant\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">For a moment, the girl stopped, frowning quizzically as if trying to hear a far-off note of music or recall an elusive memory.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMight not be,\u201d she shrugged after she came back to herself. \u201cBut I want to find it if I can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Minnie <span class=\"nowrap\">Sulis\u2026?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI may be able to help you,\u201d Dame Vaako told her. \u201cThe name is familiar to me. Could the third book be a diary?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMight be. I don\u2019t know. I just know that this guy Joren mentioned a set of three in a note to Chapman Marshal. I guess Marshal was a big fan of Minnie\u2019s magic act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhen I first came to the Basilica,\u201d Chantesa said after a moment of thought, \u201cI lived in this wing, in the rooms that once belonged to Lord Vath. He gave them up for better rooms as he rose in power and vanquished rivals. The original rooms had a small library. Most of the books were revolting in the ex&#173;<span class=\"nowrap\">treme\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cBy John Norman?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The knowing look that passed between them made Chantesa feel an even deeper sense of kinship with the girl.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYes. There were a few, though, that were worth reading. For a while, there was a vacant room I would spend time in, to meditate. I always felt closest to our god when I was there. I took some of the books with me, thinking I might read them undisturbed in that space. When Lord Vath ordered a stop to my \u2018wanderings,\u2019 they were still there. I hadn\u2019t thought of them in years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Audrey looked excited. \u201cCan we go there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOf course.\u201d If Dame Vaako was remembering right, the book in question <i>was<\/i> a diary, or at least a hand-written journal of some kind. She\u2019d found, once she was in her little sanctuary, that she had little focus for reading and only wanted to commune with <span class=\"nowrap\">Tokoloshe\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIs it okay if we go now? It might be important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Interesting. Did the girl not realize she outranked almost everyone in the Armada and could command people as she pleased?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Maybe she\u2019s just a polite child.<\/i> There had been few enough of those in a long time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cCertainly. I should warn you that it is in one of the oldest parts of this ship. A vacant area near a placard with the name you mentioned, <i>Tenth Crusade,<\/i> on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Audrey had been rising; for a second she froze. Then she shrugged and gave herself a little shake, standing up the rest of the way. \u201cGuess I\u2019d better hope the Moribund\u2019s not feeling <i>peckish,<\/i>\u201d she muttered.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>What does that mean?<\/i> Whatever it was, she set it aside. \u201cShall we?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">They started out of a corridor when a voice called out behind them. \u201cHold!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">A dark haired woman, plain of face and determined of jaw, was hurrying over to them. \u201cYou can\u2019t go anywhere alone, Jack.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The girl blinked. \u201cI\u2019m not alone, Lola.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The woman\u2014Lola\u2014sighed. \u201cSorry. Let me rephrase. You can\u2019t go anywhere <i>unguarded.<\/i> I\u2019m coming with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cBy all means,\u201d Dame Vaako told her. \u201cOne can never be too careful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Why did that suddenly send a pang of concern through her? A sense of something left undone or done wrongly?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The route to her meditation place was one she hadn\u2019t taken in years, but her feet still knew the way. Whenever things had been too much, it was the path she had taken to find her balance, her peace, again. And to renew her commitment to vengeance. She hadn\u2019t needed it as much once she had become Dame Vaako instead of Dame Vath; Niels had never been someone she\u2019d needed to retreat from. It hadn\u2019t occurred to her to return to it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2019m curious,\u201d she said after a moment to break the silence. \u201cLola here calls you \u2018Jack,\u2019 but when we spoke yesterday morning, you said your name is Audrey. Which are you going by?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOh. Yeah.\u201d The girl grimaced. \u201cI\u2019ve gone by a <i>lot<\/i> of names over the years. Kid on the run and <span class=\"nowrap\">all\u2026<\/span> pretending to be a boy doesn\u2019t work as well as it used to, though. But Riddick knew me as Jack, <span class=\"nowrap\">so\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAh.\u201d Dame Vaako gazed over at her, considering. No, she could no longer pretend to be a boy, even if she had the height of one. She was slender enough that her curves would be difficult to conceal. Perhaps they hadn\u2019t been when she was younger. \u201cWas that your preference? Masquerading as a boy? As \u2018Jack?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cFor a while. Like I said, I used a lot of names. I went by \u2018Peter\u2019 once.\u201d Amusement twinkled in her eyes for a moment. \u201cThey\u2019re just names. But \u2018Jack\u2019 is pretty special to Riddick, so I figured I\u2019d go back to it for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAnd you aren\u2019t afraid of him.\u201d Chantesa raised an eyebrow at Jack.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack\u2019s expression turned <i>impish.<\/i> \u201cYeah, sorry about that. You guys <i>are<\/i> pretty damn terrifying, you know, and when I got here, I really <i>was<\/i> scared out of my head. I\u2019d calmed down before you came to the room, but I wasn\u2019t sure I wanted anyone to know that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI did much the same thing, years ago,\u201d she reflected. Her \u201cwedding night\u201d had been a night of horror; in its aftermath, she\u2019d tested out different ways of hiding her true feelings, of presenting herself to the Court, and Lord Vath, of finding a way to survive among them without them realizing she had <i>plans<\/i> for <span class=\"nowrap\">them\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">All her targets were dead now, dead before their time, cut off from the Underverse forever. Maybe she could console herself with that.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">There was no other foot traffic in the quiet hallway she had led them to, but suddenly Jack stopped, cocking her head and looking around, frowning. \u201cDid you guys see that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSee what?\u201d Lola asked, her hand moving to her gun.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The hallway was empty. Nothing stirred except an errant draft that ruffled against the back of Dame Vaako\u2019s neck for a moment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack frowned. \u201cI could have <span class=\"nowrap\">sworn\u2026\u201d<\/span> She shook her head. \u201cIt\u2019s probably nothing. I\u2019m just a little jumpy about getting so close to the Moribund. So. Where to now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Further down the corridor, Jack stopped again. This time, however, it was to admire the plaque on the wall naming the vessel as the <i>Tenth Crusade.<\/i> The girl whistled, looking impressed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDamn. Wish I could tell Mr. Reilly what I\u2019m looking at. He\u2019d <i>shit<\/i> himself.\u201d She suddenly grinned and pulled a comm unit out of one of her pockets. \u201cYou never know! Maybe I\u2019ll be in a position to send this to him when all of this is over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She captured several images of the plaque before pocketing her comm again.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s not much farther,\u201d Chantesa told her companions. \u201cNear the ruins of the old engine room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThis part of the ship is more than four hundred years old,\u201d Jack chattered as they continued walking. \u201cI did a report on it <i>years<\/i> ago. Never expected to actually be <i>in<\/i> it, though.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>I was never that young,<\/i> Dame Vaako told herself, but felt a pang move through her. She remembered being that young. Being innocent. Being in love with the world and secure in the knowledge that the world loved her <span class=\"nowrap\">back\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She <i>missed<\/i> that girl. The nostalgia of meeting one so much like her had her heart in its fist.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s through here,\u201d she said a moment later, leading them into a control room with a thick steel door on its other end. The door stood open, as it had for decades before she\u2019d found it and would probably stand for decades more. \u201cI know what it used to be, but the inner room was the perfect place to meditate, to feel close to our god.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou prayed in a reactor core chamber?\u201d Lola looked both disbelieving and amused.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI think it\u2019s been thoroughly decommissioned. Probably long ago when the <i>Basilica<\/i>\u2019s new engines were constructed. We use other energy sources than mere <i>nuclear<\/i> power now.\u201d The Dame shrugged, walking through the thick doorway and into that inner room. \u201cNo one ever bothered me here. That was a blessing in itself. And I felt closest to <i>Him<\/i> here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She could see the things she\u2019d left behind when she\u2019d been forced to stop visiting: pillows, a lap blanket, a reading lamp, <span class=\"nowrap\">snacks\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThis was your sanctuary,\u201d Jack said, her voice soft as she followed her in. Behind them, Lola had taken up a guard post at the outer door. Jack walked over to the little lamp and switched it on. \u201cOh man, you <i>did<\/i> find some good books in that Lord\u2019s apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It bothered Chantesa for a moment, seeing the girl pick up <i>her<\/i> books, but she forced that feeling down. \u201cHopefully the one you\u2019re looking for is among them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDame Vaako!\u201d Lola called behind her, her voice suddenly sharp.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYes?\u201d She returned to the doorway between the inner and outer room. Through the inner room\u2019s thick steelglass window, she could see Jack sitting down, legs crossed, to hold books up to the lamp and read each one\u2019s title.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAre you sure we\u2019re alone down here?\u201d Lola\u2019s expression was uneasy. \u201cI could\u2019ve sworn I felt something move past me a moment ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIn truth, I\u2019m not sure of anything about this part of the ship,\u201d she admitted, walking over to Lola. \u201cBut the only presence <i>I\u2019ve<\/i> ever felt down here is our god. Perhaps you felt his <span class=\"nowrap\">touch\u2026?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cFound it!\u201d Jack crowed behind them. \u201c<i>The Magic Journal and Book of Shadows of Minnie Sulis!<\/i> Oh my God, this is the <span class=\"nowrap\">best\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The lights in the room, which Dame Vaako had never been able to find or make work, suddenly turned on. Beyond the steelglass window, the inner chamber filled with light, too.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat in the <span class=\"nowrap\">hell\u2026<\/span> <i>fuck!\u201d<\/i> Lola\u2019s eyes had gone wide. \u201cJack! Get out of there!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The huge, thick steel door, Dame Vaako realized, was closing of its own accord.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack lifted her head, startled comprehension filling her face. She leapt to her feet, the journal clutched to her chest, and raced for the door. Too late.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNo!\u201d Dame Vaako clawed at the shrinking gap, trying to pull the obdurate door back before she was forced to snatch her hand away.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat the fuck is happening?\u201d Lola demanded, glaring at her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI don\u2019t <i>know!<\/i> I couldn\u2019t ever even get the <i>lights<\/i> to turn on, much <span class=\"nowrap\">less\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The control panel had come to life, its instrumentation lights glittering. She and Lola both turned to look.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cGuys?\u201d Jack asked behind the glass. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cFuck!\u201d Lola shouted. \u201cDecommissioned my <i>ass!<\/i> The reactor\u2019s restarting!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Sick horror pooled in Dame Vaako\u2019s belly as she read one of the screens.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt>Core priming, preparing to unshield in 00:05:47 for energy transference<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat have you done?\u201d Lola demanded, grabbing the collar of her dress.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNothing! I swear to you. I never touched the panel. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s <i>happen&#173;<\/i><span class=\"nowrap\"><i>ing\u2026<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The other woman glared at her for a moment before releasing her. \u201cJack? I\u2019m going for help! I\u2019ll be back in just a minute, okay? You,\u201d she added, her tone still bordering on accusatory, \u201cstay with her. Try to figure out a way to shut this thing the <i>fuck<\/i> down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack had her back to them, still holding the diary to her chest as she stared toward the opposite end of the room, where a heavily shielded column was rising from the floor.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">As Lola\u2019s racing footsteps receded behind her, Dame Vaako turned her attention to the panel, looking for any kind of abort switch, an emergency override button, anything that she could use to <i>turn the damn thing back off<\/i> or at least get Jack out of the room before disaster struck.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Nothing. Not a damned thing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThere <i>has<\/i> to be a failsafe of some kind here,\u201d she yelled at the panel, verging on pressing buttons at random. She didn\u2019t dare do something so risky, but what <span class=\"nowrap\">if\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Gripping the edge of the panel, feeling tears threatening to escape, she closed her eyes and reached out to <i>Him.<\/i> To Tokoloshe. <i>Help me, my Lord, please help <span class=\"nowrap\">me\u2026<\/span> help your humble servant in her time of desperate <span class=\"nowrap\">need\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><b><i>I hear you, Chantesa. I always hear you. You were betrayed today. You made a mistake. But it will be all right.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>How do I get her out, my Lord?<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><b><i>You do not.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>She\u2019ll die! Please, I don\u2019t want her to die!<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><b><i>All of this was foreseen. All of this is necessary. What happens next is necessary, too. You must allow it.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>But my Lord, she\u2019ll die! And the Riddick will <b>kill<\/b> <span class=\"nowrap\">me\u2026<\/span><\/i> If Lola didn\u2019t <span class=\"nowrap\">first\u2026<\/span> \u201cOh <span class=\"nowrap\">God\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Tokoloshe, she remembered from the stories her mother had told her when she was small, was very good at vengeance, but sooner or later he always exacted a price. And it was rarely what those who had sought him out had expected to pay. Had he waited, all this time, for her to begin bonding with someone? <span class=\"nowrap\">Or\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s okay, Chantesa,\u201d she heard Jack say from beyond the window. \u201cThis isn\u2019t your fault.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">But it was. Somehow it was. Tokoloshe had said she\u2019d made a mistake and been betrayed. And this was the result. What had she <span class=\"nowrap\">done\u2026?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i><span class=\"nowrap\">Oh\u2026<\/span> oh <span class=\"nowrap\">no\u2026<\/span><\/i> She\u2019d been a stupid fool.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cJack, I\u2019m so <span class=\"nowrap\">sorry\u2026\u201d<\/span> she sobbed, falling to the floor. \u201cIt <i>is<\/i> my <span class=\"nowrap\">fault\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She hadn\u2019t felt this much fear since the day the Necromonger tower had fallen, like a javelin, from the sky above her wedding.<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Title: The Changeling Game (Formerly Identity Theft) Author: Ardath Rekha Chapter: 94\/? Fandom: Pitch Black (2000); The Chronicles of Riddick (2004); The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004) Rat","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"\u201cThe Changeling Game\u201d 94: \u201cThe Vengeance God\u2019s Devotee\u201d","bgseo_description":"Dame Vaako attempts to get to know Audrey, or perhaps Jack, better. But when she tries to help her find a mysterious book, things spiral out of control. No good deed goes unpunished\u2026","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fan-fiction","category-the-changeling-game"],"permalink_manager":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1047"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1114,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1047\/revisions\/1114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}