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[gypsy_merrique]

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It was, by and large, a typical evening in the Den with the exception that Matriarch Ceinwyn was present. Jack was nowhere to be seen as the leader ordered her standard drink. The color draining from her face, Merri forced herself to deal with the situation. Naturally there was no stock and Merri had to run into town to obtain one of the ingredients. She shoved the vials into her pack and ran back to the den on rubbery feeling legs.

Taking a deep breath, Merrique opened the doors and stepped back into the Den, suddenly surrounded again by the merriment of those out for their evening pleasure. "You can do this. Stop being so foolish!" her mind screamed at her as she took her place behind the bar and stowed the newly stocked ingredient. Silently, she cursed herself as she extended her serving hand to the Matriarch. The tremor there was too acute to avoid notice, and it was not lost on Ceinwyn.

After some back and forth, and with growing annoyance to the Matriarch, Merri was taken downstairs into the wine cellar. She pleaded with Ceinwyn to just take the knowledge, if she must know the secrets she carried within--anything but say it aloud.

And so it was, the Matriarch placed her hands upon the gypsy's head and soon came across that information which she sought. With an eerie kindness she offered to remove the memories from Merri's conscious memory, and thus remove the terror regarding anything to do with blood or bloodshed. After careful consideration Merrique asked her to please continue. Put and end to this crippling problem that made her stand out so freakishly in the land of Umbra.

The process did not take long, and in a short time Ceinwyn withdrew from Merrique's mind. That moment was odd for Merri, as she did indeed remember coming down to the cellar with the Matriarch, but not exactly why. She smiled at Ceinwyn a bit nervously--perhaps even shyly--and headed back upstairs after grabbing several bottles of wine for the stock.

It came to pass that very evening that Merri had to return to the city, and as chance would have it there were several body parts laying in the middle of the western road. Merri looked at the bloody remnants as she passed, an odd, creeping sensation coming over her that she couldn't identify. Briefly, she wondered why the parts were there--was there a punishment? A crime?

With a shrug she walked on, a smile on her face as she thought of seeing one of her drow friends after her shift was over.
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. . . But the dark is very trustworthy.
It's always as dark as you thought it was.
And you don't have to work at staying there.
All you have to do is survive it.
And I've been doing that forever.
from the novel "Dark Debts" by Karen Hall