I am coming with you."
Erik sighed and turned to see Anthony and Raoul standing in the hallway with him. Erik really did not want to have another argument with another person who wanted to go with him. He needed to do this alone and that was not going to change.
"No, Anthony."
"Sienna was my responsibility, I should have made sure she was alright!" he insisted. Erik studied the young man in front of him.
"You love her," Erik murmured. Anthony said nothing, but he could not meet Erik's gaze. Of course he loved Sienna! How could he not? She was everything he had been looking for in a woman: beautiful, smart, kind, and innocent. He could not believe that he had fallen in love with her after so short an acquaintance but it was inevitable.
"If it was my sister that they had, you would not let me go alone, you would need to come. I need to come with you," Anthony pleaded. Erik knew that if he had been in the other mans place he would have done the same exact thing for Christine. But Erik did not want to tell the young man that it was very possible that Leroy and Michael had killed Sienna and they would find her dead.
"Please, Erik," Anthony murmured.
"Very well, you can come."
Understandings
Christine ignored the knock she heard at her door. She wanted to be left alone, with her thoughts of Erik and her prayers of his safe return. However, the person on the other side of the door was rather persistent and the knocking continued. Sighing she irritably shouted assent to come in. She sat up in surprise when Nadir slipped into the room. He was the last person she had thought would come and see her. Why had her brother not already come to comfort her?
"Madam Desslar?" he murmured hesitantly, not wanting to disturb her but wanting to make sure she was alright. Christine pushed the curls away from her face and tried to wipe some of the tears from her eyes.
"Please come in, Nadir," Christine said softly. He smiled and sat down in the chair by the window when she gave him permission.
"I thought since both your brother and Raoul went with Erik you might want someone to talk to," Nadir said. Christine had stiffened after his first few words.
"Erik let Anthony and Raoul go with him?" she whispered, suddenly feeling very hurt. He let them go but he made her sit here and worry about him, thinking that the worse could happen to him?
"I thought you knew that, Madam. I hope I have not upset you?" Nadir said. Christine shook her head. She was not angry. Perhaps with two other men there Erik might have a better chance of completing what it was he was there to do. Then he could come home to her.
"No, I am fine...thank you for coming to talk..." she murmured. Nadir nodded. He could tell by the way that the young woman's eyes were so swollen and red that she had been crying most likely since Erik had left. He did not like seeing her so distressed, especially when she looked so much like his beloved Emma...
"He will be fine, Christine, Erik is a strong man. He will not let anything happen to him," Nadir said, trying to take some pressure off of her shoulders. Christine sighed and said nothing. That did not make her feel any better. He would come back to her. She could not allow herself to think any differently. If she did then she would lose her fragile grasp on reality. Her eyes slowly went to gaze at Nadir, who was staring out of the window thoughtfully. There was so much this man did not know about her mother or Anthony. Could she have done what her mother had done if she were in her situation? Could she give up the love of one man because she had no choice and then fall in love with another? Perhaps not to long ago she would not have known the answer to that question but that had been before she had fallen in love with Erik. She knew that she would fight with everything she had to stay with Erik because she believed in their love enough to know it was well worth fighting for. Her mother had not been that strong, and the man in front of her had had to pay the price because of it. Christine felt a sob rise in her throat at the thought of her mother and all of the things she had gone through, things Christine had never knew about.
"Nadir...have you ever felt like everything you knew...everything you believed...was a lie?" Christine whispered. The man's eyes found hers and he did not answer immediately. She could almost feel what it was he was thinking about and in a way she knew her mother was a constant presence in his mind.
"Yes...but surely someone your age could not know of such a thing?" Nadir asked.