The night had dragged on, as many did these days. The demotion had been beyond humiliating, but the humiliation of his indiscretion weighed far heavier. His wife no longer spoke to him. His children rarely lifted their eyes when conversation was necessary. All for what? A sip of a wine and adultery?
His wife had moved away from the Rainspire, and what had been their home for over a decade, taking up a room in her aging parents farmhouse. The spoke to resolve financial matters. She did not speak of divorce, instead, seeming happy with separation and taking a larger portion of his wages for her silence.
His night's work was over, and his hands moved deftly to unbuckle armour that clung more painfully these days. Perhaps it was just the guilt.
As the, now off duty, guard approached the door to his room, he glanced upwards out of passive habit, and then back down...before his eyes darted upwards to where the small piece of straw should have been lodged between door and jam.
His heart rate spiked, and hands instinctively moved to tighten the latches on his armour. His hand hovered over the controls to his door, while the other quietly pulled his blaster from the personalised holster on his hip.
Assassin.
The king knows. He sent Seldan...
But he could spring the trap.
Leaning against the wall, and away from any angle for a blaster to hit him, the guard pressed the button and the door hissed open in its too-fast manner.
There was nothing. No movement. No sound. No light...save for the ebbing and flowing orange tip...a cigarette.
The guard frowned, and stepped cautiously into the room, blaster pointed at the shadowed figure sitting in his recliner by the window.
The door closed behind him, trapping them both.
"Isembard Roan," said the shadowy figure in a distinctly seductive, feminine manner.
"And to whom am I speaking?" He said, strafing toward a light switch. It was in vain, the lamp next to his reading chair flicked on.
Sitting there, casual as could be, and somehow owning the room with her apathetic demeanour and low cut dress, was the Lady Thessaly Veruna.
"My lady?" He said, blaster lowering towards the floor as she stood and languidly made her way across the room.
Her natural ownership of the space made him feel immediately small, but her eyes...the way she devoured his presence...made his heart beat faster. She stepped closer, taking another deep breath, filling her lungs with smoke before casually letting it waft from her lips like rolling storm clouds as she spoke. "Do you know why I am here?" She said, looking him over, and eyes lingering where he knew a proper lady should not.
"No...no...my lady," said Isembard, lump forming in his throat and beyond, "if you are lost, I can help you find your way to..."
"I am where I wish to be," she said, cutting him off.
The Lady Veruna stepped closer. Isembard retreated, but not well enough. He could feel the heat of her presence.
"You were on duty the day of the Future Regents Dinner...were you not?" Her words hit him like a club. She was worse than an assassin. His blaster rose, aiming directly for the Lady Veruna's heart.
She stepped forward, the barrel of the blaster pressing into her chest just below her so prominent clavicle. It seemed to thrill her. The serpent woman's lips parting, as if she thrilled in the moment.
"Who..."
"Such a pretty young thing," Thessaly's heavily lidded eyes took in the man as his soul decayed before her, "a handmaiden and a married guard...what a scandal. How many people have asked why you were demoted?"
Isembard gritted his teeth, and pressed the blaster more firmly into the woman's chest. But honour, what was left of it, delayed the trigger-pull.
"She did not believe her charms would work," Lady Veruna said, before shrugging off any further revelations.
Isembard's mind reeled.
"Before you act rashly. Let me make you an offer. Your life is over here...wife left you...children ashamed..."
The trigger finger twitched.
"...but on Eliad...I can make you a Lord, when you tell me what my brother and his whelp were doing in the dungeon that day."
His wife had moved away from the Rainspire, and what had been their home for over a decade, taking up a room in her aging parents farmhouse. The spoke to resolve financial matters. She did not speak of divorce, instead, seeming happy with separation and taking a larger portion of his wages for her silence.
His night's work was over, and his hands moved deftly to unbuckle armour that clung more painfully these days. Perhaps it was just the guilt.
As the, now off duty, guard approached the door to his room, he glanced upwards out of passive habit, and then back down...before his eyes darted upwards to where the small piece of straw should have been lodged between door and jam.
His heart rate spiked, and hands instinctively moved to tighten the latches on his armour. His hand hovered over the controls to his door, while the other quietly pulled his blaster from the personalised holster on his hip.
Assassin.
The king knows. He sent Seldan...
But he could spring the trap.
Leaning against the wall, and away from any angle for a blaster to hit him, the guard pressed the button and the door hissed open in its too-fast manner.
There was nothing. No movement. No sound. No light...save for the ebbing and flowing orange tip...a cigarette.
The guard frowned, and stepped cautiously into the room, blaster pointed at the shadowed figure sitting in his recliner by the window.
The door closed behind him, trapping them both.
"Isembard Roan," said the shadowy figure in a distinctly seductive, feminine manner.
"And to whom am I speaking?" He said, strafing toward a light switch. It was in vain, the lamp next to his reading chair flicked on.
Sitting there, casual as could be, and somehow owning the room with her apathetic demeanour and low cut dress, was the Lady Thessaly Veruna.
"My lady?" He said, blaster lowering towards the floor as she stood and languidly made her way across the room.
Her natural ownership of the space made him feel immediately small, but her eyes...the way she devoured his presence...made his heart beat faster. She stepped closer, taking another deep breath, filling her lungs with smoke before casually letting it waft from her lips like rolling storm clouds as she spoke. "Do you know why I am here?" She said, looking him over, and eyes lingering where he knew a proper lady should not.
"No...no...my lady," said Isembard, lump forming in his throat and beyond, "if you are lost, I can help you find your way to..."
"I am where I wish to be," she said, cutting him off.
The Lady Veruna stepped closer. Isembard retreated, but not well enough. He could feel the heat of her presence.
"You were on duty the day of the Future Regents Dinner...were you not?" Her words hit him like a club. She was worse than an assassin. His blaster rose, aiming directly for the Lady Veruna's heart.
She stepped forward, the barrel of the blaster pressing into her chest just below her so prominent clavicle. It seemed to thrill her. The serpent woman's lips parting, as if she thrilled in the moment.
"Who..."
"Such a pretty young thing," Thessaly's heavily lidded eyes took in the man as his soul decayed before her, "a handmaiden and a married guard...what a scandal. How many people have asked why you were demoted?"
Isembard gritted his teeth, and pressed the blaster more firmly into the woman's chest. But honour, what was left of it, delayed the trigger-pull.
"She did not believe her charms would work," Lady Veruna said, before shrugging off any further revelations.
Isembard's mind reeled.
"Before you act rashly. Let me make you an offer. Your life is over here...wife left you...children ashamed..."
The trigger finger twitched.
"...but on Eliad...I can make you a Lord, when you tell me what my brother and his whelp were doing in the dungeon that day."
