Waiting

[coloroftrust]

Fiorn is not a fidgeter. He does not get anxious, he barely even feels the pressure that some people would crack under. No, he is as cool and calm as someone who cannot touch the Source can make himself.
Right now, he is pacing the floor of the hotel room, looking at the telephone and waiting for it to ring. Calah should have called him at

Comments

[teach_them_all]

A silvery line split the air and spun open to a Gateway. Mesaana stepped through into the room. The portal snapped shut behind her. A look of icy contempt and rage warred with calm on her face. Her fists clenched white-knuckled as she glared daggers at Fiorn.

"Fiorn A'Nazaal."

[coloroftrust]

Fiorn steps backward, watching the gateway open a hand's width away. Any closer and he would have been cut in half.

"My...my Great Mistress," he doesn't usually falter, but this time he cannot disguise the tremor in his voice.

[teach_them_all]

A look of utter disdain as she stretched out her hand. Flows of air slamming Fiorn violently against the wall. Her voice an icy snap.

"That is not something that you can call me anymore, Tse'a."

A pause as the flows of air threatened to crush him.

"I know of your dealings, your treacheries."

[coloroftrust]

He's pressed against the wall, struggling against nothing, but when he hears the words from his Mistress...he stops fighting.

Tse'a, he wouldn't even refer to his wife in those terms.

She knows and does not forgive

"I never betrayed you, Great Mistress. N-n-never you." He gasps as the breath rushes out of him. He sees spots in front of his eyes, his ribs creaking under the pressure.

"She was never yours. She was working for others. Not me, I look out for you, my Mistress, my Lady. You need me," he tries to get out, each word a battle.

[teach_them_all]

Mesaana snorts and makes a dismissive wave. She began to pace in front of him. Icy blue eyes gleaming like those of a predator with a cornered prey.

"I have seen and read enough, and no, I do not need you. I have not yet decided whether you die first or your family..."

She pauses and taps her upper lip with a forefinger thoughtfully as he had seen her do a thousand times.

[coloroftrust]

His eyes trace her movements, knowing that he'll die no matter what he says. The only thing he hopes is that it's a fast death.

If only he was faster, he could have reached his knife...but he could no more stab his Mistress than he could his youngest daughter.

She doesn't need him, years of faithful service, years, and she tosses him aside. That girl, she received her attentions, but she never had a gentle touch for him.

"I do not deserve your mercy, but I beg for it, Great Mistress."

[teach_them_all]

The sneer was accompanied by a windchime laugh.

"Ask Aginor's pets for mercy when you meet them. They will be more receptive to your pleas."

A pause and a twisted grin.

"Maybe they'll have had their fill of your daughter... I doubt it, but your fortune could turn."

[coloroftrust]

He swallows, feeling something trying to crush his throat.

"I have always been loyal to you!"

His one chance is to make her angry enough that his death is quick.

[teach_them_all]

Her teeth bare as she leans in to him. The flows of air tightening even further. His ploy was so very feeble, it was as transparent as his treachery. She idly wonders what Malacoda had promised him.

"You know how many have died of the Chosen's suspicion, and if you think that you can anger me into a quick death, then you are very, very wrong."

Her curiosity got the better of her.

"What did Malacoda promise you?"

[coloroftrust]

He pales and winces, sweat starting to bead on his face and he can hear his heart racing.

"I...only did it to protect you."

[teach_them_all]

With a swift snap, the air tightened around his calves shattering the bone easily. A pleased grin on Mesaana's face.

"Intentions mean nothing, only results."

[coloroftrust]

He screams, unable to stop himself. Tears slip down his face. Even now, part of him is disappointed in his reaction - he'd always thought himself stronger.

It takes a moment for him to be able to speak again, "M-Mistress, the girl! She must have other loyalties."

[teach_them_all]

Mesaana's face twisted in anger.

"She is working on my orders! She is trying to kill Malacoda and you were working against her. That kind of betrayal will not-cannot-go unpunished."

[coloroftrust]

Answers come to him, but he decides that he'll die with at least a few secrets.

"A betrayal against her, not you."

[teach_them_all]

A snarl of fury as hot blood sprayed on her face. The weaves holding what had been Fiorn A'Nazaal dissolved and a bloody heap pooled on the floor.

A contemptuous look as she wiped the viscera off her cheek, and opened a gate back to her house. She needed a bath. Astoreth was beyond her power, now. She would simply have to trust Ishamael.

Not something she planned on repeating soon. The girl would have to come through on her own. Surely, she would not fail now that the force opposing her had been removed.

Surely.