Aspasia - Post Scare - Near DC - Part I
OOC: Writing as therapy. Wherein, gentle readers, I start to recount the adventures of my counterpart after Tulsa - then to Chi-Kalb, Chicago, Atlanta and Harlow, England. - In other words, I am woefully behind.
*****
It's late in the evening when Aspasia makes it to the pre-determined meeting point. The woman inhales, looking at the well-traveled Winnebago. She looks thoughtful as the fingers of her left hand trace back and forth over her mouth, purely out of habit.
She breathes a whisper, mostly to herself. "Better seen and heard from me directly than from other reports." She paces towards the vehicle, then stops and turns about walking a distance away, conflicted.
The last time I can recall being so bare of humanity remains shards only. Jack knows more of me then than I know myself.
*Be honest, it’s a test. His reaction here will be a gauge of what concern I should have.*
The woman stares at the ground before her feet, then after a few seconds pass, she lifts her head, moving with purposeful steps towards the door at the side of the transportation. Hand closed in a loose fist, Aspasia knocks. And waits.
Thumping comes from the interior of the caravan and the door is suddenly flung wide. X stands in the doorway, illuminated from behind. Grinning, she gestures impatiently for Aspasia to enter.
"Come in, come in, kore. You are welcome as always."
Jack shuffles a deck at the small table of the motor home, and looks up at her. He then does something he hasn't done at the start of most of their meetings: he smiles at her. "Bonjour, petite," he says in a pleasant voice.
As Aspasia crosses the threshold, she pauses where light bathes her face. "Good evening, Jack." She turns towards the other woman, "And to you, Xeneia."
Her action allows them clear sight. The Amazon's skin is gaunt and dry, more corpse-like than in recent memory. Her grey-green eyes still carry a spark of life in them, but little expression.
"It is done."
The smile on Jack's face fades, and he nods, grimly accepting the news while shock and concern flicker across Xeneia's face.
"Sit, sit, child." The other woman immediately lapses into Greek. "I will make you some tea. You will tell me."
So not as badly as I feared.
Aspasia nods once and then slides into the seat at the small table, looking across it at Jack. She pauses, running the fingers of both hands through her hair and replying in the same tongue, automatically. "I was dissuaded from doing to him all that my beast demanded for payment. They took the body from me for the night and did not leave me alone with him."
But I could have stopped them.
The woman glances at the wall nearest her. "I am angry and numb at the same time, about what was denied me."
What I denied myself.
Xeneia fills a kettle and sets it on the small stove to heat. Sliding into the small banquette seat, she places both hands on the tabletop. She flicks a glance to Jack.
In English, she says, "Start at the beginning, kore."
"Others may have forgotten what was lost, but that is their choice and way, not mine." Aspasia rolls her head from one side to the other, before pausing to look at Xeneia. She continues in English, "Old friends gave me his name several weeks ago. Jake Pym heard it as well. But, nothing could be found of this 'Winterbourne'."
"Julia Kinkaid went so far as to investigate Cateryn of the Invictus, then to search his records looking for pieces, scraps that would point us to on the right path. She found nothing." Aspasia then adds a comment, "She is the other whose heart was steadfast in purpose. To hunt down the assassins, the hand behind their actions, and to seek vengeance."
I do not know the depth of her ties to Ebon. But her pain? it came near to my own.
"I stopped treading carefully and searching among shadows for him. Rather, at Bastian's Festival of the Damned - and even in the weeks before it, I started to publicly spread the name 'Winterbourne' and ask after any information, any scraps that could be produced."
The Amazon looks down at, playing with the leather strap hanging from her neck. "I told the Invictus to give him over to me, or I would start by tracking and dispatching his chain, above and below, until I reached him. That I would not stop."
Xeneia furrows her brow.
"Winterbourne... is" She corrects herself. "/Was/ the person responsible for your loss?"
Aspasia nods, grimly. "Yes. And the target was not my daughter, but her ward." She pauses. "We have that from his own mind. Dominion, childe of Exodus laid his thoughts bare and we learned all of him that we could."
*Did you? Did you really? *
Her fists clench, nails pressing into skin. Aspasia looks down at her hands, notices this and deliberately uncurls them, before laying them on the tabletop, mirroring Xeneia.
Jack looks at her carefully. "What happened?"
The kettle whistles suddenly and X leaps up to grab it off the burner.
The Amazon remains silent while the tea is prepared by Xeneia, looking at the wall of the Winnebago, while placing her thoughts in order.
The other woman sets down a cup of astringent tea at each place, brushes the back of Aspasia's hand gently, once, then lays her hand back on the table as she resumes her seat.
Aspasia cradles the cup with both hands, as if glad for something to do with them.
"Kinkaid has an errant child. I don't not know the details there." She leans forward to sniff the steam curling up from the container. "The child is now greatly in her favor for finding out what scraps remained of this Invictus no one knew. Including the fact he much preferred his privacy, until he was ready to take action." She sits upright again. "I inadvertently stumbled on a fault, this weakness about his pride and privacy."
"Winterbourne decided to strike pre-emptively and end my Requiem as he did Hisa's."
"I'm going to take a stab here and guess the he failed, non?"
Xeneia snorts at her son’s comment.
"His servitors were not as skilled. One of Dominion's brood noticed something odd. A lucky happenstance you might say." She pauses, knowing the others recall what line that Dominion belongs to.
"They had a spy in our midst, but their planned ambush was turned on them."
"More than a dozen of the clan went hunting together. They…we killed the pawns."
You contributed nothing to that success. Because he would not let you pay the Fates.
A wrinkle crosses her brow as Aspasia continues. "It was bloodly and they lastest longer than I gave them credit for. But everyone was determined to wipe them from this existence."
"Finally, there was just the monster. Dark skinned, arrogant. He almost won free by virtue of his sheer force of will." She shurgs, again fingering the strap of leather hanging from her neck. "Almost."
The woman's voice becomes gravelled and harsh. "I told the clan, he was not to die. Not there. So we torpored him. Took him away." Aspasia shrugs slightly. "Then I asked Dominion to rend his mind, that we could learn his secrets before sending his soul to Hades."
"What did you learn, aside from what you already told us?" Jack leans forward in his chair.
Aspasia looks at Xeneia’s son. "Before the fight I did not care to learn. I wanted only his ashes." Her face turns grim, "Raven convinced me otherwise - that we needed to know why and if there are more threats out there, lingering."
She exhales. "Winterbourne was sworn to the service of Innana. He blamed Ebon for her death - for helping to advance it, I did not understand how that connection could be - not until a later conversation. He turned his hand on against his perceived enemy, and my daughter died for that."
"I clawed him thrice, to take away his sight, to mangle his tongue and to destroy his hearing. And then a clanmate of ours took him away for the night, to suffer so that revenge would be sweetly fulfilled during the ball. The Ball hosted by Ebon's covenant."
The whisper of Hisa’s katana as it parted the air, then cut through the skin, severing Winterbourne’s head from his body.
The so quiet fall of ash to the floor. Minute specks clinging to the blade.
Jack nods, and waits for her to continue.
"The placed him in the marble. This Invictus who killed Invictus, and who thought to assert himself over his covenant when all the able leaders were neutralized or dead." Aspasia smiles, though it does not reach her eyes.
"So the guests all spun about and danced on the marble over his torpored body for three hours time.” She taps the table with her index finger. “One hour each for my daughter, her ward, and his companion.
Jack nods again. "Seems like a good start for punishment of his crimes."
Aspasia nods once, her expression flat but her eyes shining. "A start and an end. To keep him living past that moment would only serve the furies. The predators there could see the damage done. They will tell the others who did not witness what pain he must have endured with no succor for those last hours of his life."
“While the Invictus were mostly absent from their own party, a quarter of an hour before the wake was to begin for Georgia Perryman, Doc pulled Winterbourne's body from the stone and laid it flat on the center of the floor.”
“Witnesses gathered. It had been in my mind the night before to allow Prince Kinkaid to aid me in the death of this man, as her blood was lost and she was the only other to care, to hunt but.." Aspasia shakes her head, running the fingertips of her hand over her lower lip, before cradling the teacup again in her grasp.
I am not that generous. I have limits.
"I declared to those gathered that lying before them was the man who had killed mine and those under my family's protection. And then, I asked Exodus' permission to act."
Xeneia nods silently, waiting for the other woman to continue. She seems to radiate calm concern as she sips her tea.
The Amazon pushes the still full cup a few inches away, across the small table. "I took Hisa's katana into my possession. Some stepped back, rightfully frightened with concern for what I should do next."
And they should be. Let everyone know what comes of hurting one of mine.
Staring at the flat surface of the table, Aspasia murmurs. "I wanted to taste his blood, drain him of all vitality until only ashes were left on my tongue. I wanted to, but I did not."
Jack nods. Smiling a little in pride, perhaps?
"The others present were clan and foe alike. But none of them deserved to face the madness that comes with kindred vitae consumed by Kshatriyas. No.” The Amazon shakes her head, “I took the katana, and severed Winterborune's head from his body then watched it decay until dust."
"Did anyone attempt to fault you for your actions?"
"I am told there were some of that covenant who thought to intervene. A few of their oathsworn perhaps. But also that none were foolish enough to challenge me then and there. Not in a city and a location full of the clan."
Aspasia looks pensive as she pauses for a moment’s thought. "I expect there will be some fall out, if only for form's sake. And now, I feel like I was deprived. He did not deserve the clean death. I let others talk me out of my intent. I should not have let them. I feel cheated."
X 'hmmms' softly and meets Aspasia's gaze. "What would you have gained from brutality?"
"Satisfaction."
*****
It's late in the evening when Aspasia makes it to the pre-determined meeting point. The woman inhales, looking at the well-traveled Winnebago. She looks thoughtful as the fingers of her left hand trace back and forth over her mouth, purely out of habit.
She breathes a whisper, mostly to herself. "Better seen and heard from me directly than from other reports." She paces towards the vehicle, then stops and turns about walking a distance away, conflicted.
The last time I can recall being so bare of humanity remains shards only. Jack knows more of me then than I know myself.
*Be honest, it’s a test. His reaction here will be a gauge of what concern I should have.*
The woman stares at the ground before her feet, then after a few seconds pass, she lifts her head, moving with purposeful steps towards the door at the side of the transportation. Hand closed in a loose fist, Aspasia knocks. And waits.
Thumping comes from the interior of the caravan and the door is suddenly flung wide. X stands in the doorway, illuminated from behind. Grinning, she gestures impatiently for Aspasia to enter.
"Come in, come in, kore. You are welcome as always."
Jack shuffles a deck at the small table of the motor home, and looks up at her. He then does something he hasn't done at the start of most of their meetings: he smiles at her. "Bonjour, petite," he says in a pleasant voice.
As Aspasia crosses the threshold, she pauses where light bathes her face. "Good evening, Jack." She turns towards the other woman, "And to you, Xeneia."
Her action allows them clear sight. The Amazon's skin is gaunt and dry, more corpse-like than in recent memory. Her grey-green eyes still carry a spark of life in them, but little expression.
"It is done."
The smile on Jack's face fades, and he nods, grimly accepting the news while shock and concern flicker across Xeneia's face.
"Sit, sit, child." The other woman immediately lapses into Greek. "I will make you some tea. You will tell me."
So not as badly as I feared.
Aspasia nods once and then slides into the seat at the small table, looking across it at Jack. She pauses, running the fingers of both hands through her hair and replying in the same tongue, automatically. "I was dissuaded from doing to him all that my beast demanded for payment. They took the body from me for the night and did not leave me alone with him."
But I could have stopped them.
The woman glances at the wall nearest her. "I am angry and numb at the same time, about what was denied me."
What I denied myself.
Xeneia fills a kettle and sets it on the small stove to heat. Sliding into the small banquette seat, she places both hands on the tabletop. She flicks a glance to Jack.
In English, she says, "Start at the beginning, kore."
"Others may have forgotten what was lost, but that is their choice and way, not mine." Aspasia rolls her head from one side to the other, before pausing to look at Xeneia. She continues in English, "Old friends gave me his name several weeks ago. Jake Pym heard it as well. But, nothing could be found of this 'Winterbourne'."
"Julia Kinkaid went so far as to investigate Cateryn of the Invictus, then to search his records looking for pieces, scraps that would point us to on the right path. She found nothing." Aspasia then adds a comment, "She is the other whose heart was steadfast in purpose. To hunt down the assassins, the hand behind their actions, and to seek vengeance."
I do not know the depth of her ties to Ebon. But her pain? it came near to my own.
"I stopped treading carefully and searching among shadows for him. Rather, at Bastian's Festival of the Damned - and even in the weeks before it, I started to publicly spread the name 'Winterbourne' and ask after any information, any scraps that could be produced."
The Amazon looks down at, playing with the leather strap hanging from her neck. "I told the Invictus to give him over to me, or I would start by tracking and dispatching his chain, above and below, until I reached him. That I would not stop."
Xeneia furrows her brow.
"Winterbourne... is" She corrects herself. "/Was/ the person responsible for your loss?"
Aspasia nods, grimly. "Yes. And the target was not my daughter, but her ward." She pauses. "We have that from his own mind. Dominion, childe of Exodus laid his thoughts bare and we learned all of him that we could."
*Did you? Did you really? *
Her fists clench, nails pressing into skin. Aspasia looks down at her hands, notices this and deliberately uncurls them, before laying them on the tabletop, mirroring Xeneia.
Jack looks at her carefully. "What happened?"
The kettle whistles suddenly and X leaps up to grab it off the burner.
The Amazon remains silent while the tea is prepared by Xeneia, looking at the wall of the Winnebago, while placing her thoughts in order.
The other woman sets down a cup of astringent tea at each place, brushes the back of Aspasia's hand gently, once, then lays her hand back on the table as she resumes her seat.
Aspasia cradles the cup with both hands, as if glad for something to do with them.
"Kinkaid has an errant child. I don't not know the details there." She leans forward to sniff the steam curling up from the container. "The child is now greatly in her favor for finding out what scraps remained of this Invictus no one knew. Including the fact he much preferred his privacy, until he was ready to take action." She sits upright again. "I inadvertently stumbled on a fault, this weakness about his pride and privacy."
"Winterbourne decided to strike pre-emptively and end my Requiem as he did Hisa's."
"I'm going to take a stab here and guess the he failed, non?"
Xeneia snorts at her son’s comment.
"His servitors were not as skilled. One of Dominion's brood noticed something odd. A lucky happenstance you might say." She pauses, knowing the others recall what line that Dominion belongs to.
"They had a spy in our midst, but their planned ambush was turned on them."
"More than a dozen of the clan went hunting together. They…we killed the pawns."
You contributed nothing to that success. Because he would not let you pay the Fates.
A wrinkle crosses her brow as Aspasia continues. "It was bloodly and they lastest longer than I gave them credit for. But everyone was determined to wipe them from this existence."
"Finally, there was just the monster. Dark skinned, arrogant. He almost won free by virtue of his sheer force of will." She shurgs, again fingering the strap of leather hanging from her neck. "Almost."
The woman's voice becomes gravelled and harsh. "I told the clan, he was not to die. Not there. So we torpored him. Took him away." Aspasia shrugs slightly. "Then I asked Dominion to rend his mind, that we could learn his secrets before sending his soul to Hades."
"What did you learn, aside from what you already told us?" Jack leans forward in his chair.
Aspasia looks at Xeneia’s son. "Before the fight I did not care to learn. I wanted only his ashes." Her face turns grim, "Raven convinced me otherwise - that we needed to know why and if there are more threats out there, lingering."
She exhales. "Winterbourne was sworn to the service of Innana. He blamed Ebon for her death - for helping to advance it, I did not understand how that connection could be - not until a later conversation. He turned his hand on against his perceived enemy, and my daughter died for that."
"I clawed him thrice, to take away his sight, to mangle his tongue and to destroy his hearing. And then a clanmate of ours took him away for the night, to suffer so that revenge would be sweetly fulfilled during the ball. The Ball hosted by Ebon's covenant."
The whisper of Hisa’s katana as it parted the air, then cut through the skin, severing Winterbourne’s head from his body.
The so quiet fall of ash to the floor. Minute specks clinging to the blade.
Jack nods, and waits for her to continue.
"The placed him in the marble. This Invictus who killed Invictus, and who thought to assert himself over his covenant when all the able leaders were neutralized or dead." Aspasia smiles, though it does not reach her eyes.
"So the guests all spun about and danced on the marble over his torpored body for three hours time.” She taps the table with her index finger. “One hour each for my daughter, her ward, and his companion.
Jack nods again. "Seems like a good start for punishment of his crimes."
Aspasia nods once, her expression flat but her eyes shining. "A start and an end. To keep him living past that moment would only serve the furies. The predators there could see the damage done. They will tell the others who did not witness what pain he must have endured with no succor for those last hours of his life."
“While the Invictus were mostly absent from their own party, a quarter of an hour before the wake was to begin for Georgia Perryman, Doc pulled Winterbourne's body from the stone and laid it flat on the center of the floor.”
“Witnesses gathered. It had been in my mind the night before to allow Prince Kinkaid to aid me in the death of this man, as her blood was lost and she was the only other to care, to hunt but.." Aspasia shakes her head, running the fingertips of her hand over her lower lip, before cradling the teacup again in her grasp.
I am not that generous. I have limits.
"I declared to those gathered that lying before them was the man who had killed mine and those under my family's protection. And then, I asked Exodus' permission to act."
Xeneia nods silently, waiting for the other woman to continue. She seems to radiate calm concern as she sips her tea.
The Amazon pushes the still full cup a few inches away, across the small table. "I took Hisa's katana into my possession. Some stepped back, rightfully frightened with concern for what I should do next."
And they should be. Let everyone know what comes of hurting one of mine.
Staring at the flat surface of the table, Aspasia murmurs. "I wanted to taste his blood, drain him of all vitality until only ashes were left on my tongue. I wanted to, but I did not."
Jack nods. Smiling a little in pride, perhaps?
"The others present were clan and foe alike. But none of them deserved to face the madness that comes with kindred vitae consumed by Kshatriyas. No.” The Amazon shakes her head, “I took the katana, and severed Winterborune's head from his body then watched it decay until dust."
"Did anyone attempt to fault you for your actions?"
"I am told there were some of that covenant who thought to intervene. A few of their oathsworn perhaps. But also that none were foolish enough to challenge me then and there. Not in a city and a location full of the clan."
Aspasia looks pensive as she pauses for a moment’s thought. "I expect there will be some fall out, if only for form's sake. And now, I feel like I was deprived. He did not deserve the clean death. I let others talk me out of my intent. I should not have let them. I feel cheated."
X 'hmmms' softly and meets Aspasia's gaze. "What would you have gained from brutality?"
"Satisfaction."