Flames of a Different Hue - Prologue
Title: Flames of a Different Hue - Prologue
Author:Tamoline
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Fandom: The Good Wife
Pairing: Alicia/Kalinda
Notes: This is a fairly serious AU, a fantasy verse where Alicia is a world travelling sorceress and Kalinda is the head of security of the organisation she belongs to. (It's crossed over with a variant of the Amber setting by Roger Zelazny, for those who are interested.)
Things, of course, rapidly become more complicated.
The world almost seems to scream as it approaches its end.
“Well, that’s it,” Cary says from next to me. “That’s our job done.”
“What about the people?” I ask. This place isn't uninhabited.
He shrugs. “Not our problem.”
He’s right. Our contract only said that we had to make sure that this place didn’t crash into anywhere important. The simplest, the easiest, the safest way of doing that was nudging the world’s course towards the Vortex.
He half-smiles at me. “Why do you care, anyway?”
It's a good question.
My aunt Fiona would say, 'Never exercise power without an objective in mind.'
My aunt Florimel would caution, 'Never let anyone see what you're truly capable of. Always better to let them underestimate you.'
But I was in the war. I've seen too much death.
It's affected me.
Though, doubtless, some, most, would see that as a flaw rather than a virtue.
I guess I'm not quite the golden girl I used to be.
So I shrug. "I'm going to give it my best shot," I inform him.
The shuddering has become worse. Soon even those not mystically attuned might be able to sense it.
"Good luck, then, I guess," Cary smiles. "See you later," he says as he disappears.
He doesn't need to add, 'If you make it.'
I know that much myself.
I hum and enshroud the world with my power.
A flare of pain stabs my head as we hit some of the debris surrounding the vortex, and a mountain vanishes, becoming a plume of dust.
It wasn't inhabited.
I hope.
I draw deep breath, accessing reserves I haven't tapped since... since the war. I can't bring it all, even most, to bear on the world I'm on without shredding it, but I can at least vaporise any more shards that approach us.
And slowly....
(Almost) too slowly...
I begin to decelerate us from our headlong dive into the Vortex.
The world screeches, a wall of rainbow light appearing across the horizon as I graze its edge, but I've got it.
I've got it.
I drag us slowly away, diminished, but still here, and place the world into a safe orbit.
Safe at least for now.
Someone will doubtless want to claim this world, now that it's been secured.
Move in. Bring their own people. Displace the current inhabitants.
But I can't worry about that now.
I've bought the people of this place life for another day, no matter what happens next.
I've done what I can.
I can't change the politics of the COurts.
I'm having enough problems protecting *my* world from marauding 'interested parties', let alone-
Something's wrong.
My back stiffens as I sense it.
Instinctively, I roll away, automatically reaching for a hidden silver dagger as my eyes, and other senses, search for the anomaly.
There!
A misplaced shadow against the rocks.
I tense, balanced on a knife edge between attacking and fleeing, as I wait for the entity -- whatever, whoever it is -- to make the next move.
Shadow solidifies, becoming scales, which in turn become a, if not familiar, then at least recognisable smooth-skinned form.
"Lady Kalinda," I say, nodding my head in greeting.
"Lady Alicia," she responds, inclining her head in turn, looking at me with fathomless black eyes. "And, please, just call me Kalinda."
She would look almost human, if not for the two small horns peeking out from her hair.
She's obviously making an effort to put me at my ease, or at least be polite.
The gesture shouldn't make me more wary, but old habits die hard.
"Impressive," she says, looking around. "Maybe one other Guild member could have done it as neatly. Maybe eight could have done it all."
Danger, danger, I can hear Florimel's voice say.
Kalinda turns back to me, studying me again. "We've been underestimating you."
My smile remains graceful and unforced only by virtue of Florimel's training. "Just beginner's luck, I assure you. But what can I do for the Guild's Head of Security?"
But even as I ask that, there's something buzzing on the periphery of my senses. Something that's still wrong.
Quickly attuning myself to power once more, I sense two slight distortions.
Almost unnoticeable, unless I was looking for them.
Man-sized.
Lying still on the floor a short distance away.
"Doing my job. Looking after the members of my Guild," Kalinda says.
I raise an eyebrow, careful not to look at the hidden shapes. "Oh? Personally? I feel honoured."
"Sometimes things need a personal touch," she replies blandly, before strolling over and reaching down to one of the unseen forms. A quick movement, and it's revealed to be a pale, scrawny humanoid that had been hidden from view by a *highly* enchanted cloak.
Its pale face is swollen and distorted. It looks like it died hard.
I hope that at least it had been quick.
Clutched in one hand is a knife that radiates both magic and danger. Nasty. Not fatal, not to one of my bloodline, but nasty all the same. If it had hit me when I had been channelling power, saving this world, it would have been all over.
"I don't suppose you know who might want you dead?" Kalinda asks almost rhetorically.
I have to stifle a laugh. Who *doesn't* want me dead?
My ex-husband's enemies, for obvious reasons.
My ex-husband's allies, for not helping him enough.
Any member of the Courts, my new home, both for my bloodline and for being on the other side during the war.
The family I was born into, for any number of petty grudges that might have been accrued by my father, and had now passed to me with his death. At least they wouldn't be after me for marrying someone on the other side of the war. Common consensus was that family was *always* far more dangerous than any outsider.
The list is practically endless.
"I don't suppose that you could have taken them alive," I say.
So much death. So much senseless death.
She looks up at me, and I hope that she sees the obvious, practical, reason behind the sentiment. "Don't worry," she says drily. "I know someone that's not an issue for." She shrugs. "Prefers them that way, actually."
Oh. How delightful.
"May I escort you back home?" Kalinda offers.
I eye her for a second, weighing my options.
Every lesson my family ever taught me warns me not to trust her, not to give her an inch that I don't have to.
On the other hand, if she'd wanted to she could have already hurt me badly. Maybe even killed me.
And there was something about her, with her dark glittering eyes and her reserved demeanour, that made me want to give her this much, to allow her this close to me.
"I'd be delighted," I decide, then smile at her. "Have you ever travelled with one of my family before?"
She tilts her head, then shakes it.
"It'll be quite the experience then," I tell her cheerfully. As easily as drawing breath, as hard as drawing blood, I reach out, reach within myself...
And the world changes around us.
Author's note: This is something of a trial piece. Let me know if you want to read more!
Author:Tamoline
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Fandom: The Good Wife
Pairing: Alicia/Kalinda
Notes: This is a fairly serious AU, a fantasy verse where Alicia is a world travelling sorceress and Kalinda is the head of security of the organisation she belongs to. (It's crossed over with a variant of the Amber setting by Roger Zelazny, for those who are interested.)
Things, of course, rapidly become more complicated.
The world almost seems to scream as it approaches its end.
“Well, that’s it,” Cary says from next to me. “That’s our job done.”
“What about the people?” I ask. This place isn't uninhabited.
He shrugs. “Not our problem.”
He’s right. Our contract only said that we had to make sure that this place didn’t crash into anywhere important. The simplest, the easiest, the safest way of doing that was nudging the world’s course towards the Vortex.
He half-smiles at me. “Why do you care, anyway?”
It's a good question.
My aunt Fiona would say, 'Never exercise power without an objective in mind.'
My aunt Florimel would caution, 'Never let anyone see what you're truly capable of. Always better to let them underestimate you.'
But I was in the war. I've seen too much death.
It's affected me.
Though, doubtless, some, most, would see that as a flaw rather than a virtue.
I guess I'm not quite the golden girl I used to be.
So I shrug. "I'm going to give it my best shot," I inform him.
The shuddering has become worse. Soon even those not mystically attuned might be able to sense it.
"Good luck, then, I guess," Cary smiles. "See you later," he says as he disappears.
He doesn't need to add, 'If you make it.'
I know that much myself.
I hum and enshroud the world with my power.
A flare of pain stabs my head as we hit some of the debris surrounding the vortex, and a mountain vanishes, becoming a plume of dust.
It wasn't inhabited.
I hope.
I draw deep breath, accessing reserves I haven't tapped since... since the war. I can't bring it all, even most, to bear on the world I'm on without shredding it, but I can at least vaporise any more shards that approach us.
And slowly....
(Almost) too slowly...
I begin to decelerate us from our headlong dive into the Vortex.
The world screeches, a wall of rainbow light appearing across the horizon as I graze its edge, but I've got it.
I've got it.
I drag us slowly away, diminished, but still here, and place the world into a safe orbit.
Safe at least for now.
Someone will doubtless want to claim this world, now that it's been secured.
Move in. Bring their own people. Displace the current inhabitants.
But I can't worry about that now.
I've bought the people of this place life for another day, no matter what happens next.
I've done what I can.
I can't change the politics of the COurts.
I'm having enough problems protecting *my* world from marauding 'interested parties', let alone-
Something's wrong.
My back stiffens as I sense it.
Instinctively, I roll away, automatically reaching for a hidden silver dagger as my eyes, and other senses, search for the anomaly.
There!
A misplaced shadow against the rocks.
I tense, balanced on a knife edge between attacking and fleeing, as I wait for the entity -- whatever, whoever it is -- to make the next move.
Shadow solidifies, becoming scales, which in turn become a, if not familiar, then at least recognisable smooth-skinned form.
"Lady Kalinda," I say, nodding my head in greeting.
"Lady Alicia," she responds, inclining her head in turn, looking at me with fathomless black eyes. "And, please, just call me Kalinda."
She would look almost human, if not for the two small horns peeking out from her hair.
She's obviously making an effort to put me at my ease, or at least be polite.
The gesture shouldn't make me more wary, but old habits die hard.
"Impressive," she says, looking around. "Maybe one other Guild member could have done it as neatly. Maybe eight could have done it all."
Danger, danger, I can hear Florimel's voice say.
Kalinda turns back to me, studying me again. "We've been underestimating you."
My smile remains graceful and unforced only by virtue of Florimel's training. "Just beginner's luck, I assure you. But what can I do for the Guild's Head of Security?"
But even as I ask that, there's something buzzing on the periphery of my senses. Something that's still wrong.
Quickly attuning myself to power once more, I sense two slight distortions.
Almost unnoticeable, unless I was looking for them.
Man-sized.
Lying still on the floor a short distance away.
"Doing my job. Looking after the members of my Guild," Kalinda says.
I raise an eyebrow, careful not to look at the hidden shapes. "Oh? Personally? I feel honoured."
"Sometimes things need a personal touch," she replies blandly, before strolling over and reaching down to one of the unseen forms. A quick movement, and it's revealed to be a pale, scrawny humanoid that had been hidden from view by a *highly* enchanted cloak.
Its pale face is swollen and distorted. It looks like it died hard.
I hope that at least it had been quick.
Clutched in one hand is a knife that radiates both magic and danger. Nasty. Not fatal, not to one of my bloodline, but nasty all the same. If it had hit me when I had been channelling power, saving this world, it would have been all over.
"I don't suppose you know who might want you dead?" Kalinda asks almost rhetorically.
I have to stifle a laugh. Who *doesn't* want me dead?
My ex-husband's enemies, for obvious reasons.
My ex-husband's allies, for not helping him enough.
Any member of the Courts, my new home, both for my bloodline and for being on the other side during the war.
The family I was born into, for any number of petty grudges that might have been accrued by my father, and had now passed to me with his death. At least they wouldn't be after me for marrying someone on the other side of the war. Common consensus was that family was *always* far more dangerous than any outsider.
The list is practically endless.
"I don't suppose that you could have taken them alive," I say.
So much death. So much senseless death.
She looks up at me, and I hope that she sees the obvious, practical, reason behind the sentiment. "Don't worry," she says drily. "I know someone that's not an issue for." She shrugs. "Prefers them that way, actually."
Oh. How delightful.
"May I escort you back home?" Kalinda offers.
I eye her for a second, weighing my options.
Every lesson my family ever taught me warns me not to trust her, not to give her an inch that I don't have to.
On the other hand, if she'd wanted to she could have already hurt me badly. Maybe even killed me.
And there was something about her, with her dark glittering eyes and her reserved demeanour, that made me want to give her this much, to allow her this close to me.
"I'd be delighted," I decide, then smile at her. "Have you ever travelled with one of my family before?"
She tilts her head, then shakes it.
"It'll be quite the experience then," I tell her cheerfully. As easily as drawing breath, as hard as drawing blood, I reach out, reach within myself...
And the world changes around us.
Author's note: This is something of a trial piece. Let me know if you want to read more!