Perfectly manicured nails drummed on the near flawless surface of her mahogany desktop. Her chin was cupped in her other hand, darkly painted lips turned downward in a frown. Pale features matched the down turned movement of her lips: Lady Genivive Bastille, Sorceress and secretly head of AquaTech was furious. Her usual cool demeanor was quickly disolving into something unpleasant as her assistant updated her on the lastest news.
Janos, her assistant, continued on in his droll voice, “It appears as if the research facitility has been attacked in the Haven Oasis.” At this new, something twitched on Genivive’s face. Janos was used to his Lady’s … tantrums and kept on going, “Nothing was taken, but sabotage was clearly the motive behind the attacks.” There was silence then while Genivive tried to get herself together. “What … was damaged?”
The assistant looked down to his notes, the tiniest bit of unease showing on his face, “I’m sorry my Lady, but several experiments and the, ah … Research Chamber received some minor, but repairable, damage during the attack.” Janos was not prepared for the unpleasant screech that came from his Lady’s lips as she grabbed him, “WHAT!?!?” He gulped, “Th-that’s the information I received fro-from General Cormac, my Lady!” Throwing him back, Genivive demanded, “Get him here now. Where is Gideon, I must speak with him about this as well.”
Janos cringed now, “The Wizard Gideon is still out on assignment, my Lady.” Something flew past him. It had been a book that flew dangerously past his head. “Then get me Cormac’s mistress! NOW!!!” The sorceress raged, growling in frustration as she whirled away. “When I get my hands on that rebel leader, I will wring the life out of their neck!” She grabbed something else, vaguely noting it was a vase, and threw with another screech. “How dare they!”
After a few moments the doors to Lady Bastille’s chamber flew open, signaling the presence of Desmona, a dark wizard Bastille had recruited in order to aid the darker side of ‘AquaTech’. If Bastille was pale, Desmona was downright wraith-like. Something about her people gave them the odd coloring of white/grey skin and grey eyes with black hair that shone purple in the light. Because of her rank, she was allowed some elegant dress. Her long hair was braided and looped around her head, the rest falling down her back with silver adornments within the weaved hair. Her dress was a dark indigo color, bound tightly at her torso but flowing softly below the waist, a black cropped jacket covering her arms. Desmona curtsied, bringing her hand over her heart as she bowed her head. “My lady.”
As Desmona’s assistant, he was of course behind her, bowing. When the Lady Bastille impatiently gestured at the two of them to rise, he straightened to watch her with his strange mis-matched eyes of gray and red. “Cormac, I want your explanation as to what happened at the Haven facility.” Genivive demanded, pacing irritably.
“However …” She turned to the Witch, Desmona Raine, “Lady Raine. I have a task for you. If my theory is correct, both of your assignments will correlate with one another.” Lady Bastille continued her pacing, “Janos has informed me that Gideon is still out on assignment. I think he has begun to avoid me and I do not like being ignored.” She paused in front of the large glass window overlooking the central courtyard, eyes narrowed, “I want proof of Gideon being traitor. Go with Cormac to Haven, see if he can pick up a trail.”
“If we were to discover that Master Gideon is indeed a traitor, what shall we do, my lady?” Desmona asked, glancing briefly to Cormac with a twisted smirk. She obviously hoped Lady Bastille’s wishes included violence and pain for the traitor.
At the mention of Cormac, the man lifted a hand to his red eye (now closed), tracing a quick finger lightly across the lid. His own twisted smirk was on his lips at the prospect of a hunt. His grin widened as the Lady Bastille replied, “I leave that to your discretion, Lady Raine.”
“Excellent, my lady. Cormac and I will leave for Haven tomorrow morning. Sandstorms have made traveling too dangerous tonight.” Desmona stepped forward, clasping her hands at her waist. She wore large rings on her fingers, her long nails painted a metallic dark purple. “If I may be so bold…through my informants and my scrying, we have discovered many of Haven’s citizens believe she is among them.”
Cormac moved up to stand beside his mistress. Like many in the royal army, he was dressed in a black suit, white dress shirt, black tie which was tacked down with the Bastille crest. He wore a katana slung across his back and a whip of fire on his hip, but the best weapon he carried was the odd colored red eye of his … “This is good news, Lady Bastille. We can crush two birds with one stone, as it were.”
Genivive whirled at this wonderful bit of news. Her mood instantly brightened, it was like a light switch with her emotions. A delightful, yet cruel smile curved her lips, “Wonderful! Go there, if you can find her, do so and bring her to me. However, I want you to find Gideon first. He will pose a problem if we do not deal with him now.” She tapped her chin a black lacqured nail, “Cormac, what damage did the Chamber receive?”
“It appears magical, as well as physical. The theory is the rebels used a Wanderer and a human to attack the Chamber. Whatever it is they have done, will set us back for some time until it can be repaired.” Genivive sighed and then flicked her hand at the two of them, “Leave me. You have your assignments.”
With another curtsy, Lady Desmona Raine turned with a swish of her long dress and headed out of Lady Bastille’s chamber. She and Cormac had a lot of work to do.
