to, so be prepared.”
“I'll do that,” Jezebel answered, only mildly
surprised at this insight. It should be expected from any society
such as this that they would take measures to ensure obedience and
loyalty. She had no doubt her own magical power would withstand any
invasion of will that they could muster against her, however, so
she was not overly concerned with this possibility. When she had
done her training with the Priesthood, she had suspected that they
had tried to put a binding on her, but even only partially trained
she had been able to keep them from containing her powers. She
didn’t see why the Order would be any more difficult to
withstand.
“I must admit that the society is extremely
well formed and we were unable to discern the inner workings. My
best agents can only make educated guesses at this point as to its
real intent. Each level seems to believe in a different ultimate
goal which disguises whatever the real purpose is. So again, I
caution you.”
Jezebel digested this piece of information.
Admitting any sort of failure to her was no small danger, as Devon
well knew - though she did give him more leeway than the others.
This society must be impressive indeed. Which just makes it all
the more useful to me, she reminded herself. She soon fell into
thought and dismissed Devon with a wave of her hand, telling him to
send in someone with wine as he left.
She stood by the window, staring out into the
growing darkness when the servant came with the wine. He poured it
for her, and left it on the table next to the window before
retreating. She hardly noticed his departure as she paced the room. What sort of story shall I put together as my shameful
secret? She considered. It had to be something that they would
think gave them leverage over her. She wondered what kinds of
stories they must hear and hoped that she would get to hear others
once she was inducted. No doubt that would prove amusing.
Her pacing led her back to the window and she
reached for the wine. A cold breeze blew over her hand as she
wrapped her fingers around the glass, and she looked over her
shoulder to scold the servant for having left the window unlocked. Wasting money because of stupidity. Unfortunately, he was
already gone. She clicked the lock back into place so that it
wouldn't be opened again by the wind, grumbling. Must I do
everything myself around here? She took a seat and cradled the
wine.
Jezebel spent the next half hour perfecting
her lie, going over every possibility and deciding which emotions
would best fit with it. When she was satisfied that she had a
believable story, she swallowed the last of her wine and went to
find a servant to get her dressed and perhaps practice bits of the
story on. She stood, momentarily dizzy, and thought absently to
herself, perhaps I should not have had quite so much
wine .
*
Jonathan was careful not to be seen as he
exited Jezebel's estate and made his way down the deserted drive
towards the city. It was another hour before Jezebel was expected
to arrive at the location that had been given to her, but he wanted
to make sure all was ready so that Master would be pleased. Master
had gone to great lengths to get him what he had requested, and
Jonathan was determined to repay the favor in full. The drug he had
just slipped into Jezebel's wine would make her much more pliable
for Master to work with. Jonathan was unsure as to why Master had
taken an interest in this particular talent personally, but if
Master wanted him to watch her, that’s what Jonathan was going to
do.
The sun was just setting, but people were
already starting to clear out of the streets and Jonathan flitted
through the shadows unnoticed. He carefully glanced around and
ducked into a back alleyway to knock on a door there. A peephole
window slid open and an eye stared at him expectantly. He made the
sign; holding his fist in front of his mouth, while drawing back
his sleeve to expose the emblem of the eye burned
“I'll do that,” Jezebel answered, only mildly
surprised at this insight. It should be expected from any society
such as this that they would take measures to ensure obedience and
loyalty. She had no doubt her own magical power would withstand any
invasion of will that they could muster against her, however, so
she was not overly concerned with this possibility. When she had
done her training with the Priesthood, she had suspected that they
had tried to put a binding on her, but even only partially trained
she had been able to keep them from containing her powers. She
didn’t see why the Order would be any more difficult to
withstand.
“I must admit that the society is extremely
well formed and we were unable to discern the inner workings. My
best agents can only make educated guesses at this point as to its
real intent. Each level seems to believe in a different ultimate
goal which disguises whatever the real purpose is. So again, I
caution you.”
Jezebel digested this piece of information.
Admitting any sort of failure to her was no small danger, as Devon
well knew - though she did give him more leeway than the others.
This society must be impressive indeed. Which just makes it all
the more useful to me, she reminded herself. She soon fell into
thought and dismissed Devon with a wave of her hand, telling him to
send in someone with wine as he left.
She stood by the window, staring out into the
growing darkness when the servant came with the wine. He poured it
for her, and left it on the table next to the window before
retreating. She hardly noticed his departure as she paced the room. What sort of story shall I put together as my shameful
secret? She considered. It had to be something that they would
think gave them leverage over her. She wondered what kinds of
stories they must hear and hoped that she would get to hear others
once she was inducted. No doubt that would prove amusing.
Her pacing led her back to the window and she
reached for the wine. A cold breeze blew over her hand as she
wrapped her fingers around the glass, and she looked over her
shoulder to scold the servant for having left the window unlocked. Wasting money because of stupidity. Unfortunately, he was
already gone. She clicked the lock back into place so that it
wouldn't be opened again by the wind, grumbling. Must I do
everything myself around here? She took a seat and cradled the
wine.
Jezebel spent the next half hour perfecting
her lie, going over every possibility and deciding which emotions
would best fit with it. When she was satisfied that she had a
believable story, she swallowed the last of her wine and went to
find a servant to get her dressed and perhaps practice bits of the
story on. She stood, momentarily dizzy, and thought absently to
herself, perhaps I should not have had quite so much
wine .
*
Jonathan was careful not to be seen as he
exited Jezebel's estate and made his way down the deserted drive
towards the city. It was another hour before Jezebel was expected
to arrive at the location that had been given to her, but he wanted
to make sure all was ready so that Master would be pleased. Master
had gone to great lengths to get him what he had requested, and
Jonathan was determined to repay the favor in full. The drug he had
just slipped into Jezebel's wine would make her much more pliable
for Master to work with. Jonathan was unsure as to why Master had
taken an interest in this particular talent personally, but if
Master wanted him to watch her, that’s what Jonathan was going to
do.
The sun was just setting, but people were
already starting to clear out of the streets and Jonathan flitted
through the shadows unnoticed. He carefully glanced around and
ducked into a back alleyway to knock on a door there. A peephole
window slid open and an eye stared at him expectantly. He made the
sign; holding his fist in front of his mouth, while drawing back
his sleeve to expose the emblem of the eye burned
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