Page 83 of Remnants: Disruption
“Are the spirits here?” Mary’s voice brings me back to the present and I turn to her, eyebrows raised.
“No,” I lie, seeing several just behind her. She doesn’t need to know that her new ‘powerful being’ that she apparently risked life and death for is back to old habits.
“Do not begin this relationship by lying to me,” Mary’s accented voice takes on a dangerous note. Something inhuman and dangerous.
I glance past her at the shadows growing in the corners of the room. My lips and throat feel dry as I nod.
“They’re always here, Mary,” I whisper squeezing my eyes tight for a moment. “I already told you–if you wanted a weapon, I’m not the one.”
Her eyes soften. She leans forward and takes my arm in her firm grasp, directing me off the stage and towards the other end of the basin.
“You are not a weapon,” she says, breath tickling at my ear. “But you are, most certainly, the one.”
Mary leads me through several streets filled with people and creatures that I can’t even begin to put a name to. Those that see us bow in reverence to Mary while giving me a strange look.They’re not hostile, but it’s certainly obvious that they know a stranger when they see one.
After a few minutes of silence, Mary stops us in front of what looks to be a castle built directly into the cavern wall. The sign in front of it is written in a language I can’t read, but Mary’s look of consternation is off-putting to say the least.
“I need you to recognize something,” she says, voice low and serious.
“I’m one more reality-warping informational bombshell from a total mental breakdown, so you’re going to have to be patient,” I say, giving her a weak smile.
She ignores me as she presses on. “Up there, you know me as a villain. And, in some ways, I suppose I am.”
“And here?” I try to catch her eyes, but her focus is still on the castle.
Mary chews at her bottom lip for a moment—the motion of her white teeth along the red gloss definitely doesn’t grab my attention.
Nope.
“Here you will see me as a monster. My people respect me, but they also fear me. You have only ever seen parts of it—but I need you to trust me. There are things that only you need to know and I will explain them.”
Her orange eyes find mine.
“You mean whatever that creature was back at the Guild?” I ask, glancing down at the hand on my bicep. “The one with claws longer than my forearm?”
Mary nods slowly, her face taking on a more stoney expression that I’m finding I hate almost as much as her formality towards me.
“That is part of it.”
My jaw ticks as I consider my words. It feels important that she understands me explicitly.
“For what it’s worth,” I start, giving her a smile that finally feels genuine and the stone around her eyes seems to soften. “I thought you were beautiful.”
For the first time since she’d shown up in my life, Mary looks genuinely stunned. Her eyes flit from side to side like she’s trying to decide if I’m being honest.
The expression disappears and she nods once.
“Let us meet the Council.”
Chapter 35
Elder
Three P.M., November 3rd, 1030 A.D.
There are no strings to pull. There are no chinks in her armor. She has no family to be manipulated or lovers to be slain. Her iron will is drenched in the blood of those who stood between her and her desires. She is a leader and an empress. She is the greatest threat this world has ever seen.
Bloody Mary, Guide for the Tempest Acolyte, 1020 Edition
