I'm tempted to continue Mac's tale from yesterday, but perhaps I shouldn't get sidetracked :) Thankfully your prompt wasn't "Seeking tooth" or I may not have been able to resist.
Seeking truth "You walked the Witnesses again?" said Tomasz. He was sat astride the Byakhee, clearly ready to take off and collect Lord Derby from the other side, and there were signs of tension: the tendons of his wrist stood out as he gripped the reins, and the Byakhee was shuffling now and then, as though uncomfortably squeezed by his knees. He stared intently at Lord Derby, his eyes screwed up as though it was hard to see him. "My experiment needed a few more data points," said Lord Derby. He lowered his hand, and Tomasz's eyes widened as though he'd appeared out of nowhere. "I thought you just saw we wearing a yellow cloak when I did this?" "I do, milord. But along the path of the Witnesses you were hard to make out, indistinct." "Camouflaged," said Tomasz. "I cannot assure you of safety if you keep doing that." Samual shot Tomasz a hard stare, which Tomasz ignored. "Not from myself or Samual, but from the others here. Servants of the King are always a threat." "Lord Derby does not serve the King in Yellow!" "Maybe, maybe not. We don't know what happened when he left us-" "Was separated from us!" "But we know he now seems able to wear a yellow cloak by choice, and can walk the Witnesses without looking disturbed." "They didn't speak to me when I wore the cloak," said Lord Derby. "Though I do not feel the weight of any cloak, or see it myself. And we haven't checked if it affects all of us, have we?" "What?" Samual turned pale and stared. His hands, held rigidly at his sides, started to tremble a little. "Raise your hand to shade your eyes, Samual," said Lord Derby. His voice was still calm, but there was a firmness to it that made his statement into a command. "Just as I was doing." Samual looked between Lord Derby and Tomasz, now clearly sweating. The pallor of his face intensified until he was white enough to be a ghost. Tomasz just nodded. Slowly, staring at his hand as though it was a snake, Samual lifted it to his head, and shaded his eyes. "Nothing," said Lord Derby. "Tomasz?" "No," said Tomasz. "Just you, Derby." Samual lowered his hand, his whole body shaking now. "You still have to do it," he said to Tomasz. "If it affected me, I would be dead already," said Tomasz. He lifted his hand as though saluting and shaded his eyes. "Nothing," said Samual. He heaved a huge, shuddering, breath, and sat down. "Just you, milord." "At least we have found some truth here," murmured Lord Derby. "The question is then, is this recruitment, or infection?"
2 comments:
I'm tempted to continue Mac's tale from yesterday, but perhaps I shouldn't get sidetracked :) Thankfully your prompt wasn't "Seeking tooth" or I may not have been able to resist.
Seeking truth
"You walked the Witnesses again?" said Tomasz. He was sat astride the Byakhee, clearly ready to take off and collect Lord Derby from the other side, and there were signs of tension: the tendons of his wrist stood out as he gripped the reins, and the Byakhee was shuffling now and then, as though uncomfortably squeezed by his knees. He stared intently at Lord Derby, his eyes screwed up as though it was hard to see him.
"My experiment needed a few more data points," said Lord Derby. He lowered his hand, and Tomasz's eyes widened as though he'd appeared out of nowhere. "I thought you just saw we wearing a yellow cloak when I did this?"
"I do, milord. But along the path of the Witnesses you were hard to make out, indistinct."
"Camouflaged," said Tomasz. "I cannot assure you of safety if you keep doing that."
Samual shot Tomasz a hard stare, which Tomasz ignored.
"Not from myself or Samual, but from the others here. Servants of the King are always a threat."
"Lord Derby does not serve the King in Yellow!"
"Maybe, maybe not. We don't know what happened when he left us-"
"Was separated from us!"
"But we know he now seems able to wear a yellow cloak by choice, and can walk the Witnesses without looking disturbed."
"They didn't speak to me when I wore the cloak," said Lord Derby. "Though I do not feel the weight of any cloak, or see it myself. And we haven't checked if it affects all of us, have we?"
"What?" Samual turned pale and stared. His hands, held rigidly at his sides, started to tremble a little.
"Raise your hand to shade your eyes, Samual," said Lord Derby. His voice was still calm, but there was a firmness to it that made his statement into a command. "Just as I was doing."
Samual looked between Lord Derby and Tomasz, now clearly sweating. The pallor of his face intensified until he was white enough to be a ghost. Tomasz just nodded. Slowly, staring at his hand as though it was a snake, Samual lifted it to his head, and shaded his eyes.
"Nothing," said Lord Derby. "Tomasz?"
"No," said Tomasz. "Just you, Derby."
Samual lowered his hand, his whole body shaking now. "You still have to do it," he said to Tomasz.
"If it affected me, I would be dead already," said Tomasz. He lifted his hand as though saluting and shaded his eyes.
"Nothing," said Samual. He heaved a huge, shuddering, breath, and sat down. "Just you, milord."
"At least we have found some truth here," murmured Lord Derby. "The question is then, is this recruitment, or infection?"
Greg - hah, close call :)
Ugh, so tense and creepy. As to the final question, I'm afraid I lean toward infection. But I guess only time will tell on that one...
Post a Comment