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-
- AIMEE' Intermission
- ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- Darryn smiled as he pulled the robes tightly about himself. Although
- inside the council chamber the fires had kept the meeting comfortably warm,
- outside the chill of winter easily permeated the halls of the
- Administration Building on the College. As he walked away he had the
- distinct taste of victory in his mouth. He thought back... it had only
- been minutes earlier...
-
-
- "Master Darryn," Teltirray had said, approaching him.
-
- "Master Teltirray," he had replied gracefully.
-
- "I wish to thank you. You teaching of Aimee' has been wonderful. Her
- learning is spectacular, her skill growing appreciably in the six months
- you have known her. I admit, I had misgivings. After all, your...
- preference... did not encourage me to send her to you." He positively
- sneered the word 'preference,' a sure sign to him that Teltirray was still
- dealing with him fairly, if uncomfortably. There was no double meaning
- here. "I thought you had nothing to teach. I see that your knowledge of,
- well, men, applies to her skills very clearly." The grin he gave Darryn
- made the blood run cold. He wondered how much of that 'skill' was applied
- strictly to the healing arts in a sense of self-preservation. "I thank
- you, especially since you have taken upon yourself an increase in the time
- you spend on her training, beyond our agreement, without asking for an
- increase in the cost."
-
- "Master Teltirray, Aimee' presents a challenge. I hope you do not
- take this wrongly, but I feel I am learning from her as I have never worked
- with a woman before and feel most uncomfortable doing so."
-
- Teltirray smiled, taking Darryn's words exactly as he had expected.
- "I understand. Still, I appreciate beyond words what you have done to
- her."
-
- "I am grateful."
-
- "I apologize for interrupting you. I see you are in a hurry."
-
- "No, merely anxious to return home. I have much to do tonight."
-
- "Then I shall not keep you any longer. Good day."
-
- "Good day." Teltirray had departed.
-
-
- Darryn walked down the hall, enjoying his success, celebrating with
- quiet happiness the nutured hope that Aimee' might survive Teltirray's
- abuses unharmed and that she might someday register at the College as a
- student... under his aegis. So complete was his self absorbtion that he
- didn't notice the woman at the end of the hall until her hand reached out
- and dragged him aside. "What?"
-
- The woman stepped back out of reach as his hand came up in a defensive
- posture. "Whoa, Darryn! It's me!"
-
- "Bethsany?"
-
- "Right, right! You could scare a body half to death if it didn't
- freeze in here first. Don't you mages believe in heat?"
-
- "Unlike your usual clientele, mages are not likely to walk around
- unclothed. What are you doing here?"
-
- "Came looking for you. I need to talk to you."
-
- "About Aimee'?"
-
- She nodded. "You're hoping she kills him, aren't you?"
-
- "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said as he put up
- privacy spells as fast as he possibly could. Before she could speak again
- he put his hand up to silence her. Open mouthed, she stared, then nodded
- and closed it again. "Now then. As I was saying, I have no idea what
- you're talking about."
-
- "Aimee' and Teltirray," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper.
- "Some of the stuff you've been teaching her... you're hoping she kills him,
- aren't you?"
-
- The room she had pulled him into was one of the side classrooms, with
- the teacher's desk close to the door. He sat down on it and folded his
- hands in his lap, grinning. "I won't cry at his funeral."
-
- "Don't you think he'll get the least bit suspicious?"
-
- "If he does, that's his problem. I've taken on an apprentice,
- Bethsany, and I usually first teach my apprentice those things he needs to
- survive. And besides, most of what I've taught her are spells that a
- select group of your clientele, and me if I were interested in women, find
- extremely exciting."
-
- Bethsany's mouth cracked into an echo of Darryn's grin. "I see. Do
- you really think she can do it?"
-
- Darryn stared out the window where the first heavy snow of winter was
- falling, making the fresh, cold air hazy and covering the campus in a layer
- of white. Trees were bending already with the heavy weight of packed snow
- and from his vantage only one brave (or foolish) soul was trying to make
- his way across the quadrangle. Inside the classroom, however, only the
- sound of breathing could be heard; the privacy spells Darryn had put up
- kept all sound from leaving, but it also kept sound from entering as well.
- No-one would investigate; privacy spells were amongst the easiest to learn,
- the most common to use, and the most respected. Mages valued their
- privacy. And Darryn was an archmage. No-one would interrupt him.
-
- "Ultimately, Bethsany, of all the people who will ever need to defend
- themsleves against Teltirray, if anyone can do so successfully, I think she
- can. I think he's given himself a challenge he's not up to."
-
- "I don't have you magical skill, Darryn, but I have to agree with your
- observation. She's strong. I just hope she's strong enough."
-
- Darryn looked out the window again. "I think we'll know before the
- snow melts."
-
- "That's not a lot of time," Bethsany sighed. "I'll help in any way I
- can."
-
- "Just keep teaching her to be strong, Beth. That's what she really
- needs. Encouragement."
-
- "I'll do my best," she nodded, turning to leave. She reached for the
- doorknob, then stopped and turned around. "Darryn, I know you don't care
- for women's ways, but you've always been kind to me and my girls. I don't
- understand why, except that we understand each other." Her mouth curled
- into an unpleasant snarl. "I've seen what he does to the girls he gets.
- Get him. Please."
-
- Darryn merely nodded as she left, closing the door behind her with a
- click. He turned his stare out the window again, watching the snow come
- down in slow, dry sheets of white.
-
- --
- "Aimee', Intermission"
- Aimee' is copyright (c) 1993 Elf Mathieu Sternberg. This story may be
- freely distributed by electronic media; hardcopies are limited to single
- printings for personal use.