Snippet #1745719

the time has come.

Everything seemed very far away.

the time has come.

Why did that keep running through her head?

Mageria moved through the corridors of the Castle and was almost surprised that they didn’t melt away like a chalk drawing in the rain, so false did they feel. Somewhere Sham was talking to her, as were some of the Guard, but she couldn’t have repeated their words if her life depended on it. It took a few moments of intense thinking for her to remember that she should report in, that she hadn’t seen Thomas since she yelled at him this morning. He needed to know what had happened.

Mageria was working her way to the Royal suite when Councilor Martin found her. A fussy man, fond of dressing nicely and being important, he was one of the few who seemed to think that he could order anyone around that he cared to.
“Captain Talsheir! You missed today’s meeting!” The man’s voice seemed to echo to her from a great distance, everything around her seeming to be oddly removed. Mageria absently brushed at a damp spot on her tunic, shivering just a bit as the clammy cloth stuck to her.
“My apologies Councilor. I had other things to deal with.” With a sneer, he planted one hand on her chest, stopping her forward movement.
“I’m sure you did, Captain. However, your absence meant that the Queen was . . . What on earth?” Pulling his hand away, he flipped it around to look at the palm, which was smeared with something red. “Is that . . . is that blood!?” Mageria reached out and gently grasped his wrist, turning it around so she could see it.
“Yes, Councilor. I believe it is.” She smiled gently at the shorter man, pleased that he could figure that out on his own. It seemed to be very hard to think right now. Then she looked at his sleeve in distress. “Oh dear, there seems to be some more.” There were indeed more smears of bright red blood around the wrist of his shirt, place there by her hand. Looking down, she brushed at the damp patches that covered most of her front in confusion. In the better light of the hall, they all glinted red. It seemed that she was covered in blood.
“It must have happened when . . .” she couldn’t finish the thought. Looking up, she noticed that the Councilor was turning so white that he appeared green. “Are you feeling alright, Councilor?” She looked at his shirt, knowing that his appearance mattered a great deal to him. “You should take care of that quickly. Blood stains so badly, you know.” He nodded violently and started to back away, not taking his eyes off of her as if he was afraid she would leap on him at any moment.

Mageria watched him walk away, still wrapped in a numb feeling like a blanket of cotton, then looked down at her uniform. She should really clean that up.




the time has come.