Snippet #1598958

“I’d thought not.” Pan’s simple statement was punctuated by the opening of the door in question, and she stepped back slightly on a reflex. It’s wasn’t one she’d always had, but… when every person you met might have it out for you and you couldn’t tell them from the others, you learned to appreciate space, and those who you didn’t need to keep such distance from.

The person who answered the door was not exactly who Pan had been expecting. It was hard to miss a guess as to the woman’s identity: Ishtar was rather famous (or was it infamous? The mage was not sure) in this district, and the cursory descriptions hardly did her credit. She was no longer young, perhaps, but few people could hope to age this elegantly, especially in this part of the city. What surprised Pandora more than her refined face (for she foolishly presumed that people in Ishtar’s profession had to be attractive) though, was the warmth in her eyes.

Perhaps it was her giving form to her hopes that this would not go disastrously wrong, but she could not help but think that this was a good sign all the same. The woman stared right at her and recognized her immediately, and for a moment Pan’s heart leapt to her throat and she forgot that she was supposed to be acting confident and righteously assured that this change of heart, false though it may be, was the correct thing. Instead she just felt rather hopelessly tiny. The moment passed, though, and Ishtar invited them inside.

Resisting the urge to look back at Victoria- for any assurance that the young physician could give would surely not be worth the suspicion such an act would produce, would it?- Pan stepped over the threshold into a home that, while cozy by most standards, was absolutely palatial as far as she was concerned. Well… it would have been were she not one of perhaps three native Delta-dwellers who’d actually seen the palace, much less stepped inside it.

The two of them were shooed into a living room, and Pan took a seat on the edge of an overstuffed chair, fidgeting slightly in her anxiety. Surely it wasn’t such a bad thing to seem nervous? Turncoat or no, she had good reason to be.

Pan was broken from her thoughts by the entrance of a child, redheaded in a way that reminded her a bit of Scheherazade. Well, maybe that was just because it was a rather uncommon hue. The little girl’s complexion was much lighter, anyway. The healer managed a wan smile when the girl squeezed in next to Victoria. She wasn’t exactly sure how the doctor would handle that, but surely learning to deal with children was part of medical practice? It had certainly been of great importance to her, easier because she actually liked them.

Ishtar returned shortly thereafter, and her comment had Pan shaking her head emphatically. “Oh, no, I don’t think you’d do that. Forgive me for saying so, but if you really wished me dead, you could have done it by now, right?” Pandora mimed raising a knife in her off-hand, smiling to show she wasn’t offended. Once upon a time, she wouldn’t have noticed the weapon, but she did spend quite a bit of time in the company of assassins these days. Good as her word, she took a cup of tea and balanced the saucer on her knees, mindful of her calf-length dress, a bit raggedy now but not so bad.

She was a bit surprised to hear that Aram wasn’t around, but in retrospect it probably made sense. Hadn’t she been hiding in much the same manner for a year now? “Well, actually, I… when I came upon that scene in Beta…” And here came the hard part: lying. She’d always been hopeless at it, and frankly she didn’t really wish to be skilled, but for now she had to try. Maybe mixing in a bit of the truth would help. “I didn’t honestly know what was going on, and my first instinct was just to, well, heal people I suppose. I’ve had a bit of time to consider things, though, and I’ve thought about what the others have said to me,” by others she meant other members of Aram’s rebel army (such as they were), “and I’ve decided that I just can’t ignore how we’re being treated anymore.”

Glancing to her side, Pan nodded to Victoria. “My friend here is no mage, but she understands that what benefits us benefits Delta as well.” That was vague enough, right? Victoria could say whatever she wanted.

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District Beta

Scheherazade had honestly thought she’d be doing something a trifle more interesting than sitting in on a meeting that really didn’t involve her. Granted, over the past year, she’d become very good at doing just that, but when she considered the fact that Loki and Eos would be raiding a manse in a few hours, she kind of wished she were not.

She’d been of a mind to volunteer herself as Taylor’s bodyguard, for she was good at this, too, but in the end the combined reasoning of the lord and the smith had convinced her to do things their way. She was barely an adult anyway, what the hell did she know about politics? Loki’d probably sent Carlisle along with Taylor anyway- it wasn’t like she was going to need him today.

The friendship between the two members of Parliament was probably one of the oddest Zade had ever seen- their demeanors were just that different. She and the Princess were more similar, and maybe, possibly, something close to friends, but she didn’t really see Loki giving her a cousin anytime soon, to put it one way. The former fire-thrower’s thoughts meandered in this and similarly-useless directions, and she tried not to look too bored.

Apparently, she was failing, because Garbiel decided to show her mercy and give her something to do. A message to deliver and a request to go back to her quarters? Well, that hardly qualified, but she could tell it was important, and wondered what the old man was thinking. He looked so… something. Melancholy wasn’t quite the right word, but it was close. Whatever it was, it hastened her acquiescence, and she did not pester him with questions.

The letter went to the first courier she came across, with strict instructions as to its care, spoken in that sort of clipped phrasing that messengers knew well and used with one another but not their employers- it would get there post-haste.

Not twenty minutes later, she was back in her appointed quarters, reading a book to pass the time. Lunch would apparently be up in a few minutes, and hopefully Garbiel with it. Just what did he want to discuss, anyway?