Byzantine Purple

Chapter XXIV: How To Ruin A Life

Leudora collapsed on a white sofa in her sterile-looking hotel room, inhaling the smell of artificial leather and freshly brewed coffee coming from the street. She did not bother to remove her high boots, stretching out her legs. When the door abruptly opened and Szemere appeared in front of her, she barely lifted an eyebrow. Leudora had expected him to confront her sooner or later. His appearance did not catch her off-guard.

"You have planned it all along..." he whispered with a mixture of disdain and offense. She freed her tired feet from the boots and leaned back.

"I am glad we finally understand each other, Ferenc."

"You used me," he uttered quietly.

"Yes," she admitted. He scrutinized her fine features, and she chose to ignore his persistent stare.

"That monstrous tracking device... what is it?" he asked.

"I have once told you it was a present, haven't I?" Leudora lifted an eyebrow, pausing. When Szemere did not answer, she continued. "Don't ask if you don't want to know the answer. I followed Oláh to Croatia with the help of a modified projector program. He sincerely believed I would not have the guts to kill him. He was wrong." Her graceful lips twisted in a bitter smirk. "I wanted to know who was pulling his strings. Further investigation pointed at Hrvoje Duančić and, predictably, at Tomislav Drašković. The Spy Guild was providing his gang with information... This would explain how they discovered Slavoj and Goran. I couldn't babysit that young troublemaker, therefore I had to act sooner than anticipated."

"You could have reached young Gothar earlier." Szemere frowned.

"One can join the Alkari at the age of sixteen. I could not risk announcing his survival to the Realm earlier." She permitted herself a sad smile, "I cannot guarantee his safety, but the Alkari can. If blood lilies really have no effect on him, which I doubt, he may be the key to the many troubles that have befallen us recently. We both know blood lilies started disappearing with the Veil's disintegration. The murders, the lilies, the deaths of the Gothars. There has to be a connection, and he may as well help me find it."

"You have a script for everyone, don't you?" Szemere approached the window, pinching his nose bridge with his fingers. After all these years, he still did not understand her. He chose to rely on his ideals rather than his rational mind, and Leudora couldn't avoid hurting him. Sometimes she wondered why he kept coming back to her only to condemn her actions.

"My plans would not have succeeded without you, Ferenc," she said carefully. Ferenc's handsome face tensed. He voiced no objections, but Leudora saw beyond his exterior: he wanted to spit in her face, to strangle her, to tear at her hair, perhaps. Beneath all that bitterness, in his dark eyes, she recognized desperate longing that he must have hoped to conceal.

"Gurov would have lent you a glider had you asked him. You did not need me for that," Ferenc said.

"Sometimes allies speak for your cause better than you do yourself." She rose from the couch and approached him. He did not even look her way.

"Was your gamble worth it?" Ferenc's voice dripped venom. Leudora took a deep breath and folded her arms on her chest.

"The gravity-switchers and their supporters are planning a war behind the backs of the Alkari. We both know we won't win if they attack. I need to identify all the players in this game to give us a chance of survival. I needed you to believe I would make a good Archoine."

"What is the cost of this survival, Leudora?" Szemere's desperate brown eyes burnt through her. It was the first time that Leudora saw him express anger.

When someone knocked on the door, she almost felt relieved that she could postpone her answer.

"Enter," Leudora said in perfect Greek with only a slight accent. Szemere stepped aside. A vaguely familiar sweet scent reached Leudora's nose, stirring troubling memories. She bit her lower lip, immediately clasping her hands behind her back and willing all emotions away from her face. The maid entered the room holding a blossoming wisteria stem.

"Mrs. Galbur?" She mispronounced her name, but Leudora did not care. All she could think of was that perfect white flower. "Someone sent you... this. There was no message attached."

The girl smiled and left. Leudora's hand trembled when she took the flower. Carefully she placed it on the table in front of the couch.

"I need to leave," she muttered to herself. Ferenc heard her.

"You would not care to explain your plans this time either, would you?" His quick approach startled her.

"I will..." She swallowed her breath when Szemere grabbed her shoulders and buried his look into her eyes. Leudora's lips twisted when she felt his fingers squeeze her flesh, leaving bruises. It almost hurt. Almost. "You can't hate me, Ferenc," she whispered, "although you are trying your best." In one swift motion she caught his smooth and warm hands.

"Are you terrified of me?" Leudora asked. Ferenc freed her hands, got hold of her wrists and pinned her to the wall, his dark eyes widening.

"I am terrified that you would not stop at anything to reach your goals. I knew that when I set fire to that library. Had I not done that, had I not provoked your expulsion, you would have killed us all."

Dribbling acid turned his calm words into knives that hacked Leudora's entire being. She flinched, unable to free herself from his grip. Ferenc Szemere had destroyed her career based on his visions. Screams of pain and anguish died on her lips, letting only cold rage show in her glittering grey eyes. "You are no better than the Dalmatian Serpent. You two deserved each other." He shook his head, releasing her wrists. Then he turned around and walked away. Leudora only scowled, a sad smile flitting over her squeezed lips. Another betrayal? Another failure? She might as well destroy him. Were her predictions more accurate than his? After all, they both knew how to ruin a life. Nothing else mattered.