Magician's Blood

3-Black Tower

Retrieving entry...

-3/Black Tower

Magician's Blood-Kisho

*

July 16th, 3094 GSC—6:34 Standard Time

Open Space—Firus IV System—Moza Sector

On-Board the Dancer

Renault was, by any account, a handsome man. It didn't take a genius, nor a desperate woman, to realize that. When she'd been younger, the piercing stare from dark, dark brown eyes would have made her heart jump at the sight. Some said that the Church garb made anyone handsome—Elicia couldn't entirely disagree—but his toned figure, as far as she could tell, didn't need a high-collared coat to capture a maiden.

Of course, Elicia thought with a wry smile, she was no maiden. She'd fallen in love just to have them die on the next outing. Being the Raven didn't bode well for love. The last man she'd thought about falling in love with, he'd been on the ship when it was crushed.

She supposed she'd killed him.

"I've been studying you, you know, Captain."

His voice jerked her out of her thoughts, and she realized she was staring at him. Next realization was that he was staring at her, too. She put on her best impression of not caring and looked him in the eyes. "Well, I'm flattered."

A little smile quirked at his lips. "I don't mean just on a level of personal curiosity, Captain. I was wondering if maybe it was just a name laughed in a few select circles, but if even you recognize the name..."

"Raven? Please. You have no idea how often I hear it." She pulled her eyes away from his, away from his glasses and the captivating stare underneath, and she looked out the viewscreen. A great view of... stars. That was about all one got in open Space. The occasional nebula was a dreamlike sight, but definitely a very occasional one.

"But, you understand the sheer depth of your... your... misfortune, Captain. Heretics and traitors just seem drawn to you. The battle at Aldisar didn't stop escalating until your team suffered casualties. Your investigation at Meris III turned out beyond the scale anyone could have predicted. Your mentor-"

"Please," Elicia interrupted, her voice cold and sharp as her blade, "don't mention him."

Renault stopped, shrank back, stared at her through eyes slowly blinking, and nodded. It took him a moment to return to where he was, to his line of thought—though something still hung there, a dark anxiety in his expression. "Well... most of all, though, you've faced two Wraiths. Thanks be to Him that they were both Black Wraiths, but that's still unbelievable. I checked the precise percentages for the Magicians of the Order who come up against Wraiths in their work. Only five percent ever encounter one Wraith. One percent encounter two. That's in an entire career, though. Captain Vasavilli, you're only twenty-four. That's unprecedented."

The question of whether to tell him the truth flitted through her mind. She shook it away just as quickly. He probably wouldn't be by her side for long, as fascinated as he was with her, and even so—her telling people her secrets just seemed to make them more likely to die in her wake. Someone as handsome as Renault, she thought under an inwards laugh, didn't deserve to be Raven-food. He had plenty of maidens out there still to woo.

"You've really brushed up on your Elicia studies, haven't you? I guess you got an A in Elicia 101."

He didn't laugh or smile, just seemed genuinely confused for a moment before catching his bearings again. "You know, Captain, I was under the impression you'd take this with more... gravity."