Symbiota Sapiens

Chapter 21

"Your friend is a fool." Damion said.

The sound of his voice was accompanied by a hazy fog that slowly resolved itself into Julian's face. He looked...well...he looked good. Much better than the last I "saw" him.

"Do you really think so?" Julian said calmly. Amused.

He was dressed in a nice button-down shirt. Silk. Expensive. His hair was styled with gel. He was sipping tea from a fine china cup. A similar cup tipped up just under my view and I suddenly had a wash of the taste of earl grey in my mouth.

"In more ways than one." Damion told him, an eyebrow raised.

Julian scrunched an eyebrow, apparently torn between defending my honor and agreeing with the statement. Finally he looked up with narrowed eyes.

"I think you should probably clarify...things."

"Well, for one he apparently still thinks he can beat me. Not willing to give in, even to save your hide."

"Why do you think that?" Julian looked a bit uncomfortable at that.

"Because the poor fool contacted me yesterday, asking for help. Seems some immortal out there has you hostage." Damion chuckled mirthlessly. "I'm the one he thought of as a possible ally. Obviously, he's not giving up. He seems quite reluctant to give his one shot at an attachment to turn Elizabeth, here. I don't suppose he has his eye on someone specific that he's reserving it for, does he?"

Julian didn't reply, just shook his head. A faint blush rose in his cheeks as he studied the tea in his hands.

"Ah. Of course. How narrow-minded of me not to have realized. But then, he hasn't even realized that himself, has he?" Damion said silkily.

Julian just lowered his head more.

"As I said. A fool."

Julian's eyes shot up at that.

"What-" He shook his head in confusion, and set his cup down on the saucer carefully. His hand splayed itself on the fine tablecloth. "What are you doing? What is this?" His eyes rolled at the fine setting.

They were in a finely furnished room. Thick carpets, rich drapes covered a window behind Julian. A faint swaying motion indicated they were on a boat of some kind.

"You haven't been treated appropriately so far, Julian." A woman's voice. Elizabeth, I now knew her name to be.

"And you're changing that now?" Julian's voice was laced with sarcasm. "What do you want from me?"

"You are...an important person. Close to someone we hope will be an ally. In the future." Elizabeth told him gently.

"Perhaps the distant future, after the heat of things has died down. As things are you are a prisoner. As happens amongst our kind from time to time, when we find ourselves at odds with each other." Damion added.

"You want to...be friends?" Julian said, disbelieving.

"Not now. Obviously." Damion said sharply. "We're on opposite sides of things at the moment. But...time stretches long and positions inevitably change. It took...counsel to open my eyes to the foolishness of my actions."

"So...what, now you suddenly regret kidnapping me and injecting me with hostile caretakers to turn me into your slave?"

Damion jolted at that word and went quiet. Elizabeth answered for him.