Saffron's Fire

The First Test

The young man that Evelyn now knew as William Drake did not stop there. Oh no. He gestured at her in disgust as he asked. "She's a Barbie doll. She couldn't hide that face. What on earth were you thinking?" His tirade continued as he massaged his hand.

Evelyn smirked. She managed to convince herself it was because she had caused him pain and not the backhanded compliment he just paid her. Did he think she was pretty?

Lord Styles straightened to his full height, which was considerable. Evelyn got the impression that this marionette of a man held a lot more power than first met the eye. William Drake backed down somewhat in stance and Lord Styles gestured to a chair.

" I have been at this longer than you have, Mr. Drake and I know talent when I see it. You, I'm sure, will experience it yourself when given the opportunity." His manner was very cold and British but at the end of his last statement his sense of humor got the better of him and he added, " Anyways, all Shirrees are gorgeous creatures, What did you expect?"

Drake's hard jaw line tightened, if that was possible, but he wisely said nothing.

Evelyn felt distinctly uncomfortable. It is not a pleasant thing to be talked about in such a way. She thought that it was ironic that Drake was worried about her standing out because she was pretty. What about him? She would never point out the flaw in his logic, not if it inflated his oversized ego she wouldn't.

Lord Styles was suddenly looking at her and a curious smile creased the corners of his mouth. Evelyn felt her stomach sink, almost as if she knew what he was going to say next. "Its not her I'm worried about." He looked meaningfully at Drake who sat ostentatiously down in his chair and grumbled almost inaudibly, though Evelyn had no issue interpreting.

"and what's that supposed to mean? Just because I.."He broke off and actually looked Evelyn in the eyes again. The look on her face shut him up and he looked more thoughtful.

Lord Styles's over long limbs seemed to relax and out from his pocket he pulled a small sheet of paper which he handed to Evelyn. It was the same code as before. The message read:

"Ftcmg ku imkpi vq vcmg aqw vq vjg vtckpkpi hceknkva yjgtg aqw yknn dg ikxgp aqwt hktuv lqkpv cqqkipogpv. Rnca pkeg. C nqv ku tkfkpi qp vjku."

Translation: Drake is going to take you to the training facility where you will be given your first joint assignment. Play nice. A lot is riding on this.

Her mind instantly translated and she scowled and handed the paper lazily to Drake who let it drop to the table before picking it up and giving her a questioning look like What the heck is this suppose to be?

She looked at Lord Styles and said, "Are you sure that he's not the rookie? I don't play well with others, doesn't it say that in my file or something?"

Drake snatched up the paper again and looked closely at it then spouted off. "It is possibly a Caesar's cypher but I don't know what the first manipulation and it would take to long to try all the combinations. "

Styles gave her a knowing look and Evelyn sighed and said, "It's C."

Drake took out a pencil from his pocket and began to translate. When he finally looked up he looked mildly impressed. He simply stated, "you translated in your head."

Evelyn nodded. Drake looked thoughtful and handed the paper back to Styles, " Looks like she is more than a pretty face." with that he stood up and walked back to his car. He turned slightly and asked gruffly to Evelyn, "You Coming?"

She rolled her eyes but grinned in spite of herself though she was careful not to let him see it. She and Lord Styles shook hand and she surprised him with a, "Thank you for the food and the opportunity. I will do my best."

Lord Styles beamed and replied again with that knowing smile, "If you will take advise from this old dinosaur, don't be too hard on Will. There is more to him that meets the eye at first. He will come round. Just have faith in yourself and in your skills. The rest will speak for itself."

Evelyn only nodded in response. We shall see was her thought in response to Drake.

She turned to see Drake pull his sunglasses down lower on his nose as if to say, I'm waiting. As she approached though, he opened the passenger side door for her.

She gave him a cocky salute as she seated herself in the rather nice car. To his credit, he did not slam the door, which she half expected him to do. Though he did turn to Styles and gesture again that clearly said, Really?

Lord Styles just waved and Drake climbed into the driver's side. Off came the sunglasses and he turned his whole body to her in a challenging manner, "First things first, If this is going to work a little respect would be nice. Second, don't touch the music. My car, My tunes. Third, until we get your chip out, you need to do what I say. If you don't that could place countless live in danger."

Evelyn turned to him, held out her hand sarcastically and said, "I'm Evelyn Saffron, You can call me Saffron. Respect is earned not given blindly and you earn it and, by golly, you'll receive it. No problem about the tunes I like all music not that I have heard much. Did you really use to be a Shirron and have your chip removed?"

Grumpily he turned over the engine ignoring her hand but he did deign to say, "You can call me Drake." On the other subject though he was silent.

He turned on the music and the strains of an epic soundtrack came over the speakers. Evelyn tried to relax. In spite of herself she was nervous. The only guys that she had ever dealt with, at least that she could remember, were instructors, guards, or Choosers. Another Shirron, a guy that is, she did not know what to make of that. He was just as bossy and demanding as the other men of her acquaintance but somehow, she felt more equal. Like having a shared cultural heritage a shared chip bondage somehow changed her perspective. Sass was her go to method but maybe, just maybe, that shared experience should soften her approach a little bit. After all, he knew what it was like to be her.

---

Drake looked over at her again and almost shook his head. She looked as though you could snap her like a twig. He knew though, he knew that if her training was anything like his, she would be adequate. She at least wasn't a push over. She gave as good as she got, and that smirk was infuriating. He just wished she wasn't so attractive. Nice looking man may draw attention, it's true but a nice looking girl can distract a whole room.

First he needed to take her to Dr. DiPerez. Styles had already set up the appointment for later that afternoon. Drake didn't dare tell Saffron how much it was going to hurt. Or that there was that chance that it could paralyze her.

That's why he couldn't be nice to her. If she didn't pass through this first trial it wasn't going to be much good getting to know her, would it.

They quite, music filled minutes dragged on and eventually Evelyn fell asleep.