Strange Aeons [Book 1]

13. Missing Pieces [part II]

Even if the Order was a mysterious place of wonder and secrets, the main floors of the main headquarters looked a lot like a normal everyday office space. There were big open space offices filled with desks, computers and chatter as well as private rooms where you could find any kind of office, from the modest ones of the lower bureaucrats, they were not that different from Garaham's basement one, and the biggest, more luxurious rooms, with sofas and minibars.

Even if he had his private coffee machine, Director Thanatos liked to mingle with the lower life-forms of the headquarters. There was something inherently relaxing in watching them work like proficient little ants, trying to give a rhyme and a reason to the incredible mass of information and data coming in at any given time. It was somehow funny to think that even before Enforcers and Mages, bureaucrats and IT guys were the first line of defense against all things strange that went bump in the night. And in the day.

«Director, what a wonderful surprise.» tinkled a gracious voice, entering the break room.

Thanatos smiled.

«Francesca, a vision as always.» he replied, gallantly, taking a mug and picking up the coffee pot to pour her some. She thanked him, grabbing some soy milk to put in the black liquid. «How are the students at the Academy?»

«Let's just say, I'm happy I don't have any D'Yves in my class those days.» she summarized, her head slightly pulsating. Having to deal all day with a pride of teenagers absolutely sure that the only right use of magic was to discover who had a crush on who wasn't an easy task.

«I'm sure you'll shape them good. You're one of our best instructors, after all.» Thanatos's voice was mellow and calm. It clashed with his apparently stern apparel.

«Now, now, I'm just doing my best for the Order.»

«And the Order is grateful. Were all our instructors like you, we'd have less... problematic mages around.»

Francesca's smile turned sour, at the umpteenth mention of her husband's Coven. It was inevitable. After all, there had been an historical win, something that the Order hadn't seen in some time. And the Order did love its gladiators, if in homeopathic doses.

«It's a true shame that such a performing member of the Order like you ends up tied to the name of those disgraces.» Thanatos didn't become Director by leaving topics in the air. Francesca sighed.

«Maybe this is a good signal that, finally, they're getting serious.» she said, not believing the slightest syllable. Neither did Thanatos.

«You should go back to the Enforcers, Francesca. That spineless pencil-pusher you married will never be tough enough with them to shape them up. You would.»

Francesca thought about defending her husband. Then, she remembered how hard he fought on behalf of his personal idiotic zoo, and she decided she deserved a little vengeance.

«I would lie, if I told you I haven't thought about it every now and then... but Enforcer hours are a tragedy. I'm content of my job hours, and to have time to spend with my kids, at home.»

«I would really never have thought you'd settle for the home life, Francesca. You used to shine with ambition. When we met, I thought for sure you'd be in a Council Seat in no time.»

«Life has a way of changing your plans, Thanatos.» it was strange for her, to still have to use his war name, while she had renounced her many years before. «Marriage and kids change your perspective.»

«I still think you should reconsider.» he sounded decisive. Strangely, decisive. But Francesca, simply, smiled a little more, brightening up the entire room.