Decision

Sarah stood with her forehead leaned against wine-dark wood paneling which covered the walls of the second room of her small, rented apartment. A luxurious place compared to the arrangements of many, certainly those who made their home in the seedier parts of Old Town, and yet also a blade hanging above her neck. The place was not hers, but Valeria’s, and it being let to her had once been conditional on her being an apprentice, and then a dependable acquaintance. Presumably, that day, she had proven herself to be neither, anymore.

With a burst of air through her nose, defiant at nothing in particular, she pushed off from the wall with both hands, turning to pace towards the window. Stained, yellowed glass that brought to mind a fetid algae soup, rather than healthy greenery. But still, a sign of wealth which not all that many had. She did not stop to admire it, instead turning to stalk back towards the opposite wall, as if some new piece of information had materialized there in the intervening seconds. No such luck. The only constant was Raxandra’s stirring of her mind, a stick jammed into the molasses of her thoughts, stirring. Stirring. Slowly, but never stopping. Trifling girl. A sensation, lowered from verbal thoughts to a mere presence. Not that that improved matters any.

It was her judgment that was called into question, in truth. Valeria might not have thought she would be bold enough to call and bind a demon of Raxandra’s strength, but having done so, having maintained control for near enough a week, there had to be some measure of pride in her mentor’s heart. But keeping that grip clenching around the eredar’s leash, that showed questionable judgment. Claiming she had control over the demon without providing proof – providing the opposite, really, as Raxandra charged her and, admittedly in a nonlethal way, physically assaulted her – did nothing to improve the situation. Valeria’s personal belief, pride, whatever she might feel, had to be set aside for the good of the lodge. Despite their contributions to the Alliance cause in dire moments there was inherent and ever-present suspicion about them, and their profession. Something to do with consuming souls as fuel for particularly powerful magery made people wary.

Sarah turned again. Stalked to the window, standing there for but a second, trying to see something, anything, through the warping glass. A notion, yet unformed, rose within her mind, made all the more sluggish for Raxandra’s continual interference. She would have crystallized whatever it was into a thought that could be understood if not for the demon’s interference, but ever since the binding, it was as if she was being bashed over the head every morning. Not just attention drawn elsewhere, but wit, smarts, cleverness, drained by Raxandra’s efforts. She sighed, and turned, stalking to the wall.

Though she had been banished from the lodge in some sense, it was not official. It was Valeria’s word, and so, it was Valeria who could allow her to demonstrate control. It was Valeria who could let her show her ability to rule the seemingly unruly, to command the seemingly much more powerful eredar.

She would do so.