Prelude

Prelude

He walked in to find her doubled up on the floor next to the cot she usually occupied when she was there. "I was wondering when you would arrive."

"Why? Do I owe you something that has slipped my mind?" her tones were full of the pain she felt, but were otherwise playful.

"Respect, caution, avoidance of betrayal, but I do not think you have forgotten any of that. No. What I want from you is information." The elderly man sat with eyes apparently unseeing the agony of the woman on the floor. She remained silent, clutching her abdomen.

She was half his age. Her hair was a deep red, quite different from his graying black. Her eyes, a bright – almost luminescent – blue, were a startling difference from his dark brown. After a pause he said, "Not going to offer?"

"What information do you want, Revenge? I’m not exactly in a good position to refuse, am I?" she sounded annoyed at the question, but said nothing more.

"First, you took this contract on Captain Tane after I advised you against said contract. Then, after studying, planning, and conspiring, you led him away from the trap that you laid for him. After that, you allowed yourself to be imprisoned. Upon escaping, you made sure they knew who you were. Why?" He watched her unblinking while he spoke. Something in her countenance changed at his questioning.

Through gritted teeth she said, "I have my reasons, just as you have for the things you do." They are more similar than you know this time...

"Do you know that the Counsel of Five has put out a contract on you?" Revenge sounded as though he were carrying on light conversation. She nodded. "Sylvia, do you realize what they intend to do to you should you be brought in alive – Yes, that is the preference. It has been paid, up front, and you are only worth half the price if you are dead upon arrival."

"I am aware of the situation. Would you please back off? I know Captain Tane is honorable, on the side of this war that needs to win, and that I should have listened to you in the first place when you told me that if anything I should be working to aid him, not selling my services to the highest bidder no matter the moral of the job. I know! But right now what I need is a dark, quiet place to spend the next few days while I finish this cycle and formulate a plan!" She sounded as though she would have very much liked to strike out at the man who still sat in the chair.

"Very well, Celka, I will have a meal prepared when you can eat again," he remarked calmly as he rose to leave.

"DON’T call me that! It was what Venom called me so as not to reveal my name. I expect you to call me by the name you gave me."

Revenge walked over to Sylvia, helped her onto the cot and said gently, "Something you did for yourself when you gave Tane the name Sylvia. How do you plan to keep that a secret?"

"I made a mistake, but the general is so apprehensive about letting me go that he has had most of the documents pertaining to me destroyed. You know how I feel about Venom. Is it such a difficult request that you not refer to me in the same manner he did?" her voice, too, had lost its edge.

Within the week, she was gone again.