Byzantine Purple

Chapter XX: All The Reflections Of The Storm

Leudor's spirit filled her metallic eyes like water fills an empty glass. The Spy Guild could have easily traced her communications even if she had chosen to use encrypted light projectors. The only option left to her was less than pleasant. Leudora let the projectors drain her own body to mask the signature and allow her to deliver a message to Amaltheia. Ferenc warned her against the dangers of abusing her enhancement, but she did not care: she could not afford to wait for a glider in Miloš's old house forever.

Ferenc would understand doing this once. Once, he would accept. Or, perhaps, he would not. Regardless of the outcome, Leudora would never ask his forgiveness: putting her life on the line was her way of paying for her actions. She never faltered. She had to convince Amaltheia to travel to Poland and negotiate with the Setra. She had to find a way to follow her target to Greece, and Szemere had to urge the eccentric Gurov family to pick her up with a glider. Miloš Bučan, Ferenc Szemere, her niece – each had a role in her plan. If she was successful, they'd live. All of them. She was not sure about herself. Maybe she was not as important as she thought she was.

A strange sensation of hollowness distracted her from her thoughts. Still dizzy, Leudora propped herself on her elbows and looked around: she was lying on an old couch in a cottage on the Montenegrin-Albanian border. Ferenc leaned over her, holding a fading light projector in his right hand. He seemed calm, but Leudora could read his concern in the twitch of his lips and the deepening crease of his eyebrow. Her keenly perceptive intellect had powers over him, and she suspected that Ferenc himself would not deny the value of her insights. He rarely liked them, but he had learnt to tolerate Leudora's ideas over the years. He did not fear her. Even his pet did not. Szemere's huge turul slept peacefully, perching on an old wardrobe and tucking her head in her cinnamon-colored wings.

Leudora tried to rise, but could not regain her balance. Szemere held her arm, preventing her from slipping down. "Amaltheia will not be safe in Poland," she uttered, clutching his shoulder. "The Setra will never support our cause. But I wonder if they are bold enough to support our enemies."

"What if they are?" Szemere spoke softly and with caution. He must have learnt to tread carefully during the long years spent with the Fasma. Leudora wondered if Fahej was the only one with whom he dared to be careless. That awkward giant followed her master like a devoted hound, and rarely left his side. Leudora almost smiled, shifting her gaze from Ferenc to Fahej: an unlikely couple, but a beautiful one, nonetheless.

"You have not heard my question, have you?" He tilted his head to the side, letting go of her elbow.

"I have. But I don't believe you require an answer." She straightened her back. "I've told Amaltheia I am searching for someone in Greece. And I allowed her to use the field of blood lilies as a bargaining chip during her negotiations with the Setra on behalf of the Lascaris. I will send someone her way if it does not work out. I haven't said anything but the truth."

"A side of it..."

"I couldn't tell her that I am following a murderer who smuggles our blood to Hungary." She paused, her graceful lips forming a wicked grin. "And I have not mentioned the light-tracker I have slid into his flesh."

"Impossible..." Szemere fixed her with an incredulous stare. "Where would you get a device prohibited after the wars? The Spy Guild was forced to destroy the prototypes..."

"A present, as strange as it may sound." Leudora folded her arms on the chest and leaned back. "This tracker is different, though. The poisonous substance it contains has certain properties that make it flammable." A feverish yellow gleam appeared in her grey eyes. "I have brought the projector to follow the man to his master. The location Lady Asenova has transmitted through Amaltheia convinced me I was on the right track. Amaltheia believes I am searching for allies and, therefore, willingly helps me. She is not wrong. What she doesn't know is that I need my enemies more. But you are more perceptive than she is. You must have guessed why I am in such a hurry to get to Athens."