The Unseen Road

Chapter Twenty-Six

The time to execute her plan was approaching.

Beatrice sat undisturbed in her personal quarters, which she had acquired following her promotion as Bion's closest officer, looking humorlessly into the streets beyond her settee. Sunlight filtered thinly through the glass bow window; for once, it wasn't blocked by the layer of smog that often frequented the city, covering it like a sheet of tarpaulin.

Only a few hours before, after the unexpected goods- and Celeste Jacobs, who was now safely in prison and was luckily no longer in a position of interruption, even if she couldn't be executed for the time being- had been brought from Moorekeep, the morning had projected itself as a perfect day for what she was going to do, all disruptions aside.

She scowled at the clear sky. It seemed the weather, apparently, had other plans. She would have liked to fancy such a dramatic, climactic deed would be juxtaposed with raging storm-clouds and howling winds; a clap of thunder would boom through the corridors while rain pounded against the castle walls, and then lightning would cast the silhouette of the dying King- and, of course, Beatrice, his assassin- upon the wall like in a shadow puppet show, perfectly synchronizing with the splatter of his blood upon the cold brick.

Pathetic fallacy. But, really, what she saw from the window was just... pathetic.

She squinted her eyes. It was almost peculiar to see the soft light dancing upon the obsidian streets (but the streets downtown, in the blue-collar district, were paved mostly with soot that merely swallowed the light). Looking down upon the citizens walking to and fro, she saw that she was the only one who seemed to mind. It gave her a headache.

A knock echoed through the room. Pulled slightly from her distant, indifferent observation of the day's activities, her eyes drifted to the door but didn't bother to say anything. If it was Bion, he would see himself in.

It was. After the brief moment of silence following the knock, the door creaked open, giving way to the familiar countenance. His face was austere, emotionless as he entered the room, his hands clasped loosely behind his back.

"It's time," he said tersely. "Get yourself ready."

"Finally." Beatrice rolled her eyes and shoved herself off of the settee. Her response was enough to let Bion know that he didn't have to stay to tell her twice, so he turned to leave. Before he could, however, the Succubus called over his shoulder.

"Hey- you don't happen to have an aspirin for me, do you?" she asked vapidly. She doubted it.

The General paused, hardly turning half of his countenance towards her; past his dark, wiry hair, the most Beatrice could see were the sharp arches of his nose right cheekbone. At last, he let out a non-enthused sigh.

"...I'll be downstairs," he said gruffly, and he walked out the door, swinging it shut behind him. It closed with a soft click as he left, and silence filled the small room once more.

"It was worth a try," Beatrice sighed to herself, plopping back onto the cushion. Now how was she going to perform an assassination with a headache?

Everything was going to be so simple; it had taken no more than an hour to formulate the plan with the other officers and the Witch King's advisor. Quick, easy. The only thing that took longer was coordinating a time for when they could catch the Witch King- and his guards- most unawares; but even that was not much of a challenge, considering that he rarely left his quarters as is.

She thought with a dull realization that her headache probably wasn't going to go away any time soon, at least not soon enough. Well, she thought, she might as well get started. After all, Bion was waiting. She didn't want to disappoint- not when she'd only just gotten promoted.