Re: While the Whole World Shakes
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 2:16 pm
Brenner considered Venetia's enigmatic, albeit supercilious response, and analysed what had been imparted in the midst of the vagaries.
"We have a common enemy." He surmised, as one eyebrow arched and one side of his mouth curled toward a smirk. He paused his gait and appraised the expression borne upon her graceful countenance, dimly lit such as it was, by starlight.
Brenner might make a more interesting adversary than the Grand Marshal, she'd posited. It was a potent enough sentiment to freeze him where he stood with no need for paralytic magicks. The notion itself bore power enough to still the muscles of its subject.
He parted his lips to speak, but Venetia and her minion were gone ere he could transmit thought to tongue. He snapped his jaw shut, and padded forward to the window- glancing down to the shrubberies below, where no sign of his midnight visitors was visible.
"Hm." He grunted, and shut the window, locking the latch before returning to his desk. He poured himself another tumbler of neat schnapps- The Preminger '56- as he sat down in his chair. A chill shot through his slender form as the muscle memory of his erstwhile paralysis in that very chair reminded him that, once again, he'd been violated with ensorcellment. With the shiver out of his system, he leaned forward- relieved that his muscles remained under his control, and pulled the journal entry out from under the dirigible paperweight. He held it aloft under the light of the candelabra, and reached into a desk drawer with his free hand from whence he withdrew a brass cigarette case, engraved with his name, rank and the date he'd been promoted to Air Commander- It had been a gift to honour that occasion. He snapped it open and withdrew a slender cigarette, which he placed between his lips as his eyes remained fixed upon the passage on the page- reading and re-reading it, as if there might be furtive clues hidden in the midst of those sparing words.
He sighed and placed the page down as he leaned his face toward the candelabra,
"Light the fire..." He muttered, barely moving the lips that tautly held the cigarette as he guided its tip toward the flickering flame of the nearest candle. He inhaled and the crackle of paper and dried tobacco leaves catching alight seemed to resonate in the serene silence that followed Venetia's visit. He took the cigarette between two fingers and drew it away from his lips, as the smoke began to snake free of his nostrils and billowed out of his mouth as he finished the thought, "...lead the way."
"We have a common enemy." He surmised, as one eyebrow arched and one side of his mouth curled toward a smirk. He paused his gait and appraised the expression borne upon her graceful countenance, dimly lit such as it was, by starlight.
Brenner might make a more interesting adversary than the Grand Marshal, she'd posited. It was a potent enough sentiment to freeze him where he stood with no need for paralytic magicks. The notion itself bore power enough to still the muscles of its subject.
He parted his lips to speak, but Venetia and her minion were gone ere he could transmit thought to tongue. He snapped his jaw shut, and padded forward to the window- glancing down to the shrubberies below, where no sign of his midnight visitors was visible.
"Hm." He grunted, and shut the window, locking the latch before returning to his desk. He poured himself another tumbler of neat schnapps- The Preminger '56- as he sat down in his chair. A chill shot through his slender form as the muscle memory of his erstwhile paralysis in that very chair reminded him that, once again, he'd been violated with ensorcellment. With the shiver out of his system, he leaned forward- relieved that his muscles remained under his control, and pulled the journal entry out from under the dirigible paperweight. He held it aloft under the light of the candelabra, and reached into a desk drawer with his free hand from whence he withdrew a brass cigarette case, engraved with his name, rank and the date he'd been promoted to Air Commander- It had been a gift to honour that occasion. He snapped it open and withdrew a slender cigarette, which he placed between his lips as his eyes remained fixed upon the passage on the page- reading and re-reading it, as if there might be furtive clues hidden in the midst of those sparing words.
He sighed and placed the page down as he leaned his face toward the candelabra,
"Light the fire..." He muttered, barely moving the lips that tautly held the cigarette as he guided its tip toward the flickering flame of the nearest candle. He inhaled and the crackle of paper and dried tobacco leaves catching alight seemed to resonate in the serene silence that followed Venetia's visit. He took the cigarette between two fingers and drew it away from his lips, as the smoke began to snake free of his nostrils and billowed out of his mouth as he finished the thought, "...lead the way."