The clouds drifted over the celestial entity that had become the ruler of Alessandra's life. It looked as if the moon exhaled cool breath into the sky. A small surge of resentment surfaced followed quickly by an equally small pocket of surprise. Hmm, I haven't thought about this in a long while. But then...it hadn't been nearly as intrusive before the party, before Jin...
As he enters her thoughts, Alessandra cannot help but turn to gaze at the man she loves more deeply than she ever expected to feel about anyone. His dark hair was pulled back and tied up to be inconspicuous under the assassin's gear he had been wearing for the last several nights. His deep brown eyes peered out over the cloth covering his mouth to prevent his breath misting in the cool night air. The moonlight gleamed on the leaves of the bushes from where he peered out at the fort castle of Spiš, but nowhere did the light touch him. The skills of the Shadow Assassins allowed them to bend light and hide their presence on almost every level. Who would have thought their attraction on the airship would lead to this...all she had ever wanted was to help the unfortunates of the world. That desire, it had touched something in the man raised and trained to be nothing more than a heartless killer. But Alessandra had discovered that deep down, Ju-Long Suanko had never believed the path his clan had forced on him was correct. It was this astoundingly ironic similarity between them that had sealed their love. Before she had returned to herself, Alessandra had tasted the blood of innocents in her life...so much death...
The Dame shakes her head to reorient herself, honey-blood curls bouncing lightly under the hood of her dark midnight blue cloak. Now was not the time to get distracted. No, she must remain focused. Eldon had left clues as to what Kimefe "the Lovely" had planned. Alessandra was still not sure about the General's intentions. When he had used the Mason Coin to advise her he would be joining Kimefe, it was simply stated as fact without any indication it was a plan or a ruse, just this is what is happening. As he had continued to communicate, Alessandra had found that her and Jin's actions were often influenced by what intel Eldon was doling out. She had yet to determine if Eldon was assisting them or using it to position her and Jin where he needed them for whatever grand design he had for Kimefe and her singular goal of Masonic destruction. Again the irony of it all. Kimefe had Eldon as her military advisor and Andrezi as her lover. Both Masons by creed, traitors now if one believed it.
Andrezi...Alessandra had been startled to see him at von Ryuko's party. Having met only a handful of times, it was difficult to explain him at all. There had never been any value to having him as a member of the Lodge that Alessandra had ever determined. Yet the man had seemed to float in and out of whatever social circle he desired, as easy and as lazy as one would say of Taraz. But where Taraz was obnoxious and gloating, Andrezi was unassuming and capitulatory. His sudden attachment to Kimefe had been unexpected and disastrous. He had very quickly and obviously betrayed Alessandra, Jin, and Eldon when the Mason safehouse they arrived at also turned out to hold the Dolcet Circlet which amplified the already powerful psionic abilities Lady Kimefe had turned out to possess. But then...
Alessandra had examined it from every angle, but there was no mistaking it: Andrezi had let them escape. In the moment, he'd had the opportunity to kill them (well the seeming appearance—it would be a lot harder to put her down than she suspected many people realized), but instead Andrezi had accepted Eldon to join Kimefe's army and allowed Alessandra and Jin to go free...all without Kimefe knowing a thing. And the part that was still bending her mind was the whole thing felt...not staged (a small snarl of frustration escaped her lips), but definitely known. As if Andrezi had already been here. As if the choices everyone made were not unexpected. The only thing that made sense was that Andrezi could somehow see the future—a prospect that was terrifying. Especially knowing that General Eldon and he were collaborating.
And yet...here they were. She and Jin, Mason marked for death and a renegade Shadow Assassin. She had mustered up contacts and alerted all the Masons to the danger. Now...now they did what they had to do. But it was that last moment before they had escaped Andrezi which drove her. The one that pushed her forward and gave her doubts as to Andrezi being Kimefe's plaything whole cloth. That moment...
As she gave a final look of shock at General Eldon who returned her accusatory gaze like a true soldier who knows pure commitment to the decisions made in war time, Andrezi reached a hand toward Alessandra. The hiss of Jin's steel split the air a hairsbreadth from Andrezi's hand, but the blonde man stopped his movement at that spot as if he had never intended anything else.
"Dame Devries...I know what you must think of me, but you must not forget what I say now. You will face many hard choices in the times to come. You have quite the reputation as a champion for the less fortunate, and if this is your true being then you must never stop fighting. You go now to do what you have always done, protect the innocent and be their champion. Without you, without Jin...many will die. For my part I can promise you this, your battle is here, with me. With Lady Kimefe.
"Right now, von Ryuko is not your problem. On that you must do something you will struggle against...trust the others. They are not with us, but they will still fight. No one left that island without scars. You will have your chance for any revenge you desire, we all will, but whether we can succeed depends on what you do now, on where you go, and in whom you trust. I don't ask you to trust me, just don't forget."
Alessandra stared at Andrezi for a moment as the young noble dropped his hand, his eyes burning with intensity. She glanced at Eldon whose expression was unreadable as always but he no longer regarded her, but instead at Andrezi and she swore she saw a glint of approval in the depths of the man's gaze.
"I won't promise that I will give you the same courtesy you are extending here, Andrezi," a smiling Jin whispered as the sounds of Kimefe's psychically dominated minions grew closer. "It's just not something I was trained to do. I hope you understand."
Andrezi spread his hands in acceptance and returned the smile, one side of his mouth not quite reaching the height of the other, Jin and he shared the same joke no one else understood.
"You'll be accountable one day, Andrezi, for unleashing this terror on us," Alessandra had heard herself saying, a little more feral than she intended. Andrezi had simply nodded as if he knew she spoke the truth and there was no hint of patronization in the motion. For a moment, Alessandra felt she could understand how he had managed to always be accepted by everyone. Because he accepted however he was seen. No mean feat, she knew that intimately. With a swirl of what had become of her skirts, Dame Alessandra Devries turned and left the Masonic safehouse into the night, Jin on her heels.
Jin turned to her and nodded. Her eyesight in the dim light the only thing that let her see the assassin in his element. Eyesight very superior to that of a normal human. Alessandra took a breath and touched the pendant she wore, a gift from someone unknown. The magic of the pendant activated and the clothes and all belongings she wore were absorbed into the simple design on the metal. Naked in the cool night, Alessandra then chose to look upon the face of her tormentor, her benefactor, her patron.
And soon the lunar change was upon her. And the feral rush of power roared through her head. She howled, oh how she howled. She felt her lover grab the fur of her scruff. His weight was nothing. And into battle she charged. The camp at the base of the fort was being attacked by some of the monstrosities of this country, all for the whim of the fort's mistress. But Alessandra wasn't going to allow these innocents to die. Even if she hadn't said it to him, in her heart she made the promise Andrezi asked of her.
She would never stop fighting.