Proffer
A muffled rapping on her door roused Colette from sleep, the sound intruding first upon her dreams before pounding her into wakefulness. She threw an arm over her eyes, groaning -- both to signal she was awake and to protest that very fact. She propped herself up on her bed even as the deep, Scottish voice from beyond said, "Colette! Breakfast's ready!"
"Out in a minute!" she responded, grogginess sticking in her throat discomfitingly. She crawled out of bed, stood, and flitted to her wardrobe to withdraw a handmade dress. Her mind wandered as she slipped it on, thoughts ever drawn to their usual lure: Ariadne. They were, after all, in England specifically to search for her. As if sensing her preoccupation, the Kingmaker throbbed against her skull. Colette winced at its preternatural reaction, hand instinctively reaching to smooth the hair around it.
"Colette!" another voice echoed, as polite as could be, "Hurry now, or Eisen will have eaten all the pancakes!" Muffled, unintelligible Scottish grumbling and a posh titter mixed together on the other side of the door she approached. Stepping cleanly through, she greeted her friends with an apologetic smile before coming to sit at the table. Eisen and Telesphore seemed in good spirits; their warm smiles and knowing glances filled the room with an undeniable romantic air.
"You two seem... enamored?" she said, a small chuckle appending her remark. She took two pancakes from the pile in front of her, applying a generous amount of syrup before returning her gaze to the couple.
"But of course, Colette. It's our anniversary, dear," Telesphore said, amusement dancing in his sharp gaze. "Had we not mentioned it?"
"You know I don't like flaunting that stuff, Telly," Eisen muttered, fork listlessly stabbing at his pancakes.
Telesphore waved his hand dismissively and shook his head, "It's not flaunting it, my love. It's Colette, after all!" The Good Neighbor turned from his partner, squaring his gaze once again on Colette. "Well, in any case, Eisen and I will be having a splendid night on the town. Beautiful dinner, mesmerizing show, a walk along streets illuminated by only the moonlight..." He trailed off, wonder suffusing his tone. For all his insistence on stoicism, even Eisen was giving a small but genuine smile.
She beamed at the pair, "That's great! You two absolutely deserve an amazing night. But," she said, her smile giving way to curiosity, "what am I meant to do while you two are gone?"
Eisen shrugged with a neutral expression, "I s'pose you'll have a night to yourself. Although, I might just stay in the van. None of us have been around here long; there's no telling what trouble you could get into."
Colette nodded. "I guess you're right. I'll just work on some stitching or read a book or something." Eisen's intense glare caught her attention, double so when he began gesticulating at her with a fork.
"But not The Navy Boys on Shore Leave," he growled, his faux ire flaring before dissolving into laughter a moment later.
Telesphore placed a hand on Eisen's shoulder, sweetly saying, "Eisen dear, if we want to make our reservation for the show, I think we ought to leave now." She saw Eisen crane his neck to look at the clock on the wall behind him, brow furrowed.
"Aye," he said, "this is what we get for booking a matinee."
Both the men stood, with Telesphore making to gather the plates before Colette interjected, "Leave it; I'll take care of it once I'm done. Go on, have a fun anniversary!" As she spoke, she stood to give each man a hug in turn.
"Oh," Telesphore said in a surprised tone, "well thank you very much, dear!" He wrapped his arms around the girl and hugged her tightly.
"Mighty kind of ya, Colette," Eisen said, embracing her once Telesphore was done.
She bid the two at least three or four more adieus as they left the van and faded out of sight. Once their departure truly registered, she was struck with a rash of loneliness. Her gaze apathetically crawled over the kitchen they had all occupied, a familiar weight pressing against her chest. A morose sigh escaped her lips as she manipulated the lever to show her room and stepped back into her abode.
Colette felt her eyes slide off the words in her book for the fourth time in the last twenty minutes and took that as her cue to close it. She set the tome on her nightstand, rolling back over to stare into the ceiling of the van. The Kingmaker Diamond throbbed against her skull again, eliciting an annoyed sigh from Colette as she rubbed her eyes in frustration. Yet, the pressure only seemed to further agitate the mineral. A headache started to form, pain radiating down as far as her jaw.
Just as she was about to scrounge for some wizard oil to imbibe, a shrill creak emanated from beyond the multidoor. Colette's brows furrowed and her eyes darted to the clock. It hadn't even been an hour since the two lovebirds had set off. Why are they back already? Did they forget something? she thought. Her curiosity was certainly piqued, but she didn't want to intrude on their date night more by asking questions, so she turned her attention back to the nearly forgotten wizard oil search.
The nightstand was hopelessly full of discarded miscellanea. Her rummaging turned up no wizard oil, but her mind was far more focused on straining her ears than truly searching. The multidoor muffled the sounds beyond, but even still she tried to identify the tell-tale footsteps of Telesphore or Eisen. Her roaming hands froze as machinery started whirring and metal gnashed against metal.
Once.
Twice.
She shut the drawer and rose unsteadily to face the multidoor. Her hands clenched as her mind raced. Surely it's just Telesphore, or maybe Eisen's footsteps have gotten much quieter recently. No one else knows there's a multidoor in this van.
Three times.
Four.
No one else knows there's a multidoor. No one else knows there's a multidoor, she repeated to herself silently, heart pounding in her chest like a stampede. The machinery finally whirred for the fifth time. As the multidoor gave way to the van beyond, her blood ran ice cold. A single-eyed stare met hers. Ariadne's cruel visage remained unchanged from the demons that lurked in her nightmares. Despite the eternity she spent dwelling in the haunting gaze, less than a second passed before Ariadne’s form blurred with motion. Pain bloomed in Colette’s shoulder, hand instinctively flying to cover it. Yet when she looked, only a miniscule hole in her clothes revealed any sign of attack. Not even a speck of blood flowed from the site.
Confusion written across her features, Colette looked back at Ariadne. The woman stalked toward her slowly, a predator's gait suffused with confidence. In that moment she was Venus de Milo by way of Goya's Colossus, all exquisite beauty and baleful menace. Breath caught in Colette's throat and her eyes grew wide. "Oh dear," Ariadne cooed, "it seems you've found yourself in quite the predicament, hm?" The woman smiled, teeth shining threateningly in the light of the oil lamp.
Colette gathered herself, forcing rational thoughts through the cloud of fear and panic that threatened to overtake her. With effort, she recalled everything Ariadne had done to her, had done to her friends. She recalled her father and the president of the VSR and everyone who had ever done her wrong. A distinct thrum sounded from the diamond even as Ariadne stalked closer, only a step separating the two women. The gem took on a blue brilliance that shone through her hair and painted the room in vivid azure, power coalescing and compacting.
The blue glow faded, its luster diminishing to nothing. Ariadne brought her face close to Colette, a gloating smile painted on her expression. "Do you really think I'd let that happen again?" she asked, her tone taunting and amused. Given their proximity, Colette couldn't help but notice the flush in the woman's cheeks, to smell her perfume, to...
Dear lord, what are you thinking? she raged against herself, You hate this woman, don't you?
Ariadne continued, apparently oblivious to Colette's internal conflict, "It's simple, really. If negative emotions fuel the Kingmaker, what happens if we lock those pesky things away? One enchantment from a mentalist and one from the most talented fleshcrafter on Earth applied to a tiny projectile launched at an unsuspecting victim and..." She raised her delicate hand up next to their faces and snapped, "voilà. No more Kingmaker to worry about."
Colette felt a weight on her chest, one so large that she couldn't take a breath. I'm dead, she thought in disbelief, this is it. It's over. Panic ripped through her like lightning. "Wait! We can- We can talk about this Ariadne. We don't-"
She was cut off by Ariadne grabbing her face. The woman shook her head slowly, a self-satisfied smile still playing across it. "No, Colette, we can't," she said, malice and venom suddenly rushing to fill her words, "After all the chances I've given you, after what you did to me, there's nothing else to be discussed. I'll rip the diamond out of your head, and I'll leave your corpse behind for the other two to find." She paused for a moment, "Yes, yes I think leaving them alive would be an appropriate punishment."
Despite the hand gripping her cheeks, she managed out the words, "Please don't kill me."
Ariadne wrenched their faces closer together so that their foreheads were almost touching. She growled, "You. Took. My. Eye."
Colette's hands came to wrap around Ariadne's wrist, as cold and firm as iron. "You can take mine!" she blurted out, almost unaware of her own words. The woman started, confusion disrupting the malice that had so coated her expression. The grip on her face released, leaving the girl slumped back onto her bed.
"What do you mean?" she asked, brows furrowed and a slight frown peppering her features.
Colette looked up at Ariadne with a pleading expression. "I took your eye. I did. I'm sorry. But, but, what if I gave you mine?" she asked, her words coming more quickly as her brain latched onto the only lifeline she could see, "It's only fair, after all. You don't deserve to be half-blind for the rest of your life because of me, so take mine. Take my eye. You can do that, can't you? You're a fleshcrafter, you're the fleshcrafter. Take my eye and the diamond. You can have them both!" She stopped not out of a lack of words, but a lack of breath. She breathed heavily as Ariadne looked down with an inscrutable expression.
The woman reached out a hand, and Colette instinctively flinched at the motion, but was soon met with a gentle touch to her cheek. Ariadne's palm rested against her face while her thumb pulled down on the skin below her eyelid. That impassive gaze studied her eye for a moment before saying offhandedly, "You're only saying that to avoid death. I've had people promise me the moon if only I'd let them breathe another minute."
The contrast between the words and the soft touch made her shiver, but she persevered. Whether by the mentalist charm or for some deep emotion within her, genuine emotion welled onto her face as she pleaded, "No, Ariadne. Even if I was scared for my life, I still regret blinding you." Without thinking, Colette raised a hand to cover Ariadne's. "Even if you do decide to kill me, take it anyway. I won't need it," she said, her breath hitching after her mind caught up to what she offered. In the infinite expanse of the moments between her proclamation and Ariadne's response, Colette could only breathe and hope beyond hope. No insight was to be gleaned from the woman in front of her. Salvation or damnation would only come when Ariadne opened her carmine lips and intoned her judgement.
"I..." Ariadne started, hesitating after only the first syllable. It was more disharmony than she had ever seen from the single-minded monster she had met all those months back. "I will accept your proffer." Colette awaited more, awaited the critical information: would she be killed regardless? Which version of the proffer was accepted? Yet, Ariadne gave her no clue. Instead, she bade the girl to lay back on the bed, to stare at the ceiling, and to not move unless told to.
Colette complied in a daze, tension writhing in every muscle in her body. "Are you... comfortable?" Ariadne inquired with an affected indifference.
She struggled for a reply, instead settling for merely a nod. Briefly, her eyes sought Ariadne's eye, and she found it. It held her gaze, searching for something, flitting between each of hers in turn. Finally, Ariadne looked away, and merely whispered, "This will only take a moment."
Ariadne put her knees to either side of Colette's legs and leaned over her until their faces were mere inches apart. Her hand rose and its form unraveled into a fleshy tool. A searing pain ripped through her body at blinding speed. Every nerve ending seemed to cry out in unison against Ariadne's invasion for one reality sundering moment. Then, there was only quiet. It wasn't numbness so much as it was normalcy. It was the feeling of one's left arm on any given Tuesday at 3:44 P.M. Colette's brain didn't even have the time to muster a scream, only a particularly sharp intake of breath before the heralded pain did not arrive. She let out the breath shakily as her hand moved to her eye without thinking. She could tell merely through touch that it was identical to Ariadne's formerly empty socket. Staring back at her now, though with far less depth than before, was a distinctly heterochromatic Ariadne.
The woman seemed to be staring not at her, but through her. She blinked once, twice, and then began a flutter of blinking spurred on by seemingly the innocent joy of being able to truly see again. Ariadne mirrored her expression, a hand to touch the skin around the new organ grafted onto her body. As Colette held the other woman's gaze, she was struck again by the subtle notes of her perfume, at the way her unguarded expression still held hints of majesty even when deprived of the malice that usually adorned it.
"How's the sight?" Colette asked under her breath.
Ariadne was silent for a few moments, only breathing in time with Colette. Without saying a word, the woman's head bent down and captured Colette's lips in a gentle kiss. Surprised beyond action, Colette could only return the kiss. When Ariadne's lips broke off from hers, she breathed out her answer, "Beautiful."
A creak once again whined out from beyond the multidoor, heavy footsteps and raucous conversation immediately identifying the interlopers as none other than Telesphore and Eisen. Ariadne pulled back from Colette, a horrified look on her face. "We- I- I need to leave, now," she hissed, rising from the bed with preternaturally silent movements. Colette nodded and stood from the bed, unsteady from the lack of depth perception.
"They'll both go into their room soon to change out of their dress clothes. Just wait for the sound of the multidoor, shift into an inconspicuous animal, and make a damn run for it," Colette whispered. Ariadne nodded, her flesh already compacting itself beyond reason into a far-too-small form. Colette averted her eyes and contented herself with pressing an ear against the multidoor, awaiting its tell-tale sounds.
Soon enough, Telesphore and Eisen switched the lever to the position for their room. Colette immediately opened the multidoor and let Ariadne run past her, jumping from the van into the long shadows of early evening. She stepped out to watch the rat dart out of sight. Colette sighed as tension released itself from her body, and she was surprised to find that some amount of longing filled its place.
She heard the multidoor mechanism again, and wasn't surprised to turn around and see her friends jumping out behind her.
"Colette, dear, why are you out-" Telesphore stopped dead when she caught sight of Colette's face, jaw slack in surprise and terror.
"Dear lord, what in the hell happened to you, Colette?" Eisen shouted as he ran to her side. Telesphore was only a moment behind as both men bombarded her with questions.
"Ariadne came, and hit me with something in my shoulder to stop the Kingmaker. She said it was enchanted by a mentalist to block on my negative emotions so that I couldn't muster any energy. When I pleaded for my life, I said that she could have my eye since I half blinded her, and she took the deal. She was going to take the Kingmaker out next, I think, but I don't know if she meant to kill me or not afterwards," Colette said, rubbing her shoulder where the projectile hit her.
Eisen examined the hole in her clothing, lightly rubbing the unharmed skin beneath. "If she shot you with something, it must have closed up its own entry hole. Still, for a projectile this sized supporting two enchantments, the emotional block couldn't have lasted long at all," Eisen said in a ponderous tone. He shook his head, frowning, "Did you try using the Kingmaker again, later?" Colette shook her head, staring at the ground as Eisen continued, "It could have worn off at any time after, and you wouldn't have known."
Telesphore put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry we weren't there, Colette."
She shook her head again, tears forming, "No, don't be. " She turned, walking toward the van as she said, "I just… need to think."