@flamalba cont. from here
Vilgefortz of Roggeveen. She knows that name. She knows it all too well. There are dark circles under her eyes, last night’s clandestine meeting did not conclude until the early hours of the morning, the promise of dawn already touching the horizon by the time she returned home. There had been much to discuss, amongst the members of the newfounded Lodge of Sorceresses, but the conversation kept returning, without fail, to the very same name: Vilgefortz of Roggeveen.
A cold shiver runs down her spine, and Assire wonders once again whether this is a trap, a cruel game the Emperor plays out of sheer delight.
She was summoned not long after her return, the knock on the door turning her blood to ice in her veins.
She’d been convinced of it, is still convinced of it. Her subterfuge was not enough, her wards flawed, the authorities have taken note of her unauthorised disappearance. They know, and surely they have come to take her away to prison, no, worse, to the gallows.
She did not resist, following along quietly, compliant, no longer afraid but instead overcome by nothingness. Is that how one feels, when one is marching towards one’s inevitable death? Numb?
She remembers seeing herself, as if her soul had separated from her body, watching from above as she walked, flanked by soldiers, small and insignificant.
I’m already gone, she’d thought. I’m already dead. I’ve been dead for a long time. All my life, perhaps. All my life.
It was a strange thought, but it made reality a little more bearable, and that in itself was enough.
But they never took her to the prison, did they? No, she ended up here, instead, in the lion’s den, in the belly of the beast, right here, in the Imperial Palace.
She hates this place. She loathes it with all her heart, with all her soul, this symbol of oppression, of complete and utter disregard for humanity – we are human! Human! We bleed and we suffer and we dream and we hope and we die! We die! We are used and discarded as if we were things, and we die! And what for? – but most of all, she hates him.
Assire stands in silence, her head bowed, her hands folded in front of her. A part of her, the part that is brave and rebellious, wants to look him in the eye, but she can’t risk it. Because without a doubt he will know, as soon as she meets his gaze. Only one who harbours treason in their heart, in their mind, would dare to be so bold as to look at the Emperor of Nilfgaard directly. She does not hold such lofty privileges, she’s just a mage.
Curse it, curse it all, she’s more than that! She’s an authority, a person of note, she is a member of the Lodge and she is done with subservience, done with fear, done with making herself small. She’s a mage, and she is powerful.
I could incinerate you right here, with nothing more than a word and a gesture. I could make you suffer a thousand torments, just as you have made us suffer, as you continue to make us suffer!
There has to be something to be gained from this. Her mind is working quickly, taking her back to the previous night, imagining the Northern women, their poise, their elegance, their pride, their unshakeable confidence.
Assire squares her shoulders, forcing herself to stand up a little straighter.
When she speaks, her voice is firm even though her hands are shaking.
“I shall do whatever you ask of me, Your Imperial Majesty. It is my duty to serve the Empire, and I shall do so gladly. I am honoured by the fact that you entrust this task to me, and I swear to you that I shan’t disappoint you.”
She does not understand quite how she manages to lie so effortlessly, but all that matters is that the words hit their mark. Anything can be an opportunity, if you’re clever enough, and Assire var Anahid knows beyond a doubt that she is an extremely clever woman indeed.
“I shall require unrestricted access to the full range of resources held by the Academy, including all sections of the library, the entirety of the observatory, and a private laboratory. Furthermore, I ask to be temporarily exempt from the sanctions regarding the use of magic outside of certain times and locations. I will give you Vilgefortz. If you are prepared to give me the freedom to do so to the best of my ability.”
