Interlude - Cold Marble

A pair of heavy white set doors is swung open and a spritely if dandy gentleman strolls gaily into the apartment.  

 “And here we have Delphi Regnum Suite with opulent views of the Philosophers Gardens and igneous rock pools my lord…”  The dandy pulls aside a large white drape and gestures his frilled hand carefully to indicate that someone should enter through.  De Havilland steps forward and squints at the glare from the setting sun now directly in front of him. 

“It’s a wonderful thing to behold…” he utters cautiously.  Suddenly De Havilland is aware of the shape of Lady Althea next to him, the fop’s face contorts ever so slightly. 

“It’s still very bright outside.  Good.  I have plenty of hours left in the day to undertake the Pancreators will.”

The fop attempts a thin smile, “…quite…” he answers mockingly.  De Havilland wonders how often Lady Althea has to put up with such insolence from individuals who have no idea of the burdens she must carry each day.  Much the same can be said of Tonbei, of course.  De Havilland had been born into considerable privilege but his father had done his best to ensure that his son never took that for granted.  I wonder how it feels to be them he thought for one moment, shuddered at the thought of it and then moved on to something more pleasant.

“We’ll take it” he answered with a smile. 

“Very good my lord” answered the fop, “Will our Lords…guests… be staying too…?” he sneered, not quite as carefully as De Havilland would have liked.  De Havilland stepped out further onto the palisade that overlooked the beautiful gardens of the residence.  He rested his hands on the firm marble rail of the balcony and he peered down into the greenery and waters around them.

“I’m afraid so…” he uttered, his back to the fop covering his own bemusement.  Lady Althea frowned briefly but Tonbei was already smiling.  He knew the Lord so well he even anticipated the answer.

An hour later and Lady Althea is frowning again, but this time at Tonbei who had unrolled a thin sleeping mat and stretched it out onto a small patch of one corner of the marble floor.  Onto this uncomfortable looking bedding he had meticulously arranged a vast collection of sharp and evil looking blades.  Tonbei was sharpening each blade enthusiastically and undertaking movements with them to practice how each would serve its purpose.  Althea could see a dismemberment stroke here or an incapacitating cut there.  She imagined the horrific wounds they would inflict and was immediately reminded of her own ‘healing role’ within society. Suddenly this alien seemed more alien to her than she had imagined possible.  Perhaps this had been a mistake after all.  Maybe she should seek out Lady Arcadia instead and leave these butchers to their craft.

“So…” she shouted clearly across the room, “Where to next my lord?”  De Havilland was pouring over some paperwork on a wooden table,  Althea turned away from Tonbei and decided either to get some answers or make a decision now as to what she intended to do next herself.  She looked down at the drawings on the table, something about them looked familiar.

“A crypt?” she asked quizzically.  De Havilland raised his eyes to hers taking in the measure of her.  Would she understand it all?  She had an esoteric understanding of the world that was almost as odd to him as Tonbei’s view of the universe.  Genius is as close to madness he thought to himself; and then realising he was expected to answer he looked back down at the papers and shuffled them around in order to allow Althea more of a view of things.  What a truly odd company they all were.

“This is a design my ancestors made for a crypt to house their honoured dead.  It’s old Althea, very old indeed, but the design is still legible.  One of my Hawkwood ancestors was what we would now call a Planetary Duke.  He was a paranoid, fearful man, terrified that he would meet his end prematurely at the hands of one of his enemies.  Whilst he still held authority on this planet he saw fit to build a family crypt in the far gardens of the planetary rulers residence.

Althea moved the papers around further on the desk and studied the iconography and detail of the tomb in front of her.  “What’s this?” she asked suddenly, pointing down to few rushed and faded lines located to edge of the main crypt.

“It’s a passageway, Althea.  You see this Hawkwood was convinced he was going to die early, and so made this crypt to house his body but to also serve as the weapon for his vengeance.  The tunnel you see here was designed to allow an assassin into the protected residence to hunt down the new planetary ruler, and to kill him.”

Althea curled the corner of her lip, “He sounds positively charming” she joked.  De Havilland grinned, “Power breeds this sort of paranoia at court, I see it all the time.  One of the main reasons I….” he cut himself off and looked back down at the drawings.

“Anyway, my father handed me this plan when I joined the Company of the Phoenix.  Said I might find it useful in case he was ever entombed there.  The only thing is, I don’t intend to use it…”  He broke off the conversation and looked up at Tonbei.  Althea was suddenly aware of Tonbei standing at the table with them, right next to her.  She tried not to act surprised but his sudden appearance was a total shock.

“You’re happy you know the route?” asks De Havilland.  Tonbei’s eyes shine and the tips of his teeth can be seen from his grin, “I know the route Lord.”  Tonbei turns to face Althea, “We’ll be fine…”