Archive-name: Fantasy/aimee-f.txt
Archive-author: Elf Sternberg
Archive-title: Aimee - f - Intermission


AIMEE'                                                         Intermission
~~~~~                                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Darryn smiled as he pulled the robes tightly about himself.  Although 
inside the council chamber the fires had kept the meeting comfortably warm, 
outside the chill of winter easily permeated the halls  of the 
Administration Building on the College.  As he walked away he had the 
distinct taste of victory in his mouth.  He thought back... it had only 
been minutes earlier...


     "Master Darryn," Teltirray had said, approaching him.

     "Master Teltirray," he had replied gracefully.

     "I wish to thank you.  You teaching of Aimee' has been wonderful.  Her 
learning is spectacular, her skill growing appreciably in the six months 
you have known her.  I admit, I had misgivings.  After all, your... 
preference... did not encourage me to send her to you."  He positively 
sneered the word 'preference,' a sure sign to him that Teltirray was still 
dealing with him fairly, if uncomfortably.  There was no double meaning 
here.  "I thought you had nothing to teach.  I see that your knowledge of, 
well, men, applies to her skills very clearly."   The grin he gave Darryn 
made the blood run cold.  He wondered how much of that 'skill' was applied 
strictly to the healing arts in a sense of self-preservation.  "I thank 
you, especially since you have taken upon yourself an increase in the time 
you spend on her training, beyond our agreement, without asking for an 
increase in the cost."

     "Master Teltirray, Aimee' presents a challenge.  I hope you do not 
take this wrongly, but I feel I am learning from her as I have never worked 
with a woman before and feel most uncomfortable doing so."

     Teltirray smiled, taking Darryn's words exactly as he had expected.  
"I understand.  Still, I appreciate beyond words what you have done to 
her."

     "I am grateful."

     "I apologize for interrupting you.  I see you are in a hurry."

     "No, merely anxious to return home.  I have much to do tonight."

     "Then I shall not keep you any longer.  Good day."

     "Good day."  Teltirray had departed.


     Darryn walked down the hall, enjoying his success, celebrating with 
quiet happiness the nutured hope that Aimee' might survive Teltirray's 
abuses unharmed and that she might someday register at the College as a 
student... under his aegis.  So complete was his self absorbtion that he 
didn't notice the woman at the end of the hall until her hand reached out 
and dragged him aside.  "What?"

     The woman stepped back out of reach as his hand came up in a defensive 
posture.  "Whoa, Darryn!  It's me!"

     "Bethsany?"

     "Right, right!  You could scare a body half to death if it didn't 
freeze in here first.  Don't you mages believe in heat?"

     "Unlike your usual clientele, mages are not likely to walk around 
unclothed.  What are you doing here?"

     "Came looking for you.  I need to talk to you."

     "About Aimee'?"

     She nodded.  "You're hoping she kills him, aren't you?"

     "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said as he put up 
privacy spells as fast as he possibly could.  Before she could speak again 
he put his hand up to silence her.  Open mouthed, she stared, then nodded 
and closed it again.  "Now then.  As I was saying, I have no idea what 
you're talking about."

     "Aimee' and Teltirray," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper.  
"Some of the stuff you've been teaching her... you're hoping she kills him, 
aren't you?"

     The room she had pulled him into was one of the side classrooms, with 
the teacher's desk close to the door.  He sat down on it and folded his 
hands in his lap, grinning.  "I won't cry at his funeral."

     "Don't you think he'll get the least bit suspicious?"

     "If he does, that's his problem.  I've taken on an apprentice, 
Bethsany, and I usually first teach my apprentice those things he needs to 
survive.  And besides, most of what I've taught her are spells that a 
select group of your clientele, and me if I were interested in women, find 
extremely exciting."

     Bethsany's mouth cracked into an echo of Darryn's grin.  "I see.  Do 
you really think she can do it?"

     Darryn stared out the window where the first heavy snow of winter was 
falling, making the fresh, cold air hazy and covering the campus in a layer 
of white.  Trees were bending already with the heavy weight of packed snow 
and from his vantage only one brave (or foolish) soul was trying to make 
his way across the quadrangle.  Inside the classroom, however, only the 
sound of breathing could be heard; the privacy spells Darryn had put up 
kept all sound from leaving, but it also kept sound from entering as well.  
No-one would investigate; privacy spells were amongst the easiest to learn, 
the most common to use, and the most respected.  Mages valued their 
privacy.  And Darryn was an archmage.  No-one would interrupt him.

     "Ultimately, Bethsany, of all the people who will ever need to defend 
themsleves against Teltirray, if anyone can do so successfully, I think she 
can.  I think he's given himself a challenge he's not up to."

     "I don't have you magical skill, Darryn, but I have to agree with your 
observation.  She's strong.  I just hope she's strong enough."

     Darryn looked out the window again.  "I think we'll know before the 
snow melts."

     "That's not a lot of time," Bethsany sighed.  "I'll help in any way I 
can."

     "Just keep teaching her to be strong, Beth.  That's what she really 
needs.  Encouragement."

     "I'll do my best," she nodded, turning to leave.  She reached for the 
doorknob, then stopped and turned around.  "Darryn, I know you don't care 
for women's ways, but you've always been kind to me and my girls.  I don't 
understand why, except that we understand each other."  Her mouth curled 
into an unpleasant snarl.  "I've seen what he does to the girls he gets.  
Get him.  Please."

     Darryn merely nodded as she left, closing the door behind her with a 
click.  He turned his stare out the window again, watching the snow come 
down in slow, dry sheets of white.

--
"Aimee', Intermission"
Aimee' is copyright (c) 1993 Elf Mathieu Sternberg.  This story may be 
freely distributed by electronic media; hardcopies are limited to single 
printings for personal use.