competent wizards and good men.”
Raymond nodded. “I always knew they were competent wizards. It‟s taken some time for me to come to appreciate them as individuals.”
Jean remembered the tension from early in the alliance when Alain and Thierry, along with most of the Milice, had distrusted Raymond because of his past. “You never really told me what happened back then. Why you sided with Serrier. Were you always on the fringes?”
Raymond shrugged, not entirely comfortable talking about his past. “We‟re of an age, the three of us, at least now. Alain and Thierry are a couple of years older than I am, though by the time we all came to Paris and became involved with l‟ANS, it wasn‟t enough to matter, but they were already friends. Best friends. And I wasn‟t very socially adept. I preferred my books to people. I realize now how wrong I was, but at the time, I was convinced they wouldn‟t know what to do with a book if I shoved one in their faces. So I got my job teaching history and researching the origins of various spells and the logic
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Ariel Tachna
behind them while Alain and Thierry worked for Marcel in a variety of capacities. They each married. Alain had his son. They added a third to their friendship, Eric, with his wife and kids. And I studied. Then Serrier came along. You have to understand that his rhetoric didn‟t start out as an attempt to overthrow the government. He came on the scene talking about the laws restricting dark magic and arguing that magic wasn‟t light or dark in and of itself but rather in its application. Blood magic, sex magic, even the Abbatoire , he argued, could be used for good as well as for evil. For someone like me, obsessed with the past and the uses various spells had been put to over time and the evolution of society‟s opinion on those spells, his ideas were pure brilliance.
I was thoroughly taken in, completely dazzled.”
“So what happened?” Jean asked. “That certainly wasn‟t the rhetoric he was spouting by the time Marcel asked for the vampires‟ aid.”
“He got frustrated,” Raymond replied. “The Parlement wasn‟t interested in even entertaining his propositions. Marcel had other issues on his agenda and so didn‟t use his political pull to try to get the attention of the députés. Serrier said if they wouldn‟t pay attention to us, we had to demand their attention. He was a persuasive speaker. A powerful speaker, and he had an audience who was tired of feeling dictated to by non-wizards. We followed him. Wrongly, I can see now, but at the time, I was blinded by the sense of purpose he instilled in us. We were going to change the world for the better.”
Jean nodded. “I‟ve heard that a few times in my existence. It never ends well. Lafayette, Robespierre, Napoléon, Les Trois Glorieuses, Napoléon III… I could go on. Revolutions begin with the highest of intentions and end in chaos far more often than they end in success, at least in France.”
“When Serrier‟s protests turned violent, I started questioning his position,”
Raymond went on, “and when he went from violence to outright cruelty, I switched sides, but by then I already had the scar on my back and a reputation, mostly unfounded, but that didn‟t matter. Marcel believed me, but everyone else watched me constantly, sure I was there to spy for Serrier or to undermine the Milice. There wasn‟t anything I could say or do to convince them otherwise, so I didn‟t even try. I moved into the garret where I lived when we met and hid from the world so Serrier couldn‟t find me. And I did everything I could to make sure he failed.”
“Which he did, thanks to you.”
Raymond shrugged, uncomfortable with the praise. “Monsieur Lombard killed him, not me or anything I thought to do.”
“Monsieur Lombard might have killed him, but I was there too, if you remember. I watched you fight, and I watched you constantly seeking new and better ways to bring him
Raymond nodded. “I always knew they were competent wizards. It‟s taken some time for me to come to appreciate them as individuals.”
Jean remembered the tension from early in the alliance when Alain and Thierry, along with most of the Milice, had distrusted Raymond because of his past. “You never really told me what happened back then. Why you sided with Serrier. Were you always on the fringes?”
Raymond shrugged, not entirely comfortable talking about his past. “We‟re of an age, the three of us, at least now. Alain and Thierry are a couple of years older than I am, though by the time we all came to Paris and became involved with l‟ANS, it wasn‟t enough to matter, but they were already friends. Best friends. And I wasn‟t very socially adept. I preferred my books to people. I realize now how wrong I was, but at the time, I was convinced they wouldn‟t know what to do with a book if I shoved one in their faces. So I got my job teaching history and researching the origins of various spells and the logic
56
Ariel Tachna
behind them while Alain and Thierry worked for Marcel in a variety of capacities. They each married. Alain had his son. They added a third to their friendship, Eric, with his wife and kids. And I studied. Then Serrier came along. You have to understand that his rhetoric didn‟t start out as an attempt to overthrow the government. He came on the scene talking about the laws restricting dark magic and arguing that magic wasn‟t light or dark in and of itself but rather in its application. Blood magic, sex magic, even the Abbatoire , he argued, could be used for good as well as for evil. For someone like me, obsessed with the past and the uses various spells had been put to over time and the evolution of society‟s opinion on those spells, his ideas were pure brilliance.
I was thoroughly taken in, completely dazzled.”
“So what happened?” Jean asked. “That certainly wasn‟t the rhetoric he was spouting by the time Marcel asked for the vampires‟ aid.”
“He got frustrated,” Raymond replied. “The Parlement wasn‟t interested in even entertaining his propositions. Marcel had other issues on his agenda and so didn‟t use his political pull to try to get the attention of the députés. Serrier said if they wouldn‟t pay attention to us, we had to demand their attention. He was a persuasive speaker. A powerful speaker, and he had an audience who was tired of feeling dictated to by non-wizards. We followed him. Wrongly, I can see now, but at the time, I was blinded by the sense of purpose he instilled in us. We were going to change the world for the better.”
Jean nodded. “I‟ve heard that a few times in my existence. It never ends well. Lafayette, Robespierre, Napoléon, Les Trois Glorieuses, Napoléon III… I could go on. Revolutions begin with the highest of intentions and end in chaos far more often than they end in success, at least in France.”
“When Serrier‟s protests turned violent, I started questioning his position,”
Raymond went on, “and when he went from violence to outright cruelty, I switched sides, but by then I already had the scar on my back and a reputation, mostly unfounded, but that didn‟t matter. Marcel believed me, but everyone else watched me constantly, sure I was there to spy for Serrier or to undermine the Milice. There wasn‟t anything I could say or do to convince them otherwise, so I didn‟t even try. I moved into the garret where I lived when we met and hid from the world so Serrier couldn‟t find me. And I did everything I could to make sure he failed.”
“Which he did, thanks to you.”
Raymond shrugged, uncomfortable with the praise. “Monsieur Lombard killed him, not me or anything I thought to do.”
“Monsieur Lombard might have killed him, but I was there too, if you remember. I watched you fight, and I watched you constantly seeking new and better ways to bring him
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