[Sodium_noir] Friday Night: Meeting the Prince

[Substitute Storyteller]

The rented limo left promptly at six-thirty, heading
uptown.  Giger and Elizabeth sat across from Camille
and Montenegro, facing backwards so that they could
only see where they had been, not where they were
going.  With great regret, they can both see that they
are passing Club Harlequin.  That foray had cost me
dearly.  Giger thinks to himself.  His access to the
gentle Elizabeth was denied him for a while, leaving
him to work with the bitchy Camille. 

Elizabeth chooses not to look out the window, but
chooses instead to focus her thoughts inward, her
hands folded in her lap, the comforting handkerchief
tucked into one pocket of her skirt.  She says
nothing, though she was within her rights to address
Camille, an Apprentice of equal rank.   

Finally, it is Montenegro that breaks the silence by
closing the dark glass partition separating the
passengers from the driver.  "Apprentice Greenville." 
His tone is sharp, commanding her attention and
jarring Elizabeth from her thoughts.  

Elizabeth looks up, her eyes at last meeting those of
the Regent.  "Yes, my Lord?"  She asks.  

He intended to make an example of the Apprentice, but
there was no fear in her eyes.  She was not afraid of
him or what he could do to her, it seemed.  Perhaps he
should read the files of his two Apprentices with more
care.  Neither seemed overly troubled by the prospect
of punishment.  Well, perhaps punishing her in the
presence of the others would change her attitude. 
"Apprentice Greenville, I am sorely distressed that
you would follow the poor example of Apprentice Giger
and leave the Chantry at his insistence."

Elizabeth lowers her gaze back to her lap, studying
the black lace on the dark blue Victorian styled gown
she now wore, in stark contrast to Camille, who had
opted for a short black skirt, a white chiffon blouse
with buttons that sparkled in the light and matched
the woman’s necklace.  Seated next to Giger, she
matched him a bit more closely, as the black suit he
wore was of a style several decades out of date, and
accented with a silver tie tack containing some black
stone, likely onyx or the jet highly prized in
Victorian times.   At last she speaks, as the Regent
had addressed her.  "My Lord, Apprentice Giger is a
more senior Apprentice, and thus if he does request my
presence, I must in truth obey his wishes, save if I
am not otherwise engaged upon a task set by one of a
higher Rank."  

Montenegro frowns.  She knew the rules well, and yet
again, she used them against him, this time in an
attempt to escape her punishment.  "I know the rules
well enough, Apprentice.  You should have also known
that neither you nor Apprentice Giger were allowed to
leave the Chantry.  You have not even been presented
to the Prince, and he would be well within his rights
to kill any Kindred in his territory that have not
presented themselves."

Elizabeth had been told that cautionary tale a time
before.  How an agent of the Prince had come upon a
pair of unknown Kindred and slain them.  It was only
when their possessions were brought to the Prince that
it were learned that they were in truth young
Apprentices of House and Clan Tremere.  "Tis true, my
Lord.  I did greatly danger myself by going with
Apprentice Giger, but he were also concerned for his
own safety, and did not wish to travel the streets of
fair Gotham alone, which is why he did ask for my
company."        

"Nonetheless, Apprentice Greenville, you left the
Chantry without my permission." Montenegro snaps.
"And that calls for punishment.  You are to clean the
Chantry floors, alone and without the use of any blood
magick."

Elizabeth does not raise her head.  "As you wish, my
Lord."  It was not a punishment she was unfamiliar
with, rather it was one most commonly laid upon her. 
Some apprentices would grumble about it, but she
accepted it without a word of complaint.   

A disappointing reaction.  Montenegro notes.  He had
hoped she would complain.  Camille certainly would
protest such punishment.  This one, however, did not. 
Mere acceptance.  How do you punish someone who
accepts their lot without complaint?  

The rest of the trip to Gotham Towers passes without
incident, the Tremere all content to stare at each
other without saying a word.  

(TBC)
  


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