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This conversation had been coming for a while now. However, with all that was changing and going on there had been little tie to slip away from the temple to deal with such matters so Ravnos had to pick and choose his time carefully. He had left Vadoma and Kieran at home for this venture. They didn’t need to be dragged all over Faetasia. Besides. If he had brought them along Grendel would have surely insisted he come too and that would have made just a whole mess of things.

Not that things with Cryso weren’t already a mess. But that was besides the point.

He made his way to the gym I’ve in the trees where there sat a small shack tucked neatly away. The branches of willow trees hung low about its roof and walls. Making it almost impossible to see if you weren’t looking for it. But he was so he knew where to look. It was a building familiar to him all in the same.

Stepping from the shadows the Disciple made his way to the door and knocked three times. Waited ten seconds then knocked three times again. Almost instantly the door creaked and slowly swung open yet no one stood therr. It was dark beyond the door way and even with his keen sight it was hard to tell if perhaps there may have been a dagger there waiting in the dark. But he trusted her enough, for now, to not pull those kinds of stunts.

At least he hoped she was smarter than that.

Glancing over his shoulder once he stepped through the doorway and the door shut behind him instantly.

Ravnos’s lips set in a hard line as he crossed the room. The heels of his boots clicking against the hard wooden floor as his clothing chimed with each deliberate step. Sliding into the chair across from her a dangerous look in his eyes.

“I’ve not come for him.” His tone was even but there was a hint of threat in his tone. As if daring her to pull some stunt. Ravnos knew what her true speciality was and to say that he was impervious to its effects would probably be a lie. Cryso was skilled and could really scare the s**t out of someone if she put even a pinkie’s worth of ambition into it. Well, s**t would be the first thing to come out. Then usually go vomit. And ultimately death.

He had seen it himself.

And while she wasn’t as strong as he was she did give him pause but only briefly. Those he cared about and whom they cared about were never off the table for her. He had seen it in the way she had twisted Zapathasura against him and he would not allow her to do the same again.

If there was one thing raising Vadoma and Kieran had taught him it was that he loved his children. Perhaps more than he could have ever thought possible and now that he had been able to experience fatherhood outside of just knocking someone up, he wouldn’t let anyone hurt them. Physically or mentally and he regretted that perhaps with his first son he was too late. He knew better now.

Ravnos picked up the tarot cards. Cutting them
In irregular halves and shuffling them a few times before setting the stack back on the table before reaching into his sleeve and pulling out a clove cigar and lighting it.

He merely listened as she spoke. Taking drag after drag from his cigar as he leaned back in his seat. Ravnos hadn’t come to have his cards read but he would humor her for the time being. A dark eyebrow raising at each card she laid down.

Ravnos knew her cards were always stacked against him and no matter what she would always read the negative. But he didn’t need insight about his past or his future. s**t, not even the present. He had learned to just go with it and what happened happened. Of course, in certain cases where he had forewarning he tried his best to steer away from those outcomes but sometimes things eluded him. The Disciple’s green gaze flicked to the bookshelf behind her and wouldn’t you know it….

When she went to tap the third and final card he caught her by the wrist. His movement so quick she didn’t even have time to react. That was the problem with most people. Ravnos could be so unassuming if he wanted to.

“The Tower.” His voice rumbled as he pulled her half way across the table. “Do you think I would not notice? Really Cryso? Or did you put it there so I could see it for myself. One last slap in the face I assume. How like you.” Ravnos roughly pushed her back into her chair before pushing himself up out of his seat and moving behind her to the book shelf. Reaching out to pluck the book from where it sat. It was a deep, rich purple color with an odd marking on the front. It flowed with black electricity in his hand before the ward was dispelled and he walked back over to his seat. Tossing the book on the table where it landed with a heavy thud and scattered the tarot cards to the floor.

“Why then. Why all this, Cryso? You got what you wanted and then you had to twist it into something horrible. Did you even know that Cassius had been hurt? Do you even care?” Ravnos stood standing by the side of the table, a dark shadow cast across his face as he regarded the woman. How had he not seen this side of her? Or had she changed that much over the years.

Leaning down so that he could stare into her face Ravnos frowned. “That’s a bullshit answer if I ever heard one.” Taking the cup from her he tossed it into the unlit fireplace. “Do you understand what you have set in motion? You of all people….” His jaw clenched as he looked at her. Pity. Disgust. These were all things he felt when he looked at the Antediluvian.

But then again it was his own fault as well. He could admit though when he had taken missteps and all he could do now was try to fix whatever mess she had made. Again.

He had no other choices in front of him. “I think perhaps you need to take some time away from the clan. Go…figure your s**t out. I will find someone else for your place.” Ravnos was done. He was done with this whole situation from the beginning but now he was just so done with this woman he couldn’t even stand to be standing in front of her.

Grabbing the book off the table he turned away from her to leave.

Before he finally stepped out the door Ravnos stopped in his tracks. Turning his head only slightly so that he could glance at her over his shoulder. Mild sympathy on his face for this creature that sat there. Broken and twisted as she was.

She had wanted to hurt him. And she had. But not in the way she had hoped and in the end it probably didn’t turn out the way she had hoped either. So now there she was, alone. Powerless without the rest of the clan to back her up. While she still had strength in her age and skills she just would not have their support.

“I regret not seeing you for what you really are, Cryso. A snake in my boot.” With that he stepped out of the shack and back into the night air. The door slamming behind him. As he stepped out into the moonlight he gave the book another look over. Good it still seemed intact.