“Your beauty is still as deadly as the day I first saw you,” I say.
I watch her face. The eyes narrow a moment. I smile back at her.
“Do I know you?” she asks.
“Yes and no,” I say. “You knew me, once, long, long, long ago. Can’t blame you for forgetting. I’ve, unlike you, changed a lot.”
Her head tilts to the side as she takes a few careful steps toward me.
“You haven’t aged a day,” I add. Realization slowly dawns in her eyes. “I, on the other hand, have aged nearly twenty thousand days. I’m afraid it rather shows,” I say, patting my bald head.
“David?” she tries.
“Argh!” I object, clutching at my heart. “You wound me. But you’ve got the right idea. Same time, but—”
“That’s right, they killed David.”
“Right. So that leaves . . . “
“The other one,” she says.
“Don’t even remember my name,” I humph, thrusting my chin in the air in mocked offense.
She shrugs, “We thought you’d have died after that fall.”
“I admit,” I say, grimacing, “My legs never were quite the same, but I lived.”
“Well, it’s good to see old faces,” she says, smiling coyly, “and tie up loose ends.”
With a sudden spring, she grabs my collar and pulls me in. I feel her deadly mouth against my neck, but before she bits down—
“Wait!” I shout.
“Don’t ruin the moment,” she moans.
“Why’d you come here?” I ask. “Do you remember?”
Sighing, she pushes me away. I stagger back, my knees blaring with pain.
“You came here,” I continue, “because you were ordered to. Am I right?”
Her lips purse tightly together as her eyes narrow.
“You were ordered to by the prince of this city, right?”
She nods.
“Wrong,” I say. “You were ordered here by me.” Reaching into my pocket, I pull out a piece of paper. “Ever since I crawled out of that hole you all left me in, I’ve been watching you, studying you. I know your ways, your movements, how you communicate.” I read from the page the old tongue, stuttering a little over a few words. “All I have to do is send a little note like that, and you come running.”
Now I watch as concern washes over her face.
“You come running right into my trap.”
Reaching into my pocket, I grab a little key fob and press its button. All around us, the room explodes in intense, white light. I hear her scream, but then she’s silent. Releasing the button, I wait, blind in the ensuing darkness. Slowly, my eyes adjust. Walking over to where she stood, I stare down at a black smear of ash upon the floor.
“That’s for Dave,” I say, and walk over to find the vacuum.
Tale Told 