I knew something would happen.
No one would have believed me had I expressed my fears yesterday evening. It was just an emotion at first. There was no sign of anything amiss in my immediate environment.
I was on the mesh train from Kindol to Plains Cross when the feeling first struck. The scene both inside the passenger cabin and outside across the cityscape at dusk was quite the opposite: serene. The forests out past the outskirts of town showed more of an obvious sign of spring and summer, blossoming beautifully. And out in the distance were the building mountains of cumulus clouds, sure to turn into thunderheads before night set in fully.
I had been to Plains Crossing a number of summers ago. I was male at the time. I went out to Plains Crossing again back in 1319, to see the inauguration of Bradrick Fehn as the next leader of our Chapter of the Pageturner Guild. That was the last time I saw Fehn in person.
This time, I was sent to meet Chapter Curator Pheleston Gregory at the Plains Crossing Inn-on-the-Lake. Word from him was that an anonymous turn-cloak claimed to have important information from the Pagewriter Guild in Remikra. And Pheleston had been eager to have this turn-cloak join us.
I've always had my misgivings about Pheleston. Ever since I became female, he would always...shall we say...tease me in a playful way, mocking the tactics I used in my role as a Recruiter for new Chapter members. I've never been sure if he had been doing this out of hostility or if this was just his way of being playful. He did, after all, have a joker attitude.
It wasn't encouraging when he passed me over, tapping John York, instead, for promotion into the next Chapter rank. Afterward, Pheleston took me out to dinner seemingly as an act of consolation. And after that, he continued to insist we spend time with one another, particularly with us going over to observe Incense sessions among the Chapter Clerics. In fact, I've often speculated whether or not, since after my transition, that he was even being a bit flirtatious with me. "Jaaax!" he would always say to me every time he addressed me.
For one thing, just because I've transitioned doesn't necessarily change who I'm attracted to. I am very much still attracted to women. Also, Pheleston seems to have a bit of a controlling personality, always wanting to put himself slightly above me in terms of power and social standing.
With those thoughts, I was hoping against hope that this meetup at Plains Crossing was not a date. But that wasn't why I had a feeling of foreboding.
It was a much deeper dusk when the mesh train finally stopped at Plains Crossing. In fact, I remember the exact time: 7:32 pm. Again, it was a serene evening but something just felt off. The deepening blue up in the sky revealed the beautiful and twinkling stars, with the only cover being the mountainous cumulus now shooting lightning over the South end of the vast lake.
"Jaaax!"
I jumped when he said that. I turned around and saw Pheleston standing right there behind me, chuckling and lightly apologizing. I wanted to smack him.
"It's that time of year, isn't it?" he said, looking out at the distant thunderstorm. Then he fished into his jacket pocket, pulled out a lighter with a box of cigars, and offered me one.
I don't know what compelled me to accept such an offer. I never smoked before or since that moment. But I accepted. I lit the thing, took a puff, and immediately started coughing.
"First time, eh?" Pheleston said, chuckling again. For the second time in the span of three minutes, I wanted to smack him.
And happened the thing I feared would happen.
Gunshots rang out. Pheleston dodged in time. I was prepared though. I drew out my talisman and cast a Shield Spell. Then I hurled a strong Discharge Spell toward the direction of the gunfire, and struck a dark figure head on. And I would never know the identity of the would-be assassin, because he fell over dead and, apparently with a special work of spellfire, self-combusted.
***
Pheleston and I spoke with the local authorities at length on the incident, but there is one dangerous piece of information I took that I've determined to be kept confidential only with the Guild. Right after the self-combustion, I went up to the assassin's remains and pulled out a badge, which was all black but bore the unmistakable symbol of the Pageturner Guild.
Our hotel rooms were next to each other on the same corridor. Upon showing him the charred badge, Pheleston snatched it out of my hand and insisted that it was an imposter trying to confuse us. I thought back to his projected desire to control me and his decision regarding John York. So just before he walked into his room, I slipped on my talisman and cast a small Attraction Spell, which was enough to cause the badge to fall out of his pocket. Before anyone would ever notice, I had it in my possession and out of sight.
***
I woke up bright and early this morning and mailed the evidence directly to Chapter Leader Fehn. It was only after that, during breakfast hour, that Pheleston came up to me and started accusing me of stealing it.
"...And I can tell the whole world that last night's incident was you setting me up to get killed," I said right to his face.
Pheleston dropped the subject at the moment. That had been the end of that.