Raistlin looked up from his desk as the door in front of him was pushed open. He stared at the elf maid standing before him and smiled grimly. Though his eyes saw only the passing of time, her pure, elven beauty still reached him. She was never dying; time would never touch her.
Auburn hair fell down her back in soft curls. Her blue-green eyes were shining with a mixture of emotions: hurt, anger, fear, and even a bit of compassion towards the mage in front of her. Her hands, just visible beneath her black, velvet robes, were balled into tight fists, and her mouth was set in a defiant smile, telling a different story than her eyes.
"Raistlin Majere," she said softly, dangerously. "My old…friend."
"Inanna," Raistlin replied calmly. "Welcome."
He rose and walked silently over to the table with the wine. He poured two glasses , holding one out to Inanna.
She knocked it violently out of his outstretched hand. The fragile, elven-made glass shattered, and wine slowly stained the ornate rug a dark red.
"Don't you dare try to be pleasant, Raistlin!" Inanna shouted.
Raistlin watched the red liquid spread gradually across his rug before looking Inanna squarely in the eyes. "Dalamar," Raistlin whispered to his apprentice still standing in the doorway.
"Yes, Shalafi?" Dalamar stepped forward slightly.
"Leave us." Dalamar nodded, backing out of the room and casting a wary eye over the two.
"Inanna," Raistlin repeated in a chilling voice. "What brings you here?"
"Stop it Raist!" Inanna said angrily, having regained her composure. Raistlin started at the sound of his brother's nickname for him. "Why did you leave? Why did you betray me?"
"Betray you?!" Raistlin threw back his head and laughed. Inanna shivered involuntarily. "Since when has Raistlin Majere served anyone but himself? And since when has Inanna, most powerful elf on Ansalon, ever thought that Raistlin was on her side? I am on no one's side, Inanna. I thought I made that clear when we met? I live only to serve myself."
Inanna shook, not with fear, but with anger and a sudden surge of hatred. She wanted to hit him; she wanted to kill this insolent human standing mockingly before her. He was no longer an equal; he was common dirt…and he was a threat.
Raistlin smiled, knowing what was going on in her mind. "Remember Inanna, we made a deal," he smirked.
"Deal? I don't remember any deal," Inanna said quietly, her voice quivering in anger. Her fists were clenched harder, resisting the urge to wrap them around his frail neck.
"Oh, but there was a deal." Raistlin's golden eyes and hourglass pupils were glittering eerily in the flickering firelight.
"What are you talking about?!" Inanna cried in exasperation. "You never said anything to me but…" Her voice trailed off, eyes widening in sudden comprehension.
Raistlin gave her a self-satisfied smirk. "You remember now." It wasn't a question; it was a statement. Raistlin's satisfaction grew as he watched Inanna fight the urge to writhe and scream in frustration.
"Oh, stop looking at me in that self-satisfied way, Raist," Inanna snapped. "Yes, I remember now."
"Good. Now you can't blame me for betraying you or leaving you."
"Raist, why did you call me here? To torment me? Do you enjoy my pain?"
Raistlin remained silent. Hearing his old nickname come from her lips was beginning to irk him. He didn't know why it bothered him so, but something about Inanna calling him 'Raist' sent tingles up his spine.
"I am enjoying every minute of it," Raistlin whispered, an icy edge to his voice. "My pain is your pain, Inanna. That's what we agreed upon wasn't it? That's the deal we made when we met years ago."
"I don't remember those exact words, Raist," Inanna said. "But yes, I do remember something like that."
Raistlin nodded. "Indeed." He paused, staring into the morning sky outside the window. "You brought your dragon. Night Shadow, isn't it?"
Inanna froze, taken aback by the sudden change of subject and tone of his voice. "Y…yes," she said hesitantly. "Why does it matter?"
Raistlin turned slowly to look at her, his eyes blazing with a mixture of emotion, his face a cold mask. He surveyed her silently, intently, with his long-fingered hands clasped behind his back.
He advanced. It took every ounce of strength and defiance Inanna possessed to keep from faltering under the mage's all-seeing stare. She felt her skin burn as he observed her, seemingly reading her mind, her very soul. Raistlin stopped, barely an inch from her face, and Inanna forced herself to stare right back into those strange, hourglass eyes.
He raised a hand and a long finger pushed a stray lock of hair gently from her face. Ice shot through Inanna's spine. She shuddered.
"Allies will be very important in times to come; dear Inanna," Raistlin whispered, poison lacing his mild tone. "Allies will be very important."
"What do you mean?" Inanna replied softly, true fear apparent in her voice.
Raistlin smiled grimly. "I am about to achieve my dream. I am about to become ruler of the mortal and immortal worlds."
Inanna's eyes widened. "A…a god? Raist, are you mad?" she whispered hoarsely.
"Yes, a god," he replied flatly. "And no one can or will stop me."
Inanna backed away, staring at Raistlin in horror. She shook her head and sank feebly into a chair by the fire, bringing a certain amount of pleasure to Raistlin while he watched her moment of vulnerability. She turned her gaze to the dancing flames. "I will," she said, more to herself than to Raistlin. Her eyes flicked up to rest on his cold stare. "I will sop you," she repeated.
For once, Raistlin failed to come up with a witty response. Words utterly failed him. Something, determination perhaps, burned in the elf-maid's eyes as she looked at him beneath her lashes. Anger flared inside of him. He was not going to be stopped by a woman!
"No one can stop me."
"I can." Inanna rose, once again haughty with an arrogance to match his own, and strode purposefully to the door.
"How?" he asked shrewdly.
Inanna paused, her hand on the door handle. "You are human, after all." Without another word, she opened the door and strode out, her robes seemingly laughing at him as they whispered about her ankles. Raistlin scowled. Inside, she was laughing at him and he knew it.
Behind the safety if the closed door, Raistlin let out a roar of rage that anyone would dare to challenge him and smashed the table by the fire to the ground. And what she had said about him being only human was truer than any other words passed between them. That's what annoyed him most about her; Inanna's innate ability to see the truth behind every mask he out on and behind every lie he fed to her. He couldn't hide his true self.