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Jadzania- There's a German reference in here for you- see if you can spot it. Thanks for reviewing everyone- more reviews will make me very happy!
Chapter Five- Absent Leaders
Marla Voltaire stalked through the thicket, unaccustomed to working in such close proximity to wild plant life. Wand out, she wrapped her robes tightly around her and peered into the clearing of the wood. In the moonlight, she could just about make out the dark figure of a man. He seemed disorientated, stumbling here and there without making towards any definite destination. She smiled to herself at her ability to capture even the rarest of jewels.
"Imperio!" she yelled and the figure stood motionless. Excellent. Her plan was panning out just as she had anticipated. She strode over to him and checked his demeanour. His eyes were glazed and body limp. The spell had worked. Glancing around, she whispered orders to the body and was pleased to see that it did not put up any resistance to her commands.
"Appreciate you making this easy for me, Minister," she smirked and Disapperated to the Manor, limp Minister in tow.
ooo
Only Crabbe was in when she reached the house. He flinched in shock as he saw her distinguished captive. Ignoring him, Marla seated the Minister for Magic in the drawing room and turned to Crabbe.
"Where is everyone?" she asked. Crabbe glanced from the minister to her several times before letting on that they were out on orders. Leaving her hostage with Crabbe, Marla moved to the drinks cabinet.
So she wasn't the only one with an assignment. The secrecy of their orders was vital but she prayed that the others wouldn't bring back news that would please the Dark Lord as much as her accomplishment. It was important that she stay close to him- closer to him than the rest.
Marla leaned against the cabinet, drinking deeply from the glass. Crabbe was looking uncertain, eyeing the Minister. Marla cocked an eyebrow. "Imperious Curse, Crabbe, never seen it before?" She smirked at his confusion.
"You..." stuttered Crabbe, "He was our assignment- me and Locke's! What were you thinking, taking our-"
"Save it, Crabbe," Marla cut in, "It's my job to clean up after you lot. An attempt on Minister Macmillan by you two and we might as well hand ourselves in. Not hugely subtle, your methods, are they?"
Crabbe scowled. "How'd you get close to him anyway?" he barked, changing the subject.
Easy. Marla almost answered him but thought better of it, "When's everyone back? Where's Malfoy?"
But Crabbe wasn't finished. "Why did you bring him here? We were never told to do that."
Seeing that Crabbe was too fixated on yet another of his failures, Marla left the room, summoning the Minister to follow her.
ooo
Marla hadn't seen Abraxas at the Manor for three days. Though she had spent the last half of the week stalking the Minister, she had missed him during the few hours she spent at the house. The last time she had seen him, he had informed her of their latest assignment.
"The Dark Lord wants us to track down some wizards." He had said not meeting her eye.
Ignoring his unease, Marla looked at the list of seven wizards Abraxas had handed to her. "The wizards of Blake..." she muttered to herself, "... all well known... all missing..." She nodded and pocketed her copy of the list. "Who shall we start with?" she had asked, looking up at Abraxas who was now exiting the room.
"You take the first three, I'll take the rest," he had said as he closed the door behind him.
But later that day, Marla was given information that caused her assignment to pale into insignificance.
"What were you looking for?" she had asked the Voldemort as she sat with him in his bed chambers. He was pouring through piles of parchment, every now and again summoning an owl or a cigarette. He had been sending letters and going through Ministry reports (stolen for him by Lowman) all afternoon. "You know- the assignment Macnair messed up. What did you ask him to get for you?"
"Macmillan," he replied, distractedly searching for a quill. She sat on his bed, legs crossed, watching him work. "Macnair had him in sight but he summoned me there anyway... something about not being able to get close to him. How hard is it to get close enough to a man to hex him?" He rubbed his temple at the memory. "Anyway, they saw his patronus, they saw mine... they knew it was me and fled. One man, one curse ... and Macnair messed it up. They'll think we are a bigger threat now too."
Marla looked disgusted. "They all know it was you ... they recognised you and Macnair? The security around him will be doubled."
"That's Crabbe's problem now." Voldemort grunted and carried on working, but Marla was formulating a plan in her head. She knew how to get the Dark Lord what he wanted, and she would do it without incriminating her master in the process.
ooo
The Death Eaters gathered in the parlour on Sunday night, waiting for Voldemort's arrival. It was the first time in days that Marla had seen Abraxas- he looked haughty and cold and she strongly suspected he was purposely avoiding her gaze. She shrugged off the feeling of foreboding his demeanour instilled in her and instead cast her mind to the prisoner she had locked away in the wine cellar just hours ago. As she smiled, the doors burst open and Voldemort strode in. He stood by the empty grate, tossed of his travelling cloak and conjured a fire. Huddling over the roaring flames, he turned his followers. "What have we got?"
Abraxas stepped forward. "My Lord," he began "I have tracked down four of the seven wizards and am waiting for your signal to approach them. The other three, I suspect will take longer to locate." He shot Marla a filthy look.
"Four? That's good. That's very good." Voldemort nodded, "And the Azkaban guard?" he asked, turning to Lowman, who stepped forward and gave his account of the protection of the prison. Voldemort nodded, taking in the information and sizing up Lowman's efforts. "How many to Confound the guard force?" he asked, assessing his Death Eater.
"All of us," replied Lowman, head bowed, "And perhaps more. And before we can even try, there are precautions that need to be dealt with. These aren't just dementors, my Lord, the Head of Protection has cast wards that can only be broken with-"
"-his neck." Voldemort finished with relish, "See to it."
Lowman mumbled "Yes, my Lord," and stepped back. Voldemort turned to Marla who was fiddling with her sleeve in anticipation as she began to speak. "My Lord, I have-" but Voldemort silenced her with a look and indicated towards her forearm.
"You never explained what it was for- how it worked." He said, examining the mark from across the room. Marla made towards him, arm stretched out, and let him take it in both his hands. She hoped the others were watching as he caressed the black skull and tilted his head slightly.
"Abraxas has one too," Marla said, looking up at her master. "If you touch it, his will hurt too- they're linked."
Voldemort gave Abraxas a sideways glance. Abraxas jammed up his sleeve to show his matching mark, his teeth clenched.
"Brand everyone." Voldemort said quietly and moved over to the drinks cabinet to pour himself some whiskey from a crystal decanter. He watched as Abraxas drew his wand and gave each Death Eater the Dark Mark- Crabbe, Avery, Lestrange, Lowman, McNair, Locke. He then reached for Marla's arm and pressed his thumb hard against the skull. All seven other Death Eaters winced in pain. Satisfied, he handed his empty glass to Marla, and refilled it with a flick of his wand. "Thank you," he said to her, and then moved back over to the fireplace. "If you feel it burn, you Apparate to me directly," he said addressing the room. "Crabbe, what happened with the Minister?"
Crabbe made to speak, but Marla cut in. "We have him, my Lord" she said, pleased at the glint in his eye her words had triggered, "He's locked in the cellar under my Imperious Curse."
"Excellent," Voldemort said, eyes sparkling, "How did you capture him?"
Marla smiled, glancing at Crabbe, and explained. "It was quite simple, my Lord. I knew he was untouchable on Ministry business so I targeted him at home. Of course the Minister for Magic would have wards up around his house so he'd have to leave to Apparate. It's why I never put up wards around my flat- much simpler to Apparate straight out. I learnt he left his house every morning and walked to a small wooded area his garden backed into. He Apparated to work from the same spot every morning. There are usually guards with him when he's Apparating to work, but today's Sunday and I knew he wouldn't be going to the Ministry. I Confounded him as he left his home then performed the Curse when he had wandered further into the woods. Then I brought him straight here."
Voldemort grinned. Marla saw her old Tom Riddle in his face and her heart warmed. "I knew I had to have you as my Death Eater," he said quietly to her, ignoring the rest of the room who watched uncomfortably. "I knew it was you I was missing. Voltaire the Treasure Hunter. Brilliant and loyal to her master." He smiled at her and his eyes flashed. "You will be handsomely rewarded." Marla's breath became shallow as she smiled back at her master. "Lowman," Voldemort barked still looking at her, "Voltaire will take her Curse off MacMillan, then he's yours to control. Send him home with an excuse for his disappearance and watch over him at work. Ensure he does as I say and no suspicions are roused." Marla's face dropped.
"But, my Lord," she said quickly, "Don't you think I should keep my Curse on the Minister, seeing as-"
"Lowman can handle it," Voldemort replied.
Marla caught Abraxas's eye but he looked wholly unsympathetic. She sat down, utterly put out. Voldemort moved to the middle of the room and addressed his Death Eaters.
"Anything else?" Voldemort asked, looking around. There was silence. "Of course not," he sighed. "Locke, Crabbe- I won't waste my time giving you an assignment in the future as you will clearly unload the burden on another of my subjects." The two Death Eaters looked pointedly at the floor. "You both will go back to work tomorrow with Lowman who will be keeping an eye on you. A word of advice- it's never wise to seem so dispensable- not around me."
He considered them for a moment with disgust etched onto his face. Marla felt a rush of warmth for her master, and smirked as he continued.
"With MacMillan finally under our control," he said, "we will have complete control over the Ministry- but things are going to be run as usual for now." His followers looked up at him confused. Wasn't this now an opportunity to come out in the open? "Before we make any rash moves, we have to prepare." Voldemort said, looking pointedly at Abraxas, "We're on the brink of a war with those who cheapen our gift. With a few select tools, we can free magic once and for all. We need the seven wizards of Blake," he glanced at Abraxas who nodded back, "and several other wizards and witches of great power. At this moment, many of our prospective allies are imprisoned. You will break them out- Azkaban first." Marla was taken aback at this revelation and glanced at Abraxas who didn't react. He already knew, she thought and cursed herself for not being told the same information earlier- it seemed she was not yet as close to the Dark Lord as Abraxas was and this pained her. "I will not be there," Voldemort continued. "I am venturing to Lithuania. The Quedlingburg prison hosts an ally I shall retrieve personally. Lestrange and Avery will assist me." They nodded blankly. "Failure to collect your charges from Azkaban will result in my extreme displeasure." He glared at Macnair at these words then motioned for everyone to leave. As an afterthought, he added "Ah, and in my absence, you will answer to Voltaire." The Death Eaters stopped in their tracks, mouthing wordlessly at him, clearly appalled. Marla glanced at Abraxas who was looking pointedly away. "Stay behind a while, Malfoy," Voldemort said quietly as the others filed into the hallway.
As they were leaving, Marla lip curled as she noticed Abraxas whispering darkly, Voldemort's brow furrowing as he listened. She made her way up the stairs to her bedchamber with Abraxas in mind, fuming.
You know the drill, readers- reviews make this author happy! So we've got the first big meeting the Lord Voldemort scene- sound evil and cunning enough for you all? Reviews on the tone of the narrative, characterisation and plot would be greatly appreciated- or just drop a line to say hi:)