III.

At first Louise had questioned the strangely dated and arcane method Ali had adopted of inviting her back to his residence, via the letter, until she remembered she had never actually given the other mage her phone number. She mused on it only momentarily though as the method of conveyance was of little consequence. What did matter was that via the letter Ali had implied a sense of importance and almost urgency in regards to what he wished to share with Louise, and had asked her to come to his apartments as soon as she was able. Louise was thankful then that the Juge, and by extension Camille, had not requested her presence until the following evening, an overlap of obligations being far more trouble than she presently felt capable of dealing with.

Louise and Rider had set out almost immediately after the letter had arrived, the former on her scooter and the latter following swiftly behind in spirit form. -"Before we get to Ali's, do you mind if we make a stop and have a talk?"- Louise pulsed the mental message to Rider, still unsure how much tone she was able to convey by such a means of communication, but hopeful she had properly communicated a feeling of serious reflection.

-"By all means, Master. I am as always at your disposal."- Rider responded, his own message conveying no sense of disquiet or concern.

Louise had considered stopping at The Bistro de la Rue Bobillot, but decided that Master Biscarros' particular brand of familiar bearing would be at odds with the more serious personal discussion she desired to have with Rider. She eventually settled on the first small cafe that came into view while she was driving. She had made the decision admittedly a little late and had to stop short in order to not pass the location up. The wet streets and the sudden halt caused her scooter to nearly slide out from under her, but the confident young mage was able to keep from losing control of the vehicle and parked naturally enough in front of the modest, quiet, and most importantly, nearly empty establishment.

As she approached the entrance, Louise noticed a young man who, judging by his plain white button-down shirt and black apron, was an employee at the cafe. He was reclining against the side of the building, the cigarette in his mouth, the barely touched lunch at his feet, and the clouded look in his eyes that were lost in thought as they stared skyward making it apparent he was on a break. His entire posture and appearance made it clear that this short moment of quiet respite was a small thing that helped him to make it through the otherwise crushing monotony of his workday. Louise felt a strange sense of envy for the young man and the somewhat more pedestrian nature of his struggles. Rider materialized in his casual clothing before they entered and the duo found a relatively hidden booth at the back of the small restaurant. Louise ordered some coffee and light lunch fare, doing so quickly so she could send the waiter away and be alone with Rider sooner.

"Pardon my asking, Master, but you seem in an odd humor. I take it that something is bothering you." Rider's words had a forced sort of flippancy, as if he was trying to ignore something that he himself was bothered by and, though he clearly needed to discuss it, was hesitant to do so.

"I'd ask if it was that obvious," Louise started, a pained smile on her face, "but considering everything that happened last night and the fact that I specifically asked you to stop and talk, I feel there is little need."

"As regards last night, Master..." Rider started, but for once words seemed to fail the usually unflappable musketeer, and his sentence trailed off into nothing. He was not yet prepared to defend his actions as they pertained to Rosa. There was already ample proof Louise had made the right decision, but he didn't know that he wanted to admit that openly yet, especially considering the means Louise had employed to pursue her chosen course.

"I know why you didn't want to listen to me, why you have been hesitant to follow my instructions so many times." Louise still had that same smile on her face that, when combined with the sadness in her one eye, just made her countenance all the more pitiable.

"No, Master. You showed I had judged her wrong. I thought her dangerous and I-"

"I am not Louis XIV, I know. And I know you served him faithfully in life. I suppose I just thought..." Louise turned her head slightly away from Rider as her words trailed away, the angle presenting only the leather patch to the Servant, his Master's eye completely hidden from his view. "But then your words when you saw Berserker's face..."

There was an artificial extension of the pause between words as the waiter returned with the coffee and food, the tension hanging over all at the table like a suspended blade. Though he was only at the table momentarily to deliver the ordered items, it seemed to be an eternity of things unspoken between the Master and Servant.

"Master..." Rider let his own words trail off. "I once... left my King's service."

Louise made a small laugh, more a stifled intake of breath than anything else.

"When I left he told me how I was leaving a good master." Nostalgia and regret swam in Rider's eyes in equal measures as he continued. "I told him I had no doubt of that and he asked me... where I might find another like him."

Louise's head turned only slightly, so that she might be able to just see Rider's features out of the corner of her eye, without allowing him the same courtesy.

"I told him then, that I would never serve another on this Earth, that I would have no master other than myself." Rider's features had grown hard as more memories of his time in Louis' service were dredged up to the surface of his recollection. "I swore it to him that day."

"Yet you answered my call." Louise, her voice nearly inaudible, but the pain in it clear, replied with directed scorn.

"I did, yes." Rider replied. Shame colored his voice and he looked down, fully bent under the weight of Louise's righteous contempt.

"You kept your word to him it seems." Louise said, turning her face to look back fully at Rider. "What would you have done last night, had I not employed the command seal? Had I only relied on the fact that I thought myself your Master, that you would trust my decisions and my will?"

Rider did not even pause before replying. "I would have killed Rosa where she stood."

The weighty silence returned again, though this time it seemed to be a burden that Louise could shoulder better than the cavalier for, though Louise was still sullen, only he physically sunk beneath the heft.

"So..." Louise said finally, nibbling on the end of a pastry without actually eating it. "What now? Will you break the oath you made to him? Or will you break the one you forged with me?"

"I answered the call when you summoned. Even if it had lacked any sort of vocal exchange between us, that alone seems to me to be proof that I was willing to forsake that old oath. And if I have already forsaken my own sacred vow once..." Rider straightened himself back up. "I cannot afford to do so again."

Louise did not smile at this reassurance, she only lightly brushed the single command seal she had remaining with her hand, the crescent moon shape the last sign of her status as a Master. "Truly, Rider?"

"Master, I cannot give back to you what I have already taken, the insult I paid you last night with my defiance is already carved into the tablet of our mutual history. All I can do now," Rider put his own hand on the magical marking inscribed on Louise's skin. "Is try to find any form of redemption I can with you."

Louise made hard eye contact with her Servant, her look was full of so many questions but only one that she truly cared to have answered.

"I will trust you, Master." Rider responded, his own gaze not wavering.

"I'm holding you to that, Rider." Louise responded and removed her hand from Rider's in order to use it to finally drink her coffee in earnest. "Now," she said after several sips, "About this situation with my sister."