48. Exchange / Bob the Skull
Title: Passing Judgment
Fandom: The Dresden Files
Characters: Bob, the High Council
Prompt: 48. Exchange
Word Count: 828
Rating: G
Summary: What to do about Bob?
Disclaimer: The Dresden Files is not mine. Just passing through.
Notes: Tv-verse
Table: Here There be Ghosts.
Out of sight, out of mind; wasn't that how the saying went? He might be a damned soul ensnared within his own desiccated skull, but he could still Listen. Once a sorcerer, always a sorcerer, after all. Perhaps they'd forgotten that he didn't need to manifest in order to understand what they were saying. More than likely, they didn’t particularly care whether he did or not.
"It should be destroyed," came the cold, harsh voice of Ancient Mai, whose answer to just about every problem was its obliteration. "It should have been destroyed centuries ago!"
There were murmurs of assent from those sycophants of the High Council who stayed safely in the middle by agreeing to everything Mai proposed.
It! Bob bristled in his skull, affronted. As if he were an inert doorstop and not a conscious intelligence.
"Under other circumstances, I would agree," replied the humorless Morgan. "But the Skull is too valuable a resource. And the Law is clear."
"Laws can be changed," came the voice of another Council member. "It's too dangerous an artifact in and of itself, much less in the hands of a wizard with questionable loyalties!"
"Harris is right. What if we're wrong and Dresden goes completely Black?" demanded another. "There's no telling what disaster he could cause with such knowledge at his beck and call!"
Disaster?! It was all Bob could do to keep himself from manifesting right then and there in Harry's defense. With great effort, he reined himself in - barely. Now was not the time for an outburst. Not when so much hung in the balance.
"Nevertheless," said Morgan, the Warden's deep baritone rumbling over the raised voices like quiet thunder, silencing them. "The Law is clear. Dresden is Morningway's heir."
"Morningway's murderer, you mean!" exclaimed Harris.
"The finding was self defense."
"You don't believe that any more than I do. You mark my words, Morgan! Dresden killed with black magic once, and he'll do it again. Next time it might be one of us!"
"All the more reason to give Dresden the skull," purred a new voice, silken in cultured tones.
Bob mentally frowned. Who was that? Tein? Frodrick? No, far worse! Apollonius! Why that sniveling, craven little--!
"Explain," snapped Mai.
"Why not let Dresden keep the Skull but make it work for us?" reasoned Apollonius. "Our tool, not his. It can be the Council's eyes and ears, privy to everything Dresden says and does from inside his very own wards. A Trojan Horse, if you will."
"NEVER!"
With an angry swirl of red and black, Bob flashed out of his skull and manifested before the dreaded High Council. He appeared directly in front of Apollonius, his spectral fingers clenched into fists itching to wipe the smile from the corpulent councilman's face. "That's exactly the sort of underhanded thing I'd expect from you, Apollonius."
Bob turned his back on the lesser wizard, his blue eyes bright with the intensity of his emotion. "This Council may have the power to curse my soul to an eternity of living hell, but it can not make me betray Harry!"
"There! You see?" exclaimed Apollonius, jabbing a finger at the ghost. "Proof that Dresden is a dark wizard! Why else would the notorious Hrothbert of Bainbridge be so quick to defend him?"
"Respect? Loyalty?" Bob shot back. Love? How many here would understand or even believe him capable of such a thing after so many centuries when he barely believe it himself? "I've been with Harry almost every day since he was a boy. I know the sort of person he is - and the sort that he is not." Hands still clenched into fists held stiffly at his sides, he drew himself up ramrod straight, unwilling to bend. "Lock me away if you will; destroy me if you must; but I will not be your spy. Not in this. Not against Harry."
"Destroy him then," snarled Apollonius. "The decision seems clear enough." He nodded toward the silver sword in Morgan's hands. "Smash the Skull to bits and lets have an end to this."
Morgan regarded the councilman with cool, dark eyes. "It is not the Law," he said evenly. "Harry Dresden is Justin Morningway's heir." He stretched out an arm and pointed past the ghost to the Skull on the table. "And that, by legal right, is his property. Not the Council's. Dresden's. The Artifact will be entrusted to him until and unless such time as he proves he is unworthy of it."
"NO!" shouted Apollonius.
But Morgan had already turned away, dismissing him.
As voices were once more raised in a loud cacophony of conflicting protest and assent over the Artifact's fate, Morgan briefly met the damned sorcerer's gaze. There was an oh-so-fleeting moment of mutual understanding between them before Hrothbert of Bainbridge vanished back into his Skull. And if it happened that the ghost uttered (and the Warden heard) a grudging thank you, neither would ever speak of it.
Fandom: The Dresden Files
Characters: Bob, the High Council
Prompt: 48. Exchange
Word Count: 828
Rating: G
Summary: What to do about Bob?
Disclaimer: The Dresden Files is not mine. Just passing through.
Notes: Tv-verse
Table: Here There be Ghosts.
Out of sight, out of mind; wasn't that how the saying went? He might be a damned soul ensnared within his own desiccated skull, but he could still Listen. Once a sorcerer, always a sorcerer, after all. Perhaps they'd forgotten that he didn't need to manifest in order to understand what they were saying. More than likely, they didn’t particularly care whether he did or not.
"It should be destroyed," came the cold, harsh voice of Ancient Mai, whose answer to just about every problem was its obliteration. "It should have been destroyed centuries ago!"
There were murmurs of assent from those sycophants of the High Council who stayed safely in the middle by agreeing to everything Mai proposed.
It! Bob bristled in his skull, affronted. As if he were an inert doorstop and not a conscious intelligence.
"Under other circumstances, I would agree," replied the humorless Morgan. "But the Skull is too valuable a resource. And the Law is clear."
"Laws can be changed," came the voice of another Council member. "It's too dangerous an artifact in and of itself, much less in the hands of a wizard with questionable loyalties!"
"Harris is right. What if we're wrong and Dresden goes completely Black?" demanded another. "There's no telling what disaster he could cause with such knowledge at his beck and call!"
Disaster?! It was all Bob could do to keep himself from manifesting right then and there in Harry's defense. With great effort, he reined himself in - barely. Now was not the time for an outburst. Not when so much hung in the balance.
"Nevertheless," said Morgan, the Warden's deep baritone rumbling over the raised voices like quiet thunder, silencing them. "The Law is clear. Dresden is Morningway's heir."
"Morningway's murderer, you mean!" exclaimed Harris.
"The finding was self defense."
"You don't believe that any more than I do. You mark my words, Morgan! Dresden killed with black magic once, and he'll do it again. Next time it might be one of us!"
"All the more reason to give Dresden the skull," purred a new voice, silken in cultured tones.
Bob mentally frowned. Who was that? Tein? Frodrick? No, far worse! Apollonius! Why that sniveling, craven little--!
"Explain," snapped Mai.
"Why not let Dresden keep the Skull but make it work for us?" reasoned Apollonius. "Our tool, not his. It can be the Council's eyes and ears, privy to everything Dresden says and does from inside his very own wards. A Trojan Horse, if you will."
"NEVER!"
With an angry swirl of red and black, Bob flashed out of his skull and manifested before the dreaded High Council. He appeared directly in front of Apollonius, his spectral fingers clenched into fists itching to wipe the smile from the corpulent councilman's face. "That's exactly the sort of underhanded thing I'd expect from you, Apollonius."
Bob turned his back on the lesser wizard, his blue eyes bright with the intensity of his emotion. "This Council may have the power to curse my soul to an eternity of living hell, but it can not make me betray Harry!"
"There! You see?" exclaimed Apollonius, jabbing a finger at the ghost. "Proof that Dresden is a dark wizard! Why else would the notorious Hrothbert of Bainbridge be so quick to defend him?"
"Respect? Loyalty?" Bob shot back. Love? How many here would understand or even believe him capable of such a thing after so many centuries when he barely believe it himself? "I've been with Harry almost every day since he was a boy. I know the sort of person he is - and the sort that he is not." Hands still clenched into fists held stiffly at his sides, he drew himself up ramrod straight, unwilling to bend. "Lock me away if you will; destroy me if you must; but I will not be your spy. Not in this. Not against Harry."
"Destroy him then," snarled Apollonius. "The decision seems clear enough." He nodded toward the silver sword in Morgan's hands. "Smash the Skull to bits and lets have an end to this."
Morgan regarded the councilman with cool, dark eyes. "It is not the Law," he said evenly. "Harry Dresden is Justin Morningway's heir." He stretched out an arm and pointed past the ghost to the Skull on the table. "And that, by legal right, is his property. Not the Council's. Dresden's. The Artifact will be entrusted to him until and unless such time as he proves he is unworthy of it."
"NO!" shouted Apollonius.
But Morgan had already turned away, dismissing him.
As voices were once more raised in a loud cacophony of conflicting protest and assent over the Artifact's fate, Morgan briefly met the damned sorcerer's gaze. There was an oh-so-fleeting moment of mutual understanding between them before Hrothbert of Bainbridge vanished back into his Skull. And if it happened that the ghost uttered (and the Warden heard) a grudging thank you, neither would ever speak of it.