Chapter Text
The first time you read one
You had been walking through the halls
To find and spy an excited gaggle
Gathered around and whispering
On just how hard it had been for
Them to sneak this into the shipments.
Those composed there heard you step,
One shooting upright with a salute
While another swore and asked
Just what was up only to look right
And see you standing there
Spine erect, face grim and firm.
He blanched at the sight seen
And lost the words in his throat
And all his years of training too
Until you reminded him of them.
Each head there rose one by one,
Hands folded behind their back neatly,
And you did not even interrogate them
But instead demanded outright and bald
For whatever contraband they’d snuck in
To be handed over to you now
Before more serious measures be taken.
One made a comment, an argument,
Saying there was none to be found
And that he was quite confused as to why
You’d even think to ask them of that.
You asked him if he thought you stupid,
To which he answered “No, sir”, smartly,
To which you said you thought him stupid. Very.
A smart one meanwhile pushed out her hands
To reveal a book with a silly title
And an even sillier cover,
A truly stupid prize to sneak through customs.
You frowned and thought to yourself
How a kinder officer would let it slide,
But you were the image of the Second House
And with it the image of the Cohort,
There could be no quarter given,
So you snatched the book from those hands
Barely giving it or her a glance.
Then you ordered them off on a run
With a note that you’d be going up
And informing their superiors in due time.
Later that night, such as they’re counted
Up in the dead expanse of the stars,
You looked down at the book
Which sat with a stack of flimsies on your desk
Ready to be sent off and be disposed of.
It wasn’t the first romance you’d seen
Of this very specific subject matter,
But it was the first you’d held admittedly.
You looked over its cover again
With its handsome, strapping cavalier
Whose coat was not to code, collar open,
And in whose arms lay a shrinking adept,
Eyes closed serenely, lips lightly parted.
You sneered at the thing and thought
Of how it and the flimises would be off soon,
Heading further down the bureaucratic chain.
But instead of grabbing them each and all
To be carried off and away as needed,
You picked up the book with a scoff
And you opened it to a random page
To give it a slight read before it burned.
The dialogue was atrocious, first off,
And the narration lingered too long,
Being overly fond of outfits and lamps and more.
It was a horrible book in truth,
But you turned to its first page feeling bored
And set to reading it right through that night.
There hadn’t been a new book in weeks,
And you were just growing so tired
Of the stack of ones already read.
This is what you told yourself that night
As you read through the whole tome
Until eventually you were through it all
And its whole sordid tale
Of a cavalier and their necromancer.
It was the first you’d read.