The Visitor in Black

Edward once again stood before the office of the French Minister. Prideaux's resignation didn't come as a surprise. That anticipation however didn't stop Edward's headache."I-hate-politics." he thought to himself. He dropped the invisibility spell him and knocked on the door. "This is a waste of time, there's no way a man like Demarchelier would ever, use the services of a Reaper. But it is my duty...try not to screw up this time Edward." He silently reflected on the last two times he introduced himself the ministers. One found out his identity, and the other had a wand pointed at him for the entire meeting.

Etienne looked up from his letters upon hearing a knock at the door. The atmosphere at the Ministry was pretty casual now, so it wasn't unusual for visitors to come in and out. A quick search at the entrance was all that was required for an audience with the Minister, provided he was in and not busy, and at the moment, he wasn't. There was, therefore, nothing to alarm him or suggest anything was put of place.

He set his quill down and finished sealing his letter, which was addressed to Minister Liara Lightle. Stowing it away in his desk, he readjusted his tie and called out, "The door is unlocked, come in." It was more likely than not his personal assistant, who'd gone out a few minutes earlier for tea.

"well, I wasn't expecting it to be this easy. Hopeful;ly it will go smoothly." THe Reaper opened the door. "Hello minsiter.I apologize for the intrution and wish to assure you that I am not here to do harm, only talk." The Reaper kept his voice professional but he was aware that the minister might be on edge.

"It's costumary for the Black Reaper to apporoach new heads of state. Few others have the nessesity or the rescources to make use of me. Edward let a little pride slip throught but more or less kept the smae tone.

Etienne arched an eyebrow at the unexpected visitor. He'd have had to be deaf dumb and blind not to know who stood before him.

"I can't deny that I'm pleased you're not here on...an assignment," Etienne replied, for lack of anything else to say. He'd certainly suspected the Reaper might make visits to heads of state, but having been in office three months, he'd assumed the rumours were false. Apparently not. All told, he was remarkably calm on this occasion -- more cool and collected than even he would have expected.

"Fortunately....or unfortunately for you, perhaps, I can't say I have any great need of an assassin at the moment. I'm sure you've heard we're doing things a bit differently here in France." Etienne too had a little moment of pride in that statement -- though he might be in the presence of an ancient line, he had nothing to hang his head in sham about.

"In most cases, heads of state are of limits for hired killings." A rule that was incepted at the founding of his order, to prevent the Reapers from gaining power.

"To the subjuct of buisness however, I'm not just an assassin, information revtrival and even protection are viable as well. So long as the objective is clear and in the case of protection, it does last longer then 3 months. And if your needs evolved to the point your you do need me-" he reached in his cloak and withdrew a black quill "-simply write me in your blood with that quill. Just pricking you finger should be enough. Now unless you have any questions I'll be leaving. Oh, and one last requirement, I do not kill without reason, you must provide one if you wish a death."

Etienne accepted the quill, nodding solemnly. Who was he to question it? The Black Reaper had been around long before he had, and would be around long after he'd died. All he could do was try to stay out of his way and off of his bad side. He had no intention of being the next Minister shot.

"Seems straightforward enough. I imagine that would probably be a rather short note, then," he replied, attempting a small joke.

"Try telling that to Minister Royale. I swear he must have blood restoration potions in that office." A reply that went beyond the usual demeanor of the Reaper but Edward couldn't miss a chance to jab his uncle. Edward did hope that Demarchelier picked up on his hint, however.

"It's been nice being able to meet with you Minister. It may surprise but I hope that France doesn't need to mkae use of me, there's been too much death in the world already." Edward gave his farewell in a subtlely different tone, it still sounded polite but there was sincerity and even a touch of sarrow in his voice.

Etienne could not believe he was sitting in his office, trading jokes with The Black Reaper. Of all the surreal moments in my life... he thought to himself, shaking his head slightly. The veiled warning did not go over his head though -- Adrian Royale clearly had him working more than he'd prefer. There was enough of a distance between the two countries that he wasn't worried an undue amount, but it was something to keep in mind. Royal was not to be trusted.

"Thank you," Etienne replied, truly appreciative of the warning. All in all, this meeting could have gone a lot worse. "I'm inclined to agree with you, sir. Enjoy the rest of your evening." An assassin lamenting the recent outpouring of death -- nothing would amaze Etienne ever again after this.