June 11th 2013, 11:45 AM
Prudence wore a conservative, ankle-length green dress; green as the contents of the vials sewn into the inside lining of its sleeves.
“I am very unhappy,” she explained to Julius’s remote body. “And so I came here to discuss my grievances with you.”
“My father is dead, and my sister tried to kill your daughter,” he said. “You have perfectly good reasons to be unhappy.”
“Mmm. Yes.”
She brought her hand to her temple, slowly lowered it to the teacup she had brought.
“Your father and I had an Arrangement, which I had hoped would continue after his death,” she said. She sipped tea. She would have offered some to him had he been there in person.
“Your father was so generous as to trust me with access to your blood samples,” she continued. “Hence you have an interest in continuing our Arrangement.”
“That sounds like a threat,” he said, leaning forwards.
“Good. I intended it to. If my heartbeat stops for twenty-four hours or I break the vial, a disease targeting your peanut allergy will kill you and about point-four percent of the population of Novapest.” She sipped her tea again. “I may not be as powerful as I used to be, but I am not that weak yet.”
“There’s no need for you to threaten me,” said Steelmind. “I had hoped to maintain cordial relations with you. Your oath of fealty will -”
She coughed.
“Carrera and Carver and Rivera may have had an oath of fealty to your father. I had an Arrangement with your father. And part of the Arrangement was that where my own interests were concerned, he owed me honesty.”
“Have I acted dishonestly towards you?” he said, showing no expression but a polite curiosity.
“Yes, I think attempting to murder my daughter counts.”
“Pardon?”
“Please stop assuming that everyone else is an idiot, Julius. A few years with your father should have disabused you of that notion.” She tapped her finger warningly on the arm of her chair. “Mercy had no reason to have her meeting with Junia at your war council last night. The claim that you wanted her to try to persuade me to join your faction is absurd. I do not take women younger than twenty into my confidence, certainly not clones of myself!”
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She glared at him over her tea. “She had no reason to be there except to be endangered - or killed - by Bloody Lizzy Balog, should she choose to attack that night. Thus directing a mother’s revenge towards her, as it is now directed against you.”
He was silent, and she shook her head. “I presume this was a backup plan, in case your ambush against her failed? Was your spy not entirely trustworthy?”
That shocked him. “How did you know?”
“Know what? The ambush you prepared? You’ve been announcing that you won for… oh, hours. A spy seemed the most logical method for timing Mercy’s arrival and the ambush’s success.” She sighed.
“Julius, child, you have my pity. I do not think you want it - I myself despise being pitied - but you have it. You’re trying very hard to be your father, but you simply do not have the talent to play the game as he did. I would advise you to stop such clever little schemes. Your father could get away with that. You cannot.”
“... I am coming to understand that, yes.” He gave her a cold look. “I assure you I will not be so foolish as to risk making an enemy of you again. Was there anything else?”
“Well, Junia is alive and wants to talk to you,” said Prudence with a cold smile. “But no, aside from that, nothing else. I can find my own way out.”
She looked back over her shoulder. “Oh, there is one more thing. I intend to ask Catherine to move to my district tomorrow, for her own safety. If anything happens to her before then, I will assume it was your decision.”
“You asshole!”
“Hello, Junia,” said Steelmind.
She hit him - a nice right hook to the jaw. Unfortunately for her (now bruised) hand, he was still in his remote body.
“I deserved that,” he said, making a point of rubbing his cheek.
“You tried to kill me. And you didn’t even tell me about it!”
He sighed. “I didn’t try to kill you, I -” He paused. “Prudence told you?”
“I would’ve figured it out even if she hadn’t. I’m not an idiot, as you seem to have forgotten.”
“I forgot nothing,” Steelmind said. “I know you aren’t an idiot. But neither is Bloody Lizzy.”
“You used me as bait.”
“I used everyone as bait,” he said. “You and Proteus and Steelstorm who was my godfather and Mercy Cartwright, whom I had no right to risk. I had to lure her out with sufficiently tempting bait so that she’d be vulnerable for my counterattack.” He tried to steeple his fingers. She grabbed his wrist.
“No, none of that archvillain bullshit.”
“What was I supposed to do?” he asked, his voice kept calm by main force. “I couldn’t tell you to stay home. You would’ve quarreled and refused and tried to get someone else out of it, and if there wasn’t a meeting spot for her to strike at, she never would have overextended herself. It’s as true in life as it is in chess: you can’t win if you don’t sacrifice pa- people.”
“Oh, I know what’s true in life. I was trained by the second-best general on this island. Remember?”
“You would’ve -”
“I would’ve discussed your plan with you. Because I’m supposed to be your right hand. Screw the relationship stuff, I’m your captain. And yes, I would’ve objected! You’re getting all your most loyal people killed. But if you’d insisted, I would have listened.”
“You are my captain, and I am now king,” said Steelmind. “And I have no more need to make sacrifices.”
“You don’t trust me,” she said.
He chose his words carefully. “I trust you to be yourself.”
“Right, well, fuck you.”
She ripped her uniform badge off and slammed it on the table. “I quit, we’re through, and the horse you rode in on.”
He stood very still as she stormed out, and for quite some time after.
“If such be the price,” he said.