VIOLENT DELIGHTS¹ ━━ John Murphy

𝖛𝖎𝖎𝖎. Struggle for Power

     "Glass!" Roan says again, more forcefully this time. Finally she looks at him. "Killing her will get us nowhere."

     "Won't it?" Glass snaps. "I'll be Heda, finally... fuck, I should've become her second while I had the chance. I should have never left in the first place. Then we wouldn't be in this mess right now, then I'd have at least some power — !"

     Anger scorches her veins as she moves around her old quarters like a caged animal. She hasn't been here since she was a noviciate. . . oh, how stupid she'd been back then. A weak, petulant little girl, nothing more than a half-god draping herself in fineries and riches. And, even though many moons have passed since then — since Trikru, since Skaikru, since everything — it feels like nothing at all has changed. Everything is static. Stagnant.

     "To take the Flame stained with the blood of the former Commander will curse your reign," says Roan. "Better you wait for a conclave. For honour."

      "Then what are we supposed to do?" She demands. "Nothing? Mother marches an army, Roan. She won't wait for power."

     "Neither will we," he says. "There are ways to get it, even now. We only play a different game, that's all. Our power lies in the shadows."

     "Politics, you mean?" Glass snorts. "I'd rather stab my own eyes out."

"I'd rather you didn't," he says and she rolls her eyes. "Conquering kingdoms is more than war. There's a certain subtlety you'll need to master if you hope to ever truly rule. You must become the puppet master and dangle the ambassadors alone on threads as Lexa has, little wolf."

"And how am I going to do that?" She asks, half mockingly. He sounds like an idiot.

He grins. "Keep your heart dark and true, your teeth sharp and many."

Whatever that means. Glass is about to demand an explanation about what the fuck he's going on about, but the door to her quarters creaks open and Fleimkepa Titus steps inside. He looks even more displeased to be there than Glass.

"Glass kom Azgedakru," he says in stiff formalities. "Heda requires your presence in the throne room."

"Why?" She asks sharply.

"She needs a new Azgedakru ambassador."

Um, what? There was literally an Azgedakru ambassador in the throne room just hours ago, Glass had seen him before she and Roan got locked away in her old quarters. She looks at Fleimkepa Titus incredulously — maybe his old age has finally addled his brain — but Roan gives her a stern look and his previous words echo in her head.

"Fine." Glass sheathes Heartseeker.

The walk to the throne room is quick. Fleimkepa Titus doesn't so much as look at her, which is fine by her.

     When she gets there, Lexa is absent. But there is the same Azgedakru ambassador. Her brow furrows and she finally glances at Titus, but he still doesn't look at her. Unbothered, he just strides to his spot behind the right side of the throne and leaves Glass to stand with the other ambassadors in confusion.

     Finally, footsteps echo in the corridor and then Lexa sweeps in.

     "Ortum gon tuus Heda," Fleimkepa Titus commands.