Play The King: Act Two

CHAPTER XV: Alpha Male (Castiel)

So she's the one trying to sabotage my backup plan, huh? I was too busy with the impeachment battle that I forgot to check Fabienne's situation. Could anyone blame me? I could not fight on two fronts. History would teach us that that's a stupid idea.

"She's the campaign manager of Candace and AEGIS last year . . ." I muttered, my free hand caressing my chin. "If Alaric is using her to neutralize or limit Fabienne's influence, there's a huge possibility that they're conniving together. Birds of the same feather. She clearly has an axe to grind against us."

"Yen has been trying to find a way to support me without raising too much alarm on Priscilla's part." Priam let out a sigh. That's quite advantageous to us! Bakit parang sa kanya'y hindi magandang bagay 'yon? "I told her to not bother with it and just focus on their rehearsals. She can't be distracted right now."

Should I keep pushing the idea? No. Priam had already made it clear a couple of times that he did not want Fabienne involved. If I mentioned it again, he would only resist. Kahit ano ang sabihin, hindi ko na mababago ang isip niya. I would only annoy the hell out of him and make a fool out of me.

In the same light, no matter what Priam told her, Fabienne would be there to help him out. Siya na nga mismo ang nagbo-volunteer na tumulong. Alam kong hindi pride ang umiiral kay Priam kaya niya 'yon tinatanggihan. Ayaw talaga niyang dumagdag pa sa mga sakit sa ulo ni Fabienne. But just this once, could he just welcome the support with open arms? We would need every helping hand that we could get if we were to win this fight.

Anyway, enough talk. May importanteng meeting pa kami today.

"Time for me to stand by in the lobby," I told him after checking the time. Tumingin ako sa labas ng aquarium at napansing nakapuwesto na roon ang iba pang USC officers. "I have to welcome and escort our valued collaborators."

"Smile when you do."

Days before the second hearing, an important meeting was about to be held in our office. Sabrina printed ten copies of the agenda and placed them on the conference table. It was not the usual USC meetings. It was between us and the nine college chairpersons.

Since this meeting was all about the execution of a campus-wide event and not the passage of a motion, the USC president could summon the CSC leaders in our own turf instead of the LEXECOM office. This was our home court, and it was only proper to hold discussions here instead of elsewhere.

They were not the only ones invited though. Members of the campus media were also present, eager to cover today's meeting. Who knows? Sparks might fly. Nakaposisyon na rin sila sa lobby, naka-ready na ang mga phone at camera para kunan ang pagpasok ng mga bisita namin. Given the brewing conflict between us and the majority bloc, they must be curious how noth parties would conduct ourselves.

As the chief-of-staff, I positioned myself at the lobby where I waited for the arrival of the chairpersons. Priam was already in the conference room, being briefed by Sabrina for the nth time. Rowan was with the campus press, doing some fireside chats with the reporters.

"How many enemies have we made since inilabas natin ang audit?" Tabitha whispered as she walked past me. "Pretty sure that Alaric's pack of wolves didn't appreciate it."

"Two or three probably. Now they know that we aren't just a bunch of sheep they can easily slaughter," I whispered back, glancing sideways. "If they wanna blame someone for the unraveling, I suggest that they look in the mirror and blame themselves. They're the ones who started this fire. Now they'regonna complain that they're getting burnt?"

"Which is convenient for us because you would have started it instead if they didn't." Tabitha's words rang true. It was only a matter of time before I or the USC fired the first shot. Those audit reports were weapons in our arsenal that we could use to nuke any of the uncooperative CSCs. I initially planned to use them as leverage to weaken Alaric's tight grip over them.