The Rebel Assassin

Chapter 9: A Fresh Start

Liz dragged Nemia to the meeting. No scooping required, though Nemia wasn't happy to be going. She had survived meeting two of Morie's friends, but no matter how many good experiences she had, she was wary of meeting the others. She was relieved to find that everyone was far too focused on Therese to even notice when they entered the underground meeting room.

"The Verivains are the leading noble family of the Cycla political party," Liz explained as they took their seats. "She's in the process of arranging an alliance with Ysmay."

"An alliance between noble and rebels?" Nemia said, disbelievingly. "That's impossible."

Liz shrugged. "It may be, but Therese is on our side, and her mother, the Cycla leader, has agreed to hear us out if she can work out a treaty to her liking. It's not as far-fetched as you think. The Cycla have had their political power repressed under King Aeric for years, they have good reason to want him gone. The Cycla also traditionally have a lot of respect for the Guardians, so having you and Morane on our side also helps us."

Nemia considered this, and looked at Therese, sitting at the other end of the table. She was perhaps somewhat older than Nemia, with a confident build and way of holding herself, but the obvious nobility of her stature was somewhat disguised by her common clothes. Right now, her mouth was pressed into a grim line, her hair pulled back and sleeves rolled up as if there was dirty business to be done.

Ysmay swept in, cutting through the chatter of Evvie, Lucien, and Kay catching up with the new arrival, and took her seat. "Glad to see you've arrived in one piece, Verivain."

"It was a close thing," she responded. "You may as well know. My mother is no longer willing to consider this deal."

"But—" Evvie cut in only briefly before being silence by Ysmay's upheld hand.

Her narrowed eyes held Therese's. "This is a sudden change from her feelings the last time you talked with us."

"There have also been sudden changes in the castle."

Nemia understood all at once, with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"My mother no longer feels it necessary to take the risk of backing a revolution. She thinks the princess may take care of the king herself."

Evvie shook her head in dismay. "The princess cannot have gained that much power."

"Who knows what the princess has gained? She calls all manner of people to her rooms to make promises to them, to ask favors. Already some lesser nobles look to her before they voice an opinion in the advisors' meetings. She has made it clear that when her time comes she will be a firm ruler. Lords and ladies who were scheming to figure out who the king would pick for her husband so they could establish influence over him are suddenly finding that they made the wrong bet."

"Your mother thinks the princess may seize the throne faster than we could, then," Evvie said.

Therese shrugged. "I believe that is her calculation."

"You believe?" Ysmay hissed.

"She has been cutting me out." If Therese had been grim before, she now sounded almost distraught. "She knows I support your cause, so she won't trust me to be part of Cycla business again until she is sure I've given you up. This is the last time I can come down to Maenar. From now on, all our communication must be completely secret so I can regain her trust."

Ysmay bowed her head. "We'll manage."

There was a moment before Lucien asked, "So exactly how screwed are we?"

Kay said "Very" at the same moment Evvie said "Depends on Morane."

"God help us," Ysmay said, "if this entire revolution depends on Morane."

That brought a moment of ease to the meeting as they grinned.

"If Morane and the others can bring us back an alliance with Emorial, we will not need the Cycla," Ysmay said. "But we won't know for weeks, maybe months."

"With Morane's impatience, I think we can hope for months," Liz said. Turning to wink at Nemia, she caught her expression and raised an eyebrow. "Well, go on."

The others turned to her expectantly. Nemia froze.

Liz elbowed her. "You want to say something, I can tell. Say it."

Nemia swallowed. "Um. I was just, uh, wondering... why your mother thinks it would be better for the Cycla if Magali is on the throne?"

Therese shot her a bewildered glance. "Because King Aeric hates the Cycla."

"Yes, but..." She licked her lips nervously. "Right, but, why would she think that Magali would be nicer to the Cycla?" She winced at how childish she sounded, as if politics was merely a matter of who was nice to each other.

"Well—" Therese seemed to struggle to put it into words. "Well, Aeric represses the Cycla because the Inigrit basically control him. They don't control Magali."

Everyone seemed satisfied with this answer, and as a group seemed to shift back towards Ysmay to find out what to do next.

Nemia cleared her throat. "Sorry, but I don't think that's true." She'd forgotten to soften her words, and in her rush to correct Therese it came out far more confrontational than she meant them to. Liz looked at her in a way that was almost impressed, while Therese only looked very surprised.

"What?"

"Um." They were all looking at her with more focus now, surprised the way Therese was. Great. "When I left the castle, Magali was taking a lot of advice from Irina Laycreek." Could Therese not know that?

Apparently she had not. Her mouth opened slightly.

"Laycreek, as in the most evil, Inigrit-y noble family in the capital?" Kay asked.

Sometimes it was very obvious that he and Morie were related. "They haven't been the most powerful ones in years, but they're desperate to regain their standing." If she'd learned anything from Irina, it was that she'd do anything to regain her family's status.

"If she has a grip on the princess, she won't be letting us have a share," Therese said. "Dammit. We've all seen them spending time together, but no one thought it meant that much."

"This is bad news?" Nemia asked, looking around the table. She'd thought she was cheering them up.

Kay gave her a bewildered look. "Of course it is. The Inigrit hate us."

"Right, but, um, doesn't this mean Therese's mother does have a reason to ally with you? Because Magali will be as bad as her father if she takes the throne?"

Ysmay and Therese looked at each other in sudden understanding, Ysmay's fingers drumming fast on the tabletop in anticipation. "She may be right."

Liz slung an arm around Nemia's shoulders. "You know, for someone who completely lets go of logic when you're upset, you might be the most clear-sighted person in the room."

"In that case," Nemia said, having lost all nervousness about speaking after seeing a roomful of rebel leaders almost miss the obvious, "You're probably doomed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they exited the tunnels, Liz grabbed Evvie's hand. "You have time for dinner with me and Nemia?"

"Sure," Evvie said, pulling her fiancé close. "I'm starving."

"Me too," Therese added, joining them. "Room for me?"

"Of course. Nemia, coming?"

But Nemia shook her head. "No time. I'm on the verge of a break through. I think I've figured a couple of the dreams out."

"That's great!" Evvie said brightly. "You've been working so hard."

Liz pulled her hand, tugging them in the opposite direction. "In that case, forget dinner. I want to see what these fortune-telling dreams have to say. Back to Nemia's place!"

Evvie and Therese protested loudly but without force as they all hurried toward the inn.