ACT IV: CLOSING SCORE
CHAPTER ELEVEN: MOTHER
Piper likes ruling.
She likes the way her new title sounds rolling from the edge of her tongue-words perfect and punctuated. Piper also enjoys the decision making that comes with it, money issues aside-it had been dreadfully easy to fabricate accounts for the charity which were then redirected into a lesser known private account of her own-ruling Britain is enthralling-it is falling off a cliff and knowing that she will be saved once she reaches the bottom.
As the ground beneath her begins to solidify, forming a concrete path towards the throne and the palace-Piper's plans become bigger, adventurous, daring-or so the papers claim, a firmer Britain paving the way to a greater Britain. Piper is methodical, precise, and efficient enough to get new policies underway immediately, the most important one being the complete reshuffling of everyone working in the current cabinet.
There are few who understand the decision that Piper has made, they admit that they don't begrudge Piper for doing so, as she is far too left wing for political party members to willingly follow down this path of five years of 'democracy'. However, for every five people who set about to quietly gather their things and leave, there is one other who becomes a living nightmare. This creature, this bitter insignificant being will snarl at Piper, pure hate bubbling beneath the surface as their very livelihood is stripped away from them in the short time frame it takes to utter the two words, "You're fired."
The snarling ones put up a fight, indignant tones ringing loud in Piper's ears before it becomes muffled by the low rumbles of security ordering them out of building-the unwillingness to cause a scene the biggest driving force-which leaves Piper with twenty-one job roles to be filled for the cabinet.
Finn is smart enough now-finally having gotten the jist that yes, whilst he may have been useful in helping Piper get a leg-up in this vicious cycle, it is still her game to play-not to question Piper's actions, or point out that finding twenty-one educated, successful and credited department ministers to fill her cabinet, to provide Piper with counsel for many years to come is quite an outlandish thing to suggest in the short time frame that Piper insists she stick to-as Piper gets stuff done, and that's the only thing that matters.
So, on the following Monday morning-after a whole weekend of running things by Eric and Chase to ensure that everything is perfect for the week ahead-twenty-one decorated, educated, successful and credited department ministers gather in Piper's conference room-former employees of her fathers-ready get the job done.
"Fill your offices with people you trust," Piper advises, "people who can get the job done-who understand what's being asked of them." This is no longer child's play, these are the people her father would entertain at galas and other important events, people Piper know are ruthless in a way her inner circle hasn't quite yet achieved. The people-these tools-are how Piper will sit on her throne.
"We'll do whatever is necessary, Piper. For your father."
***
"As we begin our progression into a firmer Britain-a greater Britain, we must also remember whom our enemy is. Not only must we fear of those who have spent the last twenty-years worsening our living conditions, but also our friends-our allies, whom have been in full support of these movements and have been reckless and selfish in their actions. This is why I answer your calling-the wide-spread need of the nation-and respond to these cries for help with what is our next step together in enforcing a better global image of Britain, by reintroducing public execution. Treason committed against the government-against me-will be dealt with severely and justly. For the past twenty years, we have all been denied of our right to justice, and that ends today. These small steps we take together will lead us right to the salvation we need."
***
The morning newspaper is a large backwards step-away from her crown, her throne, her fucking royalty-and Finn is hesitant to let her see it as she drinks her morning coffee. Chase is accompanying her to the office today, preparing himself for Ayden's trial-finally realising how important this particular move is right now-and Piper doesn't want to allow him to get the jump on her with this story. Finn is coddling her, Piper knows-Piper fumes-and she struggles with pinpointing the exact moment in time when Piper shifted from goddess to defenceless child. The double standard is a heavy weight, just like Finn's hands on her shoulders as she reads the newspaper, and she moves away from him, steps in heels echoing on the kitchen floor.
"I could fix it," he offers, standing metres away but he may as well be on a whole other planet. Piper had thought she'd been perceptive in including Finn with this, taking his love for her and wielding it into a method of submission, coiled around her finger, no real end for him to unravel-but lately, she questions the effectiveness of swapping him out with someone else. But that thought is short-lived, as she turns to face Finn again-the mutual adoration palpable-because Finn may be struggling in these open waters, but soon enough, he will eventually find the current and pull ahead.
"Its fine," Piper assures him, words put to rest as she reads the news story. It's containable-a bunch of hoodlum-wannabee-Robin-Hoods expressing their extreme displeasure in Piper's new ruling by a number of small-scale vigilante attempts that have all resulted in the police being dispatched-it's something Piper can get a lid on, control fairly easily if the right people are put to the job. "I can deal with it. You just make sure Troy's prepped for his hearing."
"Piper-" Finn begins, understanding that he deserves the disappointment-as he had allocated himself to deal with the nuisance of Evie and Ayden, and he'd failed in that simple task-and right now, Piper won't allow him to do much more than petty tasks which overlap with Bridget's job role.
"Mornin'!" Chase chirps, poking his head round the door, dressed for a day of office work. "Are you ready to go, Piper? I have an idea I'd like to run by you." With small regard to Finn, who remains standing helpless in the kitchen, Piper gathers her bag of choice for the day, arm ready to thread through Chase's. She can feel Finn's eyes on her back as she closes the door behind her, Chase giving a look of questioning which goes unanswered, before he begins spouting off the details of his idea. "Y'know, how like, ten years ago, there was a law passed restricting private movement of money between the Bank of Scotland and the government?"
"It was heavily reported," Piper allows, having been approaching fifteen years of age, but having heard enough conversations between her Dad and his colleagues to understand that something was taking place-and they didn't agree with it one bit. "I'd need an incentive to revoke the law, Chase."
"Firmer Britain makes a greater Britain?" He suggests, reciting the slogan of this particular phase of Piper's reign.
"It wouldn't wash," they step into the lift, Chase pressing the button for the ground floor. "It would create a larger gap between the socioeconomic groups around the country. I'm already rallying for an increase of the minimum wage as it is."
Chase thinks on this, lips pursed in that way when he's focused intensely on something. "Allowing the movement between the banks and the government could, in theory, mean that you have more money to give to city councils, thus putting more money in areas of need. The benefits must be reaped someplace."
"That could stick," Piper pauses, forming together how she will have to market this to make it seem like a choice the public had, another decision wherein Piper abided by public interests. "Recovering from our national debt is our number one priority, and by reinstating the movement of money, we are enveloping corporations and banks into a more accessible avenue for everyone."
"Sounds good."
***
Annie is sickeningly efficient at the act of people-watching. It surpasses the childish game of creating lies and stories, an intricate web of expectations pinned to a stranger for all of the five seconds they remain in sight-Annie's game is dangerous, it is the difference between surviving and having your own weaknesses used to gut you to death, bleeding excuses and backstories to a superficial flaw. Annie is a monster bound in the small body of an unsuspecting 'artist' with a kooky boyfriend in a flat in Kensington-she is Piper's own pet project, a weapon to be used in plain sight.
"Your shoes are new," she drawls, wiping her hands clean of paint after a full day of working on her new installation. Hair piled up in a loose bun, several strands escape and flutter by her face-which is staring right back at Piper like a stranger she has some strange awareness of. "Convenient."
"I've come into some money, actually," Piper corrects, the spotlights beaming down on the two of them within the dark red walls of Annie's workroom. Jesse's work has infiltrated the space, large portraits with dark colours, sharp strokes of paintbrushes to create harsh tones-a style so unlike Annie with her ethereal tones and sophisticated beauty. "There's nothing wrong with treating myself, surely."
"Oh," Annie's tone is wry, something she's mastered quite well for all of her time spent with Jesse-so anti-anything-but-chill Piper is surprised she remembers life before Jesse; before time spent at art galleries and shady-theatres experimenting with the other arts, before Annie became Jesse's girl-an object to own, dominate, control-before Annie lost herself in this culture divide and overcompensated it with this idea that Jesse was her soulmate, that they were fated and he just wasn't ready for the shit storm she'd bring with her. She blinks back at Piper, wide-eyed and innocent, "What you're doing is illegal. Or did you forget that?"
"By who's law? I am the law, Annie . . . and if I want a new pair of heels-I'm going to buy them."
Annie's chin lifts, rising as her ego is beaten, "For how long?"
"As long as I wish. I'm thinking to create my own shoe line, actually-it's about time, really."
***
The next time Piper's authority is called into question, Harriet is the only one who pulls through for her. An impromptu dinner is thrown, Eric present through a computer screen, Annie and Jesse bringing with them news that hadn't yet sought out Piper's ears. Finn is still trying to navigate his way through the new territory Piper has placed him in-lines of trust fading into a faint grey, the same adoration a lingering feeling deep in her core, not the same harsh severity that had once been present.
Chase is all good-natured-self-confident about how he will do under oath, and Piper simpers at this, a small glance his way, taking the wine he has bought with him from his hands-he's learning, this one of a better quality-choosing to remain silent on this fact. Ayden's trial is one week away, and Chase has a long way to go before Piper will even consider him ready, which is why she sits him down with Eric as his company, so he can work on not looking like a condescending twat and stop smiling at every chance he gets.
"Is it a good idea? For you to be openly in support of this?"
"I'm not in open support of anything," Piper corrects Annie's blunder, rolling her shoulders to remove the tension coiling within. Piper isn't a good person. Piper is a rotten human being with a broken moral compass, seeing the worlds in shades of grey to do her own bidding. She uses for her own gain, ambitious to point where her loyalty means very little to her personally-Piper says mean things about nice people, and even meaner things about nicer people. Piper is bitter, Piper is wicked, Piper is-
Piper isn't a good person.
These aren't good ideas working to save a country. This is not about Piper's self-worth-she knows that she's the best there ever was and could ever be-this is about making a legacy, making something last when phases fade in and out in the continuous conundrum of time and space. If Piper had plans to prove herself a good person, she wouldn't have started this, wouldn't have erased her purity in acts darker than what her soul can permit-she would have made herself a martyr so unattainable she would have made the history books. If Piper had wanted that, she would have had it much faster than this road to becoming Queen.
Piper isn't anyone's salvation. She is not saving anyone else, not wasting time to pull people out of this black hole she is pushing them into. Piper will save herself, run right out of the fire she is lighting, igniting wars and feuds and death-Piper will get out of it all, and she will start again, alone. So when she's questioned about laws she's passed, made to feel as though she should doubt her own confidence, her very own willingness to trust in herself and make a firm decision-Piper laughs in the face of it all. Piper knows how to make good decisions, she knows what will win and what will cost her very life. One wrong misstep and she will find herself with a noose around her neck in these public executions, a usurper to everything that British people hold dear.
But it won't ever come to that.
As Piper has great ideas, a way with words, a face behind the name and the name is her very saving grace all in itself. Piper understands the risks, knows that passively encouraging more acts of violence is fuelling air under the wings of rebellion groups-with something to say but not having a strong enough voice over Piper's cackles of oppression-is a dangerous thing to do, precariously tipping the scales out of her favour, but this is Piper.
She will wait, watch these rebellion groups run themselves into the ground as they fight against an enemy they can't put an accurate face onto, watch how crime rates increase as the temptation is now in front of their faces-and if Piper didn't already know each of the animals she's putting into captivity then it'd make her a very irresponsible caretaker-the impulsion coursing through their blood. Piper will watch, silent, biding her time, until it's bought to her attention, becoming an epidemic too large to ignore, where actions must be taken immediately.
Then Piper will get tougher, stricter, firmer precautions in place as the trust has been broken, and everyone must watch out, because this enemy may now be amongst them, and it's a threat too large not to consider. And Piper will revoke these laws she has just put in place, strip away all rights to practise violence of any kind, leaving them defenceless cubs out in the wild, and then it becomes Piper's turn to strike and attack.
Which is exactly what Piper's waiting for.
"It's a lunch meeting, Annie," Harriet interrupts, voice cool and face colder-Piper knowing that this animosity will always be present, especially after Piper had given Harriet explicit permission to punch someone, that person being Annie-remaining strong and blinking back at her as Annie snarls at Harriet, the need for indiscreet side eyes forgotten. "Maybe if you stopped doubting Piper at every turn-"
"Who the fuck," Annie interrupts, leaning forward in her seat next to Jesse, looking ready to jump at a moment's notice and resort to violence, "do you think you are?"
"I believe in Piper," she says, "and I trust her. I don't know if the same could be said for you."
When Annie looks to Piper for help, for someone to have her back as the room falls back into silence, even Eric looking extremely uncomfortable-she is left severely disappointed as the only movement that Piper makes is to pour herself another glass of wine. "Jesse," Piper begins, "I need you on outreach-some . . . idiot fancies himself as the leader of this-thing. It's just a couple days forming a treaty until I have the backing to do something about it."
"Any backup?"
"I'll have that figured out tomorrow."
***
Felix Ware still looks like the owlish teenage boy Piper had met him as, words failing and hands speaking, being introduced as one of the boys who went to the school across the street. His blazer had been in dire condition, previously belonging to his dead-beat-junkie of an older brother, and he'd always had to be mindful of how much money he spent on a daily basis. Piper had been the one to introduce him to Troy, strong arming the two of them into a friendship at thirteen years old, because Felix and Troy had both been her friends and in turn, they should both be friends, too. Piper had been a disgustingly naïve pre-teen, as she reflects on this, ordering herself a glass of water and looking through the menu-always so eager to pick up strays and help them get better.
If only she'd known that these same ones she'd helped nurture would turn and bite her back in spite.
His skin is pale, his face gaunt and he doesn't look particularly interested in digesting any food-causing Piper to remember exactly what's occurred in recent events-not even having the good grace to allow Piper to order her food before he's getting straight down to business. "Why did you have Troy arrested?" He asks.
"Oh, Felix," Piper sighs, "I thought you'd have better tact than that. What did I teach you, honey? Always play with your prey before you eat it. Of course, you're not the predator here-but the truth is all the same. How do you feel about sharing a platter?-Mm, yes, it's quite a task that . . . I know you don't particularly like sharing. Have you decided yet?" She looks up at him them, smile earnest but so antagonising Piper struggles to keep her giggle in check, "I think we should order now."
After the waiter leaves the table, orders in place, Felix's release of breath is extremely irritable, and Piper takes delight in his frazzled appearance. "Piper," he grits out, hands clenched into fists on the table, and this, this is what she's pleased-elated to see, genuine abandonment proving that they are nothing without Piper, she has made them into men, and she is able to take it all away from them whenever the time calls. It's vindictive, yes, she understands that anxiously anticipating the failure of others who were once her friends isn't very mature of Piper-but this is Piper, in all of her true glory, exercising but a small fragment of the true power within her. "Why?"
"I didn't arrest Troy," Piper says, biting into the cushion of her lower lip to enforce the true extent of her innocence in this particular endeavour. "I didn't know about it until the day it happened, actually. You know how important Troy was to me, honey-you knew how much it hurt me when you took him away from me. Now neither of us have him . . . I hope you're happy with yourself."
"Get him out, Piper. Please-I love him."
"It'd be best if you weren't so vocal about your alliance with a traitor," Piper says lightly, a long glance under her lashes as she drinks her water through the straw. "I am-after all, the Prime Minister of Britain."
"I'll do anything to get him out, Piper. Anything."
Piper's smile is rueful, eyes glittering dangerously, "Oh, honey, you shouldn't have said that. There is something though." So she tells Felix of the one task that will get him Troy's freedom, part of an outreach with Jesse-someone he knows, a face he trusts-a simple task, she exaggerates, with a simple goal though. Felix agrees to this, of course he does, because Troy is the love of his life, and he'll do anything to ensure that the blonde git gets out of this new hell alive, and Piper lets him believe that their happy ending is attainable, that it's a possible plan in their future.
She doesn't leave out the one condition, she loves the way it makes understanding dawn on Felix's face that this isn't a favour, but a new round to a game he thought he'd gotten out of, only to pulled right back into its allure. His failure guarantees his immediate death.
***
"Soon," Finn promises, the muffled word on repeat as he kisses down the length of her stomach. He pauses right at the hem, eyes up to meet hers, breath warm and light. "My Queen." She gasps as he finds his way home, sliding knickers down her legs, thighs resting on his shoulders, a long lick followed by a low rumble.
"Finn!" Piper gasps, voice catching on a moan, wishing he had some hair for her to keep a hold of, having to make do with one tight fist in the bedsheets, the other on the back of his head, keeping his mouth right there. Her orgasm isn't a quick push, but a slow roll that lasts and lingers, leaving her mewling on the bed and gasping for breaths, watching Finn lick his lips and smile up at her. "Adore you. Adore you so much."
"My Queen," Finn answers, moving up her body, sliding in home, arm around her torso, hand on her cheek and brushing away hair that's gotten stuck to her face. "Adore you. Love you. So fucking much." This time she cries as she comes, tears on her cheeks, stuttering out breaths as the enormity of it rushes up to meet her head on. "Piper," Finn calls to her, bringing her back down to reality, "I love you."
"I love you, too," she replies, meaning it so much it may be the truest thing she's said to anyone over the course of the past week. Piper smiles up at Finn-at this man who has believed in her when others have failed, who has tried his best and learnt from his mistakes who has been the best thing to happen to her in recent memory-trying to control the mess of emotions she's warring with. "Just us," Piper promises, "it's our kingdom. We'll rule together."
"Of course," he cleans her up, gesturing for her to go and use the toilet, and when she comes back, he's waiting for her in bed again, arm held out to bring her back to his side. He kisses her on the forehead, legs tangling, arms tight, before either of them speak again, Piper being the one to break the silence.
"I'm going to have to kill Felix."
He barely pauses, picking up the pieces that Piper has left behind her, "He made his choice-and he failed. He understands."
"I wish I didn't have to," she says to him, wanting someone to understand that these people are her childhood friends and it's not as easy to apply the rules to them as it would be to someone she didn't already have history. "If he fled the country-or something . . . I wouldn't even go looking for him. I'd be-relieved that he'd gotten out. Troy's never going to forgive me."
"It's not about forgiveness," Finn replies, holding her hand in his and squeezing to remind her that he's here, too, "If you can't control the few, then you won't be able to control the many."