30 - Chapter 28
Malim bin Daud had been alive for a long time, and had led his family for longer than this woman sitting across from him had been alive. He had been in so many difficult situations, that he long ago lost count. Yet the situation he found himself in left him at a loss.
Just by the fact that he had attended the meeting himself, and his emotional state at the start of this meeting, this woman had managed to deduce his family's involvement in the death of her family. This left him in a quandary. He knew his family had made a very dangerous enemy this day. That left him with two options. He could accept blame, and attempt to pay a blood price for his family’s actions. He could refute the allegation, and know that she would come after his family. She may come after his family anyway. But before that he had to know for certain.
“Before I give you an answer, I need to know.” Said Malim. “Did you target my family? Was your company involved in any way in the disappearance of my daughter?”
“So you are saying that the disappearance of your daughter is more important than the murder of my entire family, including my two small children?” replied Tasha coldly. She knew that she could not kill this vampire in front of her today. She swore that she would wipe out his entire kind before she was done. Still she had her quest to complete. She would not sacrifice her future for momentary satisfaction. The time for revenge would come. Thankfully the way he had phrased his questions made it easy for her to mislead him, as would her obvious rage at his question.
Malim felt her aura change, and realised that he had made yet another misstep. He had been so focused on his loss, so used to treating all humans as nothing but cattle, that he had spoken before he fully considered the implications of his words. He had implied exactly what she accused him of. That his child had more value than her children had. Before he could even think of how to respond to try and salvage something, anything from this fast deteriorating situation, Tasha continued to speak.
“I will answer your questions, because I have felt the devastating pain at the loss of my own children,” said Tasha. “I would not wish that pain on anyone. In response to your questions, I did not know who your family was until yesterday. How can you target someone you do not even know exists? As for my company, I can categorically state the company has not and will not engage in the kind of deplorable behaviour that would lead to targeting the child of anyone ever. What we will do is take on directly anyone who attempts to engage in such behaviour against us or any of our employees. We will ensure that justice is served at any cost.”
Malim was beginning to realise the true depth of his mistake, someone with her skillset, even if just human, targeting his family with the kind of resources she had access to. More importantly she had said justice, she would not even need to attack his family directly, just finding and releasing enough evidence of their actions would be enough to get the family wiped out. Even the syndicate would side against them if they brought down the combined wrath of the humans on the hidden. The worst part was that he had created the entire situation, based on what he now knew was a mistaken assumption. Tasha had answered all his questions, and had not obfuscated even once. He had also felt her rage. He needed to try and temper her anger, lest it burn his family to the ground. He had come here to do exactly that had he even an inkling that she was involved with the disappearance of his daughter. This was all without confirming if this woman worked for the damned dragons. Malim could not believe that he would have to bow before a simple human.
Malim stood up and bowed deeply. “I would like to formally apologise on behalf of my house Ms Andersen.” said Malim. “We have committed a grave sin against you and yours. Further I have compounded the error by implying that you had anything to do with the disappearance of my daughter. It is our custom to offer a blood price in cases where one family is responsible for the death of the members of another family.”
“Before I decide on that Patriarch.” replied an enraged Tasha. “I want the exact details of what happened. Also please understand that I will continue looking into the matter to confirm the truth behind your words. As you came here enraged, simply because you suspected our involvement in the disappearance of your daughter, imagine mine at having those responsible for the death of my entire family sitting before me.”
“I can understand your rage. As you said, I came here only based on suspicions.” replied Malim. “I can only imagine what I would do if I was in your situation. You said you wish you had my self control. I admire your self restraint.”
“We do not believe in advocating for extra judicial action.” replied Tasha. “We believe in justice, not vengeance. Now, what happened to my family.”
“A member of my family lost control under the influence of addiction.” said Malim, trying to give away the least amount of information while trying to make it look like he was being forthcoming. “Due to the loss of control, your family were killed. A branch of my family, to protect the family member, took action to remove all evidence. We take full responsibility for your family's deaths as well as the attempts to keep you from learning the truth.”
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“I notice you have been very careful to not mention the person directly responsible.” replied Tasha. “I am going to assume that it is this missing daughter of yours. It is the only thing that fits all the facts. I want the reports on the incident. I also want an assurance in writing, that when your daughter is found, she will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for her actions. The only concession that I am willing to make to my stipulation is to not ask for the death penalty.”
Malim had no response to this brazen woman. His actions had already confirmed the validity of her words. She was also seeking justice as she had said, and even now did not ask for his daughter's life. The Ancestor and the Syndicate were going to be most unhappy about his actions and decisions here today. The even increasing cost of his actions, no, his daughter's actions, were starting to become truly apparent.
“What you ask is reasonable, far more than I would be in your place.” responded Malim. “I do not know if my associates will be willing to release the report to you. They will already be unhappy that you know of their existence.”
“Well then they should have ensured not to take actions against me.” replied Tasha in a terse manner. “Why should I have to make allowances for the group that instigated this affair? As the aggrieved party, I am entitled to fair recompense if I understand the concept of blood money or weregild. Refusing my requests is not a good place to start if you truly are looking to make amends. If this is just some attempt to placate me, then knowing my history, you should be well aware that I am willing to bring my considerable resources to bear.”
Tasha had not lost her mind. She had no choice but to be aggressive in this situation. She knew she needed to survive, but if the vampire in front of her thought that she was soft, then like any predator, he would attack, or think something else was going on. The only way to convince him that he was in the wrong was to push as hard as she could and not back down.
Malim could see that rage was genuine. She was acting exactly as he would have if the situation was reversed. Except he would have attacked her by now. The fact that she had not was a testament to her strength, and her training. She was channeling her emotions to get the outcome she wanted, and not escalate. He just did not know what he could give her.
“I can put in the request for the report.” responded Malim. “Also based on the report, I can agree to a prosecution against my daughter, when she has been located.”
“Ok, also let your associates know.” stated Tasha. “That this time I have let their interference in my affairs pass. However, if they do not stop looking into me, or ever interfere with my affairs again, then I will do what I have to to pull the entire organisation into the public consciousness. I will dig out and publicise every single secret that they have going back to the very beginning of their existence. I hope that is clear.”
“Perfectly.” replied a very tense Malim. Things were going from bad to worse for him. Some one like her, with her training and resources, hell bent on revealing Syndicate secrets. Just the thought was enough to cause him to experience fear, something he had not done for untold years.
“So that leads us to the final matter. You have offered to pay a blood price.” said Tasha. “So tell me Malim Bin Daud, what are the lives of my family worth.”
This woman really did have a knack for the dramatic. There was clearly no right answer to this question. Any offer he now made would be considered an insult. Still he could not deny it was an excellent negotiating strategy, as it forced him to be the one who had to work out a reasonable price.
He thought over her situation. She had lost her entire family. She may have extended blood relations somewhere, but they had not come up in contact. She was now totally reliant on friends and her business. If he was forced into the same situation, he would want to burn his family down in revenge. Yet she sat there waiting for him to make an offer.
He also knew that money meant nothing to her. She had so much money that any number he could come up with would be meaningless. Seen in that light, her question was even more dangerous. His normal ways of paying a blood price were completely removed as options. Also most of the threats he would normally represent would also not apply. Sure a few close friends could be targeted, but that would potentially escalate it to bring other families on Tasha’s side. He had to admit she had mouse trapped him brilliantly.
That left the most dangerous price of all influence. A promise to be redeemed later, or political capital spent to achieve a goal now. Either would have significantly wider implications, as they would tie his family to her actions. Yet he was left with nothing else that she would value, and thus the only price he could pay.
Tasha sat there, focused on Malim, content in the silence, knowing the onus was on him to speak. She would not give him a single inch in these negotiations. The realisation that she had taken revenge for her family already had strengthened her resolve. She would extract everything from them, then she would ensure they would not survive.
Malim decided to be straight with Tasha. He had very few cards left to play. He still needed to get an answer for the Ancestor.
“Tasha, there is very little that I can offer that you cannot get for yourself,” said Malim. “Your backers have ensured that money has no value to you at all. That leaves me in an unfortunate situation. I would love to meet the type of people who can make money lose all meaning, and ask them what has meaning in their view.”