Cass was not entirely sure when her thoughts and almost instinctive plotting had coalesced into a plan. Neither was she sure why she was so determined to tear the kingdom of Beergmutar down around her. If she was asked, she could provide a plethora of reasons, from their corruption and terrible societal system to preventing the kingdom from allying with her Master’s enemies…
But deep down it just felt good to make a few small cuts and watch an entire city bleed out from her actions. Right now this kingdom was rushing towards disaster, it had been on the precipice before and Cass had simply given it a little help. And no one noticed, too blinded by their own greed and ambition to see the wider picture… No one except for…
“You were lying to the Elder…” Nat whispered in the dark, sleeping next to Cass again tonight. “Or… You held something back…”
“What makes you think that, Natalie?” Cass was curious what the girl would say next. She had not said anything to Klein or to Odal, and Natalie knew better than to try and blackmail Cass.
“Your smiles are all the same.”
“What?” Cass did not expect that answer, she didn’t even understand it. “I have no idea what you mean by that Nat.”
Natalie rolled over so that she was looking Cass in the eyes, “People smile naturally when they are happy, but you put your smiles on your face. They are not real, and the real you is hiding behind them.”
“And?” Cass’s smile was honest this time, what an impressively observant girl! “Is that a problem?”
“I don’t know…”
“You are quite an observant girl Natalie,” Cass praised her. “I am curious, how did you notice?”
“My mother was teaching me how to be a servant,” Nat answered even more quietly. “She hoped I could get a position as a Voni maid… And being able to read the person you are serving mood is the most important skill, to make sure you fulfill their needs before they ask and are gone before they tell you to leave.”
Ah, it had not occurred to Cass, but servants would need a certain set of skills and having those before being hired would be an attractive proposal since you would not need to train the worker… Maybe Hall would let Cass keep Natalie as a maid in addition to Birdie, presuming that Birdie is even alive of course.
“You are not entirely wrong Nat,” Cass admitted. “The real question is if you know what I was hiding and why.”
“No…”
“Then go to sleep and work to figure it out tomorrow.” Cass laughed softly and patted Nat on the head, though she had no idea where the desire to do that had come from.
“You won’t tell be to stop?” Nat asked in a confused but sleepy voice.
“No, I want you to learn Nat,” Cass continued to stroke Nat’s hair. “You are already seeing more than most around you, now you just need to understand it, and then use it.”
Soon Nat drifted off to sleep, and Cass followed soon after. Everything was going according to plan…
Rowig joined Odal the next morning and Cass had to admit that Odal’s judgement was correct, Rowig might have been a complete bastard but Welde Jagb was much far more her style than the Stelle Jabg being taught to Natalie. And it was a good fit with her glyphs, she could move at speed and even the quickest strikes would have incredible power. He gave her the same warning about the time it would take to learn though, so Cass decided she would have to adjust her plans a bit. Unfortunately, she could not afford to let either Odal or Rowig die until they had outlived their usefulness.
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The training session ended early when a messenger, accompanied by more than a few Warrior guards, came to deliver Cass’s payment from Elder Klein. Cass supposed that as the one usurping the throne, he certainly would have the money to spare. Admittedly, such a large sum would normally make her a target, but between the alarms set by Klein and her contacts throughout Beergmutar, she was not worried. That said, she did have one thing to accomplish.
Cass sat at a desk, her eyes closed as she focused on the single strand of spider silk before her. Pulling on her vast mana pool she began to work, using the silk as a catalyst to link the sapphire bracelet to one of her earrings. This was the most complex task Cass had ever tried to accomplish, especially with her inexpert and crude ability… But she was determined to make it work.
When Cass poured mana into that earring, it would resonate with the bracelet, giving off a tone that Cass would hear from the direction the bracelet was in. In other words, when Cass gave this to Natalie she would be able to find her wherever she went. So long as Nat wore it at least, and presuming no mage used magic similar to Cass’s bracelet to interfere…
Still, it was better than nothing, and Cass thought Natalie would look rather nice with the bracelet anyway. An exhausted Cass presented it to Natalie the following morning, who looked at in utter shock. It was worth enough to feed her entire family for a couple of years, so that was not too surprising, but Cass still enjoyed seeing Natalie react like that.
And some days later, the promised notes arrived. The notes on catalysts were bound into nearly a dozen books, one of which was an encyclopedia of catalysts! This was far more than Cass expected, she had only thought Klein would give lip service to this promise, though she had knew that even that would be valuable, this was worth more than the gold by a long shot.
In Cass’s hands was the entirety of Beergmutar’s magical research, two soldiers trained in the martial arts unique to this mountainous country, an incredible amount of gold, and enough influence to have essentially carved out her own faction in the city.
After some surreptitious contact between her and the Matron, another meeting had been decided. This time Cass would not be alone either, while Odal was staying with Natalie, Cass would use Rowig as a bodyguard. It was quite amusing to Cass to have a bodyguard who hated her enough to want to kill her, but would strive to keep her alive because of the blackmail she had over him. She wondered if he would ever realize that she had not actually made arrangements for the information to be released if she died. He was smarter than Odal, but she doubted he would notice.
The meeting was taking place in the same tavern, and once again the Matron was seated with two cloaked individuals, though obviously Odev was no longer at her side.
“Lady Terresa, Warrior Hrohar, and Merchant Ilhue,” Cass greeted them each in turn as both the Matron Terresa and Hrohar shifted uncomfortably when they realised that Cass had figured out their identities. “I trust the night is treating you well.”
“It seems you have been busy,” Terresa replied dryly. “You should be careful with your words young lady, more sensitive souls might seem them for threats and decide to do something about it.”
“I merely was saying hello,” Cass sat down at the table smiling. “The last thing on my mind was threatening you.”
“Of course not,” Terresa replied with her own smile, likely as fake as Cass’s own. “And you have delivered on your half of the deal, so you really are a valuable ally. Though I do wish you had not killed Odev, he was quite useful to me.”
“Sorry, but I really hated him.” Cass answered honestly, “since I no longer need the magic notes you were going to provide, please consider his life an alternate payment.”
“You aren’t going to demand more?” Hrohar was suspicious, “We know you gained those notes from that bastard Klein.”
“When I was on the street I would sometimes see people try to change the deal after both sides had come to an agreement,” Cass thought back to some of the shady dealings she had observed. “It never ended well. I agreed to do something for a payment, and even now that I no longer need part of it, that is no reason to back out.”
Or, if she removed the bullshit from her sentence, the important point was being able to leave the kingdom. The notes had just been something she had desperately wanted and did not care how she obtained.
“I would not mind if you would reduce your aid to southern Haj,” Cass continued. “But I would not ask for it as part of the deal we made.”
“You are…” Terresa paused and chuckled, “such a surprisingly practical girl, despite killing Odev I have to admit to having a bit of liking to you.”