Alistair paced back and forth in the room he had been provided at Felix’s mansion. He had been given a set of pink silk pajamas, but he didn’t dare put them on.
This was a different room than he had stayed in previously, when he had visited with Kanda, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to escape. He was just waiting for things to quiet down before he slipped out.
“I can’t believe that just happened. I can’t believe this entire night just happened.”
“Believe it,” Ghost told him. “This is the world we now live in.”
“This is your fucking world, not mine. I was just—”
“I know, Alistair, you are an orphan who got selected to become a battledeck mage. Good for you. Good for you.”
“Never mind that. Why would Felix kill him, though? Why not use him instead?”
“Good question, why not use Lysander?” Ghost forced Alistair to sit down. “Enough pacing, and I’m proud of you, you know.”
“What ? Why?”
“Because you are starting to think more and more like me. And you are right. Felix fucked up back there. He just killed a Lumina Battledeck professor, which will warrant an investigation. Who do you think will run that investigation?”
“I don’t know.”
“The head of the Investigatory Committee, Arlan Stonewind.”
Alistair gasped. “Juno’s father?”
“Precisely.”
“Fuck.”
“Fuck, indeed. Because now, Juno’s father will start investigating this. Once it is clear that Lysander isn’t coming back, I’m certain there will be an investigation..”
Alistair buried his head in his hand. “This is so bad.”
“Yes. And you were right in your earlier statement. This is not only bad, it is stupid on Felix’s part. But he has always acted that way.”
“How does he get away with it?”
“Look around you, Alistair. He is one of the richest people in our kingdom. Felix inherited the Bancroft fortune, got bored, and decided to get into the blood trade. Why is it we always meet him over a meal? It’s because he lives his life in complete and utter leisure.”
“But he can fight, right? Surely he is powerful in some way.”
“He can, but he’d rather have others fight for him. The Baronblades, and some of the assassins close to him, are an extension of his force. I wouldn’t be surprised if Felix didn’t think he was the one that killed Lysander, even if he only ordered the man’s death. That’s the level of delusion we are talking here. But mark my word, Alistair, we will come out on top of this.”
“But it’s going to be messy.”
“This shit always is.”
“I don’t know why I do it.”
“Do what?”
“Even attend the academy any longer.”
“What?”
“It seems like I just bring violence and death with me.”
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“Don’t make this about you. It’s about something much greater than you, and I’m not talking my revenge. I mean our kingdom.”
“You don’t really care about the Dawncrest Kingdom.”
“Not in the way you or other people might, but I don’t want it overrun with fucking Dracolichs. I’ve been to the Empire before. We don’t want what they have here. We—”
A knock at the door.
“Yes?” Alistair asked.
Rather than reply, Felix opened the door and stepped into the room. He wore the same pink silk pajamas that were on Alistair’s bed, the man casual as ever. Creepy, too. Alistair spotted Senka behind him, the woman in the same all-black bodysuit as she had been during their meal.
“You haven’t changed your clothing, a pity.” Felix smiled. “Look at you, ready to escape.”
“I’m…” Alistair swallowed. “I’m not staying here.”
“You’re not?” He playfully placed her hand over his chest. “I’m heartbroken.”
“I have things to do.”
“I figured you would. What would Solaria be without a pickpocket roaming around at night looking for an easy mark? Good, Alistair, go out, and get what you can. I approve of this behavior. Bring it back here if you’d like, or keep it, and I’ll collect my cut later.”
Ghost: Like hell he will.
Felix took a step closer to Alistair. He could smell the man’s cologne now, and it sickened him. “You are still troubled by what happened over dinner, aren’t you? I know that was hard to see, but I did it for you, for future orphans who will undoubtedly become leaders. You are a truly remarkable young man, Alistair, a man leading a revolution.” Felix placed a hand on his shoulder. “And Kanda likes you.” He squeezed Alistair’s shoulder tightly. “Of course, what happened here tonight is between us, yes?”
“Whatever you say,” Alistair told him.
“Sure, you can tell Kanda later, but for now, it’s between us. The Baronblades will be under her command one day, and I don’t want her to be the only battledeck mage.” He let go of Alistair, Felix sending both hands behind his back. He bent forward, the man uncomfortably close to him. “To me, this is about legacy. The future will look very different than what we can imagine now, especially with the invasion, if and when that happens. Regardless, it will be different, and Kanda is going to need a powerful soldier in her ranks, someone who can protect her, someone who can help her continue the legacy I started through the next leader of the Baronblades, and the next. That’s what I see in you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, a scrappy, young man, soon-to-be battle hardened, a perfect mate for my Kanda, who herself is the daughter of a whore and a powerful swordsman. I guess, in that way, you could consider me a breeder of sorts. But I don’t want a thoroughbred. The fucks you saw back at the table are thoroughbred. I am thoroughbred. I want someone more like…” he turned to Senka. “Like Senka, but able to hold a fucking conversation. Or Goran, if he wasn’t such a useless muscled twat. Actually, maybe like Senka and Ghost, if they’d had a child. Yes, a mutt like that.”
It was subtle, but the way Felix said this ignited a fire behind Senka’s dark eyes that quickly dissipated.
“In that way, Alistair, you are part of my legacy, the son I never had. I’ve been getting reports about you, you know, an advantage of controlling several members of the Board. You are a marvelous specimen, whose poor parents died at the hands of a monster. Rather than cower and live out your pathetic existence only to be forgotten, you have seized destiny by the throat. You’ve bent destiny over a table and thrust yourself into her!” Felix laughed. “You are the perfect accompaniment to my Kanda, who continues to undermine my organization. The fire in Lumina?”
“What fire?”
“Yes, what fire. Keep asking yourself that question, Alistair. It’s good to practice feigned ignorance, especially in our field. But you should know that in the end, I was the one who covered up the warehouse fire, and in doing so, I learned more about what happened there. You think a battledeck mage can’t be bought? Think again. But as I said, it’s good to practice feigned ignorance, and I almost believe it; I can almost see it in the look on your face that you believe it. Good.”
Alistair shivered at the way Felix said this. He hadn’t minced words. Felix saw Alistair as someone like him, an assassin.
“If you must know, I allowed Kanda to thwart me, because I know it’s making her a better leader in the future, one who can be ruthless. She is not only biting the hand that feeds her, she’s trying to rip it off, and for the leader of an organization that can be troublesome. But it can also put fear in the eyes of those that will later seek to dilute her vision, which is a legacy I can get behind.”
Ghost: Smile and nod. He will never get off his high horse, but we can at least point the horse in a different direction.
Alistair: All this talk of breeding, and now horses, is only making it worse.
Ghost: I didn’t think of that. Yes, it is all bad, but it’s also good.
Alistair: What?
Ghost: I’ll explain another time. Listen to Felix, listen to your enemy when they lay everything out for you.
“...So I will let our dear Kanda think she’s doing something to hurt me, for now. If I ever need to clamp down, I will, with extreme prejudice, but it’s also important for those around me to take her seriously, and if she comes into power the way I’d like her to come into power, there will be… how should I describe it? Ah yes, a paper trail. And that paper trail will keep the organization intact while she takes her leadership role, with you at her side. Do you understand, Alistair? Now go, and have some fun tonight. If you do get locked up, just send a message my way and I will handle things. It pays to have friends in high places.”