The room was full of what might charitably have been called a 'pregnant pause', Len's accusation hung in the air with no one really knowing what to do with it. She was more than a little amused by the numerous stunned faces in the crowd. No doubt any number of them had been thinking something along those lines from time to time, but the fact that someone, a stranger no less, had been willing to say it to the Head's face seemed borderline insanity to them. She savored the confusion, wondering what tactic might next be used to draw the proud man deeper into a state of rage where he'd be more likely to make a grave error.

  Before she could make any such move, however, Cassius cleared his throat loudly. Attention shifted back to him as everyone wondered what new surprise this event had waiting for them. For the moment, at least, the status quo where everyone was here to entertain the Head had been flipped to the reverse, and everyone (including the Head) knew it.

  "These are grave accusations that my... comrade," he let the word hang there for a minute "from the east is leveling. I can't imagine what would make her so foolish as to air them, but if she really has any proof at all of these outrageous claims, I invite her to show them."

  "Well, for starters," said Len with a sort of 'gotcha' smirk, "there's the assassin that you hired to take me out. Taylor? You want to come down here and tell the fine folks assembled what you told me?"

  There was an instant of shock tinged with terror on Cassius' face as Len's words hit home. The idea that Len had turned one of his agents and, more than that, convinced her to make her presence known, was something of a shock even for the well-prepared man. That shock faded quickly as no assassin descended from the rafters. A few moments later, and the smarmy look of smug confidence returned and he gestured grandly to the crowd.

  "You see? All words and bluster, without a shred of evidence. Head, I move that you cast her out along with this treacherous trader."

  "Geez, give a lady a minute to make herself presentable," muttered Taylor in a stage whisper. "You know, Lenore. The whole point of signing up with you was that you'd let me keep my identity hidden. Maintain that nice little life that I mentioned growing fond of? This is the exact opposite of that."

  "Yeah, I know," said Len apologetically. "But I don't have a ton of options here and the dude's just such a smug bastard, you know?"

  "Yeah, I do. Fine, she's right, people. This asshole here was blackmailing me to kill off his competition in the city. Lenore wasn't the first target that he'd had me deal with, and she wouldn't have been the last."

  "Empty words from a self-confessed murderess," sneered Cassius. "Why on earth would we take anything you have to say at face value. Why shouldn't we just throw you out with the rest of them?"

  "Because you'd be dead before you laid a hand on me you sniveling worm," Taylor hissed, forcing him to step back before he even realized he was doing it.

  "Mighty Head, surely you can see that this is all just baseless fabrication to harm our relationship, you can't trust a word they say!" Then, in a much quieter tone, that barely crossed the table: "And even if every word they say is the absolute truth, it doesn't change a single thing. You will do what we say because it's the only chance you have of getting out of this situation with your dignity and, more importantly, your position intact."

  The Head, whose face had been twisting in contortions of confusion and frustration, hardened at that last. For a moment, Len thought that Cassius had wounded his pride enough to make him lash out, but that thought faded almost instantly as the leader turned his gaze upon her.

  "You come into my house and seek to sow discord? You will learn the error of your ways.

  "Will I really, big man?" Len wasn't normally one to sneer, but this guy brought it out of her. "Do you think that a toad like you has what it takes to bring me low? You seem more the sort to cower behind guards than the type who's actually capable of doing anything for himself anymore. You may have managed to chase off all worthy comers by now, but I wouldn't be so certain that I can win the day if I were you. Heck, I imagine there are a few out there in the crowd wondering exactly what would happen if you found the guts to step into the ring yourself. I mean, I've got a pretty good idea, but they've got a bit more reason to fear you than I do."

  "You DARE?!"

  "Of course I do, haven't you been paying attention? Daring is like half of what I do with my time. You, though, have lost all your daring, haven't you. Years of sitting fat and safe on a throne of corpses. You're a sad little creature with nothing to your name and nothing to offer. Hell, what WOULD you do if you lost all these adoring fans? 'Cause I've got bad news for you: fans don't like a loser."

  "You will be silent or I will have your head removed from your shoulders!"

  "Really now, threatening murder against an invited guest? I'd swear that is something that is frowned upon by those pesky rules of conduct you're supposed to adhere to as Head," she smiled sweetly. "That's rather uncouth of you, don't you think?"

  The man roared in fury and actually threw a plate at her. Len could've dodged it herself, but Taylor beat her to it, deftly snatching the plate out of the air and catching most of the food with it before setting it carefully down on the table in front of them. A few splashes of meat juice struck Len's dress, which caused a tiny little voice in her to cry in horror to get the seltzer water before the stain set, but she ignored it and turned a cool gaze at the man.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  "A direct personal act of aggression against a guest. Didn’t all that etiquette stuff you crammed into my head mention that such an act constitutes a challenge, Balar?"

  Balar, who'd been staring at the whole exchange in horror, blinked and looked at her in shock.

  "Uh, yes, yes it does, Lenore."

  She smiled back at him. All assembled stared at the situation in rapt fascination. The Head, in particular, looked stunned at what he had just done. So much about the situation had been perfectly in his control, he'd had countless options to have her removed without risking his position. If he'd taken even a half-second to consider the issue, he'd have been able to rid himself of her, even kill her, without anything being amiss. Instead, he'd chosen a brazen approach that could go very wrong for him if he lost. Cassius, meanwhile, looked even more shocked at the development.

  "You really didn't think that through at all, did you?" Len smirked at him.

  "What are you even talking about? You have no right to Challenge here. Guards, seize her!"

  Len cocked an eyebrow, She hadn't really expected him to be so blatant. A moment later, as the guards surrounded her, she realized that she had no success but to surrender to his whim. She tried to think of a way to deal with the situation that wouldn't leave her with fewer options, but finally, after much distaste at the situation, she shrugged and held her arms up. The reality was that she probably could fight her way out of it, but that wouldn't do her much good in the long run. Instead, it would be better to wait a short while and see what happened.

  There was a mix of cheers and jeers as she was led away, there hadn't been as much time as she'd have preferred to get her words in, but the fact of the matter was that she'd gotten the barbs she'd needed, and all that remained was waiting to see how it all shook out. There was something oddly satisfying about being led away like this. Sure, she didn't have the immediate duel that she craved, but this could still work out in her favor. Cammie didn't look nearly as amused by this development and actually had the nerve to pout.

* * * * *

  "I don't see why you're allowing this," the voice muttered in her head as they were settled into their cell. "Just give me the word and I'll bust you out myself."

  "We're not doing that, Cammie," Len replied.

  "But you HAD him. It worked better than it should have and you could've just whupped his ass then and there!"

  "Oh, it's possible that it would have worked like that, but I think you're underestimating just how hard it is to get people to turn on a dear leader like that. They think that he's the best thing since sliced bread and it's gonna take several stages of humiliation to get them to turn around."

  "You say that, but how long before he slips in here and kills you?"

  "Oh, no chance in hell that's happening. In fact, I'm so confident that that's not gonna happen that I'll give you blanket permission to cripple and maim any attackers that DO try it."

  "Really?" the disturbing facsimile of childish glee that bloomed on her face at that permission left Len uncertain whether to smile or run away screaming.

  "Really. See, the thing is: I've wounded his pride, which would be more than enough to have him bring out the knives, it's true. What I also did, though, was trap him publicly. It's one thing for him to kill someone who dares to question him. Could probably get away with that, but he didn't do it the right way. That's the thing about power. Most of the time, no matter how great the power itself is, the restrictions on it can trip you up. He made a direct challenge to me. Not the sort that comes with words, but... there's a custom of challenge where I'm from that involves throwing down a gauntlet. The normal idea is that you throw the gauntlet at a target's feet to declare the challenge, though a slightly less corrigible person might miss the ground and hit the target. Here, I made a point of goading him just enough that he had to attack me with the very first thing that was handy. Turns out that throwing a plate is roughly the equivalent in his society. This is why it pays to pay attention to the rules of etiquette in a given social situation."

  "Really, all that was about a plate?"

  "Oh gods, I wish. No, I was just enjoying myself too much. I did remember the plate thing in time to make use of it, but I wouldn't dream of claiming that I came up with it on the fly. Still, not a bad trick, don't you think?"

  "Are... are you a crazy person? There's no way that you could bet all that on getting lucky with him trying to start a food fight with you."

  "Eh, let's pretend that it was all part of a grand strategy and not some desperate play to make it all work for me. Really, I can't say for certain what I'd have done next if that hadn't worked. Cassius was doing his damndest to restrain the idiot but narcicists have a tendency to undo themselves no matter how careful their handlers are."

  "This is great, I've been shackled to a lunatic who just wings things like international intrigue. I don't know what makes you think you're gonna be able to keep this up, but you really need to shape up, Len."

  "I'll have you know that I'm an expert at winging things. It's not my fault if most people can't keep up."

  "Keep up? You're trapped in a jail cell waiting for a jackass with a god complex to gut you like a fish!"

  "I most certainly am not. I'm waiting for public unrest at the fact that their leader challenged a woman to combat reaches a fever pitch and he's forced to do something more than sit on his thumbs."