”The very fact that we’re all here and, as Amalia said, love this place and the people here, makes all of us vulnerable to the kind of blackmail you think will work on Ronin,” Jigano spoke up at last, tilting his head at Wessex with a raised brow. ”Or can you say that you would not bend to pressure if it was applied to Amalia and Rory? For some reason, Zariah does appear to have some sympathizers among the Naturals who could as easily tell her about that, as she knows or can find out about her fellow Northhaveners.”
He raised a brow at Remi’s admission that Zariah already had her claws in him, though he realized a moment too late that the reflexive reaction was useless with the alchemist’s eyes in their current state. ”For the sake of argument,” he said quietly, ”what if Zariah threatens Aoife? She is calling herself ‘the Merciless’ after all. I do not think we have the luxury of assuming she won’t stoop to whatever she deems necessary to get her way. It’s something we should plan for, either way.” Ronin, he hoped, could dissuade Remi from some of that naivete before it was too late and someone other than the alchemist paid a price for it.
He drew breath to speak again, but Rory’s quiet voice silenced him more effectively than any other retort or argument might have, and he sat in stunned silence as the hunter… did not deny the nomination, but certainly did not embrace it. Silently, the bard reached out to twine his fingers throughRory ’s, squeezing his partner’s hand lightly while he scrambled to reorganize his thoughts.
”We have been giving Zariah great credit for being smart enough to see resistance coming,” he said at last, giving a grudging nod of respect to Wessex for making that point. ”We certainly can’t hang all our plans on her being stupid, at least. And this wouldn’t be my first rebellion…” he followed Rory’s gaze, quirking a brow at Deimos with a wry hint of a smile. ”It sounds like what we need is someone to be the lightning rod, to be the public face of the resistance…and to protect its true leaders from coming to light, at least for a little while. If Zariah is going to be looking for someone to cause trouble… we should give her what she wants, somewhere to focus her attention. A distraction.” His smile widened and turned sharper as he acknowledged the little chat he had with Deimos while they had been practicing. ”And someone to drop words in other ears, as well. I’d wager there are plenty of people who want as little to do with this new yoke as we do. Rather more than those few who support her, in fact. But, as I said earlier, no one is unbreakable.” He nodded wry acknowledgment toAmalia , and squeezed Rory’s hand again. ”So if someone does take on this role… he can’t stay here or know the rest of plans being laid. We find a way to communicate plans in a way that isn’t face to face, and he does his damnedest to stay out of the tyrant’s hands as long as possible while drawing as much of her attention as he can.”
His crooked smile left little doubt as to who he meant, but he waited to see what others had to offer – to poke holes in his idea, make it stronger, or vote against it – before he officially volunteered.
He raised a brow at Remi’s admission that Zariah already had her claws in him, though he realized a moment too late that the reflexive reaction was useless with the alchemist’s eyes in their current state. ”For the sake of argument,” he said quietly, ”what if Zariah threatens Aoife? She is calling herself ‘the Merciless’ after all. I do not think we have the luxury of assuming she won’t stoop to whatever she deems necessary to get her way. It’s something we should plan for, either way.” Ronin, he hoped, could dissuade Remi from some of that naivete before it was too late and someone other than the alchemist paid a price for it.
He drew breath to speak again, but Rory’s quiet voice silenced him more effectively than any other retort or argument might have, and he sat in stunned silence as the hunter… did not deny the nomination, but certainly did not embrace it. Silently, the bard reached out to twine his fingers through
”We have been giving Zariah great credit for being smart enough to see resistance coming,” he said at last, giving a grudging nod of respect to Wessex for making that point. ”We certainly can’t hang all our plans on her being stupid, at least. And this wouldn’t be my first rebellion…” he followed Rory’s gaze, quirking a brow at Deimos with a wry hint of a smile. ”It sounds like what we need is someone to be the lightning rod, to be the public face of the resistance…and to protect its true leaders from coming to light, at least for a little while. If Zariah is going to be looking for someone to cause trouble… we should give her what she wants, somewhere to focus her attention. A distraction.” His smile widened and turned sharper as he acknowledged the little chat he had with Deimos while they had been practicing. ”And someone to drop words in other ears, as well. I’d wager there are plenty of people who want as little to do with this new yoke as we do. Rather more than those few who support her, in fact. But, as I said earlier, no one is unbreakable.” He nodded wry acknowledgment to
His crooked smile left little doubt as to who he meant, but he waited to see what others had to offer – to poke holes in his idea, make it stronger, or vote against it – before he officially volunteered.
