Tempered by the Will

26 - Used

"Before you say or do anything, allow me to be plain about one thing: I am not here to help you. I am here to ask for your help."

"Don't try to get one over on me," Vica snapped. "You were the one who set up this ambush and pretend to ride to my rescue -"

"I wasn't, but I have my suspicions of who did. If you trusted me to prove it myself, I could go and do so right now."

"Not a chance. Stay where you are."

"I thought so."

Brilliant. This pretense of composed, aristocratic goodwill did nothing to change Vica's mind about the danger she presented, this Lady Cicera of House Murena who had sent a horde of halfwits and chimeras to wreak havoc at Felix's estate. She kept a threatening finger pointed at the woman and maintained her crude shield as well - she wasn't a complete i***t, after all; this smacked of a dastardly trap.

And although she was loathe to admit it, she was afraid. She had no idea what was going on anymore except that she had been ambushed far earlier than anyone had expected, right in the middle of free territory. And Lady Murena who was supposed to have been waiting for her at the boundaries of her domain (Vica had imagined someone pompous-looking and horribly hag-like, dressed in a dozen furs), was now right in front of her in a glittering black satin cloak, radiating a stern aura that made Vica feel like little more than a recalcitrant child.

Well, she wasn't. A child, that is. She didn't care how domineering and authoritative Lady Murena looked under the moonlight with her dagger sharp cheekbones, razor-sharp mouth, and glittering eyes. She had crossed the line and was about to cross it again, which meant Vica was prepared to...prepared to...

Prepared to what? Knock her over with a simple blast of magic like she had done with the two men who had been hiding and waiting for her in the canal? Send out a hex rope to slap her across the head? For some reason, she had serious doubts about whether either of those measures would work. The way that the woman had swatted aside the arrow with such expert, effortless precision, the way that she stood there before Vica with not a hint of fear or apprehension on her face - this was no mere bluff or posturing. She was strong, and more than that, she was skillful.

"You should know that if I wanted to hurt you, I could have done it the instant I saw you," Lady Murena said in a crisp, no-nonsense tone that made Vica feel like she was back in Miss Yewhouse's cabin learning her letters again. "You have strong magic, but power without control is futile. But I have no interest in harming you, so I have not."

Bluffing, Vica wanted to accuse, half because her pride was smoldering and half because that was the only defense she had. She didn't have time to feel afraid, after all, which meant that she had to be aggressive instead to beat back the hesitation.

"Same to you," she shot back. "If I wanted to, I could do worse."

"And yet you haven't. So here we are, at an impasse - one I hope we can resolve before your companions get here. That doesn't leave us much time, unfortunately."

"Unfortunate for you, you mean."

"Yes. Because I want a chance to negotiate with you without Duke Aventine's politicking in the way. Granted, mine is in the mix as well, but you can trust my motives over his. Although to be honest, I have difficulty understanding why you're allied to him to begin with, considering that in order to get to you, this man hired the most notorious, vicious Resistant assassin anyone could have the displeasure of meeting. I hardly think the experience would have been comfortable for you."

Vica sucked in her bottom lip and chewed on it with several fierce bites. Should she knock her away and drag Bren off to safety? She still couldn't sense Constantine's presence, but no doubt he would be here soon, likely in a matter of seconds. But something was buzzing at the back of her mind, a quiet instinct, a warning that she should not act in haste.

This woman had shown up alone. True, maybe all of this chaos in the canal had been staged in order to gain her trust, but there was something going on here under the surface that she didn't quite see yet...something that she sensed was crucial. What was it? What was it that made her want to give this woman a chance when she had endangered the lives of innocents earlier today with her brash invasion of Felix's lands?

'...it seems there was deliberate effort on the part of Lady Murena's men to keep from killing anyone outright.'

That was what he had said, wasn't it? Felix, that is. After the dust had settled, he had made that brief observation and mentioned his surprise over it.

"Those...chimeras, or whatever they were," Vica snapped. "You sent them, didn't you? This morning."

The woman lowered her chin slightly and stared back at her under sharply knitted brows. "Yes," she said simply.

"Why?"

"Because I knew, just as everyone does, that Constantine is responsible for your capture and suppression. I needed a measure to combat his anti-magic, which would disable any human mage. Though as I found out earlier today, you seem to be more of a willing captive than I assumed."

"I have my reasons," she muttered, although her voice was considerably more subdued than before. It was embarrassing, she realized. It was shameful, admitting that she was now willingly cooperating with the man - both men - who had mistreated her so horrifically. This was exactly what she had dreaded, having to explain to someone her weak-minded decision to stay with them instead of making them pay for what they had done to her. It was even worse that it had to be a fellow woman, too, who stared at her with a vaguely judgmental glower. At least Cicera Murena had no idea exactly what Vica had been subjected to. She didn't know if she could ever live that down.

"...I'm sure you do," the woman replied after a long, pregnant pause. "Very good reasons."

"Couldn't help but notice that four big, strong, burly creatures came crashing through, but everyone survived. Any particular reason for that?"

Even in the darkness, it was impossible to miss the sharp light that flashed across the woman's eyes. "Not because of any weakness, I assure you. As you have your reasons, so do I. It was a deliberate choice on my part to instruct them to do so."

It seemed that Lady Murena was mistaking the question for some kind of taunt, perhaps a jibe at her softhearted-ness. But that was far from the truth. "And what are they?" asked Vica. "Why'd you have them hold back?"

"Because unlike Duke Aventine, I'm well aware that bridges ought not be burned before you have crossed over to the other side. I am still waiting for the day when he realizes that our goals align. We could do great good together."

"Great good? You want to ally with him to do 'great good,' so you...send people to attack him?"

"I sent those I trusted, with instructions to extract you by force but to do no irreparable harm. I have my opinions of men who hold captive the vulnerable, but I have to make exceptions for those whom I'll have need of in the future."

"Oh, so you were just trying to protect me all along, is that it? You're not trying to use me according to your own purposes, and you're just some noble rescuer coming to save me?"

"No," Cicera said with no hesitation. "Of course I seek to use you to my ends. But I'd like to know what I can do to convince you to cooperate. What you want, what you seek, I need to know these things so that I can properly negotiate with you. Right now, all I know is that despite you being captured and brought here like a prize animal, you now willingly cooperate with the same people who arranged for that to happen. That, and the fact that you managed to incapacitate a battalion of soldiers or some such rumor outside the city yourself. I know nothing else besides these things, and my meager leverage that I thought I had - the opportunity to come to your aid - has now proven fruitless. So here I am. I would like to know what you want. More specifically, I would like to know what you want that I can acquire for you, so that we can work together henceforth."

Oh. That was...a more eloquent response than Vica could ever have formulated. But still, pretty words proved nothing, and it was better to be safe than sorry. She tensed the muscles of her arm, braced herself -

"Although I have a fairly informed guess as to what it is that you want," Cicera added. "After all, I can't think of any reason you might be willing to shelve old grudges for, except, perhaps...a reason that has to do with Duke Aventine's connections to the Resistance. To rebellion, against the Order."

Vica nearly choked. She had never been good at lying or concealing her true thoughts, and she stared tight-lipped at the woman, unable to think of anything to counter with. Wasn't the Resistance supposed to be - secret? As in no one was supposed to know about it, least of all someone like this woman who had such power and prestige in Capital society?

"I've been aware of his questionable connections for some time now. If I wanted to ruin him, I would have done it long ago."

She was bluffing. She had to be. Maybe she'd gotten some inkling of the truth recently and was testing to see if it held any water, that was all -

"I took a risk coming here, knowing that my life will end up falling into the hands of another. But things are not as they seem. I don't pretend to know what Duke Aventine has told you, but perhaps you would do well not to trust just a single voice in the sea. After all, do you really know the man? Or will you trust someone just because he demands it? I wonder."

Vica sucked in a long, deep breath between her teeth, frustration mounting with every passing second. The woman was right. She hadn't said a single thing that she hadn't already wondered about. And she knew that Felix was still hiding something, still holding something back. The only reason she was cooperating with him now was because he had made contact with her first out of everyone in the Capital.

And that first contact had been initiated because he'd paid to have her kidnapped. Not only that, but he'd said in his own words that he would have done far worse if he thought it necessary.

Felix Aventine, Cicera Murena, and everyone else. Didn't matter where she turned, there were snakes everywhere.

But now she had a chance to know which ones were more venomous, and which ones she ought to take her chances with.

"If you're really sincere," she said suddenly, "then prove it. Stick around and wait for Constantine and Felix to show up."

"Will they attempt to kill me?" asked the woman, but she was already hitching her robe and dress so that she could kneel on the cool grass. "I'm sure Duke Aventine will recommend it, at least."

"Maybe." Vica crouched on the ground by Bren's still-motionless body. "But I'll ask him very nicely not to."

"And if he kills me anyway?"

"Then that'll be all the proof I need to know he can't be trusted after all. You said you wanted to use me, right?" She looked up and stared across the way at Lady Murena. "Then you're going to have to let me use you first."