by HDA Roberts
She helped me up, and I saw sparks for a moment before my equilibrium came back and I was able to lead the way to the dungeons.
Kandi met us as we were walking down the stairs, hurling herself into Tethys' arms and kissing her all over the face.
"Oh thank God, thank God!" she whispered. "You're okay?"
Tethys cuddled her girlfriend gently (I'm not sure if girlfriend was still the right label, but it seemed the most apt).
"I'm fine, though my memory's a little foggy after getting to the beach. I'll be fine."
Kandi came over and hugged me, too, "Thank you, Matty. Oh, I don't know what I would have done."
I smiled and hugged her back, enjoying the affection; it helped sooth some of the lingering body-wide ache.
Naturally Kron coughed and ruined the moment.
"We're on a schedule," she muttered as I turned to glare.
I sighed and Kandi disengaged, returning to Tethys and taking her hand.
"I never liked her," Kandi commented as we walked.
"You liked her just fine when she did that thing with her tong-" Tethys started.
"Shh! Company!" Kandi squeaked, going bright red and making me snigger.
"Oh, Cassie, the squads you asked for are in place,” Kandi said after a moment. “Two across the street and another two here on the grounds."
"Squads?" I asked.
"Kandi leant us a few men for extra security. I figured the additional firepower could be helpful."
"I agree, but move them within the grounds. Mira can't protect them otherwise."
Cassandra grunted. I recognised that grunt; it was Cassandra-code for 'you're right, but since it was contrary to one of my ideas, I don’t like it, and thus you shall pay for it later', I knew it well. We waited at the heavy wooden door to the dungeons while Kandi made her calls.
(Oh, as an aside, explaining the presence of a dungeon in the house to my mother hadn't been fun. Thank God Tethys had locked up the... recreational cells, or I’d never have heard the end of it.)
Just like Tethys' command centre in her wing, the dungeons were accessed by a set of cramped, winding stairs. Because Tethys had largely repurposed this part of the house for her amorous activities, the lighting was soft and inviting and the stone stairs had been richly carpeted.
At the bottom of the stairs was a short corridor with heavy metal doors either side, except for at the far end, where there were two cells kept available for prisoners. They were both ten foot square, with heavily Enchanted iron bars along the open wall, padded benches along two others, chairs along the third and a small, screened toilet in the corner. They weren’t especially comfortable places, but that wasn’t the point of them.
Ross was lying on one of the benches, with Demise glaring at her through the bars, gently spinning the sword in her hands as if contemplating a little vivisection. It wasn't an encouraging look.
It had been agreed that I would have the first word with her while the others waited out of sight.
Demise turned when she heard our footsteps and smiled when she saw me, "Glad you're alright, Matty; you screamed like a girl."
"Neural Shredders hurt, Dee!"
"Like a little, little girl, one with pigtails and a lisp, who's just seen her first spider."
"I hate you so much."
She smiled, patted my cheek, and withdrew out of Ross' sight.
Ross was dressed in a recognisably 'government' suit, with a pair of Cassandra's manacles around her wrists. She sat up as she heard my voice and stood to greet me.
"Lord Shadow," she said with a brief bow.
Her demeanour was completely different. Gone was the irreverent hostility, the lazy posture. She stood rigidly, like a soldier. She reminded me of the way Kandi’s Mercenaries stood.
I sighed, suddenly feeling very tired.
"Well, Lexi... it is ‘Lexi’, isn't it?"
She nodded.
"Okay, Lexi, why did you betray the woman who loved you?"
She twitched, and I saw the ghost of true pain in her eyes. Had she developed real feelings for Tethys?
"I did my duty," she said, her eyes becoming hard again.
"Under whose orders?"
"Perhaps I should start at the beginning?" she offered.
I conjured a Shadow and dropped into it, producing another behind her, which she lowered herself into very gingerly.
"I was a member of the Hunter Division of the Conclave's Protectors, my specialty was deep infiltration. I've been doing this job for the better part of thirty years and I'm very good at it."
That was quite a bit older than she’d led us to believe...
"Clearly," I commented dryly.
She inclined her head in acknowledgement of the compliment.
"If it's any consolation, you were the most difficult job I've had in a very long time. Impossible to approach in and of yourself. I've watched you for the last six months and saw no opportunity to infiltrate your life cleanly. I had to be much more inventive."
Six months? At least we now knew this wasn’t all Myrddin. This had been set in motion long before he came back on the scene.
"Tethys," I said, my eyes narrowing.
"Or Ms. Thornsby," she replied. "Ms. Smyth was the better prospect, though. I am, if you'll pardon the conceit, her type."
Female, Magician, attractive, a little dangerous... ticked all the big boxes, anyway.
"That explains your friendship with my brother as well," I said instead, "but not why you were always such a..."
"Bitch?" she offered.
"I was going to say 'pain', but alright."
"I acted like that because you don't trust strangers. Any stranger. You trust them less if they try to ingratiate themselves to you. The fact that I’m female would only make things more difficult. Too many recent hard knocks in that regard, I believe?"
Even with the dark mood, I heard sniggering from down the corridor, which I was keeping a note of for later...
I nodded.
"Well, you can probably figure out the rest."
"Yes."
She'd acted that way because the last person you'd expect to be a spy is the one that goes out of their way to annoy you. It was very crafty of her. I'd have been impressed if I wasn't so pissed off.
"Go on," I said.
"My orders were simple: gather intelligence on your operations, your actions and your allies; anything that might be useful in countering you, for when you eventually turned on the Conclave."
"But? I imagine there's a 'but', or you wouldn't be here."
"But... but I never found anything worth reporting. I figured out that Ms. Smyth was part of your organisation, that Ms. Thornsby was an ally, but that was it, I learned practically nothing. It was only after I was brought before the Lord Primal that I even learned that Tethys was your Intelligence Chief."
Myrddin again...
"And what did he have to say?"
"Nothing much. He just passed on my orders regarding Ms. Smyth’s arrest. I objected multiple times. I told him, and my superiors, that I'd never witnessed any wrongdoing, but they’d given me my orders. I still insisted on due process being followed and a transparent arrest. Nothing seedy, I swear. It was all above board, she was just supposed to be taken into custody for questioning. I was certain she'd be out in a day, two at the most."
"But then she disappeared?” I guessed.
Ross nodded, "I searched everywhere I could think of. I went through every legal channel I had access to, trying to find where they'd taken her. Finally I made a protest to my superior and threatened to quit if he didn't put me in contact with her."
The look in Ross’ eyes as she explained all this was telling; she’d been genuinely afraid for Tethys.
"What happened then?" I asked.
"He tried to arrest me."
"And?"
"He failed," she said, her voice almost a snarl.
I leaned back in my conjured chair.
That did fill in a few h
oles. It actually explained at lot.
"I think you may well have saved her life," I admitted, which seemed to make her blink.
I told her what had happened at the Conclave Building, and what had happened when we got her home.
"If it hadn't been for you, and your searching and your threats, I suspect we wouldn't have gotten any of her back at all. As it was, Myrddin had to do a rush job on her interrogation and conditioning. Enough that I could get it all out of her, thank God. And thank you, I suppose."
"She... she's okay, then?" Ross asked in a small voice.
"Pretty pissed at you. But see for yourself."
I waved and Tethys came over, hands crossed defensively under her breasts. She didn't seem able to decide whether to glare or leer, a combination which came out making her look vaguely constipated, not that I'd ever tell her that.
"Why?" Tethys said gently. "How could you do this to me?"
"I'm sorry," Ross said, her eyes growing wet. "I... I wouldn't hurt you for the world, Tethys, I truly wouldn't. I've grown to care for you, and for Kandi. I swear I only did what I thought was my duty."
Tethys sighed and looked away, walking back the way she came.
"I need to think," she said, before vanishing up the stairs.
"Kandi," I said, nodding after the Succubus.
Kandi nodded and scuttled off. Nothing cheered up Tethys more than a naked redhead, another of those things we had in common...
Kron, who'd been agitating through all the emotional stuff, couldn't take it anymore and stomped forward, her eyes like thunder as she glared at the Hunter, who leapt to her feet.
"Lady Time!" she snapped, bowing low (much lower than she had for me, I might add).
"You're Alexandra Ross?" Kron asked.
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Who do you serve?"
"My superiors at Hunter Command, my Lords and Ladies of the Conclave and the First Circle of Magi, my Lady."
"And yet you thought it legal to spy on one of the First Circle?" Kron growled. "How dare you?"
Ross gulped, "It was not my place to criticise my orders, Lady, only to follow them. I broke no laws, I never lied, stole or broke into any place within the First Shadow's domain. I gained no access that any member of the public couldn't have by befriending one of his people."
Kron's expression turned vaguely volcanic because Ross was, technically, correct in everything she'd said. It wasn't like she’d Glamoured anyone. Thinking back on what I’d heard her say, I realised that she was quite right; she never even lied. She'd simply made a friend, been invited into my home and neglected to tell us a few things, which, again, was clever, because there was a better than evens chance of my detecting a bald-face lie with my growing Empathic senses, and Cassandra was practically a walking polygraph.
Damn, Ross was smart...
"Who gave you your orders?" Kron asked.
"The Commandant, Master T-"
"No, no, no! Who gave the order for an Archon to be spied on? You know what I mean when I ask that question. Don't believe for one second that a shapely arse and big eyes will work nearly as well on me as it will on my brother here. Answer my question!"
"The Primus, Lady," Ross said, a definite quiver in her voice.
Kron nodded.
"I leave her fate to you, Lord Shadow," Kron said, shooting one more venomous look at Ross before stomping off. "Come see me when you're... done."
I nodded and turned my attention back to Ross. I looked in her eyes, trying to get a feel for the woman. She met my gaze steadily, without a trace of fear.
"I would like your permission to read your thoughts," I said after a while.
She blinked, then swallowed.
"And if I say no?"
"Then I let you go."
She frowned.
"And if I say yes?" she asked tentatively.
"Then I will verify your truthfulness, examine your feelings and if I find you to be genuine, then I may be persuaded to speak to Tethys for you."
"You'd do that?"
"If you feel for her as I think you do, and if you acted with the motivations I'm ascribing to you, then yes. But I warn you, she won’t move past your betrayal very easily, if at all. Even with all going perfectly, it’s unlikely she’ll feel the same way about you."
She blinked, looking away.
"Okay, do what you have to do."
I nodded, "Relax, this won't hurt."
"Talk like that is why I prefer girls," she said, a little of her old wit returning.
"I had a feeling that wasn't all an act."
I slid into her mind.
I took my time and prodded her with mental questions, examining carefully where her thoughts went, what she felt when I put images of Tethys and Kandi into her mind. As much as I hated to admit it, she loved Tethys in her peculiar way; Kandi, too. She looked on Des like a little brother and saw me with considerably more awe than she'd ever expressed, especially after seeing me fight the Squidling. It was actually a little humbling.
I examined the memories of her meetings with Myrddin and her Commandant, checking them against her story. She’d told the truth, and she’d been terribly hurt when she’d discovered that the latter had lied to her about what was to happen to Tethys.
I spent the better part of an hour rooting through her psyche. I went out of my way to be gentle, enough that she kept asking if I'd started. Finally, I was finished and slid free of her mind.
I stood. She followed suit and the two Shadow-chairs vanished.
"What happens next will be up to Tethys, but I'll see what I can do," I said, trying to hide my frustration.
"Thank you, Lord," she said, bowing again.
"Oh stop it," I said, which drew a smile from her as I turned and left.
God, how I'd wanted to hate that woman! That’s really why I’d wanted to look in her head. I'd wanted even the flimsiest excuse to practice upon her all the horrible things I knew about Flesh Magic and I knew a lot.
But she wasn't evil. Few people really were, but she wasn't even close. She'd done her job until it had conflicted with her ethics, and then she'd told them where they could stick it. I'd seen that fight through her eyes and the disagreement that had preceded it.
Damn it, why couldn't she just have been a bad guy? One I could have hunted down and squashed? Why did she have to come by and try to make amends?
Oh, it was so frustrating! The caveman in me wanted something to hurt for what had happened to my friend, my dearest friend, and the easy target wasn't available!
I found Tethys, Kron, Kandi and my Wardens in the kitchen, and I dropped into a free chair with a scowl on may face.
"Why the face, was she guilty after all?" Tethys asked.
"Worse, she actually tried to do the right thing," I said with a sigh.
"Why is that worse?" Kandi asked.
Kron answered with a smirk, "Because now the Lord Shadow has no target on which to vent his spleen, aside from those he can't get anywhere near. Does that about cover it?"
"A little too well," I replied.
"So... you're saying I'm good to go?" Tethys asked, a glint in her eyes.
"Seriously? She turned you over to Myrddin and... still?!" Kandi squeaked.
"She's really, really hot," Tethys countered, "and she's already in the dungeon, all but primed for... discipline."
"Sure, and I'm the fool for women," I muttered.
"You still are, Honey," Kandi said, patting my head condescendingly.
"I'm choosing to ignore that," I said, turning back to Tethys. "Are you sure about this, Love? No matter how sorry she might be afterwards, she was still willing to betray your trust in the worst possible way."
Tethys sighed, leaning back in her chair.
"Tell me everything you found out," she said warily.
I did as I was asked; answering every probing question Tethys could think of. When I couldn't answer some, she made me go back downstairs with her and ask them of Ross, while maintaining a
discreet watch on her thoughts for deception. To her credit, Ross answered every question directly and with no chance of obfuscation or double-talk. When asked for clarification, she answered honestly.
It really pissed me off. I so wanted her to be the bad guy.
By the time I'd finished, Tethys was in the cell with her, talking about new and exciting uses for manacles. I left them to it, quite miffed, in fact.
Kandi didn't look any happier about it than I did when I resumed my spot at the table.
"It's not like we didn't know about this side of her," I pointed out before she could start complaining.
She sighed and leaned against me instead. Cassandra had that 'I told you so' look on her face again. Tethys was back in a few minutes, her face flushed, but she was smiling.
"Done with your domestic? Can we talk about the impending disaster now?" Kron asked.
"Sorry," Tethys said, sitting on my other side and taking my hand under the table.
"Good," Kron said. She leant forwards, propping her head up on her hands. "For all intents and purposes, you have fallen into a very effective trap. The Conclave, and I’m guessing Bradley in particular, has set you up as a villain, almost certainly to undermine your authority in preparation for something big. We know that Myrddin is involved, and we know that a large portion of the Conclave is with them, otherwise they wouldn’t ‘sacrifice’ seven Councillors.
“I think we can probably guess that part of this will be to discredit you as a witness against Myrddin. You were the only one there when your duel started and he tried to kill you. He could claim anything and it would be your word against his. That’s one possibility, but I doubt that’s anyone’s endgame.”
"I can look into that," Tethys said.
"Please do, and quickly. This isn't the only problem we're dealing with right now," Kron said with a grimace.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"The Hyde. They've started attacking our holdings. Just Killian and Palmyra's territories so far, but they've been sighted in the next province over from my home, and a few scouts have shown up in the two towns nearest to Hopkins' house. And it started more or less the moment you walked into the Conclave this afternoon."
"Distractions," I said.
