Chapter 29 #2
Elethenn had agreed to make an introduction and to go where he was told, to help out. But we'd met by chance at the cultural centre where Nizanin had spoken, and Rodil had helped me out, but they hadn't gotten into the creche that way. That didn't happen until –
"Oh," I breathed, soft. "The attack."
"Yes," admitted Rodil. "You were never going to come to much harm: I sent Elethenn to follow in case the mercenaries were overeager.
I would not have had to do something as crude as coordinating an assault, except that you have been such an unpredictable creature, Sashen of Creche Thiel.
Another virra would have introduced me to their sinnenthi much earlier.
A physician is an invaluable addition to a creche, especially one so vulnerable as Creche Thiel.
I required a means to bring the matter to a head.
And – well, it did throw your Araxis's political standing into question, which was an additional benefit. "
I glanced back to Elethenn, torn. He'd tried to warn me, hadn't he? He'd told me to take a shuttle that day, that I looked tired and in pain. He'd tried to intervene. What was Rodil offering – what were Naival and Hanalthi giving him – in order to push him to these lengths?
I couldn't pity him, but in that moment Elethenn looked like he was being devoured from the inside by abject misery, like it was gnawing on his bones and cracking its teeth in the process, and so maybe I couldn't hate him either.
"Cool." I shifted my weight, just a little. "Well, glad to have helped, I guess."
Rodil trilled, then. "Ah, you have been of some inadvertent help, it is true."
"And did Vivith even break into my apartment, or was that you?" I shot another pointed look at Elethenn. "You were certainly quick to jump in and help out. 'I have a background in security.' Real fucking classy."
Elethenn flinched as I spoke to him, his stare jumping up to meet mine for another heart-stopping second before skittering away. "They did break in," he said, breathy. "But –" He fell to silence.
"But," continued Rodil, "they did not stay for long and they took nothing, disturbed nothing; you would not have known they were there at all. It was a fine opportunity to undermine Creche Thiel. And there were some interesting missives on your display. It took some work, but –"
I felt myself go cold. I hadn't stored any of the data from Perseus or to them locally; I'd sent it all through multiple relays, heavily encrypted, and always deleted it, just like Valerie told me to.
"I was eventually able to access the messages you were writing to your friend and to have them translated.
" They trilled again, beaming at me. "Another gift, to learn that your sinnenthi had purchased your time and skill and that you were so very uncertain about your relationship.
A few whispers in the right ears, and so much of the political work was done for us: with all you had done, it was not difficult to secure support on the writ of propitiation. "
I forced my expression to a boring, neutral mask.
So Rodil had been the source of the rumours – or I guess I had been.
And the only thing they'd been able to glean from the display had been the messages I wrote for Valerie Prior alone, the ones that synced from my wristband, where I caught her up on my life and talked about my feelings and was earnest and open in a way that I didn't exactly want to share with a Concord creche, or anyone really.
Naival had gone pawing through all of that, which was pretty fucking rich for a culture that claimed to value privacy so much.
It might have been horrifying if it wasn't so stupid.
I wondered, not for the first time, why abaya were so fucking worked up over my relationship with Araxis.
And really, did any of it matter now? Rodil was gloating about finding out that I'd had mixed feelings about Araxis after Creche Naival had already tried to murder him.
How was that the thing that they thought would bother me the most?
The anger in my chest tightened a little more, flexing, tensing, coiling.
"It's so nice to have fans," I said distantly as I pulled my attention away from Rodil and to Talvi, still hiding their face away. "Look, Rodil, I want to make a deal with you right now."
"You are not arkathi," said Rodil. "You are not able to negotiate."
"No, this is just me, Sashen, looking to make a trade.
This isn't for the creche; it isn't for Araxis.
It's for me, the human." I shifted a little and tried to shove the whole weight of my personality and my abayan gender into what I was about to say, as if being virra was something I could pour into words and meaning.
"I know you have our Talvi here to help assure that Araxis will be cooperative, right? "
"Yes," said Rodil, eyes bright with interest. "He is sentimental. If his relationship with Vivith were less fraught, I would have selected them instead."
"Talvi is a child," I said. "And I know, they're an abayan child and that's different from being human.
But I would really rather that you held that blaster to me.
How about it? You know Araxis wouldn't dare put me at risk.
He'd do anything to keep me safe. Why don't you let Talvi just head out that front door?
They could go right to the school – they know the way – and you can keep me instead. "
I ignored the little whine of distress Elethenn made before he smothered it, but Rodil flicked him a sharp, corrective look before returning their attention to me.
Rodil's head tilted. "But Sashen, right now I have both of you.
" In my peripheral vision, I saw Crozani shift in the hall ever so slightly, angling her pistol toward me just a little – a reminder that she could.
"You have us both," I agreed, "but you only need me.
I imagine you're going to find me a place in Creche Naival.
Will Crozani expect me to declare for her?
I can tell you right now, I won't cooperate with anyone or any creche that thinks it's reasonable to keep a child as a hostage when they have a perfectly compliant alternative right in front of them. "
"Whether or not you intend to cooperate is insignificant," said Rodil.
"The matter will be forced. You will declare for Creche Naival.
You will be tamed, as you should have been from the outset.
There will be many sinnenthi who are eager to take you in hand.
You are a rather difficult creature, and sinnenthi do like a challenge. "
Well, that hadn't worked. Then again, I wasn't playing to Rodil, not really.
I let my stare drop down, shoulders curving forward; I let a little whine – something like distress – hum in my throat.
"But maybe they could at least come and sit by me?
You're right: we're not going anywhere, not with two sinnenthi here, even if we wanted to make a run for it. "
In the hall, Crozani trilled. "Ah, it is as you said, Rodil! I was convinced you were joking. What nonsense."
I stiffened in place. Elethenn's head ducked even more, his hands flexing in front of his body.
"I did tell you," Rodil intoned, amused. "Yes, we have a sinnenthi guarding the hall, you are correct, and a very talkative, misled virra in this room. I have heard enough from you, Sashen. We will wait now for your Araxis."
"It's going to be hard for me to sit nicely and shut up if you're making Talvi this upset," I said, insistent.
"So if they could just sit with me, it would help, I think.
Please?" I added a little quaver, right at the end, aware that I was pouring it on thick, so I ducked my own head too as if I were a supplicant.
They did get uneasy when I cried, so maybe this approach would work.
I'd do anything if it would get me what I needed.
Across the table, Rodil fluted out a flat sound of irritation. "Very well," they said. "Talvi, you may sit with your Sashen."
Talvi scrambled up immediately and came hurtling around the table, crashing hard into my chest. I squeezed them hard against me as they buried their face in my neck, trembling and whining.
"It's alright," I murmured, stoking my hand down their short braided crest, speaking quietly enough that I hoped Rodil wouldn't hear.
"It's okay. I've got you. Do you remember what I promised I would do to anyone who tried to take you away, way back before the Tournament? "
"You said – you can be scary," choked out Talvi.
"That's right. That's exactly what I said.
" I looked at Elethenn, and his mismatched stare caught on mine, startled.
I weighed carefully what I was going to do next, turning it over in my mind.
Crozani was in the hall, but she wouldn't want to damage me.
Neither of them would, but Talvi was disposable in a way that I wasn't. Like Avelthe had been disposable.
Like so many of the people I loved were.
I cradled Talvi against me, rocking them gently, as Rodil watched with some curiosity. "Oh," I said conversationally, "I should probably mention, since you won't want damaged goods. I got stabbed in the attack on the ship."
"Yes, your Araxis reached out very early this morning to ask about treating such wounds," Rodil said, like I knew they would.
"I was able to deduce some of what happened as a result, despite your Vivith's reticence.
I am certain you will survive. Besides treating such an injury is beyond my limited training. "
So much for that attempt at getting Rodil alone. Next to them, Elethenn shifted. "You were injured?"