Chapter 46 Stanhope
“How many?” I waved Lucius closer. Typically, I would be in my chambers at this hour. Tonight was not a typical night. My enforcers had brought reports confirming that there had been movement of rebel forces within Verith.
“All ten of them, my lord.” He bowed his head.
“And what of their families?”
“Six family members have been reported missing.” He shrank away as I rose to my feet.
“Good.” I could not help the smile that tugged at my lips.
“G…good? I… I am sorry, my lord. I do not understand.” His eyes were wide with confusion or terror; I cared not. My plan had been a success.
“You are not meant to understand, Lucius.” I patted his back reassuringly. “This was a plan that I designed with the help of my protégé.” The boy smiled from his seat beside my desk.
“My lord, with all due respect, am I not the one who usually assists with the plans?” Something twisted in his gaze.
“Yes, Lucius, we all know how eager you are to help.” I brushed a piece of dust from my jacket. “This time, however, your help was not needed.” The flash of anger in his eye was gone as soon as it came.
“Understood.” He bowed his head only slightly this time.
“Please tell me then, why do you seem happy about the fact that ten witches escaped our grasp? I thought you were working with your spy to retrieve the others who escaped. I would assume losing more would not work toward the goal of controlling those detested little girls.”
“Oh yes. My spy.” I let out an exasperated sigh and fell into the settee. “I have grown rather tired of my spy’s resistance.” I lifted a glass of brandy to my lips.
“Resistance? My lord?” Lucius crossed the room to where I now sat, always interested in learning from my experience.
“The spy has provided some useful information, yes. Though it seems that all I ever get is breadcrumbs.”
I held out my glass and wiggled it in the air, signaling Lucius to pour me another.
“The information from the spy has been only enough to evade consequences. Nothing of substance.”
Lucius handed my glass back to me. “I underestimated the feelings that the spy has for those idiots over the wall.”
The words tasted like poison. The notion that one would place their feelings before the greater good of an entire realm was disgusting.
“I wish to squash this rebellion, not merely inconvenience them.”
“And how does adding to their ranks help you to squash them?” Poor, simple Lucius looked genuinely confused now. He never has been able to see the full frame of things.
“That is precisely your problem, Lucius. You see ten girls lost. I see sixteen people who have just been kind enough to show us to their doorstep.” I patted the seat beside me. “Tell me, Lucius, where do you believe feelings belong in a war?”
“Feelings have no place in a war,” he answered coldly, without hesitation.
“Wrong.” He tilted his head. “Feelings are what drive wars. One must simply know when to refuse to acknowledge them…and when to use them as weapons.”
He leaned closer to me in anticipation and I dropped my voice lower.
“You lack vision, Lucius. Everything can be used to an advantage if you know how to manipulate it. Feelings can win wars.”
I paused, hoping he would ask the right question this time.
“How do feelings win this war?” I smiled wide at his question.
“I simply manipulated the feelings that people like them value above all. Love and trust.”
I rose to my feet and stared into the fireplace.
“One man’s love for his daughter. The trust of a family. The belief in a rebellion. Things they all assumed made them stronger, that is what will win me this war. And it begins tonight.”
A sharp knock sounded on the door. “Ah, precisely the right time.”
I nodded to Lucius with a smile, and he crossed the room to answer it.
The man stumbled through the threshold carrying a knapsack and looking a little worse for wear.
He stepped forward just enough for Lucius to close the door behind him and did not look as though he intended to move from that spot.
So I crossed the room to him. I held my hand out, and he raised it to his lips so he could place a kiss upon the diviner’s sigil on my ring.
“I presume you did not have any troubles?” The man shook his head.
“I waited until they were all asleep just as you instructed. I am sorry it took so long, my lord. I got a bit turned around in the forest.” His hands clutched the strap of his bag so tightly that his knuckles were white.
“And did you mark the path as I requested?” He nodded sharply. “Good. You have done well.” A small weary smile spread across his face.
“M…my lord, I just want to be sure. Laraesa will not be harmed, correct?”
“On my honor, I will not harm your daughter.”
I held my hand to my chest. Technically it was not a lie.
The enforcers would be the ones to raid the rebellion’s compound, and Lucius would be the one to harvest each girl’s power.
“You may return to your home. Know that you have done your duty to Verith and may retain your family’s wealth and titles. The council and your Prevailing thank you for your service.” He bowed and left the room.
“So, you had him lead you to where the rebellion has made a home. To what end?” Lucius asked.
“To the end of the rebellion, Lucius.” I let out a small chuckle.
“They believe themselves untouchable. That fool Ezra believes himself above the balance.”
I wiped the map on my desk clean of all the pawns I had set upon it.
“Rally my enforcers, Lucius. Tonight they will destroy the rebellion’s little sanctuary. They will return the girls to the Verisepth to be harvested. That pompous Crauford will be brought to his knees, and Lavinia Dawling will be given up as a war criminal. Tonight, I shall end this war.”