Morygen excelled at making me nervous.
"You did what?" Morygen asked blankly as I scratched the back of my head.
I scanned the chamber again nervously, Merlin had assured me that there were no listening devices and I could not spot one either. Morygen looked up to me for another moment with an uncharacteristically blank expression before falling back into one of our chamber's chairs.
"You lied to them," she repeated in High Gothic. "To the council, to the king! Even to our friends and my uncle."
"It is a temporary thing," I held up my hands defensively. "I plan to speak to the king and your uncle later."
Morygen rested her face in her hands and let out a breath, "Do you have any idea how stupid that is?"
"If you do not let me explain then I suppose that it would sound stupid," I crossed my arms.
"Sorry," She looked up with a slight smile. "I guess I have no leg to stand on in honesty, do I?"
"Don't worry," I kneeled. "I will never lie to you. Yes, I did not actually kill the Fear Gorta but I had good reason to do so."
In retrospect, one might argue that I should have kept the information to myself but I would never do so at any rate. I did not lie to Morygen.
And this in particular was a secret which I could not conceal from her.
"I sure hope so," Morygen frowned. "Why did the warehouse collapse then?"
"Evidence removal," I offered with a sheepishly.
"But the warehouse owner…" Morygen started to scratch her cheek with a worried look.
"They own it- owned it I suppose," That her first concern had been damaging someone else's property brought an earnest smile to my face. "They moved to another facility they own in the city."
"That's good," Morygen chuckled distantly. "So… you cooperated with the Fear Gorta and helped them fake their deaths… and the head?"
"They are… not very selective about the bodies of the deceased as long as their secrets and memory cores are destroyed," I explained. I had been offered a ruined head casing to bring back as proof of my success.
"And why didn't you kill them," She smiled. "I love you but mercy is not your strong suit."
That… that was not how I hoped to hear those particular words for the first time.
"They had no interest in continuing our conflict. They were actually quite reasonable," I could respect people that handled their work professionally, even if I did not approve of the work itself.
"The assassins," She gave me a disbelieving look. "The ones that tried to kill you. They were reasonable."
"They were affiliated with the killers that tried to kill you," I explained. The only one they tried to kill was me which meant that I had little reason to hold a grudge, the contract had not seemed forged as near as I could tell. "I will of course find and kill those fools later, which was why I spared them in part."
Morygen held my look for a moment before letting out an exasperated laugh, "Of course that's how you would reason it. So you spared them in exchange for information."
"And some other services," Her eyes immediately narrowed at that.
"Services," Morygen repeated. "You're not usually this evasive. What exactly did you agree to?"
I was not sure how I would say it.
"They were familiar with my reputation as a healer," I explained.
If we had paid equal attention to the rumors we might have avoided this unpleasantness, the emissary had said.
Morygen gave me a look, "So they bribed you with knowledge."
I reached over to take one of her hands into my own, "In part, but they are offering an arrangement Morygen and you know we will need allies of all sorts if the children are to are to change this world."
She scratched her chin in thought, "So what are you offering?"
"Medical assistance," I explained. "Recovery of certain Treasures, not ending their order and of course, relative secrecy."
"And what exactly are they offering," She asked patiently. She would not challenge my choice, I could already tell as much from the way that she looked at me.
She also did not completely approve.
But my Morygen was an opportunist at her core and she trusted me to find value in the bargain.
If she accepted that…
"Obviously they will cancel the contract," I shrugged. "More importantly, they will refuse to accept any contract on any ally that does not choose to work against them."
"That's just self-preservation," Morygen smiled.
Fair.
"Also," I nodded. "They are willing to exchange services on a one to one ratio as well."
We do more than assassination! The emissary had explained. Our agents are fine trackers, protections specialists and we even accel at procurement.
I never said that I object to hiring assassins, I had responded.
Morygen looked to the small bar to our right, "I think that I'll need a drink to make it through this."
I nodded in acquiescence and let go of her hand. I walked over to the collection of drinks and set about pouring the whiskey into a short goblet.
"You think that I mind your deal?" She asked.
And there it was.
Morygen's father had been assassinated after all.
Hiding an allied assassin order from her? That would be unforgivable.
"Which is why I mentioned it to you," I offered her the drink.
She accepted it with a nod and kicked back the entire cup.
"You worry too much," she smiled thinly. "What else are they giving you?"
"The names of the contractors and any who try to do the same in the future," I said.
"You're really trusting them," Morygen eyed the empty cup.
"Correction!" Merlin chimed. "We secured sub-constructs on to all present in the meeting. We can track them down should they prove treacherous."
"Which they might," I conceded.
"Shame that they don't have debter's coins," She looked up at me again. "Unless they gave you some other collateral."
"They did," I nodded while pulling a document from one of my satchels and handing it to her.
"What is this?" She asked.
"Collateral," I smiled and looked at the recipe for the stabilizing agent of the Fear Gorta.
…
"Well that is certainly something," Trystane laughed at my words.
Iseult seemed far more interested, "It seems like a wise move."
"You allied with the Fear Gorta," The elder Morygen shook her head. "Of course you did."
"My thoughts exactly," My wife chuckled.
We had gathered the three into our room and they took to my news… well they took as well as could be expected.
But I had no intention of hiding my alliances with my makeshift circle, which was composed of five figures sitting around the room.
Morygen the elder, the politician.
Trystane, the swordsman.
Iseult, the savant.
Merlin, the AI.
Morygen, my mate.
Trystane and Iseult were simple creatures, they had simple views and simple objectives. One respected knowledge and the other sought to do right by his allies, they were highly unlikely to turn on me.
Morygen the elder was loyal. Both to her cause and to me personally.
My wife and my blade were beyond question at any rate.
The fact that all owed their lives to me to some extent or another was also a point in their favor.
"I approve of it," Trystane gave me a half-smile. "No use in throwing away what you can use."
"I agree," Iseult was less interested in the discussion and more in exchanging the tracking data on her holo.
"I would council caution, Oathmaster," Morygen the elder passed a hand over her short-trimmed ebon hair. "It's true that the Fear Gorta are unrivaled but if the tie is revealed…"
"Would anyone believe it?" I asked. "Their reputation seems to be almost mythologized. Would they even believe it."
"That depends on the one hearing it and the one saying it," Her cold eyes eyed the paper on the table detailing the terms of the deal. "It is a useful arrangement but it is dangerous, forgive me if I speak the obvious."
"It is a fair point," I nodded. "And I hope to arrange enough mutual contingencies to make betrayal in neither sides interest."
"Alright," My wife smiled. "So, who started calling for your heads?"
"The oathmasters," I smiled.
"Aed and Dobur?" The Oathmaster frowned at the accusation against her peers.
"Dobur placed the order," I clarified. "But the Fear Gorta apparently make a habit f watching their employers. Dobur has been in contact with at least three other Oathmasters and one of the foreign Sect-Masters."
It was either flattering or disturbing that such a wide-ranging action was being undertaken against me if the Fear Gorta were telling the truth.
"I am genuinely surprised that the Ruby were not on that list," Trystane mused.
"I was actually getting to the fact that their payment was coming from the Republic," I smiled bitterly. "One would think that a touch more gratitude would be in order for cleansing the White Forest."
"Then you misunderstand them," The elder Morygen gave me an equally bitter look and tired, tired from years of defending her cause. "They are likely more resentful of you for depriving them from exclusive access to the Treasures of the Forest than grateful."
That was a depressing thought.
And realistic.
Assuming politics from a realist standpoint, one accepted politics as a zero-sum game.
Ironically enough, it was a political ideology that I myself had made my living from in a previous life.
That was thing however.
My perspective is flawed, I concluded. I still see this world as a unit acting in an immensely hostile and unpredictable galaxy. They do not see that, they only see their world. Their continent, their Guild. It is easy to blame their traditions but that is illogical, people are influenced by their beliefs but those beliefs tend to 'happen' to eventually match their ambitions.
"I understand that," I allowed while looking to them and smiling. "I had not thought of it like that, it is a relief then."
"A relief?" My wife laughed. "How so?"
"It makes them smaller, more predictable," It was embarrassing actually. The more I understood the world, the smaller and more influenceable it became.
"You are smiling the way you do when you were fighting that big Voidspawn," Morygen shook her head. "I take it that you have a plan then?"
"Of sorts," I explained. "More like I understand the proper methodology now."
My objectives aligned neatly in my mind as I thought about it.
Step One: Summit.
Undermine and discredit opposing factions while securing my rank. Reveal their links to assassins and confirm my own merits.
Step Two: The King's Support.
Gaerys was already impressed by my abilities, once he was treated I would leverage the risks of the pesky Winter Court and the risk of the destabilizing Authorities.
Step Three: Secure Alliance with Emerald.
Leverage the risks, the prize and the southern threat.
On and on the plans that I had been gathering for years crystalized into a concise course of action as I accepted how similar this world was to my own.
They did not understand the magnitude of what the world beyond the sky was and left to their own devices.
I was not sure which part of me arrived at the final conclusion.
They need guidance, I mused. What is to stop the world beyond the sky from consuming them I am not guiding them?
I had already taken the responsibility of saving the world from felling itself by repairing the generators.
And doing that threatens to destabilize their system, I noted. I would be dooming them to chaos of a different sort if I purified the ruins without thinking of what comes after.
"I can't tell if I like that smile or not," My wife chuckled while the other looked at the feral smile on my lips.
Eh, blame genetics.