"My powers may waver around you but I am not robbed of them!"
Argine was right, they had underestimated her vision and played too close to her domain. And now that they knew her to be the real Hierophant, it was too late to rectify those mistakes. Still, as she went on about how she'd seen enough of her comrades to figure out their plan, Eina thought there was still one card they could play against her; her pride. Argine was sure she still possessed the infallibility of the greatest weavers, but she had failed to see the Cointaker's trickery, and if she had foreseen it, then she had sent Eina to another trap on purpose. She pondered on this a little; neither was a good option.
"So? What do you say?"
Eina raised an eyebrow, her hand sliding to her belt, ready to attack at any moment's notice, "What do you want me to say?"
Argine chuckled, or maybe forced a chuckle, "You really are so innocent to think Grim has it all figured it out? Ha, I don't blame you. he has a bestial kind of cunning, no doubt manipulated you into thinking he was the victim, yes? He was using you from the beginning, oh shade. He'd probably heard that you were fateless long before you joined us, and sought to use it for his advantage... you are but a pawn in his crude games."
She felt laughter bubbling up inside her, and a joyful but short cackle left her lips before she could reign it in. A pawn, the woman was saying, as if it was something special, as if her life wasn't a succession of tasks and responsibilities, as if she wasn't familiar with the sensation. All of which had felt much more like burdens than helping the man who'd walked fire for her. Argine presumed to know much about fate, but she didn't read well about people.
"Oh, Hierophant!" she breathed, finally regaining her composure, "I am a pawn! And I have been used as such by people who know me better than either of you. It's not worth crying about."
Argine narrowed her eyes, and for a moment she thought she would attack her, but in the end, a small smile appeared on her lips, "Well then, I am sure you can see who's the better ruler then," and she handed her a small golden key, "To the Sanctum. Go to the east wing, and frame Grim. We can lead the travelers into a new era."
The woman vanished through a rock, no doubt one her Temple's many secret, leaving Eina with a key into her lair and another chuckle in the lips. Argine claimed to have seen Grim, and yet she hadn't seen him on top of the Livrarium, fighting off White palm assassins to protect her.
...
"Argine's biggest flaw," Crilgarin said slowly when they met, "is that she thinks we all think alike and behave the same. Other motives, other reasons, she doesn't contemplate."
"She is arrogant, and took the bait. I have no thirst for rulership or glory, too much is already on my hands."
Crilgarin clapped her shoulder amicably, "I also consulted a Fateweaver, you know? To read Grim."
Eina's mouth opened a little at the revelation, "You did?"
"But instead of wasting time reading his plans, I asked other, more useful questions."
"... and?"
The fae smiled, "Nothing you don't know the answer to already."