Chapter Thirteen: One Likes to Know Everything
One Month Later, Early Spring, Kendrick House
The first contact was a phone call to the Kendrick residence. Risa answered it, since Varien was at Tveir's mansion at the time.
Bill was in the study, looking over a set of communiques from the nearby provinces, Arca and Wyst, which had joined Cyran in support of a conflict that was at the moment, raging in the Naran Prefecture. He was looking at a list of losses that had been giving him a severe ache in the apex.
Tveir had been true to his word and was offering any help he could, mostly in the areas of supplies and manpower, once he'd cleared out his guard and the Circle Militia that had been assigned to Cyran of Cerchio's loyalists. Unfortunately some of that 'clearing out' had involved executions but it was nothing compared to what Cerchio had begun to do to the Outer Prefectures.
Trials of accused Subversives, public floggings of 'criminals' and the weekly executions of the convicted were becoming a regular and unwelcome addition to the traditional daily Circle broadcasts. These broadcasts were now mandatory viewing and all connected televisions and radios switched on at the exact same time every day for Cerchio's address to the country and then the 'event of the day'.
"No, no... I will fetch him."
Bill looked up as he heard the catch and trembling in Risa's voice. He stood and made his way to the living room.
"Risa? What's wrong? Who is it?"
The Line looked at him, her eye huge and her figure visibly shaking.
"Bill... i-it's the Chief Circle."
Bill crossed the space in two strides and snatched the phone from the woman's shaking hand.
"Cerchio?" he snapped.
"Ah, just the very voice I wanted to hear," the Chief sneered across the line. "How are you doing, my boy? Enjoying your little vacation back home?"
"You know as well as I do that this is no vacation."
Cerchio laughed coldly.
"Just so you're aware, my boy, this line is being recorded. So if I were you, I'd choose my words carefully."
"What do you want, Cerchio?"
"A man who cuts right to the chase, I like that..." His chuckle was unpleasant. "That's not all I like about you."
"What do you want?"
"I'm calling you in regard to your parents. Such sweet people. Gentle, kind, terribly frightened for you, you know."
"What do you mean?" Bill closed his eye, grinding his teeth. Risa patted his angle, standing close by, hugging him.
"They're convinced you've gotten yourself involved with some very unsavory people and they're concerned for you, Bill. I'm keeping them here with me, safe but I don't know how much longer that will continue."
"You arrested them!"
"For their own protection, my boy. You must understand, I'm only looking out for you. I can't have my favorite companion's reputation sullied by any kind of affiliation with... undesirables."
"Speak clearly, Vyraius. I'm a stupid, simple Triangle, remember?" he bit out.
"I have it on good authority that you, my sweet little musician, have been involved with some, shall we say, dissidents. Namely your ex-fiancé, Alistair Kendrick."
"Alistair? What do you mean, Alistair?"
"He has been proven to be a part of this distasteful rebellion business, young man. So, I made a point of taking him out of the picture. You won't have to worry about him any longer. However, his family-well, there's only his father left, now isn't there?"
"He's not involved with anything and you know it, Vyraius!"
"Oh, I do. I do. He's quite innocent. As are your sweet, doting parents. As are you, as far as I can tell. Your association with Alistair can be quite easily forgotten about and your parents returned to their idyllic little village. All you have to do, my pet, is join me and all of this can be over in a flash."
"You don't have Alistair."
"Oh, you know this for a fact, do you?"
Bill's heart sank. No, he didn't. All he knew was what 'Alistair' had said to him in his own delusional sleep-deprived state, shortly before his parents were taken.
"You can't have him. If you had him, you'd have contacted me much sooner than this."
"I've had your parents for a month now. Can you really prove that I don't, William? Do you have access to information that says otherwise?"
That was a broad lure if Bill had ever heard it. No, Cerchio didn't know he was Cipher, that much he was certain. What he wasn't certain of was if Vyraius suspected Bill had any kind of connection to the resistance.
"If you do have Alistair and I'm not saying I believe you, is he still alive?"
"Yes."
"Prove it."
"No."
"Then how can I be sure what you're saying is true? How can I believe anything you tell me?"
Cerchio chuckled. "Come to me, William. Let's end this silly dance, I'm tiring of the chase, it's not as much fun as it used to be. If you come to me, I'll release your parents and perhaps even Alistair. I'll not bother them or the Kendricks any further and you and I can just be... happy."
"Until you tire of me," Bill grated. "I'm not interested. All I want are my parents home and safe and Alistair returned to me. You..." He closed his eye a moment and swallowed hard. "Listen, Vyraius. You can still be the hero here. You can be magnanimous. Show the country you can accept rejection with dignity."
"The country is not concerned with our little spat, William. The country has much greater concerns at the moment."
"I know it does, sir," Bill said, "and it's scared. We're all scared. It-it needs to stop."
"That sounds like your little boyfriend talking, more than the Bill I know," Vyraius said.
"Sir, you seem to enjoy baiting me," Bill said evenly. "And you don't. Know me, I mean. Maybe it does sound like Alistair but what he has to say is important. I know you think that you can make me do what you want with thinly veiled threats and I don't know, maybe you're right. I'm scared. Alright? I'll admit that. But what you need to know is that I'm not the only one who is. All of this, the fighting with the resistance just because you don't want to hear what they want to say, that's terrifying people. It-it needs to stop. You need to stop. Maybe you can be magnanimous here too. Just... stop. Stop all of this. Listen to the people who are asking to be heard. I see everything that's going on and it doesn't make me want to be part of your world any more than I ever did. It doesn't take some bigger-than-life hero to ask for such a thing. I'm just a Triangle. Just a simple, frightened Triangle that's asking for a voice. The country is suffering, anyone can see it. Your people don't want to live like this. Everyone's scared."
He sighed.
"Please, sir. Just, listen. Stop this before it goes any further."
"You know how much I love to hear you say 'please', Bill."
"Sir, this isn't funny anymore. Please stop."
"If you came to me, I might be convinced to listen, as you say."
Bill glanced at Risa. She just continued to hug him, crying softly.
"Sir, I already refused to be your consort. Why do you still want me?"
"Why, because I can't have you! Nobody refuses me, William Sifras! You may not realize it, but you're a valuable commodity in the Capitol. Simply everyone is talking about your little magic disappearing act and that's made you even more desirable to the rest of Society. The fact that I'm actively pursuing you and your cute little teasing of me has only made you the darling of the City!"
Cute? Teasing? Bill swallowed down a hot retort and closed his eye. Cerchio's propaganda machine was earning their pay. Of course the Chief would spin the truth into some kind of lurid tale where he came out looking like the sweet, long-suffering hero and Bill like a coquettish, spoiled brat.
"No," Bill said, feeling the bars slamming down around his family. Around Alistair. "No, I won't. Release my parents, Cerchio. Release Alistair. This game is over."
"It's not over until I say it is, Sifras!" Vyraius hissed. "You will come to me. We will make a show of our relationship. You'll do what I want from now on. Your parents and that insufferable Rhomboid you're so fond of go home, relatively unscathed. I'll give you some more time to think about it. However, even my patience isn't infinite."
The phone line went dead.
"Bill!" Risa whispered, shakily. "He has Alistair!"
Bill closed his eye and hugged Risa tightly. "Shh, it's okay. We don't know that for sure, Risa. I'm going to make some calls. I'll find out what's really going on. Don't worry. Cerchio lies. He's made a career of it."
"But your parents!"
"He won't hurt them, at least not while he thinks I'm considering his threats. He can't risk it, if he thinks I'll give in eventually."
"Do you think he knows about... Cipher?"
"I don't think so," Bill said slowly. "If he did, he wouldn't be calling me and my folks would probably be dead." He sighed. "That can only mean that Creon Hugh didn't reveal that information."
He took a deep breath.
"First, I need to talk to the Prefect."
Cyclonus Mansion, later that day
"I haven't seen anything saying that Vyraius has Alistair," Tveir said. "I'm still checking on it but I must tell you, it's entirely possible that he does indeed have him. It would be on the lists that my people can't get access to." He paused and looked away from Bill's eye. "The Subversive lists. If that's the case, I shudder to think what is happening to him. If he's even still alive. I'm sorry Bill."
Bill shook his angle. "I understand. I know, I've already spent far too much time dwelling on that possibility. I, uh, even thought I heard him speaking to me in my dreams."
The Circle's expression turned sad and compassionate. "Oh Bill, I'm sorry, son." He put a hand on Bill's angle. "I know, I understand."
"At least we know my parents are alright, for now."
"Yes, he won't harm them unless you acquiesce and I'd recommend you try and hold out as long as you can."
"What about Alistair?" Bill murmured, "there's got to be a way to find out if he's really been captured. I thought for sure he hadn't been. The mission team never saw him get taken."
"What did they say, Bill?"
"Only that in the ambush, Alistair got separated from them during the confusion and the last they saw, he was trying to fight off some of the Militia who'd cornered him. One moment he was there and the next, he wasn't. No one knew where he'd gone. The Militia didn't capture anyone and he wasn't amongst the dead, so they didn't know what had happened."
"He may have slipped and fallen, or managed to escape the Militia and couldn't get back to the others. Alistair seems like a smart kid, not the type to cut and run, or the kind to surrender to the soldiers."
"No, he'd never give up, or abandon his team."
"Then he must have been hurt or had to run to escape capture." The Circle leaned out of the sitting room door, "Please bring William some hot tea."
"Yes, sir."
Tveir turned back to Bill. "We will find out for certain." His eye frowned resolutely. "I know a man. I'd hesitated until now to involve him, because I don't know his loyalties. He owes me a favor. If I can convince him to look into the lists of the captured, of the secret prisoners, he may be able to provide me with more than just the location of our Mister Kendrick. It's a risk, but I'm willing to take it for you, son."
The butler brought a tea cart in, with cups, a pot of hot water and tea. He prepared a cup for Tveir and one for Bill, which he handed to him. Once he was finished, he left the room as quietly as he'd entered.
"I appreciate it, sir," Bill said, taking a drink. "I know I shouldn't obsess over one man, over one family but he-I-" He swallowed hard.
"Every loss is painful," Tveir said quietly. "Over the past weeks, I have seen more of my own friends fall, either to a crippling fear of change or to the Circle Militia itself. We're seeing lines drawn in every level of society. The fear of being labeled a dissenter is looming over all of us."
"I tried-" Bill said hesitantly, "I-I tried to talk to him, to Vyraius, on the phone. I tried to ask him to stop this-this war. He could, you know. If he'd just stop and listen-"
Tveir sighed. "I could have told you that he wouldn't, Bill. You're young and idealistic, he knows that. If he doesn't know who you really are and I doubt that he does, from what he's done and more notably, what he hasn't done, your asking him to stop the war only shows him that you're affected by his behavior, that you're thinking about him. It's only going to increase his interest in you. Unfortunately, he might learn more about you than you want him to. He knows you're at least sympathetic to the cause.
"You're lucky in that most young people are already known to be idealistic and somewhat anti-establishment. The most vocal supporters of the resistance in the Capitol are young, wealthy, stupid Shapes who really have no idea what's really going on in the provinces. They think they're being oppressed because their daddies won't give them the latest toy that everyone else has, or allow them to drink themselves into a stupor. They're using the rebellion as an excuse to be deviant and reckless and pursue their own wants and needs just because they think they might get a little more coin in their purses for their own selfish pursuits.
"Vyraius thinks you're just like they are. Silly, stupid, frivolous and self-involved, just like he is, if I'm being honest. My advice to you would be, don't talk to him any more than you must to keep your parents safe."
"You're right of course," Bill said. "I-I get too emotional sometimes and I just thought that perhaps, while he was listening to me, perhaps he might think about what I-I said."
"It was a noble thought, William." Tveir said, sipping his tea. "I'm not you, I'm not Cipher. I realize you're much smarter than Vyraius gives you credit for. You're one of the best leaders the cause has and I bow to your knowledge every time, when it comes to that. So, I hope that you will take my advice the way it's meant. You know the resistance, yes. But I know the Capitol, I know Vyraius and I know the Polygonal society he loves to impress. I will be honest with you, I worry about your emotional state when it comes to dealing with him. You were able to fool him today but there might not be a next time."
Bill looked down, into his tea.
"I know," he said. "I won't let there be a next time."
"Perhaps," the Circle said thoughtfully, "I might be able to help you. I can teach you how to deal with him. Give you an advantage for the next time he contacts you."
Bill nodded. "I think that's an excellent idea, sir."
Cipher's Laboratory, The Ruins, a week later
He sat quietly, at his desk in the alchemy lab, while Theus spoke with the cell leader at Arca Prefecture. There'd been fighting with the Circle Militia for days now and reports were coming in that Naran had been taken completely and several villages rounded up and summarily executed, on the Chief's order. There hadn't even been time to broadcast the massacre live, though agents reported Vyraius had cameras in the prefecture the entire time. There weren't even the pretence of arrests for Subversive activity this time. Naran was being used as an example. Bill knew the news of the razing of the province was already widespread and the video would be televised soon.
Arca likely would be next.
If Vyraius couldn't squash the rebellion by targeting the rebels themselves, he would take the problem prefectures out, one by one. Anywhere with even suspected Subversive activity was now on his hit list.
Which included Cyran.
As hard as the Prefect was trying to divert the Capitol's attention from Cyran, it was inevitable that eventually, they'd be under scrutiny, yet again. The fact that Vyraius knew that Alistair had been involved with a known group of Subversives hadn't helped. The fact that Bill resolutely refused to leave his home, only made Vyraius look harder at it.
The entire resistance had been underground since Bill had assumed command, which made it harder for Vyraius to find anything wrong with the province, but Bill knew that wouldn't stop him. He might just decide to make the Prefecture another example, just like Naran.
He couldn't let that happen.
People were dying and he couldn't stop it.
Alistair was probably wasting away in some awful dungeon and he couldn't help him.
His parents were the prisoners of a deranged, corrupt dictator and he couldn't free them short of agreeing to be that man's plaything.
Cyclonus risked his life and reputation to help Bill change the world and he would be the first on the chopping block if their rebellion was discovered. There was nothing he could do to help him either.
He'd never felt so useless, so helpless or so furious in his entire life.
He hated being backed into a corner. He hated being threatened and he hated feeling like he had no other choice.
He had to stop this.
Standing, he left the lab, made his way to the surface of the ruins and into the ancient garden.
Spring was coming, even though ice and snow still encrusted the birches and pines and the ground was frozen, the air was touched with the scent of thawing plants and was just slightly warm.
He stood in the garden, breathing deeply, letting the air clear his mind.
Cyclonus, Daniel, Theus, Nancy, Varien and Risa, his parents, the freedom fighters who relied on him to help them; Alistair. All of them were his responsibility. He couldn't continue to expose them to the heightening danger of Vyraius Cerchio and his insanity.
There was only one recourse left to him.
Vyraius Cerchio had to die.