Politics, negotiations, caution, presumably. If it were Henri's choice, he would declare all those words dirty right there and then. And this was just one week into his rule as provisional Guildmaster. He figured it would only get worse once he was formally 'elected'. It wasn't like there was any kind of democracy in the Guild, but the council still liked to pretend they were listening to the rest of the Guild to avoid a mutiny. The majority of the thieves weren't likely to want anybody else as Guildmaster anyways. As long as they kept getting their money and Elixir of Life few had much of an opinion.
The other Guilds were a completely different story. Sooner or later they would find out about Jean-Luc's death. Henri could only decide if it would be sooner, but on his terms, or later, by the way of rumors. Once the cat was out of the sack, the larger Guilds would surely try to 'help', if that was what you would call their attempts at manipulation. But Henri suspected that he would need them, no matter how much it turned his stomach to even think about needing another Guild's help, as the Assassins were surely behind this, and they wouldn't do something this bold unless they had a solid plan. What that plan was, he didn't know, but the desired end result was clear; the destruction of the Thieves' Guild. And Henri would die before he would let that happen.
The smaller Guilds weren't to be ignored either. Over the past century the New Orleans Guild had absorbed most Louisianan Guilds, but Henri knew for a fact that there always were and would be some small Guilds, from this state or the neighboring ones, seeking to expand their territory. As soon as the New Orleans Guild showed any weakness, those Guilds would descend on them like hungry vultures.
He sighed and got back to work. This years 'Rite of Passage', the Tilling, for the new Thieves would have to be cancelled, the visit from the Tokyo Guild too, and there were still heists to approve, meetings with local thugs to attend, his fathers funeral to plan. And that meeting with the Assassins' Guildmaster, Marius Bordeaux? Has to be rescheduled too. Right now he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't try to kill the man on sight. He told himself that all the transcripts of recent council meetings to after he formally became Guildmaster, otherwise he would go insane from the pressure.
He was dying from boredom. Okay, maybe not boredom, but rather from all the thoughts and memories in his head, eating at him from the inside, and nothing to distract him. No matter what he tried to do, he would always see what-happened-a-week-ago. He didn't even want to say it in his head. Usually this would be the time to sneak out and slip into the Lapin house to hang out with Emil. But because of what-happened-a-week-ago, he had become a pariah in his own Guild. Well, even more of a pariah than he had been before.
No matter what, now any Guildmember that would see him leaving his home at this time of night would raise alarm and his name would be tarnished even more than it already was. Was there even a 'more'? He wasn't sure. Being accused of killing his own father, the Guildmaster was as bad as it got, wasn't it?
Well, either way, the result was him being stuck in his room. He had already cleaned it several times, once a day actually, played every game he had on his computer until he was sick of it, resumed his attempts at learning to draw, gave up on it and reread the blurbs on every single book he had in his room and even built a 'house of books', just like a house of cards, only with books. After he couldn't bear to play even one more round of Solitaire, he had finally reached to the apathetic stage of boredom. He was just lying on his bed and wondering if time had slowed down.
Suddenly his phone vibrated. He jumped and picked it up. Honestly, he was setting himself up for disappointment. In all likelihood it was some boring automated message. But it wasn't.
He could have howled from joy. It was Bella. His very first friend and also, for about eight months, girlfriend. But also the daughter of the local Assassin Guildmaster. The Assassins Guild had been at war with the Thieves Guild since both their formation. Though their friendship had defied their Guild's rivalry, Remy sincerely hoped she wasn't contacting him because of Guild matters. Especially considering what-happened-a-week-ago, and the Assassins being the main suspects. Or at least being the main suspects to anyone who didn't suspect Remy.
His mood fell momentarily, and he unlocked his phone expecting the worst. Thankfully Bella seemed to only want... his help shopping for dresses?!
Belladonna Bordeaux may not be able to do everything herself, but the next person to say that to her face would be the first. Or maybe not the first, but the next to land in the river and sleep with the fishes. She only accepted help when she could say that it was only a courtesy and she could have done everything herself anyways. Her asking for help? Unheard of.
Then it all started to make sense. It was their old code! He tried to remember the code they had thought up when they first started texting and didn't want their parents to know what they were up to. They hadn't had to use it in months, ever since their respective fathers told them that they knew about them dating and that they were okay with it. Remy's heart stung a bit when thinking of his father.
Shopping meant noon, dresses... The alley between the little café and the boutique with the wedding dresses. Simply going out by himself tomorrow would raise too many questions, but if he were to ask Claire and Emil, at least one of them would surely join him and provide an alibi. His evening may not have gotten much more interesting, but he now at least had something to look forward to for tomorrow.
A/N: I was trying to keep a regular updating schedule, but became really excited by getting an actual review so here we are. I'm really new to this.
The next one is probably coming on Sunday (I hope).