Sorry if you don't like diplomatic parleying. This chapter gets a little long. Please don't give up though, because of course, there are lulls in the action, but it's never far away. It will be back soon.
I'm so excited for my next story though! It's coming along beautifully, and will probably be out in September. I've decided to publish short stories and oneshots throughout the summer througha friend. Any requests?
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the things I own. The things I own are the things not owned by Colfer. Colfer owns everything except the things I own. The things Colfer owns are the things I do not own. :) Try that one, all you people who think you're the next Artemis Fowl.
Valerie waited in silence for the man to think of something to say. He had probably not expected that particular answer. It would seem like an odd one, after all the fight she'd put up. This man was not Russian though— or if he was, he hadn't been raised here. He had an American accent. It was comforting to hear, if even from an enemy.
"There are too many of us for you to fight and hope to win," he said finally. "We are aware, however, that you are capable of taking down a large number of our men before you are captured. Therefore, we would like to avoid a large tiff, if possible. You cannot hope to get away."
She snorted. "Oh… yes! And that's what you said before I escaped The Fortress. That's what you said before I escaped the train."
"Madam— please. You are injured badly. Though we are enemies, I admire your bravery. You have far surpassed us all. No one will think less of you to surrender gracefully."
"I didn't think so either." Valerie drew her gun out of her jacket, and began to play with it. "How many of you do you think I can kill before I go down?"
"We do not want you dead."
"And then why should I surrender, when I can kill as many of you as I want, and still escape with my life?" He came a little closer, and Valerie raised the gun. "Oh no. You stay where you are. I can hear you quite well from here, I assure you. There's no need for that."
"Madam, I represent a powerful man— a wise man. He has told me that he regrets the methods that he used in an effort to gain the information you hold. You are not the kind of woman to succumb to such low measures. He is prepared to bargain with you for the information."
Valerie laughed. "Do you not understand? Once I've surrendered to you, I'm in no position to bargain with him on my terms. He must know that. Is he here?"
"You are as clever as he said you were. Yes, he is here, and he is prepared to bargain with you now."
"Very well." Valerie slipped the gun back into its holster. "Let us see what he has to offer me."
The man turned, and trotted back in the direction he had come from, leaving her to muss over what she would ask for. As soon as he was gone, Valerie turned, and slid back into the grass to Zane. "This is even better than I hoped for. Once we've reached an agreement, do what you're told, unless you see me disobey in the same manner."
"You're going to get us killed!"
Valerie laughed. "Oh no, I'm not. You know they want us alive, Zane. You know they do. You know he does." She stepped back out, and turned her attention towards the footsteps approaching her.
She could make out the shadows of seven men, the one in the middle slightly smaller than the rest. That would be The Tyrant. The men surrounding him were bodyguards, no doubt. What a coward.
Finally, a few feet from her, The Tyrant and his men materialized, and then stopped. He regarded her in silence for a few moments. "I underestimated you," he said at last.
"Don't feel bad. Most people do. I'm only a little girl, after all. What could I do?" It was consolation with a sting in it. Indeed she was only a little girl, but she had still managed to destroy The Fortress, and ruin this man's reputation as dangerous.
"Very well. I won't underestimate you again." He paused, running various offers through his head, in an effort to find the perfect one.
"You already have. I know what I want in exchange for the piece of information."
The Tyrant laughed indulgently. "You're right. You are not a child to be played with. Neither are you a foolish and near-sighted young adult to be led on with wild promises. You are an equal."
"An equal, perhaps, but not congruent." Valerie paused. "How much are the Sun Ye On offering you for me?"
Surprise flashed across The Tyrant's face. "You know— Never mind. Of course you would. I assume you've known about them for years, and played them out to make things more difficult for me. You still hold cards I haven't guessed, don't you?"
"I do, but you assumed wrong. I did not know they wanted me dead until two nights ago, when one of their men tried to kill me. Naturally, he failed. I too, hold some information that they would have. Or rather— would have me not have." She smiled slightly, and examined the nails on her hand. They were caked with dirt and blood.
"You are an interesting woman."
"I suppose I am." Valerie sighed. "But enough. First prove to me that you will keep your word once we have decided on something, and then prove to me that we will not be killed once you have the information you seek."
He regarded her in surprise. "But I cannot!"
"Think carefully before you give me your answer. Now prove it to me. Begin with the easiest for you. If you truly cannot, then there is no point in our bargaining."
"No, I suppose not." He studied her thoughtfully. "If I were to break my word, I would lose what little respect I have left, after everything that's happened. On trust, I will let you speak with Rivers, and tell him what I have promised. I'm sure he'll make things public."
Valerie smiled. "You're a smarter man that you look. Now what would you like from me?"
"The information. I want to know where the diamond is located, and how to get it."
For a moment, Valerie pondered this, working out her own demands to accommodate his. "Very well. In return, I would like your word that neither of us will be tortured in any manner— whether mental, physical, or emotional— and that we shall be given food, water, rest, and medical attention. I also expect that we will be better housed and treated than before, if not less guarded."
"Better guarded," muttered The Tyrant.
Valerie smiled again. "The information will be released to you by one of us in seven days from the time at which we surrender to you, and neither of us shall be harmed or killed after or before that time. After you are informed of its location, we will be released."
The Tyrant pursed his lips, and shook his head. "That is hardly fair! What if you decide to attempt to leave again?"
"Should we attempt to leave the area assigned to us without permission, you may take all measures to stop us, except for death. Were we to be recaptured, we would expect the rules to apply once again. Were we not to be recaptured, the contract would then become null, since we could not complete our part."
"And what if you come back after you have been released?"
Valerie squinted at him, and finally said: "Once we have exited, if we return to any area within a mile of the diamond, the contract will be null. Does that please you?"
A smile stretched the man's thin lips. "Yes, actually. Yes, it pleases me."
Valerie held out her hand. "Then give me a phone, and I will talk with Rivers."
Slowly, The Tyrant drew a phone out of his pocket. He paused, considering things for a moment, and then tossed it to her.
Valerie snatched it out of the air, flicked it open, and quickly dialed his number. Time could not be wasted. She would have to be careful after this. More careful. "Rivers?"
"Damn! Is that—"
"Yes, it's me. Shall I call an ambulance for you, or will you be alright?" Valerie shook her head in amusement.
"Where are you girl?" Rivers began to babble in his excitement. "When did you get out? Do you have the diamond? Do you have Zane? I saw what you did to The Fortress, and—"
"Actually, Rivers, I'm still in Russia, and I'm in the middle of bargaining with… The Tyrant, if you want to call him that." Valerie glanced at him to see how he liked that name. He very obviously did not, but she didn't care at the moment. "I have a deal with him."
Rivers snorted. "A deal? You have nerve, girl. Too much nerve. He'll never keep his promise."
"He will if everyone knows he made one."
"Oh. That's why you're calling me, isn't it?"
Valerie laughed, like an adult at a child's statement of the obvious. "Oh, brilliant deduction, Rivers! Brilliant!"
"Well?"
"In seven days, one of us is going to tell him where the diamond is, and then he's going to release us— alive. In the mean time, we get food, water, rest, and medical attention, which we both desperately need. If we attempt to get away, he can stop us with anything except death. If we come back within a mile of the diamond, after he let's us go, the contract's over. If we get away, the contract's over. Meaning he can kill us, basically." Valerie looked up at The Tyrant, who nodded his approval of her summary.
"You said you needed medical attention?" asked Rivers anxiously.
"Oh, stop worrying over my career, Rivers!" Valerie muttered a few choice words under her breath, irritably. "I still have one hand left, and that's good enough! I've done fine without my right!"
"Oh dear Holy Mother of God!" Rivers was screaming so loud, even The Tyrant and his bodyguards could hear. Valerie hastily pulled the phone away from her ear, before her eardrum burst. "You've lost a hand! You've lost a hand! Your right hand! What are you going to do? What are you going to do? Your career is ruined! What—"
Valerie snapped the phone shut. There was no point in trying to reassure Rivers, or argue with him, or tell him anything else. "Very well then. He knows now."
The Tyrant's mouth was twitching into what was dangerously close to a smile. "Is he— always like that?"
"Always. But he was probably more worried about the insurance money he's going to have to pay me for the loss. That, and the money he could possibly lose if I can't perform as well." Valerie shook her head in annoyance. "It's ridiculous though. It doesn't matter which hand I use."
"As I can testify to."
Valerie tossed back the phone, and then stood there a moment, thinking.
"Are we agreed then?" asked The Tyrant.
Without anymore hesitation, Valerie nodded, and drew her gun. "Yes. We are." She dropped it before his bodyguards could get too worried, and then nodded back towards the grass. "Zane probably needs to be carried. He seems to have taken the brunt of the injuries."
The Tyrant stepped forwards, playing a flashlight over her. "And I suppose you only have a few nicks? What did you do to that hand and arm? You didn't cut it off, did you?"
Valerie pulled open her jacket, so he could see how it was bound across her. "It was in the way."
"I see. And what about that new injury?" He nodded to two of his men, who hurried past her into the grass where Zane was.
"Oh, that. That was from a piece of metal that hit me after the train blew up." Valerie neatly sidestepped the two of his bodyguards who had tried to catch hold of her. "That's not really necessary. I'll walk."
"Very well." He waved a hand at them, and glanced over at Zane, who looked extremely annoyed about being carried, but was not saying anything, because being carried was better than walking. "What did he do? He doesn't look like he's in very good shape."
Valerie laughed. "Oh really? Does that surprise you, after all we've been doing, the past few days?"
"No," admitted The Tyrant.
Valerie fell into step between the two bodyguards who had tried to pick her up earlier, as The Tyrant began to walk towards one of the copters. "I don't suppose you have a medic with you?"
"We do, actually. I guessed you would need one."
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