I was saved by the proverbial bell when dad whistled us over.

Sakura nailed both of us with her stare.
-"This isn't over."
She used two fingers to make the universal I'm watching you sign. But she did it wrong, because she pointed at me first and then at her.

Rin shook her head and left out a bone-weary sigh.
-"Thank you for the discretion back there...I wanted to paint it as a gallant adventure and gloss over the details. But as soon as I remembered the place, the smell, the damned smell of that sleeping drug and the bite of the manacles...it was too much."

I patted her back.
-"Let's go. And if anytime you wish to use that Princess Leia costume again, be my guest."

-"Princess Leia? Where is her kingdom?"

-"Far, far away."
I looked at her expecting to see her jesting, but it was the canted head with furrowed brows that meant honest curiosity.
What kind of messed up childhood did...hol up.
Patting her back again, this time with a heavy heart and the anguish that reached far into my soul, I made my vow.
"Don't worry, we will fix you, I promise."

When we returned to the table, the old vellum was laid for all to see. Tokiomi was tenting his hands while he bit his lower lip.
-"I was expecting to celebrate the marriage of our families. Already sent the invitations to the Mage's Association, the works."

Dad exhaled and gathered air to start a tirade. But Tokiomi raised his hand to forestall him.
-"Yes, I know. But think it like this. Would it not raise more suspicions if we moved the date? If we hid? Let us have a small event, invite the noblest houses with the pretext that only them are special enough to merit an invite. After all, my lineage is of the highest stock."
He stroked his goatee. He was fond of his goatee. He looked the part of a Bond villain, money, class and a calculating mind.
"Yes, yes. That would be for the best. Also, it gives us the chance to place some rumours on the Clocktower's mill."

Sakura pointed to the vellum, a question mark over her head.
-"If this is so valuable, can't we just sell it?"

Dad took out a cigarette and pointed to the source of our headaches.
-"This isn't valuable, Sakura-chan. Valuable is a spell that lets you annihilate your foes without a trace. Valuable is a catalyst that lets you summon a hero straight out of legend. This-"
He pointed at the drawing for emphasis.
"-this is a war waiting to erupt. I'm not sure it's even safe to disclose this to the Clocktower's Director. Divine blood. The thought alone boggles the mind. You covered Nagasaki and Hiroshima in the school, didn't you? This is the Hocus Pocus version."
He paused and took a long pull from the cigar. Even if Sakura's white face was fear incarnate, he pushed on.
"You don't sell nukes. You don't even tell other people where you stash your nukes. You keep it low and hopefully, if you are lucky, you don't ever have to press the red button."

Mum waited for the full weight of dad's words to sink in.
-"We will have the wedding, we will leak second-hand rumours carefully crafted for each guest. When the news filters out about the Mines of Solomon over the Red Oasis, we will know whose lips were loose. If the Clocktower is gossiping about an archangel's blade, or a spear wassit?"
She winked at Sakura and smiled, lessening the pants-shitting fear to a manageable degree.
"...Each level of deception provides cover for the rest."

Mr. Tohsaka looked at mum in a new light.
-"And here I was thinking your lot were only barely better than trained monkeys."

Dad's grin was feral.
-"Exactly as we want it. This unshaven visage was carefully crafted for maximum performance."

I coughed into my fist.
-"Coughlazycough."