Fae's Duty: Tactical Analysis

Our missions began to make sense as time went on, leading up to one final event: the assassination of Madame Morrible. I had wanted this ever since she had talked to us about being the Wizard's pawns, but it had probably originated even earlier than that.

Anyway, we got a message from Zeb indicating that there was a prime opportunity coming up. Madame Morrible was coming to Oz, for an event in our district, and he wanted us to do the deed.

We were going to Zeb's apartment for a planning meeting. This was a rare event, as it was dangerous for three of us to all be in the same place, but we had to strategize well and quickly if we were going to manage it.

Yero and I strolled out of the den in opposite directions, taking separate routes to the apartment so as to look inconspicuous. We were to enter at different times, but as I turned the corner onto Zeb's street, I saw Yero coming in the other direction.

He has such horrible timing. I told him to take a more direct route, but apparently he has no concept of that. I can hardly turn back now; I'll just have to walk around the block again.

I glared at him as he walked towards the door, and I turned away down the other road. He didn't react; either he meant to act like he didn't know me or he was simply not observant enough. This troubled me, as I needed to know if he was capable of this job.

I turned the corner and approached the door. A quick tap, the door opened in front of me, and I was pulled inside by a flustered Zeb. I was glad to see that he was just as worried about exposure as I was.

We went down to the basement, the only room with no windows, and sat down on the cushions piled on the floor. Zeb pulled out a schematic of the district and began pointing out the details of our plan.

I watched and listened intently as we went over the events of that day, but noticed Fiyero fidgeting beside me. I assumed he was just nervous about killing someone, but I stored the observation in the back of my mind for later.

Zeb had decided to get a ticket to the event for me, so I had an easy entry. Fiyero, on the other hand, had the task of sneaking the weapon in for me, as I couldn't carry it past the guards. I was to enter the town square that held the event as a usual guest, and Fiyero would slide in past the guards to hand the knife off to me.

From there, it was all up to me. Fiyero would make his way out of the square without being caught, and I would do the actual deed. As much as this was more dangerous for me, I was glad to be the one, due to my hatred for Madame Morrible and concern for Fiyero's safety.

The real problem would come in not being caught afterwards; it was likely that the guards would blockade the entire square so that they could catch us. Zeb, however, had found an apartment building in the square with an uninhabited basement. We could easily open the windows beforehand, so that I could slip down there unnoticed until the Gale Force abandoned the search.

I didn't actually care that much if there was an escape plan. As much as I wanted to be with Fiyero, and to continue my undercover work, I had known a long time ago that I could die on the job. But I followed the plan because I knew it would wreck Yero if I didn't make it back to him safely.

That brought the end of our planning session, as Zeb didn't want to risk taking any more time, and Fiyero and I both understood the plan. We left separately and returned to the den; he actually took my advice and took the direct route this time, so he was easily back before I was, despite leaving afterwards.

I slept fitfully, awaiting the day when I could bring down my enemy.

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A/N: The end is coming soon. If you've read the book, you should recognize how it links back into the canonical story…