Chapter 11: Spies In Every Corner

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Jaden pulled a key from the hidden pocket in the seam of his vest. The door swung open with a twist of the key and the quick click of gears. He had expected the first mediation to last at least two hours. The brawl, though unfortunate, gave him the perfect excuse to sneak off to his own meeting.

Sunlight filtered in through a single small window. He had strategically placed mirrors on the walls to serve the dual purpose of brightening the room and allowing him to watch his own back.

His office was a haven for him to retreat when he needed to clear his head and one of the most secure places for him to speak with his lieutenants in the Scarlet Society. He still marveled at the fact that they had managed to fit a couch, table, desk and armchair into the crowded space.

“You’re early.” Casper sat at Jaden’s desk, transcribing the notes from his black book. The scarlet ink differentiated the orders for the Scarlet Society from the letters for Jaden’s political persona in black ink.

Jaden sighed. “Don’t get your hopes up, the first session ended in a brawl.”

Casper hummed an agreement, “As I predicted.”

“Oh, did you win this week’s betting pool?” Jaden sifted through the small pile of letters the automated pipe delivery system had delivered while he had been away.

Casper chuckled, neither confirming nor denying the existence of the Scarlet Society’s betting pool.

Jaden would let it continue so long as it did not affect their performance in the field. It was harmless fun and the former assassins, thieves, and spies could use all the harmless fun they could get in these trying times. He poured himself a generous glass of burr and took a seat in his armchair while he waited for his lieutenants.

Reading a letter from his contact in the Elementi Peacekeepers, Jaden grimaced. “The second traitor in our midst in one planetary rotation. The Peacekeepers found Kamdar Bryon of Elementi guilty of selling information to the Animalians.”

Casper turned in his chair. “What of his family? I have a few people I know who work for his family.”

“The king humiliated him for some invented reason, but he knew well enough to keep his mouth shut, so he did not doom the rest of his family.”

The next letter made Jaden take a long drink. “We lost another airship over enemy lines. I hope you have better news for me.”

“One of our spies in the smuggling ring gave Francis descriptions for the men that meet with the investors or leaders.”

“Good, have we received any information from the Enforcers or the Peacekeepers about the smuggling ring?”

“No, but Enforcer Henrik has convinced the Elementi Peacekeepers to share case files on the traitors.”

Jaden downed the rest of his drink, “Oh, and accept the invitation to Lady Emera’s party.”

Casper blinked, “As you wish, my lord.”

“Then write up a second letter expressing my apologies for missing the party because of the alliance talks. Post it in the early morning before the party.”

Amusement played across Casper’s face. “I see, my lord. It will be done.”

Jaden rubbed his face, “I wish my sisters would stop trying to play matchmaker. They make the absolute worst choices.”

The secret Scarlet Society knock sounded at one of the servant entrances. He had doors and locks put on all the secret entrances and exits to prevent people from stumbling upon one of his private meetings. The servants found this to be inconvenient and had complained on more than one occasion.

Casper unlocked the door. Francis and Tobias entered the office. They both wore neutral, nondescript clothes, with their black hair cut in the most common Mineralite fashion. The only way Jaden could tell them apart is he knew Francis had a few years and just a bit of height on the younger Tobias.

Tobias frowned at Jaden’s presence. “You’re here early.”

Casper pretended to be nonchalant. “The first session ended early with-”

“An assassination?” Francis interrupted.

Jaden shook his head. “A brawl.”

Tobias let out a defeated sigh.

Francis groaned. “Oh Zephyr!”

“I will pretend you're upset because this isn’t a good sign for the alliance, and not because you lost a few notes.” Jaden put up a finger to stop Francis from replying. “And don’t deny it.”

Francis struggled to keep an innocent expression on his face.

Belladonna joined them, wearing a servant’s attire. She took a seat on the couch arm beside Francis. “Shall we begin?”

“The nobles and highborn have agreed to share the burden of the Tezino Elementi refugees. Lady Emera pointed out many of the women and some men were of fighting age, so we have her to thank for that.” Jaden fidgeted with his empty glass. “However, Lord Jario wanted to add a clause to the alliance that no one could get revenge for any family grudges during the war.”

Tobias snorted, “He is the one picking all the fights, and now he tries to play the victim.”

Belladonna smoothed her skirt. “He has a point, even if it is a self-centered one. If we try to house both armies in one barrack, fights will break out unless there are rules in place to handle soldiers who have fought each other for generations.”

“Well, we weren’t able to get to that logical argument before things erupted into a shouting match between Kamdar Henry, Lord Albrecht, and Count Josef.” Jaden rubbed his face.

“As it is written, the alliance is straightforward. Why can’t they just sign it?” Francis’ voice trembled with restrained fury, “Every minute wasted in that meeting room is another minute people are dying on the front lines.”

Casper grunted, “The nobles and highborn want to make sure it has the proper number of safeguards and loopholes to protect their interests.”

Jaden nodded, “Representative Rafael said as much during our conversation at the Red Moon Soirée. Sihara mentioned something to her father about getting testimony from soldiers to make the horrors of the war a reality for the nobles and highborns. I’m sure her father will think a speech will change everyone's mind, but we should have other options available, should the need arise.”

Francis steepled his fingers, “I think we should address the Harnark in the room. Who leaked the fact you were a part of a sting operation on the smuggling ring?”

Jaden winced. “Tobias, what have you found?”

“I spoke with each of the members of the Society who were involved and went through all of our communications about the sting operation.” Tobias handed Jaden a folder with his notes. “There were only five people who knew the sting at the Blacksmith’s Inn was taking place, with enough time to communicate with the smuggling ring and for them to hire the assassins and integrate them into the ring.”

The folder included a list of names. “Ashen, Casper, Belladonna, Tobias and Francis. Bold of you to put your name on here.”

Tobias became flustered, “I wrote only the truth, sir.”

Francis bit his nail, “I don’t want to believe it is Ashen, but he is the newest member of the Scarlet Society, and maybe we did not examine him as thoroughly as we should have.”

Jaden grimaced, “You four are the only members of the Society I trust. Try to keep Ashen busy with non-essential work and keep information tight to your chest. He may not be a spy, and we can’t risk another leak.”

Tobias opened his mouth to reply, but a knock at the door silenced him.

“Are we expecting anyone?” Jaden asked in a whisper.

Casper checked the schedule in his little black book. “No.”

Francis whispered. “Maybe if we say nothing, they will go away.”

The knocking came again only this time more frantic. A muffled voice spoke on the outside. A woman’s voice.

“It’s your door.” Francis nudged Jaden.

“What? No, it could be Emera or Josephine, and I’m not ready to face either.” Jaden pointed at Casper, “You answer the door.”

Casper arched an eyebrow, but didn’t agrue. He opened the door and looked surprised. “Taja, what brings you here?”

Jaden tried to think of any reason why Sihara would come all the way to the Mineralite wing to speak to him.

“I must speak with Jaden.” Sihara’s voice was thick with frustration.

Casper cleared his throat, “He isn’t available can you come back another time?”

“It is time sensitive.” Sihara insisted before adding in a whisper, “Someone’s life is in danger.”

“Let me see if he can make an exception.” Casper partly closed the door. “Lord Jaden, Taja Sihara is here to see you. She says it is about an urgent life or death matter.”

Jaden shared a look with Belladonna, Francis, and Tobias. Even a trusted friend, such as Sihara Dayal, couldn’t see them together.

In an instant, the group scattered.

Belladonna squeezed into the hall closet and pushed away the others. There just wasn’t enough room for them in the confined space.

Francis hid behind the thick, dusty curtains hanging from the window.

Tobias stumbled around before he laid down in the space between the wall and the couch.

Jaden stuffed all of their meeting notes into his desk drawers. He adjusted his tie and his hair. “Please show her in.”

Casper turned, but Sihara had already shown herself in and closed the door behind her.

“They are planning to kill the king! You have to believe me.” Her shawl hung unevenly around her shoulders. Dark curls gathered around her face, where her clip had come loose.

Jaden put his hand up, “Wait, slow down. Who is planning to kill the king?”

“Lord Neron!”

That is a bold claim. Jaden thought, but out loud he said, “Take a seat, I’ll get you a drink and you can explain it from the beginning.”

Casper helped her into a seat with her back to the curtains. Sihara massaged her forehead. “A cup of tea would be lovely.”

Jaden poured a glass of burr, “This is stronger than a cup of tea, but it should help take the edge off.”

Sihara took a sip and grimaced at the taste. Taking a deep breath, she began, “Lord Neron was talking with members of the Mineralite Superiority Movement, they are planning on assassinating the king.”

Oh Creator, she will be in grave danger if the Mineralite Superiority Movement catches wind of her eavesdropping on them.

“You overheard this? Were you followed?”

“No, Kamdara Victoria told me.” Sihara gasped lightly and covered her mouth. “I can’t believe I told you that. You can’t tell anyone.”

“It’s fine, I already know she is one of your family’s spies.” Jaden bit the inside of his cheek. And mine. They must have followed Victoria if she had to send Sihara instead of coming herself.

Sihara set her cup down with a hard clink, “Well, I didn’t! I just thought we were good friends. Is this just some fact of life that no one told me about? Are there spies hiding in every corner?”

Jaden scratched the back of his neck, trying hard not to look at the places where his spies were hiding right at this moment. “It’s not that simple. Someone could make a case that sharing the gossip you hear in your circles with your father is spying. Someone doesn’t have to be a professional spy to share information for the right cause. Everyone has their price.”

Francis sneezed behind the curtains and Casper cleared his throat across the room. “My apologies, my allergies are acting up again. I’ll have the servants in here to do another cleaning.”

Sihara glanced between Casper and the curtains. “But I thought-”

Jaden interjected, “Did she tell you when they plan to assassinate the king? Or anything else she overheard?”

Sihara wrung her hands, “No, I’m sorry she didn’t tell me anything about that. I spoke with the King’s Guard, but they just said unless I had proof, they had planned for every possible attempt and there wasn’t anything to worry about. They had the audacity to imply that I would slander Lord Neron to further the alliance.”

Sihara had come to him, she trusted he would find a way out of this mess, but he could not, under any circumstances let her know that he was a member of the Scarlet Society or even had connections with the Scarlet Society. Her heart was in the right place, but the wrong word to the wrong person and the effectiveness of his operation would be compromised.

Finally he said, “I will send a message to the Enforcers and the King’s Guard to back up your report. Maybe they will take a Mineralite’s word for it and it should prevent them from claiming you were spreading slander. Stay away from Lord Neron until this resolves itself.”

Sihara frowned, “That’s it?”

Jaden hesitated, trying to think of something else he could do without the help of the Scarlet Society. “I will tell my father to keep an eye on Lord Neron, but that’s the best I can do. We’ll just be in the way, we have to let the professionals do their job.”

Any Mineralite would know he was lying through his teeth. No one trusted a “professional” to do anything other than take a bribe and look the other way. But Sihara was an Elementi, her people hid their corruption much deeper, so maybe she wouldn’t hear the hollowness of his words.

Sihara deflated. “I just wish I could do something, anything to help.”

“You’ve already done your part, and now you can leave it for others to worry about. Casper, why don’t you bring her to the kitchen and have them prepare her a cup of tea.”

Casper opened the door and led her out of the room.

Jaden counted to five, “You can come out now.”

Francis shoved the curtains aside and blew his nose in his handkerchief. “Oh Creator, when was the last time someone beat the dust out of these things? Ten years ago?”

Tobias shimmed out from his place behind the couch. “And they are not cleaning underneath there.”

Belladonna opened the closet. “We should talk to Casper about adding some proper places to hide in the event you have visitors.”

Jaden nodded, “We have to assume our operative inside the Mineralite Superiority Movement has been compromised.”

“If Lord Neron is at the center of this, we need to take him down. I know a few untraceable poisons we could slip in one of the many drinks he consumes during the soirees.” Belladonna’s eyes held a dangerous glint.

“But they may plan to kill the king during the next session, can we really risk waiting until another one of the soirees?” Tobias argued.

Jaden shook his head, “The next session will be after lunch. I do not think they have the resources to make an attempt that soon.”

“Still, I don’t think there would be anything wrong with telling our contacts in the Elementi and Mineralite courts to be on guard.” Francis said.

“Very well, be discreet.” Jaden rubbed his chin. “Sihara mentioned that Lady Emera is planning to remove Lord Neron from power. She suspects he is keeping her sister confined when she became the more powerful of the two. Rather than killing the lord, perhaps all we need is to exhilarate Lady Emera’s plans.”

“A job for our adept politician, perhaps?” Belladonna grinned.

And that was the moment Jaden realized he had volunteered to work closely with Lady Emera. Creator only knows how much I have sacrificed for this alliance.

Casper arranged the meeting and Lady Emera accepted within the hour. They were to meet in the Mineralite side of the Ambassadorial Gardens. A tad bit romantic for Jaden’s tastes, but Casper insisted it would make their meeting all the more inconspicuous.

Jaden ate a hasty lunch and then made his way towards the gardens. A few trees held onto their orange leaves and several shrubs showed off black, white and red berries. His favorite were the little purple wild flowers growing stubbornly in the middle of the path despite the gardeners best efforts to remove them.

Footsteps crunched on the gravel behind him, “The garden is so beautiful this time of year, don’t you agree?”

Jaden turned. Emera’s dark wool dress was scandalously practical compared to her usual outfits. “I suppose it has its own kind of beauty.”

“The hidden strength…” She gestured to the trees and then the bushes, “…the promise of life.”

It is rare to find a Mineralite who appreciates nature. Jaden smiled, “You see it through the eyes of a poet.”

“You know someone might get the wrong idea when you ask them to meet you in the gardens.” Emera took a step closer and put a hand on his arm. “Alone.”

The rumor mill will have a field day with this. It took every bit of Jaden’s self control not to take a step back. “I wanted to be sure you were uninjured after the commotion in the Meeting Hall.”

“Your concern is touching.” Emera offered him a smile that would have dazzled anyone who didn’t know her work like he did. Helping her father claw his way up from a minor line of the Wern family to the major line and become the duke of the province had not been without casualties. Her Falcons were adept women spies and assassins to rival his own more morally-aligned Scarlet Society.

Even a nimr can be beautiful from a far.

Emera raised a delicate eyebrow, “Did you visit Lady Josephine before asking to meet me here?”

Jaden avoided her pointed question. “I wish to urge you to increase your vigilance. I would hate for you to underestimate the lengths some people will go to in order to prevent the alliance from being signed.”

Emera’s face became decidedly neutral, “You speak of the Mineralite Superiority Movement.”

Jaden wondered about her own connection to the Movement. She certainly believed in the superiority of the genetically modified Mineralites, but her dogged pursuit of a Senken like him could not have gained the approval of the Movement.

Emera hummed, “I love that dark, calculating look on you. You needn’t worry about my involvement. I believe the Movement makes a mockery of upstanding Mineralites with their use of violence to prove their worth.”

“But you believe in the superiority of Mineralites over Elementi?”

Emera fixed him with a stare, “Superiority is a poor choice of words on their part. I would say that our genetic alteration has created a being that is stronger, healthier, and better able to adapt to their environment than a natural born Elementi or Mineralite.”

“So your pursuit of me is nothing more than a grab for power.” Jaden could have kicked himself. He needed to work together with her not make her his enemy.

“I’m sorry if that is what you think of me.” Emera offered him a look of pity, “What your parents did by denying your right as a subject of the Mineralite kingdom to genetic alteration was wrong. It isn’t your fault. For people to treat you poorly because of it is also wrong. Your so-called ‘senken’ genes are no different from any natural Mineralite before their alteration and your children will not be any more or less Mineralite because of the unaltered state of your genes.”

In one vulnerable moment, Jaden almost wanted to believe she actually meant what she said. But one must tread carefully when playing in the spider’s web.

He could never trust her. He could never tell her the things he experienced throughout his life because of his parent’s choice. The moment she sensed weakness, she would wield it as a weapon against him. It was her nature and just as he could not fault the nimr for its nature, he could not fault her for hers. Besides, she would never believe him when he told her of his abilities and strength far beyond what the geneticists claimed was possible for a natural born Mineralite. Nor would she understand his wish to keep his children free of genetic alteration.

She could make a powerful ally, but she would make a terrible wife. His father’s position would insulated him from her wraith should they become enemies. So it is time to play the spider at her own game and weave a web of lies just pretty enough to pass for truth.

Jaden bowed his head, “I hope you can accept my apology, Lady Emera. I believe I mistook your intentions and responded out of frustration from past experiences.”

Emera touched his face and forced him to hold her gaze. “I forgive you, Lord Jaden.”

Jaden gently removed her hand from his face, “We wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. Not while I am still attached to Lady Josephine.”

Emera’s smile grew to a grin, “I can help with that situation.”

“I believe I have it under control. You see, it must be handled delicately while the alliance talks are still in progress. After that…” Jaden offered a noncommittal shrug.

A gardener looked up from his weeding. The classic role for a spy. He wasn’t even sure there was a gardener on staff who wasn’t a spy for someone or another.

Emera followed his gaze and crossed her arms.

They were too exposed to talk without being overheard. Jaden offered a tight smile. “Walk with me?”

The labyrinth would be the typical choice, but that would make it more likely to run into someone else trying to have a private, er, conversation. The twists and turns could just as well hide an eavesdropper while the hedges did little to dampen voices. He preferred the little used walkway by the pond. The waterfowl noisily went about their business and provided cover for their conversation.

Jaden clasped his hands behind his back, “I am concerned about your sister, Lady Susan. Have you heard from her recently?”

“Not after our uncle’s death and the mantle of leadership of the Harken Province fell to her.” Emera jutted her chin, “Last I heard she was down with the Fog, but it has been several days.”

“It must be something worse to leave her bedridden for so many days. Have you been able to speak with her doctor?” Jaden asked, perhaps she had someone on the inside who would be able to expose Lord Neron’s behavior.

Emera shook her head, “Not only will he not let her doctor speak with me, but Lord Neron is also unwilling to get a second opinion from my family’s doctor. He said I have an ulterior motive so my hands are tied.”

So Lord Neron had caught her spy red handed, “Perhaps someone else could send a doctor to provide Lord Neron with a neutral point of view and your family with peace of mind.” His own people would be able to ferry Lady Susan out of the mansion and into a safe house.

“My family would be indebted to anyone who would be able to send a doctor to examine my dearest little sister.” Emera’s hands balled into fists. “You understand what it is like to feel the need to protect your little sisters. You would be willing to do anything to ease their pain and it is torture for me to be unable to do anything for her.”

The final piece of the puzzle and the only way he would get involved with this mess to begin with is if Lady Susan was willing to depose Lord Neron. “The question is, if Lady Susan is ill with a disease worse than Lord Neron suspects, how can you convince him to give her the proper treatment she deserves?”

“My sister has always been exceptionally bright. I believe she will have enough wits about her to see his refusal to have her treated properly is a sign that he may care more about his title than her well being.” Emera promised to have her sister testify against Lord Neron if Jaden could deliver her from his hands.

It would be enough to depose Lord Neron as the leader of the Harken province perhaps even have him disinherited from the family, but not enough to get him exiled. Unless the Scarlet Society could use this little rescue mission to have a legitimate way of looking for evidence.

Jaden nodded, “I find our understanding agreeable.”

Lady Emera curtsied. “I hope we can have more understandings in the future.”