Alliances Offered, Part Five

Tavros rose from his chair in the sitting room as lady Tabitha entered. He offered a bow, and she made a very proper curtsy in return. Vigo the Whisperer was nowhere in evidence, but that -- her father had once warned her -- was when the spymaster was at his most attentive. And the Fontaine Heir wasn't alone; an elderly gnome sat in a chair at the same table, smiling cheerfully at her. A human woman, older but still spry, occupied the third chair at the table.

"You wanted to speak with me, Your Majesty?" Tabitha asked. 

His Majesty nodded. "Come, sit. Or stand, as you would. You've been here for most of a week, now. You aren't a spy, unless you're either far more restrained or far more skilled than any of us believe possible. Still, I can't imagine that lady Jacqueline Bouvier sent you here without the intent to gather some information, at least."

Lady Tabitha studied the gnome but didn't recognize him. The Abbess Hilda she'd seen in the halls a few times, and the woman worried her: she was far too cunning and canny to be avoided for long. Still... "Could we speak privately, Your Majesty?" 

Tavros shook he head. "I will not have it said that we spent time together unchaperoned. But if you wish it, I will have Geddy and Eva step outside, and the Abbess can bear witness to our meeting." 

Tabitha hadn't known the human woman who had come to fetch her, though Anica evidently had; the paladin had surrendered her into Eva's care without a moment's hesitation, and Eva had brought her here. Having the Abbess listen in wasn't her preference, but then Eva had a certain... presence... as well, and maybe this was better. "I wish it, yes."

"A moment, then," said the Abbess, rising. "Eva, would you be so kind as to go to the hall of learning and ask Brother Claudius to attend us?"

Eva nodded graciously, and the gnome said, "Later, Your Majesty." He was humming something as he went out the door, and Tavros grimaced. 

"Who is Brother Claudius?" asked Tabitha, as much to break the silence as anything else.

The Abbess smiled kindly. "He is our chief inquisitor," she said. 

Lady Tabitha felt herself flinch, but Tavros shook his head. "Not like the last king's Archons. The Inquisitors of Amun investigate magical crimes. Brother Claudius is a mystic theurge, both a priest of Amun and a wizard. He can do much to ward this room against eavesdropping, if it's privacy you want."

"Ah," said Tabitha, as a feeling of profound relief flowed through her. "Yes."

It took perhaps a quarter of an hour before the mystic theurge arrived and secured the room. She recognized most of the spells he used; they were a good selection. When he announced that it was done and departed, Tabitha turned to look at Tavros. "Would you have me tell you of my lady? Or of the Solari who guard Giles Bouvier? I have no further news of his plans for you as yet."

Tavros nodded. "Let's start with your lady," he said. "What is it that motivates her to help me?"

Lady Tabitha considered that. "She believes that Giles Bouvier has lost the mandate of heaven," she said. "She was raised to be loyal to the throne of Sol Povos, and her father's actions are treason."

"I see," said Tavros, in a neutral tone that might have meant anything. "She is loyal to me over her father?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" asked Tabitha.

"I don't know," he admitted. "In this, I have absolutely no basis for comparison. Very well, then, what of yourself? Have you informed your own father that I'm coming to execute him?"

"No, Your Majesty," she answered automatically, and then froze. Oh, shit. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck fuck fuckity fuck shit-damn. She knew, at that moment, that she was doomed. They know. And it had been such a simple trap to catch her in, too.

Tavros sighed. "Lady Bouvier, why are you here?"

She looked at the Abbess, who was watching her curiously, then back at Tavros. The round table between them was simultaneously too much distance, and not enough, but she didn't trust herself to stand. Not now. Not if she was going to have to attempt a last-minute escape. "Because I want my father dead," she said, and tried to teleport. 

The spell hit another magic, rebounded, and left her reeling in her chair. Tavros sighed again, then reached down to his belt and pulled out five gold coins. He stacked them in front of the Abbess. 

"I told you," she said. "Nobody from the Court ever expects kindness. She is never going to believe that we might actually just want to help her. There always has to be an angle."

Tavros tilted his head, then turned back to look at Jacqueline. "If I offer you your freedom, will you tell me what your plan was?" He hesitated, then added: "I will tell you freely that we're all very confused as to why you're here and not Lady Tabitha."

And lady Jacqueline Bouvier, sitting there in the wreckage of her stupid, doomed, useless plan... decided to speak plainly. "That's because you don't know my father," she said. She drew a long, deep breath. 

"I wanted to spite him," she said. "I wanted to sabotage his plans the way he's always accused me of doing. Lady Tabitha agreed to stay at his court, and I gave her my face so he wouldn't know I was gone. She would learn what I should know, and I would pass it on to you, and my father would drive himself half-mad with trying to root out spies."

She paused, but Tavros remained silent. Unwillingly, she continued: "Then you told me that you planned to execute him, and... May Helios forgive me, I wanted that." 

She shook her head and sighed, then looked down at the floor. "I had thought that once I had helped you enough to prove myself trustworthy, I might reveal my true identity and perhaps even convince you to marry me. That would have done it -- Father would have been furious, and I would have been out of his reach at last. But helping you to execute him? That's even better, even if he'll never understand why he deserves it."

Tavros sighed. "You must hate him very much."

"Hate barely begins to cover it," Jacqueline told him. Honesty, it seemed, was addictive -- now that she'd begun, she couldn't seem to stop herself. And she had wanted someone to say these things to for a very long time now, she realized. "My father is ambitious, and he plays favorites -- not just with his supporters, but with his children. I was twelve years old when I realized he was doing it: the golden child of one week was the enemy of the next month. He expected us to be extensions of himself, slaves to his whims, anticipating his needs, aiding him in pursuing his goals. So he played favorites, to keep us divided against each other and desperate to please him."

The Abbess narrowed her eyes, looking thoughtful. "Why not kill him yourself, then?" she asked. "Vigo tells me you're quite the accomplished wizard."

Because I'm weak. Jacqueline clenched her teeth and looked away. "The gods know I've dreamed of it." She shook her head, laughing bitterly. "Do you really want to know why I never tried to kill him? This will make you laugh. I never tried to kill him because -- may the Three Covenants help me -- I still want his approval."

Tavros sat back and his face smoothed; the Abbess nodded slowly, her eyes sympathetic. 

Well, I've done it. I've given up any possible advantage I might have had and utterly destroyed my bargaining position. They'll never trust me now: they know exactly what a monster I am. Jacqueline sat there and watched them, feeling tired and empty and strangely relieved. At least it was over, now. And, really, there wasn't anything they could do to her that would be worse than what her father had done already.

The Abbess plucked two coins off the top of the stack in front of her, and placed them in front of Tavros. Tabitha had no idea what that signaled, but Tavros nodded. Then he looked back at her, studied her for another moment, and said, "It's not a bad plan."

"What isn't?" she asked, badly startled. 

"You stay here, pretending to be lady Tabitha, and pass along the information that lady Tabitha gathers, pretending to be you. I don't believe there are any spies in the temple, but we maintain the pretense as an extra precaution. Unless you'd prefer to return to your father's court, or flee somewhere else entirely. I won't hold you here against your will."

"You'd... let me stay?" she asked, dumbfounded. It took her a long, slow breath, but it made a sort of sense: nothing had changed, not really, it was just that His Majesty and the Abbess -- and no doubt Vigo the Whisperer -- would know who she really was. "Are you certain? I'm not... I'm not a very good person. And I can't prove to you that I'm on your side. You really don't have any reason to trust me."

"I'm not so sure of that," said Tavros, and the Abbess nodded:

"Neither am I, now." She was studying Jacqueline closely, but her study seemed born out of kindness rather than hostility. "We should talk, child, when you have a moment -- just you and I. But for now, we all have much to think on. Eva and Geddy will take you back to Anica."

Jacqueline recognized that as a dismissal, and rose from her chair. "I--" No, she really didn't know what she wanted to say. "Until later, then."

"A moment more, lady," said Tavros gently, and she hesitated. "You still have the opportunity to prove yourself trustworthy. You've conducted yourself well so far, and I am willing to offer trust to someone who might return it."

Jacqueline Bouvier, in the guise of Tabitha Andiras, swallowed and then, for lack of any better response, simply said, "Your Majesty," curtsied, and left the room.