White Feather raised one brow upon hearing my claims.
"A trap... for you? Why would we do that?"
She let out a breath through her nose, more exasperation than anything.
"With all due respect, Sir Cade, I didn’t even know you existed until a few minutes ago."
I studied her. Her posture, the set of her jaw.
"So... you didn’t hear so nonsense news about a new Sovereign."
She held my gaze without flinching.
"While it may look like the Archipelago is a hub of information, that information is usually too costly. I’m not in the condition to chase rumors. So no, I did not know about the appearance of a new Sovereign... until a few minutes ago."
I let the silence sit for a few seconds. Then my gaze settled back on her and my sword shifted slightly forward.
"But there’s sothing you know and are holding from . So spill. Starting with the origin of what you are."
White Feather hesitated. A curse slipped beneath her lips, barely audible.
"You’re right... and wrong. Yes, I am a Spirit. At the sa ti, not a spirit. I’m a Pseudo-spirit."
I pulled my head back and gave her a flat look.
"What the hell is that?"
She closed her eyes for a mont, the kind of pause that ca from digging deep for patience.
"It’s quite surprising that you don’t know. Pseudo-spirits are what happens when you fuse a human’s soul with that of their summoned spirit."
"What?"
I blinked.
"Fuck. That’s possible?"
"Not by common ans... It’s so dangerous that many don’t even want to attempt it. Aside from that, finding soone who can perform the fusion is a daunting task on its own. The chance of success is slim, and even if it works, you spend the rest of your life surviving by feeding on spirit essence from spirit cores." Her voice didn’t waver, but sothing in it thinned. "It’s a far too great a price for power."
I gave her a grave look.
"And yet... you paid it."
A delicate frown creased her brows.
"I didn’t do it in pursuit of power. I did it to survive."
"Whatever it is... I don’t care. Now onto the other part. What are you holding back from ? What is all of this?"
She exhaled, slow and asured.
"There’s no shred of lie in what I’ve explained to you. Yes, you’re right, we tried... and failed. The Crystaldeep is far more powerful than even I anticipated. The way I know they have our goods is that our clientele are drifting."
Her frown deepened.
"We tried our best to deal them the sa hand. We attacked them from all sides, but it was useless. We couldn’t steal back our items, and now they’re using them to poach our clients. We owe a lot of people, and those people are being convinced that we are bad business."
Her fingers curled against her thigh.
"Kings, leaders and wealthy nobles who usually would go above and beyond for are suddenly against ."
Her eyes trembled but she tried to hide it.
"I want to get back at them. Destroy them at all cost."
She lifted her chin.
"And then I heard the story of the Black Snow Company that brought down Manhattan."
She was silent for a mont.
"Manhattan would have been my go-to. But Manhattan fell, and if they hadn’t fallen, they would have been among the list of people I failed. They would have been poached and turned against by the Crystaldeep Clan. However, they fell... and at the point when I was looking into their mysterious fall, sothing didn’t add up for . The Black Snow Company, an organization of lawless vagabonds, couldn’t possibly take down an intricate organization like Manhattan and kill everyone."
Her crimson eyes found mine with sothing harder than before.
"Then I noticed a piece that was very easy to miss."
She paused.
"You. The difference between what the Black Snow Company had been and what they suddenly beca... was you. So I began looking into you. As a rchant, information around here isn’t scarce, just costly. I paid the right price to find out what I wanted."
She scoffed.
"It was surprisingly cheap."
That scoff almost vexed , but I held still and let her talk.
’Chill. Your ti will co.’
"I found out you were a wanted heretic in the Kingdom of Aetheris, and also found out about the shady dealings of the church branch there."
I glared at her.
"So you knew I was a Sovereign."
"I had a premonition. But I didn’t confirm it until a few monts ago. Yes, I heard about the new Sovereign and was secretly hoping it was you, as I suspected... but I truly did not know until a few monts ago."
I was quiet for a beat, then let out a slow breath.
’At least now, it feels like she’s telling the truth.’
Everything connected. The weight was properly distributed.
"So you were trying to sell yourself as less desperate than you are."
I chuckled and dismissed the sword from my hand.
"How did that work out for you?"
She adjusted her posture, straightening her robes with a small frown.
"Not very well, as you can see."
I turned away from her and turned it over in my head.
’Kassie, what do you think?’
’You’re asking ?’
’Of course I’m asking you. You’re the one best suited for things like this.’
Kassie sounded surprised. I had no idea why.
’Oh... well. Ask for more. It’s clear that she knows a lot about what happened in Aetheris. It’ll be wise to get information from her, but don’t make it obvious that that’s what you’re after. It’ll make you seem smaller than you appear.’ A brief pause. ’She’s probably thinking you’re new to this and can be taken advantage of... so she wants to control you. That’s why she used the marriage reward.’
’Ah... that actually makes sense.’
’So what we want to do is make you larger and thwart her expectations. Ask for her entire clan as compensation.’
I froze for a mont.
’Uhm... Kassie, even though I know we want to... isn’t that too much? She’s doing all of this for her clan, rember?’
’No. It’s not... and you must believe it enough yourself that it’s not. Only then will you be able to convince her as to why she should submit herself and her clan to you. Then we help her at all cost... and that way, we’ll be helping ourselves.’
I sighed. I certainly knew where this was going.
’Kassie, don’t tell you’re thinking about resources for creating an army right now?’
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