I nodded. “Yes, I know.” I’d practiced more before coming here to keep my mind off Tommy.
Sir Olythieu’s grey brows slammed together. “You know?”
I glanced around the table, which had stilled.
Mr Dithis rubbed his jaw. “Took us nine years to figure that out.”
They shouldn’t congratulate me. I’d been told by King Asshole himself.
“Even with that knowledge, I’m afraid we must often rely on the others guessing to get information across,” Olythieu said quietly.
A reflection of my pain and frustration lurked in his dark-grey eyes. I’d previously thought that my intention had to be closely aligned with whatever I was trying to say. But if I focused hard enough, any random thought was effective. Thinking of lavender bushes, I placed my hand atop the table on the Sundulus side.
“Bastards,” Dithis seethed. “Which one?”
“Kyros,” I answered, feeling a twinge of guilt as his name passed my lips.
Hothen sighed. “He’s one of the worst. The eldest son, as I’m sure you know by now. I am so sorry, Basi dear. The trapping was a permanent one?”
The trapping. Singular.
I held up four fingers.
“Four,” Lady Treena said, frowning.
Syrre held a hand to her pale cheek. “Four times, Treena. Is that what you mean, Basilia? He did it four times?”
Hurrying around the table with a speed belying her age, Dame Burke placed yes and no cards before me. These cards were a really good idea. It would make the coming explanation so much easier.
Maybe if I’d had them with Tommy, she’d still be here.
I tapped a finger on yes. I could point to normal words.
A heavy tension filled the room at that revelation.
When it came to the people around this table, I’d had nothing from my grandmother to go on. Fred merely said that she met her friends every week. But if they were in the power of the clans, each of them had to report in some way—probably to the royals or their seconds. I needed to know who they were compelled by and how tightly. My grandmother may have been the ringleader because she wasn’t controlled in any way, but I’d continue her work regardless of my compelled state. That meant I had to feel out how much I could tell the others.
“I need information on each of you,” I told them.
“You’re taking the third seat?” Sir Olythieu’s gaze sharpened.
“Give me the information and I’ll answer that question,” I replied, settling back.
He smiled. “Very good. Burke, do we have the file from when we first started?”
Dame Burke pursed her lips. Her restraints had to be the loosest. She seemed to be the nominated spokesperson. “I’ll dig it up and update it.”
She cut me a look. “And none of us have orders to freely report. We answer during interrogation, and only to their direct questions, which are always business based. In fact, most of us have minimal contact with the beasts now they’ve caged our underlings. Nothing more than a phone call every few months. Olythieu and Lady Treena have it the worst. They’re pulled in for questioning once or twice every year.”
That wasn’t surprising. Neither of them was richer than me, but their assets were entirely located in Bluff City, whereas Grandmother had moved the vast majority of ours international. Their estates were far more valuable in Ingenium than mine. And when it came to power and influence, Lady Treena was mayor for over seventeen years before retiring. Her father was mayor in his time. And her grandfather. Five generations ago, the head of their family had married a woman of vast mining fortune.
“We need to meet twice weekly until I’m up to date,” I announced. “This is around my hours for Live Right Realty.”
Kyros never eliminated that term from my repertoire. Kind of hard to if he wanted me to secure properties.
“You’re working there?” Treena said. “We thought you were trapped. That’s why Rory Senrite was on such familiar terms with you at the NJB function.”
Uhm, kind of.
“I don’t just secure houses.” Hmm, how best to tell them I worked on Level 66 with the royals?
Hothen stiffened. “What hours do you work?”
Dithis moved to place a clock before me. My grandmother had fondly referred to the man as Pie because he had his fingers in so many. There wasn’t any Bluff City industry that Mr Dithis’s wealth didn’t touch.
I was able to answer that without help. “Midnight until 3:30 a.m. Weekdays.”
“You’re there for the…” He trailed off, eyes lighting up.
The roll? Yes.
My shoulders sagged. It was such a fucking relief to get some of this out, no matter how frustrating the process. Once they knew my situation, and I knew theirs, things would move faster. But to have their support—even their knowledge of what being compelled felt like—it meant everything to me right now.
“Wait. You’re in the place after it too.” Mrs Syrre gasped.
The six sets of eyes that unofficially ruled Bluff City alongside my family estate watched me.
“Yes,” I answered, then thought of Queen Elizabeth. “Royals.”
Dame Burke swore long and hard. “You’re in on the strategy meetings with the royal siblings.”
She exchanged a shocked look with Lady Treena.
Six identical smirks spread across their faces.
My lips curled too.
“There’s a problem,” I told them. “A big problem. One that could end the…” Game. “Battle. Not on my terms. Soon.”
“One of the groups is going to win?” Mr Hothen asked, straightening. “They’ve been locked evenly for so long.”
Yeah, I’d get to that part eventually. As much as I wanted to hide it, these were the people who could help me restore the clans to an even match. As soon as that happened, my guilt would be assuaged and I could continue playing Ingenium in relative peace.
The details would be tortuous to convey, but it was torture I longed for. Because then I wouldn’t feel so damn alone anymore.
I dragged an alphabet board toward me and fixed the rake-thin woman on my left with a grim smile. “I’ll need your help first, Lady Treena.”
I had one idea to pursue at this point.
Mr Ringly had lodged a development application for rezoning agriculture land to residential. There had to be some way to stall the project until I could sort things out. I needed to comb his application with a fine-tooth comb.
My grandmother’s best friend raised her champagne glass. Tipping the chute back, she didn’t drink a single drop. “Naturally, Basi dear.”
I woke more comfortable than I’d been in my life. A perfect warmth suffused me. Heaviness filled my limbs. A massive erection rested in my hand.
I froze.
What. The. Fuck!
Nearly giving myself whiplash, I twisted to discover Kyros behind me.
Kyros in my bed.
Kyros on the estate.
I blew out a breath as quietly as possible.
Shoot.
Okay, we’d agreed on him sleeping here. Well. I’d agreed so I could get off his territory.
When Fyrlia rolled, he would stay at the estate.
When Sundulus rolled, I’d sleep at the tower.
What he hadn’t agreed to was my fingers around his junk. Dying inwardly, I eased my hand away, wincing as his hips jerked at my touch.