The Great War: Chapter 44
The hierarchy of power
Guards? Cassie glares at the pair of silver-armored wizards now stood in front of that room. She was already expecting the royals to rear their prissy little heads, but to be so bold as to assign guards? Here? The audacity of some beings!
With a huff, she turns on her heel and struts to Yumi’s office. With her plans for the cycle soured, she might as well pop in to see her new asset.
“Yumi, darling! How are you?” she calls as she barges through the door. The Feni jumps in her chair, the paper she was holding flying from her fingers. Though when she registers that it’s Cassie who startled her, she lets out a small sigh and recomposes herself.
“What is it this time?” the healer inquires stiffly.
“Oh, come, now, there’s no need for such the long face,” Cassie coos. She waltzes up to the desk and casually sits atop its surface, turning her body to face the Feni with a dark grin. “I noticed there are some royal guards in my building.”
Yumi leans back in her seat, throwing arms wide as she replies, “That’s out of my control.”
A short burst of laughter escapes Cassie’s mouth. “Is it?”
“I’m in no position to keep them from performing their duties. If I did, I’d not last much longer as this island’s Head Healer.” She glares back at the criminal up on her desk as she lets out a small huff of irritation. The Feni has a point, but it doesn’t make the sting of being under the thumb of the royals any less painful. She can’t just bribe them like any old being, and killing them just isn’t worth the headache of covering it all up afterwards. But that means that they’re going to be in her way until that boy is healthy enough to wander around on his own, and when that eventually happens then there’s a more than likely chance he’ll be taken to the castle.
What a disappointing revelation. She can’t help but shake her head at it all, as if her outward denial of reality will make it change.
So she turns her eyes to the desk instead, picking through the papers with her long nails. Half of it she can’t read as anything other than incoherent scribbles and numbers. It’s not that she’s illiterate, although she was for quite a long time, but rather she doesn’t care enough to put effort towards reading them in the first place.
But one of these papers aren’t like the others, a short note hastily scrawled that’s addressed to Yumi herself.
“Oh!” Cassie hums, picking it up to inspect it closer. “What’s-”
“That’s mine!” Yumi cries, suddenly lunging forward. But Cassie twists away from her, and her outstretched hand closes around empty air.
“If it’s that important, then you shouldn’t leave it sitting around,” Cassie chides, her eyes skimming the note curiously.
Yumi,
It’s still hard to tell right now, but these are either Guardians or sympathizers/traitors. I’ve warned the runners to be careful. You should, too; make sure to check for magic before issuing any treatments. If you can, have them travel in pairs. And if you have any beings without a job, send them to me.
I’ll come and see you when I can, don’t worry. Just keep your head down and hopefully everything will sort itself out for now.
-Jae
“Who’s Jae?” Cassie asks.
“None of your business,” Yumi replies, finally snatching the note from her hands.
“Yumi, dear,” the criminal laughs, “everything is my business.” She places one of her long fingernails under the Feni’s chin, glowing with heat as she lifts Yumi’s head to stare into her eyes. “Who’s Jae?”
“A friend.”
“Oh, she seems to be a little bit more than just a friend. Another fellow healer, perhaps your second-in-command?”
“She has as much power as the rest of them. Whether or not they decide to follow her is their business.”
“Can you put me in contact with her?” Cassie inquires.
“She’d want nothing to do with you,” Yumi replies sharply.
Cassie lets out a manic giggle, shaking her head with disappointment. “You’re a smart being, Yumi. If you don’t do it for me then I’ll just have to use my methods, and I don’t think you’d want to see me use them on your little friend here.”
Yumi is quiet for a long moment, anger burning in her eyes as she dreams of all the mess that Cassie could cause. Finally, she lets out a reluctant sigh and pulls away from the criminal, reaching for an unused sheet of paper and her quill. She tears off a corner and writes down a short string of words before holding it out for Cassie to take.
“Go to Eros and give this to any of the healers that are there,” Yumi instructs. “They’ll know what to do.”
Cassie plucks the scrap of paper from the healer’s hand and stares at it for herself, though all she can see is a series of lines written in a chaotic mess, no rhyme or reason to their patterns. This must be some sort of secret code, the likes of which she’s never seen before.
So she slips the paper into her pocket and stands from the desk. She’ll have to go to Eros, now, the thought of traveling so close to the castle making her feel weary. Maybe she’ll just send Mitch to do this job. She can’t risk being arrested and sentenced for execution now.
“I expect more willful cooperation from you, Yumi,” Cassie hums as she takes her leave, “so I’ll make myself crystal clear: Every time I have to suffer through your back-talking secrecy from now on, I’m going to leave a pretty little mark on your miserable face.” She smiles her malicious white-toothed grin back at the head healer. “Do you understand?”
The healer’s jaw clenches but she can only nod back at Cassie. Though it’s not like she has much of a choice in how to respond in this instance. Just as everything should be.
“Perfect!” Cassie says, clapping her hands together. She turns to her companion stood by the office’s door, who’s been silently shadowing her this entire time, and tells him, “Come, Mitch, we have other business to tend to now.”
She has another healer to bring into her fold.