Second Interlude: The Alliance

There was a changed atmosphere amongst the Nageling Marauders on their return to Rata Sum. Vasha couldn’t put a name to it, only catalogue its parts. Roan was talking again, and though he wasn’t full of his usual fire, at least he’d taken command. Haki was still quiet, his bickering with Gull forgotten, but no-one would shed any tears over that. Gull seemed relieved to relinquish leadership of the team to Roan; giving orders rather than following them hadn’t suited her. And Vasha…

That was the hardest part to quantify. She knew she was still at the very bottom of the Marauders’ pecking order, but she’d briefly been in charge – and no-one had forgotten that. Roan had stopped growling at her and both norn had a new respect in their eyes. Vasha wasn’t entirely sure whether this newfound status was one she liked. If the others were going to treat her as an equal member of the team, she had a feeling she’d end up working even harder.

Sure enough, the moment they were back in Rata Sum, Roan had a task for her. “Make contact with the Valparis,” he ordered. “Do it quickly and carefully.”

Vasha almost rolled her eyes – care and speed never worked hand-in-hand – but she was too curious. “Are we making an alliance?”

Roan rolled his shoulders. “I wouldn’t call it that.”

Marissa Valpari did, though. Vasha found her lingering on the edge of the Commons, not far from where the Marauders had settled themselves. She had the look of someone who’d been waiting – and who was jubilant to have been proved right, even if she’d always expected to be.

She didn’t even wait to hear what Vasha had to say. “That big charr of yours is finally looking for allies, is he? About time.”

Vasha bit her tongue rather than allow herself a retort. Even now, Marissa made her nervous; she wasn’t keen to have a proper conversation with the woman. “Dusk, next to the Aquatarium,” she said instead. “Can I tell Roan you’ll be there?”

“Of course.” Marissa’s smile didn’t quite make it to her eyes. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Somehow, Vasha had thought she’d say that.

The hours before she found herself standing across from Jean again seemed to go too quickly. At least this time they were in a quiet corner of one of Rata Sum’s lower concourses, not trapped in what amounted to a frozen cave. They were surrounded, too, by their teammates and by the citizens of Rata Sum. She met his eye just once, found he looked every bit as embarrassed as she felt, and decided not to look at him again. They’d raked over their past once – it was time to look to the future.

That was what everyone else was fixed on, anyway. Marissa wore that same smile, as though the prospect of an alliance both amused and infuriated her. “I’d say you were swallowing your pride,” she said to Roan, “but this time, you were forced into it.”

Roan folded his arms. “I’m not here to negotiate. Are you going to listen or not?”

Marissa gestured for him to continue.

“This game isn’t what we thought,” Roan said. “We’ve been tricked from the beginning.”

“I’d say we were all fools to be taken in so easily, but Yinn was very convincing.” Marissa’s eyes narrowed. “If that little snake thinks he can manoeuvre us around and make a tidy profit out of it…”

“No-one knows Yinn is doing this for money,” Vasha said.

“That just makes it worse. We’ve been manipulated for his own amusement – and that of his associates. It’s time we fought back.”

Roan gave a low growl. “You’re not the one who called this meeting.”

“No, but I’m the one who proposed it in the first place.” Marissa tutted. “Keep up, Roan. We all want the same thing out of this: to give Yinn a taste of his own medicine–”

“And make sure we get out of this alive,” Jean put in.

They all fell silent. No-one had yet died in Yinn’s game, but Vasha knew she wouldn’t be alone in thinking it was only a matter of time.

Roan shifted his heavy feet. “We’ll keep this simple. We lead our own teams. If either side wants to cut the alliance, it happens without argument. Until then, we agree not to interfere with one another.”

“And to give aid where we can?” Marissa asked, an eyebrow raised.

There was a long pause before Roan nodded. “If we have to.”

“Good,” Marissa said briskly. “That’s all I wanted to know. It doesn’t look like Yinn has any intention of greeting us personally, this time, but I’m sure we’ll receive our next instructions soon. In the meantime…”

Roan bared his teeth. If that was his version of a smile, Vasha thought, it wasn’t remotely reassuring. “I suggest we all rest while we can. This game is only going to get harder.”

Marissa’s smile was even less comforting, if such a thing was possible. “I look forward to it.”