James was sure Mary hadn't gotten quite as much information as he had. After all, she couldn't just go invisible and enter the meeting proper itself. He'd followed a different person. This was a totally different clan.
Madam Vi's intuition had been as impressive as advertised. On the back of a panicking city, the assassin's guild will assassinate most of his competition. The guild master had spies even in Vi's own organization.
It seemed though, every clan had its own assignment and wouldn't know about those of others. So then what must they do in order to disrupt the whole plan. James hadn't always been a fan of killing for convenience, but the ckan head couldn't get back to his home that night.
He traced Mary using a small mana trace he'd put on her. She was in an abandoned building, a bleeding mess James vaguely recognized as their mark tied to a chair and whimpering. She had on her whisper mask. He hid his own face in a swathe of shadows.
"And?" he asked once she'd noticed him.
She startled a bit, but seemed to recover quickly. He didn't know why he'd showed her this particular facet of his abilities. He realized that not a one of his surbordinates, because he couldn't really call them friends, knew he used dark magic.
"I've tried everything I could. He seems to stupidly think the clan master is unbeatable."
"And?" he asked. Then he clarified when she couldn't answer immediately, "can he?"
She hesitated. James's brows shot up.
The bleeding man snorted. "You think to defeat an archmage in battle? Dont be deranged—"
He paused when he looked up and saw James's face. James must have been a scary sight to behold. James stepped forward slowly, like a stereotypical villain. He had to play tye most of this hand he'd been given.
"Listen buddy, we aren't asking for a lot here, are we? By the way, Whisper, the plan has been revised."
"Oh? How so?"
"We are going to have to kill as many clan leaders as we can tonight, throw the whole thing in dissaray. Perhaps use your information to pit some clans against each other. We only have an hour till we have to get back and sleep, so we need to leave now. You will report in the morning after you've rested."
"And our friend here?"
"Listen buddy, as the shadow king, that's me by the way, just said, we don't have much time. Either retract your clans participation, or even your secret alter ego, your family will pay."
"What?! You don't—"
"I'll stop you right there. We know everything. All you need to do is stay out of the fight, and at the right moment declare yourself the guild master. We'll even trim down your competition."
James smiled at him. The man still looked defiant.
"So how about it? And if you say no, we'll leave you alive, so that you can steep in guilt for what you've done to your family by defying the shadow king," he finished in a cheery voice, one that a villain named the joker he'd seen on television would have used.
The man just scowled further. James sighed. This is why he hated these kinds of impromptu plans. Even if they instated this guy as a puppet leader, chances were he was going to rebel.
"Fine. Leave him somewhere they won't be able to find him till after we are finished with our business tomorrow night. If by some chance we don't find a candidate who suits our needs better, then we might only kill one of your kids."
James smiled at the man in, only a split in the dark mask showing his whites. The man's face fell in fear, and he might have started shouting but Whisper was already dragging him away. He checked his pocket, got a list Mary had been compiling whenever she wasn't busy with her prisoner. She'd also added the people she'd seen the one who escaped talking to. He had a few hours to try and relive some of the worst moments of his old life.
***************
He only managed to sleep three hours that night. He'd gone ahead to question a few of his targets, and his findings hadn't been optimal. Besides, he felt so dirty, and not just physically.
He'd gone to work out for a bit, but he'd gotten tired pretty fast, so now he sat in his office and organized a board of chess. Everyone started trickling in, slowly by slowly. He didn't take his eyes off the games he was playing alone. He was always playing alone.
He didn't know how, but somehow he knew when everyone was present. Today the show itself would begin. He was scared, yet somehow also elated at the same time. Everyone looked as antsy as he felt, except two people who didn't exactly know what was at stake.
"Ben, Gid, report on the Bladhaven situation."
"The lady didn't give a reply, my lord. She did, however, leave her house in secret a few minutes after we'd left."
"And how many eyes were on her?" he asked.
"More than five or so different watchers. She only went to the market though, to a known whisper trader."
"Hmm, you mean those guys who sell information. There are famous ones too? No, don't answer. It does seem the plan I concocted for her wasn't enough, but at least I tried.
"Now then," he looked to Mary herself.
She stepped forward, and although he indicated her brother with his eyes, she made no attempt to dismiss the two. James got an immediate bad feeling.
"I feel fight him myself, young master," she said with a determined voice.
Not her usual voice. This was the voice of Whisper the assassin. It seemed like she was all but tired of hiding. James wasn't having any of it. He got to his feet with passion.
"Like hell you will!" he shouted. "Even the highest ranked members of the guild of hearts have decided to let him live for now. What can you possibly hope to accomplish? Even if by some miracle you are the last man standing, you'll be injured beyond repair!"
"Then tell me of a better alternative. I'll listen."
"We have people among us who can take on an archmage," James retorted. He thought he had Ben breathe deeply. "Heck, even I am more qualified to fight him than you are."
"And that is why I suggested this. You are backed in a corner, you see no possibility other than to reveal yourself and your true power. Something you've tried to keep hidden, even from those here, and for good reason too."
James sat back down heavily. What the hell was she…? His mind caught up. Was there a reason he hadn't yet trusted anyone with the secret of his invisibility spell? Was there a reason no one knew the extent of his martial prowess? Why had he only used his divine gift that one time they'd been driven into the tightest of corners.
"This is stupid, Mary. As I said, we have great mages with us, and you saw them fight."
"Yes. And they are still children, much like you."
"You are not ten years older than me," he complained.
"Abd taking them off their posts will ruin the entirety of our plan, won't it? There is just no helping it. I will have to fight him, while madam Vi and the merchant's guild deal with the assassins. And while the rest of your party deals with the revolution."
"Where does that leave us?" Talia asked. "What's our part in saving the day?"
"You have no part of course," James said while rubbing the sides of his head.
"And why not?"
James stared at his board, directing the pieces forward mentally only to probe and see what would happen.
"Because you are as yet unreliable. I cannot fully trust that you've left the revolution, nor can I trust you to keep up with the others."
Talia scowled fiercely, her eyes switching from ine person to the next. They widened when she stared at Mary, and she was about to comment but stopped herself once she remembered Mary had just been talking about fighting an archmage. Or maybe she was remembering how the woman had appeared out of nowhere that first time they'd met her.
"There is that word again, trust," she said.
James was about to ask what she meant when something occurred to him. He didn't trust those particular pieces to do what he wanted, so which pieces exactly did he trust and why?
He didn't think it was because they'd shown him any particular loyalty, but because they were strong. In the end, this was not a partnership. He was exploiting them because they were strong, and he was weak, and even if he could save the city himself, he didn't want the attention. Or maybe he did, and that scared him a little.
He needed stronger pieces. He needed to promote his pawns into queens. But had they ever thought of promoting a bishop in chess. It was impossible, but in real life any piece could be promoted. Hadn't he promised to buy Mary magical gear. He smiled, and focused intently on the darkness in his soul.
'Hey. What was that for? I was still resting.'
"And how long do you need to rest? I have need of you." He spoke the words out loud because he was too excited to stay quiet.
'If you let me stay there for the next month or so, I will absorb all the knowledge in your soul, learn from your divine gifts. I will learn every spell you know. The more you learn, even if you can't use them, I will use them for both of us.'
"Alright then. If you help me today, I'll read a few grimoires for each element. Make you a multi element caster or something."
'Deal. I'll eat all your knowledge. So what kind of help you need?'
"You're going to surprise a smug archmage and help my friend there beat him. Think you can do it?"
The thing snorted. 'An arch mage is nothing compared to the power and knowledge of the divine gifts.'
"Show me."
There was no chanting. A small cube of interlocking force barriers just hovered in kidair above his desk all of a sudden, and then a twister appeared in there, right before a huge thunderstorm took its place.
James started to smile even before the swirling fire filled the small barrier.
'Keep in mind though, that only once can I use a strong enough spell to injure the archmage. You'll have to make sure he can't dodge it.'
And then it was back in his soul, sucking out all his magic. His smile hadn't left his face, and he held onto the bishop, tapped it in the board a few times.
He hadn't noticed how the others were looking at him with horror and fear stricken faces. They'd first started out as confused, then they'd rapidly turned to amazed before they'd shown their fear.