The Consuming Fire (The Interdependency #2)(27)

“So?”

“So, Amit is known to have been the favorite child of the countess, so shitting on his memory to spring the child the countess undoubtedly knows killed her favorite might not be the winning play you think it is.”

Deran frowned. “I see your point.”

“I thought you might.”

“Do you have an alternative plan?”

Assan smiled. “It depends on how aggressive you’d like to be in your quest to be emperox.”

“So you are playing the two Wu cousins against each other,” said Tinda Louentintu, who was the chief of staff for the Countess Nohamapetan. She said this in the imperial suite of the Racheline, Hubfall’s most exclusive and secure hotel. She said it there rather than in the offices of the House of Nohamapetan because there was currently a cuckoo in that particular nest, a thing that would need to be addressed presently. The Racheline was an exquisite address, the imperial suite was gorgeously laid out and appointed, and the whiskey, which Assan took care to sip very slowly, given how much alcohol was already in his system at the moment, was almost impossibly fine.

“I’m not exactly playing them against each other,” Assan said. “I’m allowing them both to think they are using me to spy on the other while I decide which of them I ultimately want to back in their run for emperox.”

“That could turn out poorly for you if they compare notes,” Louentintu said.

“For them to do that they would have to stop loathing each other for longer than fifteen seconds. My family is close to the Wus, just like it has been for generations. I’m of an age between Jasin and Deran and grew up socializing with both here in Hubfall. No one outside of the family knows them better than I do. Neither of them is in much danger of having a sudden fit of affection for the other.”

“You find it useful to keep them at cross-purposes.”

“You say that as if it was me doing it,” Teran said. “My family has a saying: ‘No one hates a Wu like a Wu.’ It’s a miracle when anyone on their board of directors agrees on what to have for lunch, much less their actual business. I’m not putting Jasin and Deran at cross-purposes. But I’m not against using their cross-purposes to my advantage, either.”

Louentintu nodded. “Which is why you’re here, Lord Teran.”

“Yes. You have to know that no matter what, Grayland is on her way out. If she’s actually having visions, she’s not stable. If she’s not, then she’s playing a game in a moment of crisis that’s partly of her own making. For the good of the Interdependency, she has to go.”

“If you say so.”

“Ah, but it’s not me saying so,” Assan said. “Or not just me, anyway. The other houses are nervous about these changes in the Flow and what Grayland might use them as an excuse for, in terms of their business and monopolies. The parliament is convinced Grayland is about to institute martial law. Even the church is unsure what to do with Grayland now that she’s imitating Rachela. Changes are coming. That much is obvious. And I think everyone agrees that when that change comes, we need stability right at the top. In the imperial seat.”

“The House of Nohamapetan has already stood out once against the emperox,” Louentintu said. “It was not to our advantage.”

Assan shook his head. “No. Forgive me, Minister Louentintu, but the House of Nohamapetan has not stood out against the emperox. One of its members has. And while that member may have acted unwisely, it’s also clear they had a legitimate complaint. The imperial house had agreed that the next emperox would marry a Nohamapetan. Then the emperox backed out of the deal. She shouldn’t have. It’s an error that should be corrected. And can be corrected.”

Louentintu raised her eyebrows at this.

“That is, if the House of Nohamapetan is willing to make a deal, with one or the other of the Wu cousins now currently aiming at the throne, and to back it up with their resources, and the resources of their friends.”

“When?”

“Soon, I would think. The emperox’s scientist has given us a timetable.”

“And what do you get out of it?” asked the third person in the room, reclining on the couch, who until this moment had been silent.

“How do you mean, ma’am?”

“How I mean, Lord Teran, is that I am not stupid,” said the Countess Nohamapetan. “I know why Jasin and Deran Wu are caught up in this. It’s because a Wu must be emperox, and they are foolish enough to want the job, even now, as things are apparently falling apart. And it’s clear what you think our interest should be, since you are clearly hinting at a political union between our house and whichever Wu floats to the top of this enterprise. What I want to know is what your interest is. You are already the director of the House of Assan’s business affairs. You are already on the executive committee. You are already a lord. You have all the power you will ever have. What else is it that you want?”

Assan smiled. “Not for me,” he said, and then pulled out his tablet and opened up a photo. Two small children were there, smiling up at the photographer. Assan showed the photo to the countess.

“Charming,” the countess said. “And relevant how?”

“Relevant because one of them will marry the child of the next emperox.”

An unknowable play of emotions crossed over the countess’s face as she processed his words. “That is ambitious of you, Lord Teran, to plan that far ahead. Considering our civilization is coming to a sudden close.”