Chapter 77: The Board and The Pieces
The silence in Evander's sunlit study was absolute, broken only by the faint, melodic hum of the singing stones from a crate in the corner. The air, once fragrant with tea, now tasted of ozone and tension. My bluff had landed not with a thunderclap, but with the chilling finality of a tomb door sealing shut.
Evander stared at me, his polished patron's mask completely gone. In its place was the cold, sharp face of a man who was used to winning and had just been checkmated in a game he didn't know he was playing. His eyes, pale and intelligent, drilled into me, reassessing, recalculating.
Laron looked like he was about to be sick, his rabbit ears flat against his skull. Briza had shifted her stance almost imperceptibly, her body coiling, ready to spring between us and any threat. She understood the shift in the room's energy even if she didn't grasp all the words.
"An interesting proposition," Evander said finally, his voice dangerously soft. He leaned back, steepling his fingers again, but the gesture was no longer relaxed; it was a cage for his irritation. "You assume a great deal about this city's... other opportunities."
"I assume people are the same everywhere," I replied, matching his quiet tone. "There's always someone who wants what someone else has. And what I have is new."
A slow, thin smile stretched across Evander's lips. It wasn't friendly. It was the smile of a duelist acknowledging a skilled opponent. "Very well. Let us discuss this... partnership." He spoke the word as if it were a foreign, slightly distasteful concept. "A three-way split is out of the question. The risk and capital I bring to the table are far too substantial. However, your point about the unique nature of your contribution is... noted."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Laron's terrified face and Briza's defiant glare before settling back on me. "I propose a counter-offer. A joint enterprise. I will hold fifty-one percent. You, Kaizen, will receive forty percent for your stories and creative direction. Laron, ten percent for the tool and his role as facilitator." He raised a hand to forestall my objection. "This is not a negotiation. This is the foundation upon which we can build. My majority ensures decisive leadership. Your share makes you the second-largest stakeholder, a powerful voice. It is more than fair."
It was a power play. He was conceding enough to make us feel like we'd won something while ensuring he retained ultimate control. He was still trying to own the loom, just letting us think we had a say in the pattern.
I glanced at Laron. The rabbit demihuman was practically vibrating, his eyes wide. Twenty-four percent of a venture backed by Patron Evander was beyond his wildest dreams. He gave me a tiny, frantic nod. Take it, take it, take it.
Briza's expression was unreadable, but she gave a slight, almost imperceptible shrug. It was the gesture of a mercenary who knew when a battle was lost but the war was still ongoing.
I was out of leverage. I'd played my only card, the threat of taking my business elsewhere and he'd called it by making an offer just generous enough to be tempting. To push further now would be to walk away with nothing.
"Fine," I said, the word tasting like ash. "We have a foundation."
Evander's smile became a fraction more genuine. "Excellent." He clapped his hands once, and the silent servant reappeared as if summoned from the shadows. "Bring the standard partnership accord, and have Maester Corbin attend us with his sealing wax."
As the servant departed, Evander's demeanor shifted back towards the charming host, though the steel never left his eyes. "Now, while we wait for the paperwork, let me offer you some of that 'local knowledge' you so clearly lack." He took a slow sip of his cooled tea. "By threatening to take your 'sensation' to the underworld, you have, perhaps unintentionally, identified your greatest obstacle. And mine."
I stayed silent, letting him talk. This was the intelligence I needed.
"There is a man," Evander continued, his voice casual, as if discussing the weather. "Silas Vane. He controls the vice in this city, the fighting pits, the gambling dens, the... less reputable taverns. He is a brute, but a clever one. He fancies himself a king of the shadows." Evander's lip curled in disdain. "He and I have an... understanding. He stays in his cesspool, and I in my garden. But a new form of entertainment, something that could draw the coins from the pockets of both nobles and commoners?" He looked directly at me. "That would shatter our understanding. He would see it as an invasion of his territory. He would come for it. And for you."
So, there was a name. Silas Vane. A king of the shadows. The pieces on the board were becoming visible. Though from his expression I could see there was more. Something more he was worried about, perhaps another even more powerful rival.
"And your other rival?" I asked, pushing my luck. "The one you're truly worried about."
Evander's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of surprise and renewed respect in their depths. "Perceptive. There is... a society. A collection of individuals who believe culture and information should be... curated. For the good of the kingdom, of course. They are known as the Aetherium. They have eyes everywhere. They would not look kindly upon an unvetted, uncontrolled new medium spreading ideas they cannot predict." He set his cup down with a soft, definitive click. "They are a far more dangerous opponent than Silas Vane could ever hope to be. And they are the reason you need my protection."
The Aetherium. A secret society. The plot thickened, and the board suddenly felt much, much larger.
The door opened, and an elderly man with a kind face and sharp eyes entered, carrying a scroll and a small case. Maester Corbin. The paperwork began. It was a blur of legalese and formalities. I signed where Laron pointed, my mind reeling.
We were partners now. Tied to a powerful, ambitious man who saw us as assets. We had enemies: a brutal crime lord and a shadowy cabal of information controllers. And I had a broken sword, a handful of Ki tricks, and a head full of stories that were suddenly the most dangerous commodities in the city.
As we left the estate, the sun felt too bright, the air too clean. We had just made a deal with a dragon to protect us from the wolves. I had a feeling that when the feeding time came, the dragon wouldn't hesitate to eat us, too.
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