The Academy (Part 2 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 16- Plotting

Belle:

My first birthday without my sister. Rosine and I had been together almost every day since we were born, we were lifelines for each other. Blaise would sometimes go away on trips to other branches and leave for weeks at a time, but I knew that my sister would always be there, just down the hall from me. And now she wasn't.

The party would be tomorrow night, and time felt like it was both dragging and speeding up at the same time. Blaise and I both felt the panic setting in, that was for sure. He was busy trying to find the best method of escape for me, and I was trying to stall my father as much as possible.

My efforts were starting to feel hopeless, though. I raised concerns that we should postpone the party because guests wouldn't have enough time to plan their attendance, he showed me RSVPs from some of the most influential families. I'd tell him that I wanted to change something about the event, he'd throw money at the problem to make it go away. There was no excuse I could create that would prevent the inevitable.

"She hasn't responded," Blaise muttered, throwing himself back onto my bed so that his head was on my legs.

I was also laying out, staring at the ceiling as if that would ward off the feelings of hopelessness and despair. "Or she can't. But she's smart, and we have to trust in that. Even if she didn't get our letter, or she can't get anything back to us, she's smart enough to find her way out of that place. Once she's safely away, she'll reach out."

"You're about to be in the same boat," He muttered, running his hand through his hair. "You're getting out of here soon."

I sighed, "I still don't like the idea of going without you."

"You can't get rid of me that easily, or that long. I'll deal with things here and then I'll catch up with you soon. Hopefully we can resolve the issue with your father and then you'll be back here where you belong."

"I know. I trust Andre and Fitz to help me out of here, I just don't like the idea of not knowing what's going on here after we're out. Not knowing where you're going to be and if you're safe."

"We're going to be fine, we have support. Claude and I had been tentatively bringing up the subject, you would be shocked at how many of them are unhappy with the way that your father has been running things. Sending away Rosine was the breaking point for a lot of them."

His hand was laying on the bed close by, so I reached out and held it. There was a comfortable silence between us momentarily, before I broke it. "I think.... I think that even if my father had decided to hand the business off to one of us, it would have gone to Rosine."

He looked up towards me with his eyebrows furrowed, "Where is this coming from?"

"I don't really know, I just never really considered it before," I sighed. "Maybe it's because she's a better leader? I don't know if the men here would have the same response if I was sent away."

Blaise rolled over onto his stomach, then pulled himself closer to me on his elbows. "I wouldn't say she'd make a better leader than you. There's not one right way to lead, every industry and context requires different skills."

"You know what I mean. I could never be forceful enough to run this whole thing."

"Belle, you're brilliant. Intelligence and wit is incredibly valuable in any industry, including ours. Do our leaders tend to be more aggressive, yes. But their right hands are almost always smarter than them. If you went into a different field, you would be top of the line. You're decisive, you're a servant leader, and you set a standard for yourself higher than anyone I've ever met. People look up to you."