Tipping the Scale

The Making of a Plan (Part 2)

"With money. How else?"

His habit of giving non-answers grated on her nerves and she almost responded in anger. Though she stopped as a thought hit her. She had assumed that he acted like this to get a rise out of her but now she realized that this might not be the sole reason. His baiting questions helped him gain control of the conversation and delayed his response. It seemed nonsensical as he still ended up giving her an answer, but only if that answer was the complete truth. Instead, she suspected that he used the time to carefully plan what to tell her, so as to not give too much away.

A sense of betrayal ran through her but she grasped that it was her pride that had gotten stung. He seemed so open and honest, but he was the leader of the resistance. It was obvious that he would be cagey when talking about himself and the group he led. In the end, she was only a stranger, that hadn't committed to working with them. Why would anyone in their right mind give away their secrets to someone who could betray them?

It seemed like she had been a fool, and had mistaken his carefree attitude for being careless.

The longer Lidea lacked a response, the more confused Warchief seemed to become. His mocking smile turned to a concerned frown as he prepared to say something.

"Is anything wrong?"

Her first instinct was to act dumb and keep her insight to herself. Knowing an enemy that underestimated her, would always be easier to defeat. Even so, she pushed that wary side of her away. So far, he had given her no reason to treat him as a potential opponent. He had saved her life and had been nothing but kind. Even if he wasn't telling her the complete truth, he was under no obligation to do so. Especially as she hadn't made her decision yet. The meaning behind her annoyance was that her heart had already decided. Only she had failed to mention it to Warchief.

Thinking back to his plan, she still couldn't accept the role he wanted her to play. Yet, she wasn't willing to abandon her homeland, even if that meant foregoing her own happiness. But if she wanted to work with Warchief, then she needed to make sure that he was going to treat her as an equal and not as a tool.

"Warchief. I understand your vigilance but if you want me to work with you, then we can't keep doing this. You can't keep avoiding my questions. If you are not ready to discuss something with me, then I would rather you tell me. So let's retry this. Where does your funding come from?"

Shock flickered through his eyes as her sincerity seemed to have taken him by surprise. For a moment it was silent and Lidea waited patiently for him to sort through his thoughts. Finally, he nodded his head in agreement.

"Sure I get that, but you also need to understand that I can't tell you everything. Especially not sensitive information."

Lidea couldn't keep the smile of her face due to her small victory.

"I understand, but you can be honest. You probably already suspected it but I do intend to stay and help you with your plans. That is, if I will be treated as part of the team. I am not going to let you just use me while keeping me in the dark."

A blinding grin spread across his face as he winked at her, breaking the serious tone of their conversation.

"I wouldn't dare treat our prickly princess as a means to an end. Welcome to the team."

A foreboding feeling told her that she was officially stuck with the nickname now. Before she could think to protest, her attention was drawn to the door. It flew open with such force that if Lidea hadn't struggled with it before, she would have believed it to be made of paper. Crystal strode into the building with a bag in hand. Her all-black attire wasn't like anything that Lidea had seen her wear before. Her flowy dress had been replaced by skintight pants and a long-sleeved shirt that seemed to be molded to her figure. The outfit bordered on being indecent, and Lidea would have looked away if she hadn't been intrigued by the seamless and stretchy material. More concerning was the fact that she was covered in dust and scuff marks. Making Lidea wonder where she had been.