NO CELESTIAL / dick grayson

twenty-nine, storyteller

THERE WAS STIRRING among some of the members at the front. The most experienced sect members seemed to all have gathered near the front of the courtyard, with the younger and lower-ranked members crowded near the door. No doubt, the elder members at the front knew the story. Anyone who hadn't realised how Shan Heng had come to power would be an idiot. They didn't care before, because it was fair game. He'd killed the previous sect leader, and he was the next oldest brother. It made sense. It was a display of strength. It was her father's weakness.

And they hadn't thought she was alive.

But now that Remiel was sitting there? And Shan Ling obviously recognised her, acknowledged her to be legitimate, not a fraud?

There was also, she supposed, the fact that Remiel had Shan Heng tied up and tossed on the ground. The sect recognises strength. Clearly, Remiel had shown her strength. At this point, it didn't quite matter who she really was. She had the leader tied up and under guard.

But she would also give them the story. She would let the truth stare them in the eye, and she would show why she was qualified for this.

"Twenty-three years ago, my father was sect leader. I was newly born. My mother would have been vulnerable post-partum, no doubt, which in turn meant my father was vulnerable too. So you held a coup. You killed my father. My mother escaped with me, making it all the way to Guilin. You hunted her down too. Killed her. But you couldn't find me. But I was a newborn baby. How could I have survived? You assumed I was dead and left to gloat and rest in your victory. You made a fatal mistake."

Remiel's voice stopped. She tilted her head, watching the words register in her uncle's head. And the rest of the sect too, as whispers broke out.

While it was fair, it wasn't honourable. And people loved a good revenge story.

She let the voices fade out. And then she continued, "I was found by Seraphina al Ghul. She did not know who I was, but decided to raise me as her own. I became Mei, her lieutenant. You must have heard of me, no doubt. But you did not recognise me as the niece you once tried to murder."

The bearded man stood forward again, looking far more hesitant this time. "Are these two... these two Americans members of the League of Assassins?" There was the slightest hint of fear in his voice.

Remiel's eyes flickered to him, an amused smile dancing on her lips.

"The man is not. The boy is Damian al Ghul, heir to the League, grandson of the Demon's Head and son of Talia al Ghul. He is also my little brother in all but the matter of blood."

Expressions changed. They all knew the League of Assassins. Remiel was not some powerless challenger from nowhere. She already had a legitimate claim, and now she also had support from the League, an organisation far bigger and stronger than the sect. The smartest among them saw the possibility that was revealed in this information.

When everyone was quiet again, she spoke. "Twenty three years. For twenty three years you rested in peace. You thought I was long dead. I did not know who I was either. I went around the world. I was in so many places, and then I settled down in Hong Kong. Someone recognised me."

Her uncle's eyes fluttered shut. This was the part that he recognised completely. Where he began to descend into hell. This was what spelt out his doom.

"Someone recognised my qi. They linked it to the sect. I do not know who it was. It does not matter. But you heard, and it struck you that there was a tiny possibility I had survived after all. You never found my body. So you decided to send people to confirm my identity, and if I was your niece, you would have me killed. I was still a threat."