Yesterday's Enemy [AoT]

TWENTY-FIVE

'The seat of the politician is one that has always fascinated me. They must weave their reality into an advantage, trick and deceive and cloak the truth with pretty lies. They can be the most powerful people in a nation— but power is not always as it seems.'

-An extract from a newspaper article written by philosopher Adette Briggs.

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TWENTY-FIVE

Wall Maria, South Region, Port Noaks, Hyde Residence

"Dear Larken," cursed Romero, rubbing his temples. "This is a right mess." He took a hefty swig of whiskey.

Lorelai had arrived not so long ago and had been filling him in about her dealings in Trost. Unfortunately, it was as Romero feared. The Briggs family was at the centre of this, and they were currently powerless to resist them.

Lorelai paced around the kitchen. "I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do. I have no allies, no resources, and no means of solving this by myself."

"What about that Erwin bastard? Would he help ya'?"

"Doubtful," she sighed. "Erwin won't do anything unless he has something to gain. And currently, I'm out of bargaining chips."

"I know, kid. Sit down," Romero told her. Lorelai obliged with a huff. "Let's think this through careful-like... Forget Briggs and whoeva' else; how are we gonna get those people back?"

"I'm powerless, Romero. Even if I could somehow talk my way into leaving Noaks again, all I'd succeed in is getting myself killed."

"Can't have that," he grumbled. "You're gonna have ta' use those Scout idiots somehow. They're clearly not allies, but they ain't enemies either."

"If I'm going to convince Erwin, I need an angle."

Romero nodded thoughtfully, running his fingers through his beard. "Well, so far, you've been givin' him information, right? How much? Ya' haven't been entirely truthful, have ya', kid?"

"What do you take me for, an idiot? Of course not." Lorelai got to her feet again. "Half-truths... wrong locations... absent important details. I knew even before that I couldn't trust him."

It was a very Havasian habit. Despite the warm nature of Lorelai's people, Havasians always had an inclination towards secrecy. There was a saying in her country, 'the safest man is the stranger to all'— something of a depressing proverb, but in it lay truth.

Havasian prosperity was built on the notion that knowledge is power. Lorelai would be damned if she gave it all away to Erwin on a whim.

"Right. And what if ya' told him so?" Romero suggested. "The bastard thinks he 'as nothing to gain anymore; he might end up savin' those people just to get ya' to tell him the real shit."

"Out of the question," she declared. "If I tell him I've been lying, he'll just threaten to send us to the gallows again."

"Yea', that's a point. We're in enemy territory."

Lorelai had only been lying in the first place to waste Erwin's time; it was a quiet, harmless way to preserve her dignity. But it could quickly turn deadly if she wasn't careful.

The last thing Lorelai needed was more enemies. If she was going to barter with Erwin, she needed assurance it would go her way.

There had to be an angle amidst all this— a weakness for her to exploit. Lorelai gazed out of the window thoughtfully. She caught a glimpse of a family walking by outside, and it occurred to her that such regular people had no idea the war of secrets she was fighting had ever begun.