DROP OF NIGHTSHADE: Prelude To War
Jul. 14th, 2006 01:24 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsEvents have taken a turn for the dangerous down in New Orleans between the Guilds.
"This is a fucking trap." Daniel Boudreaux said, for perhaps the tenth time since leaving the estate. Behind him, his father Marius merely shook his head. It had become apparent a few years ago that his youngest son possessed many gifts, but tact or diplomacy were not amoung them. It had been a sobering realization to the old man that his son would not succeed him to the leadership of the Assassin's Guild. Unless the council supported the unlikely ascension of his most capable daughter, the mantle of rule would pass to another branch of the Boudreaux family, ending close to a century of control by Marius's direct line.
It was one more sorrow to add to an already voluminous list. For over two hundred and sixty years, the Guilds of New Orleans had ruled the city and themselves, carefully enriching their families and extending their control over the country's fifth largest city. During that time, many minor wars had been fought. Criminals, no matter how well bred and mannered, existed in a state of conflict, and each had warred with the others over razorthin elements of control. Even at the worst, the five Guilds had never slipped into open war. Two, three, even during a cataclysmic six months in 1931, four Guilds had gone to war with each other. But during all that time, the Arrangement had held and eventually quelled the situation before it was allowed to destroy them.
The Arrangement had been the product of the founders of the five Guilds. A compact between the five most powerful criminal groups in the city to draw up spheres of influence, in which each family's power would be total and unchallenged. More so, the five families agreed to render aid in case of interlopers or intrusion by one of the families impugning on another. Phillip D'Armade's family claimed the right to theft and smuggling, their ships pirating the Caribbean and highwaymen scouring the roads. For Georges Boudreaux, a violent and skilled killer, the realm of the bravos; assassins, thugs, and hired mercenaries. Guilleme Baptiste, the somewhat disgraced Comte de Aleancon, had used his vast estates and banking connections to control both the slave trade and the political appointees of the city. The skills of fraud and embezzlement that had cost him his place in the French court, although had ironically saved him from death at the hand of the revolution, were turned to the New World with zeal. Henri Gravious, the Hugoneaut printer turned forger and counterfeiter, maintained his rights to both, adding the short and long confidence game that his wife practiced so well. Finally, the openly defiant Madam Claire Marceaux, the owner of the most famous bordello and gambling house in New Orleans, dozens more of lesser repute and an iron grip on men of power who utilized both of her services. The other four had argued against her, but her power and name were too great to spurn without rendering the agreement an empty vow. Five of them had decided the terms and unknowingly created a bond that would stretch for the next two and a half centuries.
The same families still controlled the Guilds, although the roles had grown and changed with laws, technology and the country itself. The Arrangement had been tumultuous and often stretched. Families had branched out into new areas and demanded it as part of their rights, leading to bitter contests in the council rooms and shadow wars in the streets. Still, it had always settled back to the profitable status quo they'd come to adhere to. Now, it looked as if those days were coming to an end.
At the end of the dock, a launch waited. It was new and clean, but also small. Marius's men began to mutter amoungst themselves, not trusting the tenuous situation. Sitting at the end of the dock was a small man in a suit, with a metal box at his feet, resting on a wooden stool. As Marius approached him, the man got to his feet and respectfully greeted the current master of the Assassin's Guild.
"Pere Boudreaux, it is an honour. My master would like to extend his thanks for your patience in this meeting. If there is anything that I can--" Marius cut him off with a wave of his hand, irritated but trying to control it.
"Robur can thank me himself. How is this to proceed?"
"Of course." The man nodded and picked up the box at his feet, placing it carefully on the stool. Opened, it revealed a flare gun, a pair of walkie talkies, and a set of boat keys. "You and one man of your choice to attend you will take the launch behind me clear of the dock and light a flare. Once all five of you have launched your flares, you will proceed to the launch moored out in the lake. There, Pere Baptiste and the other heads will wait at the side of the yacht while your men check the ship for any treachery. Once it is clear, you will all be free to board. You may designate a second man to attend to the caterers at the main jetty, where they will load a ship with the food for the evening, after taking care to inspect it carefully. There, two servers will be accompanied by the five of your men to the boat to serve dinner. The launch will not be permitted to approach within one hundred yards without the confirmation over the communicators that the servers and the food are safe."
"Robur has been very thorough." Marius allowed himself a small smile. It was undoubtedly paranoid, but necessary in these days. If treachery was planned, there was no way Robur could start it without the likelihood of his own death being high.
"With all due respect, Pere Boudreaux, it is based on the precautions your own daughter developed for the European conference on Lake Geneva." The man ducked his head again. Marius let his smile grow. It was an obvious appeal to his vanity in his family's skills and the pride in his daughter. Masterful, yet done in strength and equal measure as opposed to weakness. Baptiste was telling him that he wanted to deal honestly, a statement that he had no choice but to accept for now.
"I will be sure to thank him. His terms are acceptable. In fact, commendable in these troubled times." Marius turned to his men. "Daniel, you will accompany me to the meeting. Javier, you will deal with the caterers. Do not hesitate to use your own judgment if anything unexpected happens. The rest of you will wait at the car. If Javier calls on your help, the last one to respond will be severely punished."
His men assented quickly and expectedly. Only Javier Boudreaux came forward for further clarification. He'd been Marius' cousin, a minor branch of the family who had earned his position of trust through total loyalty and capability over the last twenty-five years. Marius liked Javier's ugly scarred face, dominated by a smashed hook nose and the results of a stevedore's hook across his cheeks while a young man.
"Marius, there is still a danger. Are you sure you wish to continue? This could be done remotely, eliminating any--"
"Don't be foolish, Javier. Things have passed long beyond the realm of a conference call. Robur is right. There needs to be the basis of at least an element of trust, and the only way to establish that is with equal risk." Marius felt no compunctions interrupting the man. Javier was still a servent, even if he had earned the right to question him. "Under the circumstances, I doubt I could do better to establish it than Robur. If you find anything untoward, don't hesitate to kill those involved between us, but until that possibility becomes sure, you will do as I bid."
"Of course, Pere Boudreaux. My apologies." Javier bobbed his head and backed away, leaving with one of the communicators from the case. Daniel took the box and jumped nimbly down to the small boat. Once he had assured himself that it held no bombs or surprises, he helped his father into the seat from the jetty, and inserted the keys. Marius' men waited for the engine to turn on safely and begin to head out into Lake Pontchartrain before they returned to their car to wait.
On the boat, Daniel settled back beside his father, steering towards the lights he could see from the yacht waiting ahead. Once they had reached the designated distance, he killed the engine, waiting for the first flare from Robur Baptiste to signal the rest.
"Javier is right. I don't care how good her plans are, this is still an unnecessary risk." Daniel scowled in the darkness, and Marius knew his hand would be near his gun. His youngest son was a powerfully built man, bull-necked and thickly muscled. He'd never excelled in the stealthy aspects of their family craft, but he had no equal in killing. More than once, Marius despaired that his youngest hadn't inherited a portion of the potential of his older brother, Julian.
Julian had possessed the same talent for death, but tempered it with a nimble intelligence and sense of strategy. It had seemed all but certain that Julian would possess his father's position eventually until his pride had goaded him into action against a newcomer. Gambit had abused the courtesy of the Boudreaux family, but Julian's obsession with honour and his pride had blinded him to the fact that even his natural talents were no match for the mutant's experience and powers. Marius's bright successor was left dead on the muddy ground, snuffing out both of their dreams.
"You and Javier are right, but in this case, it's irrelevant. With the attacks, unless we can stabilize the situation, the only option after tonight will be the sundering of the Arrangement and open war." Marius said tiredly. The killings had been too directed to be random; too effective to not have come from the Guilds. Then reprisals, more violence in the streets. While each Guild protested their innocence, they all moved to defend their rights and people. It was as if some one had flicked a match into a barn full of dry hay, and now an inferno threatened them all.
"Is that a bad thing? I've got men in the city. We could easily take most of the other Guilds before they had a chance to bring in their main people." Daniel replied. It was the men that he'd brought in and trained that were being killed on the street, and the assassin had little patience for that.
"And then, Daniel?" Marius said, and the lack of response sadly confirmed his opinion of his son. Quick and brilliant in action, but incapable of thinking things through. "The Baptiste and the Marceaux use their political connections to turn the police against us. The D'Armade's and the Garvious have been skulking in the shadows for years, amassing information about our activities to pass along to our enemies. No, my son, no single Guild has the power to force the others to submit. That is the reason and the importance of the Arrangement."
Daniel shrugged. "Buy off the negre witches. Bunch of mojo from them to put the fear into the dock niggers and we've got our support."
"Even if Mattie Deveroux would agree to such a plan, it would mean having to negotiate with them for new terms. No matter how ignorant and crass the workers on the waterfront and the immigrant scum are, their leadership is not. The houngan are cunning and calculating. Enlist their help to remove the other Guilds, and it wouldn't take them long to realize that eliminating us delivers the rest of the city into their hands." Marius didn't bother to mention that every guild head had entertained Daniel's thoughts at one point or another. Every one of them had come to the realization that it just wasn't possible, which in turn led them to support the Arrangement even more firmly.
"What about that Mattie? Could she be behind this?"
"I doubt it. It's unlike her, and the first attacks were surgical against us. Hurting our midlevel control, snuffing out some of the brightest coming members. Deveroux doesn't have that level of information that we're aware of." Marius replied. "Besides, if it was her, why wait until after LeBeau left? We know he's not behind this, and there's no better operations chief for this type of powerplay than Gambit."
"Merde. The salope is all reputation. You saw him here before. He's a fucking cripple. I could have killed him barehanded." Daniel said dismissively.
"Do not underestimate him, Daniel. Gambit is as dangerous as any man I've ever seen, and that would apply even if he was paralyzed from the neck down." Marius rounded angrily on his son. "Your brother threw away his life confronting him directly. When we deal with him, it will be carefully planned and well supplied. As much as I want his debt to us repaid, I will not throw away valuable men against him over pride. Not now."
Daniel said nothing, fighting down his anger. He hadn't forgiven or forgotten his brother's death and he'd nearly had all the pieces together to eliminate LeBeau when he was in New Orleans last. Unfortunately, LeBeau had left just before he could move against him.
There was a sharp pop, and a red flare spiraled lazily up into the air. Two more followed before Daniel raised his flare gun and fired a bright green mote to arc in the dark sky. Finally, all five flare had been counted, and they gunned the motor and approached the ship. Each of the boats approached carefully, edging each other and the yacht. Finally, they had all reached the edge, with all five groups eying each other warily. Marius looked around, and wasn't surprised that each Guild head had brought either their heir or closest retainer. At the very least, it was going to be a secure conversation.
"Robur."
‘
"Marius. Daniel. Good of you to come." Robur called from his boat. His nephew Guy was already scrambling up on to the yacht, with the other four men behind him. Robur stood up, balancing carefully. "Fellow members of the Guild council. Once the ship is searched to your satisfaction by your men, we will begin our meeting inside. I will remain in this boat, under your guns and in range of any possible treachery until your men consult with you. We have a great deal to do, my friends."
There was a mutter amoungst the Guild leaders, but nothing that reached past the sound of the surf. After fifteen minutes, Daniel, Guy and the others returned to the rail and gave the all clear. Marius took his son's assistance on to the boat, turning to shake Robur's hand as soon as the older man ascended. The oldest of the Guild heads, Robur Baptiste was a refined looking man, with a mane of silver hair and clear brown eyes. He was a regular sight in the Mayor's office and the Governors Mansion. Robur took his hand warmly.
"Marius, you more than anyone I must rely on tonight. I trust your judgment like my own." Robur leaned in. "This wasn't started by any one of the Guilds."
Marius let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "I agree. But it's someone with the knowledge of them. I doubt Deveroux or her creatures either."
"Oui. Most of the recent troubles are reactionary. The start was calculated to drive us to this. It's too clever to be random." Robur was a consummate politician, but the assassin had his own experience to spot a lie, and Robur showed none of the signs. Marius' own research had hinted towards something larger.
"How do we explain that to the others?"
"First a draw down. We remove all the members from the street for now. I know the loss of business will hurt, but it's essential until we've calmed the situation. Between us, we control a bulk of the strength on the control. I believe Loana D'Armade has come to much the same conclusion, and we can sway her to agree. Then we launch a full investigation. Someone or some group inside the guilds has organized this, either to seize control or use the cover of a war for their own agenda. Together, we find them and destroy them." Robur said grimly.
Marius was silent for a moment as the others filed past towards the boardroom on the yacht. Only his son lingered behind, watching the water from the stern. "It makes sense. As much as it goads, we might consider asking for Mattie Deveroux's assistance as an arbitrator. Her powers would help considerably, and she has no reason to favour any specific guild."
"I don't like it, but you're right. I will bring this motion up immediately. I have your second?"
"Of course."
"Father?" Daniel said puzzled from his perch on the stern, waving Marius over. Marius signaled for him to wait. Robur drew a deep breath and smiled.
"I knew I could count on you, Marius." A smile cut across his handsome features. "This came too close, my friend. Too close to nearly destroy a legacy almost three centuries old. Thank god we had the sense to stop it, neh?"
The explosion erupted from the bottom of the yacht, climbing in a wide pillar of flame. The fuel tank of the ship ignited, sending a secondary explosion out the side, joining the first in reducing the yacht to a wide scattering of flaming shards, sizzling as they hit the water in a wide radius. In seconds, the flame collapsed into itself, only an angry violet afterimage burned into the night sky where it had flared. The broken keel and patches of oil burned on the water, speckled dots of fire surrounded by dark water.
"This is a fucking trap." Daniel Boudreaux said, for perhaps the tenth time since leaving the estate. Behind him, his father Marius merely shook his head. It had become apparent a few years ago that his youngest son possessed many gifts, but tact or diplomacy were not amoung them. It had been a sobering realization to the old man that his son would not succeed him to the leadership of the Assassin's Guild. Unless the council supported the unlikely ascension of his most capable daughter, the mantle of rule would pass to another branch of the Boudreaux family, ending close to a century of control by Marius's direct line.
It was one more sorrow to add to an already voluminous list. For over two hundred and sixty years, the Guilds of New Orleans had ruled the city and themselves, carefully enriching their families and extending their control over the country's fifth largest city. During that time, many minor wars had been fought. Criminals, no matter how well bred and mannered, existed in a state of conflict, and each had warred with the others over razorthin elements of control. Even at the worst, the five Guilds had never slipped into open war. Two, three, even during a cataclysmic six months in 1931, four Guilds had gone to war with each other. But during all that time, the Arrangement had held and eventually quelled the situation before it was allowed to destroy them.
The Arrangement had been the product of the founders of the five Guilds. A compact between the five most powerful criminal groups in the city to draw up spheres of influence, in which each family's power would be total and unchallenged. More so, the five families agreed to render aid in case of interlopers or intrusion by one of the families impugning on another. Phillip D'Armade's family claimed the right to theft and smuggling, their ships pirating the Caribbean and highwaymen scouring the roads. For Georges Boudreaux, a violent and skilled killer, the realm of the bravos; assassins, thugs, and hired mercenaries. Guilleme Baptiste, the somewhat disgraced Comte de Aleancon, had used his vast estates and banking connections to control both the slave trade and the political appointees of the city. The skills of fraud and embezzlement that had cost him his place in the French court, although had ironically saved him from death at the hand of the revolution, were turned to the New World with zeal. Henri Gravious, the Hugoneaut printer turned forger and counterfeiter, maintained his rights to both, adding the short and long confidence game that his wife practiced so well. Finally, the openly defiant Madam Claire Marceaux, the owner of the most famous bordello and gambling house in New Orleans, dozens more of lesser repute and an iron grip on men of power who utilized both of her services. The other four had argued against her, but her power and name were too great to spurn without rendering the agreement an empty vow. Five of them had decided the terms and unknowingly created a bond that would stretch for the next two and a half centuries.
The same families still controlled the Guilds, although the roles had grown and changed with laws, technology and the country itself. The Arrangement had been tumultuous and often stretched. Families had branched out into new areas and demanded it as part of their rights, leading to bitter contests in the council rooms and shadow wars in the streets. Still, it had always settled back to the profitable status quo they'd come to adhere to. Now, it looked as if those days were coming to an end.
At the end of the dock, a launch waited. It was new and clean, but also small. Marius's men began to mutter amoungst themselves, not trusting the tenuous situation. Sitting at the end of the dock was a small man in a suit, with a metal box at his feet, resting on a wooden stool. As Marius approached him, the man got to his feet and respectfully greeted the current master of the Assassin's Guild.
"Pere Boudreaux, it is an honour. My master would like to extend his thanks for your patience in this meeting. If there is anything that I can--" Marius cut him off with a wave of his hand, irritated but trying to control it.
"Robur can thank me himself. How is this to proceed?"
"Of course." The man nodded and picked up the box at his feet, placing it carefully on the stool. Opened, it revealed a flare gun, a pair of walkie talkies, and a set of boat keys. "You and one man of your choice to attend you will take the launch behind me clear of the dock and light a flare. Once all five of you have launched your flares, you will proceed to the launch moored out in the lake. There, Pere Baptiste and the other heads will wait at the side of the yacht while your men check the ship for any treachery. Once it is clear, you will all be free to board. You may designate a second man to attend to the caterers at the main jetty, where they will load a ship with the food for the evening, after taking care to inspect it carefully. There, two servers will be accompanied by the five of your men to the boat to serve dinner. The launch will not be permitted to approach within one hundred yards without the confirmation over the communicators that the servers and the food are safe."
"Robur has been very thorough." Marius allowed himself a small smile. It was undoubtedly paranoid, but necessary in these days. If treachery was planned, there was no way Robur could start it without the likelihood of his own death being high.
"With all due respect, Pere Boudreaux, it is based on the precautions your own daughter developed for the European conference on Lake Geneva." The man ducked his head again. Marius let his smile grow. It was an obvious appeal to his vanity in his family's skills and the pride in his daughter. Masterful, yet done in strength and equal measure as opposed to weakness. Baptiste was telling him that he wanted to deal honestly, a statement that he had no choice but to accept for now.
"I will be sure to thank him. His terms are acceptable. In fact, commendable in these troubled times." Marius turned to his men. "Daniel, you will accompany me to the meeting. Javier, you will deal with the caterers. Do not hesitate to use your own judgment if anything unexpected happens. The rest of you will wait at the car. If Javier calls on your help, the last one to respond will be severely punished."
His men assented quickly and expectedly. Only Javier Boudreaux came forward for further clarification. He'd been Marius' cousin, a minor branch of the family who had earned his position of trust through total loyalty and capability over the last twenty-five years. Marius liked Javier's ugly scarred face, dominated by a smashed hook nose and the results of a stevedore's hook across his cheeks while a young man.
"Marius, there is still a danger. Are you sure you wish to continue? This could be done remotely, eliminating any--"
"Don't be foolish, Javier. Things have passed long beyond the realm of a conference call. Robur is right. There needs to be the basis of at least an element of trust, and the only way to establish that is with equal risk." Marius felt no compunctions interrupting the man. Javier was still a servent, even if he had earned the right to question him. "Under the circumstances, I doubt I could do better to establish it than Robur. If you find anything untoward, don't hesitate to kill those involved between us, but until that possibility becomes sure, you will do as I bid."
"Of course, Pere Boudreaux. My apologies." Javier bobbed his head and backed away, leaving with one of the communicators from the case. Daniel took the box and jumped nimbly down to the small boat. Once he had assured himself that it held no bombs or surprises, he helped his father into the seat from the jetty, and inserted the keys. Marius' men waited for the engine to turn on safely and begin to head out into Lake Pontchartrain before they returned to their car to wait.
On the boat, Daniel settled back beside his father, steering towards the lights he could see from the yacht waiting ahead. Once they had reached the designated distance, he killed the engine, waiting for the first flare from Robur Baptiste to signal the rest.
"Javier is right. I don't care how good her plans are, this is still an unnecessary risk." Daniel scowled in the darkness, and Marius knew his hand would be near his gun. His youngest son was a powerfully built man, bull-necked and thickly muscled. He'd never excelled in the stealthy aspects of their family craft, but he had no equal in killing. More than once, Marius despaired that his youngest hadn't inherited a portion of the potential of his older brother, Julian.
Julian had possessed the same talent for death, but tempered it with a nimble intelligence and sense of strategy. It had seemed all but certain that Julian would possess his father's position eventually until his pride had goaded him into action against a newcomer. Gambit had abused the courtesy of the Boudreaux family, but Julian's obsession with honour and his pride had blinded him to the fact that even his natural talents were no match for the mutant's experience and powers. Marius's bright successor was left dead on the muddy ground, snuffing out both of their dreams.
"You and Javier are right, but in this case, it's irrelevant. With the attacks, unless we can stabilize the situation, the only option after tonight will be the sundering of the Arrangement and open war." Marius said tiredly. The killings had been too directed to be random; too effective to not have come from the Guilds. Then reprisals, more violence in the streets. While each Guild protested their innocence, they all moved to defend their rights and people. It was as if some one had flicked a match into a barn full of dry hay, and now an inferno threatened them all.
"Is that a bad thing? I've got men in the city. We could easily take most of the other Guilds before they had a chance to bring in their main people." Daniel replied. It was the men that he'd brought in and trained that were being killed on the street, and the assassin had little patience for that.
"And then, Daniel?" Marius said, and the lack of response sadly confirmed his opinion of his son. Quick and brilliant in action, but incapable of thinking things through. "The Baptiste and the Marceaux use their political connections to turn the police against us. The D'Armade's and the Garvious have been skulking in the shadows for years, amassing information about our activities to pass along to our enemies. No, my son, no single Guild has the power to force the others to submit. That is the reason and the importance of the Arrangement."
Daniel shrugged. "Buy off the negre witches. Bunch of mojo from them to put the fear into the dock niggers and we've got our support."
"Even if Mattie Deveroux would agree to such a plan, it would mean having to negotiate with them for new terms. No matter how ignorant and crass the workers on the waterfront and the immigrant scum are, their leadership is not. The houngan are cunning and calculating. Enlist their help to remove the other Guilds, and it wouldn't take them long to realize that eliminating us delivers the rest of the city into their hands." Marius didn't bother to mention that every guild head had entertained Daniel's thoughts at one point or another. Every one of them had come to the realization that it just wasn't possible, which in turn led them to support the Arrangement even more firmly.
"What about that Mattie? Could she be behind this?"
"I doubt it. It's unlike her, and the first attacks were surgical against us. Hurting our midlevel control, snuffing out some of the brightest coming members. Deveroux doesn't have that level of information that we're aware of." Marius replied. "Besides, if it was her, why wait until after LeBeau left? We know he's not behind this, and there's no better operations chief for this type of powerplay than Gambit."
"Merde. The salope is all reputation. You saw him here before. He's a fucking cripple. I could have killed him barehanded." Daniel said dismissively.
"Do not underestimate him, Daniel. Gambit is as dangerous as any man I've ever seen, and that would apply even if he was paralyzed from the neck down." Marius rounded angrily on his son. "Your brother threw away his life confronting him directly. When we deal with him, it will be carefully planned and well supplied. As much as I want his debt to us repaid, I will not throw away valuable men against him over pride. Not now."
Daniel said nothing, fighting down his anger. He hadn't forgiven or forgotten his brother's death and he'd nearly had all the pieces together to eliminate LeBeau when he was in New Orleans last. Unfortunately, LeBeau had left just before he could move against him.
There was a sharp pop, and a red flare spiraled lazily up into the air. Two more followed before Daniel raised his flare gun and fired a bright green mote to arc in the dark sky. Finally, all five flare had been counted, and they gunned the motor and approached the ship. Each of the boats approached carefully, edging each other and the yacht. Finally, they had all reached the edge, with all five groups eying each other warily. Marius looked around, and wasn't surprised that each Guild head had brought either their heir or closest retainer. At the very least, it was going to be a secure conversation.
"Robur."
‘
"Marius. Daniel. Good of you to come." Robur called from his boat. His nephew Guy was already scrambling up on to the yacht, with the other four men behind him. Robur stood up, balancing carefully. "Fellow members of the Guild council. Once the ship is searched to your satisfaction by your men, we will begin our meeting inside. I will remain in this boat, under your guns and in range of any possible treachery until your men consult with you. We have a great deal to do, my friends."
There was a mutter amoungst the Guild leaders, but nothing that reached past the sound of the surf. After fifteen minutes, Daniel, Guy and the others returned to the rail and gave the all clear. Marius took his son's assistance on to the boat, turning to shake Robur's hand as soon as the older man ascended. The oldest of the Guild heads, Robur Baptiste was a refined looking man, with a mane of silver hair and clear brown eyes. He was a regular sight in the Mayor's office and the Governors Mansion. Robur took his hand warmly.
"Marius, you more than anyone I must rely on tonight. I trust your judgment like my own." Robur leaned in. "This wasn't started by any one of the Guilds."
Marius let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "I agree. But it's someone with the knowledge of them. I doubt Deveroux or her creatures either."
"Oui. Most of the recent troubles are reactionary. The start was calculated to drive us to this. It's too clever to be random." Robur was a consummate politician, but the assassin had his own experience to spot a lie, and Robur showed none of the signs. Marius' own research had hinted towards something larger.
"How do we explain that to the others?"
"First a draw down. We remove all the members from the street for now. I know the loss of business will hurt, but it's essential until we've calmed the situation. Between us, we control a bulk of the strength on the control. I believe Loana D'Armade has come to much the same conclusion, and we can sway her to agree. Then we launch a full investigation. Someone or some group inside the guilds has organized this, either to seize control or use the cover of a war for their own agenda. Together, we find them and destroy them." Robur said grimly.
Marius was silent for a moment as the others filed past towards the boardroom on the yacht. Only his son lingered behind, watching the water from the stern. "It makes sense. As much as it goads, we might consider asking for Mattie Deveroux's assistance as an arbitrator. Her powers would help considerably, and she has no reason to favour any specific guild."
"I don't like it, but you're right. I will bring this motion up immediately. I have your second?"
"Of course."
"Father?" Daniel said puzzled from his perch on the stern, waving Marius over. Marius signaled for him to wait. Robur drew a deep breath and smiled.
"I knew I could count on you, Marius." A smile cut across his handsome features. "This came too close, my friend. Too close to nearly destroy a legacy almost three centuries old. Thank god we had the sense to stop it, neh?"
The explosion erupted from the bottom of the yacht, climbing in a wide pillar of flame. The fuel tank of the ship ignited, sending a secondary explosion out the side, joining the first in reducing the yacht to a wide scattering of flaming shards, sizzling as they hit the water in a wide radius. In seconds, the flame collapsed into itself, only an angry violet afterimage burned into the night sky where it had flared. The broken keel and patches of oil burned on the water, speckled dots of fire surrounded by dark water.
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