The Seduction Plan Ch. 05

He pulled his face out of my hand, carefully. "Sorry. We've led Saymar to believe that we believe him. So we have to be careful. I'm supposed to tell you that the plan is still on, and that we have your back. --Even if it doesn't always look like it."

"Oh, that's a relief," I replied, rolling my eyes. "But what's all this traitor business?" I asked. "Obviously he nearly ruined the Seduction Plan, but I don't think that was his aim, necessarily." The guy had scared the shit out of me, but now that I had cooled down quite a bit I knew I didn't want his blood on my hands.

Dartix swallowed and leaned in conspiratorially. I almost smiled at this, not imagining that we could get any more conspiratorial. Then his words cut through me, making me realize, yes, yes we could.

"We have evidence he is the Hand of the Master."

I swallowed. I sniffed. I turned away.

My heart began racing before I even fumbled about for an argument, the old arguments, the old answers.

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When it first happened... when the Master of the Realm came and killed my family and took over... of course there were rumors. That's all crappy, lame-ass commoners have, you know -- rumors. There were all these stories about the Master of the Realm knew exactly what to do and who to kill and what to put in place.

They said there was a traitor to my people who helped the Master of the Realm take over the planet.

Of course, it was ridiculous.

There were also stories that the Master of the Realm had been to our planet before and had even been a good friend of my father's.

Old wives' tales included that he was a ghastly monster who could change forms and become other people.

He also was known to use the skin of his victims to sew hats for poor children during the rainy seasons. He smoked magic herbs out of a witch's skull and drank sand to make his skin like stone. He could speak to his people across the universe, and capture women in his smile -- which is why he always frowned; so they couldn't get out.

I would have gotten the traitor, had there been one.

The Master of the Realm was more than a man, this had been my difficulty. But a simple traitor? I would have dragged him through the streets with his belly cut open to leave a trail.

They called him the Hand of the Master...

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"Nope! Doesn't exist," I said.

"It's Saymar, Dor," Dartix said.

"That doesn't even make any sense. The man who betrayed my family would be rich and well off, and have no beef with the Master. Saymar has a beef." And then I was struck dumb by the thought -- maybe he doesn't. My mouth dropped open.

Eric had said it himself. The Seduction Plan was for me. He'd mentioned that in the stories, a rescue usually does it; the horse-thing didn't work, maybe was never supposed to work... So he told his Hand to run up and try to take me away, and then he swept in...

No, wait -- he couldn't have known how I'd react. No. No. No.

"Dor, we don't know all the details yet. We do think he has some animosity toward the Master, but it's because he doesn't feel he's been treated with the sort of appreciation you're talking about. But he's not for the resistance. If anything, he's a spy."

I thought I was going to vomit.

No. No, that couldn't have been planned. What if I had gone with Saymar willingly? It would never have worked. He couldn't plan that! He just couldn't!

What would the point be?! What was his endgame? Sex? Just sex? He couldn't just go buy a harlot? He had to trick me?! No, no, nu-uh. -Didn't make a lick of sense. "No, Dartix. No, you're wrong." I took his arm, feeling dizzy. I looked into his eyes, pleading for at least one person in this alley to understand. "I saw them together. They didn't know each other. They weren't..."

I turned away in time to vomit.

And then the color began to leak of the world. Everything went white.