Three Square Meals Ch. 056

Aradrea ground her teeth while she stifled her fury at their threats and disrespectful tone, right here in her own palace. The provocative reminder about House Ghilwen being forced down a rank, after the terrible loss of two of her daughters to Edraele's assassin was particularly gruelling.

She took a measured breath to calm herself, then smiled as she said, "There's no need for threats Yunaliss. I'm very grateful that you and Tinefain agreed to meet with me, and I promise it will be worth your while."

"It better be..." Tinefain said ominously.

The two women sat on the two seats opposite each other, halfway down the length of the table, then both turned to look at Aradrea expectantly.

Yunaliss raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Well we're here, so what's this amazing opportunity to crush House Valaden you promised me?"

Aradrea gave her a disarming smile, and said, "If you would just wait for a few minutes, we ca-."

"Wait?!" Tinefain snarled in disbelief. "You're playing a dangerous game here, Aradrea."

Yunaliss' eyes narrowed and she asked in a chilly voice, "Why are you making us wait?"

"She's waiting for a major player to arrive, that's why," Shaedra Loraleth said in her lilting voice, her tone dripping with contempt.

Aradrea breathed a sigh of relief as the House Loraleth Matriarch swept imperiously into the room, then sat opposite her at the other end of the table. House Loraleth was the second ranked noble House in the Maliri Regency, and House Valaden's closest rival.

"What's -she- doing here?" Tinefain hissed, her teal coloured eyes flashing menacingly.

Yunaliss had started to rise from her seat, anger and indignation on her face, so Aradrea slapped her hand down on the table drawing all their attention to her. The look of shock on the other three Matriarchs faces at her impudence was tremendously satisfying, but Aradrea knew she had only seconds to act before she sealed her own fate.

"I asked you here, because you're all powerful, ambitious women," she began in a conciliatory manner. Before any of them could interrupt her, Aradrea's voice dropped several octaves as she added menacingly, "And more importantly, you all despise Edraele Valaden nearly as much as I do."

The furious hate in the older woman's voice drew all their attention, and they studied her intently, wondering just what the House Ghilwen Matriarch had in mind. Aradrea pressed a button on the console built into the desk in front of her, and a large holographic image appeared directly behind her.

"Tell them what you told me," she said coldly.

The image had coalesced into the face of a Maliri engineer, and they could clearly see the crossed blades insignia of House Valaden on the right breast of her jumpsuit. The woman looked relatively young, with bright aquamarine eyes, and her only noteworthy feature being her startling snowy-white hair.

"Edraele is vulnerable," the engineer began. "Irillith's taken up with some Terran, and is off on some mission, taking her away from Maliri Space for weeks to come. Edraele is ordering some kind of significant engine upgrade for her fleet, and is personally overseeing the work on Genthalas Shipyard herself."

"Impossible!" Shaedra Loraleth snorted derisively. "I already sabotaged Edraele's deal with the Trankarans. With that ambassador dead, there's no way she got her hands on their engine tech."

The engineer shook her head, and said insistently, "The man Irillith is infatuated with is some kind of Terran hero. He brokered the deal with the Trankarans, and supplied Edraele with the engine schematics." Her voice dropped to a hushed whisper as she added, "In exchange, Edraele equipped his ship with Maliri weapons!"

There was a deathly silence in the room, and the three Maliri Matriarchs looked absolutely stunned. Darting deeply worried looks at one another, they were all thinking the same thing; Edraele already commanded a bigger fleet than the second and third Houses combined. If she should have acquired such a technology, she would be completely unassailable, and her fleets could crush any opposing houses at will.

"Why should we trust you?" Tinefain asked suspiciously. "What have you got to gain from telling us this?"

"Edraele is a despicable tyrant," the engineer said vehemently. "My life couldn't be any worse working for one of your Houses, and I'm hoping that if we're successful, whoever takes control of Genthalas might see fit to let me run the shipyard."

Yunaliss smiled, and said sardonically, "Opportunistic and ambitious, I like her already."

"What's your plan?" Shaedra Loraleth asked curtly, a hungry look in her eyes.

The engineer smiled humourlessly, and said, "As I mentioned before, Edraele is overseeing the refit on Genthalas, so she's away from the protection of her palace on Valaden. Without Irillith lurking around, she has even less security, and I believe she's exposed herself enough to make her vulnerable to assassination."

Shaedra looked thoughtful, and said, "Irillith managed to sniff out the last four agents I sent after them. I don't know how she keeps breaking my operatives' cover, but she's relentless." The Loraleth Matriarch narrowed her eyes as she waited for the catch, and added, "So what do you need from us exactly?"

"Highly trained assassins," the engineer said with a fierce eagerness. "If you can send me at least two each, that should be more than enough to overwhelm her bodyguard, and cut that cold-hearted bitch down. I'll be able to supply your agents with access codes and schedules, making it easy for them to strike."

Yunaliss darted a speculative look at Tinefain, and asked, "What's a couple of assassins? It's not like they'd be hard to replace."

Tinefain nodded, a sly smile spreading on her face, as she replied, "I have no shortage of stone-cold killers at my disposal."

They both turned to look at the House Loraleth Matriarch, and she gave them a wicked smile, as she nodded her approval.

Aradrea Ghilwen didn't bother to turn to look at the Valaden engineer, and simply said, "We'll be in touch when our operatives are ready." She pressed a button on her console, and the image of the Valaden engineer flickered for a moment, then winked out.

Yunaliss turned to look at Aradrea with newfound respect in her eyes, and studied her for a moment before asking, "Eight assassins isn't a tall order for any House. Why would you need to bring us in for this?"

Before Aradrea could reply, Shaedra Loraleth answered for her in a quiet voice, "Because if this plan fails, Edraele Valaden wouldn't need to upgrade her fleets to obliterate House Ghilwen. With all of us involved, we have enough fleet strength to challenge Edraele directly should the assassination fail. Whatever happens, we can't allow Edraele to upgrade her fleet."

Aradrea locked eyes with Shaedra, and nodded grimly as she said, "Edraele Valaden must die, whatever the cost."

"Agreed," Shaedra Loraleth said decisively.

"Agreed," Yunaliss and Tinefain said without any hesitation.

A gloating malevolent smile spread on Aradrea Ghilwen's face. Edraele Valaden had crossed her for the last time.