The Wicker of Whispers

It was quiet in her room. It had been that way since morning. But that was not uncommon. What was uncommon was that it had lasted all day, to now, the night, which was more foreboding that soothing. A conclusion of a year long campaign against a nation that declared war only because they got in the way of her father and their kingdom's expansion was supposed to become a reality in matter of days and a stronghold. However, many noblemen claimed that a knife was being held at the emperor's throat from behind the curtain. As if another vicious rumor was what they needed.

Her father was charged with ensuring the army's success as he so often was, but that.

Cassiopeia felt like collapsing on her bed. She did. She felt like a child thinking that there was no possible way her father could be harmed. Time and time again, he proved his skill on the battlefield. Her sister would have told her that this would be no different. She always listened to her sister when they spoke of their father. She knew him better than she did.

But a terrible accident. A misunderstanding, a conflict? She didn't know, but its effect rippled through everyone, especially those who dismissed the rumor as an act of personal gain. It was the death of Minister Kino, Clan Medarda's banker who recently travelled to the Immortal Bastion to negotiate the Ionian invasion overseas. The matter, much like Kino himself, was of great controversy among the council and advisors, who grew skeptical of the Emperor's passive agreement to continue the effort.

She never asked, but she suspected that because of the further need for military in the invasion, The Medarda's were perfectly poised to offer with their resources. Despite the invasion dragging for nearly two years now, the rise in demand for more soldiers, which was also provided by the Medarda's, was increasing, and the streamlined channel of money that flowed into Kino's family would only become greater.

All perfect factors to consider when the rumor stirred that Kino Medarda had tricked the Emperor into forestalling the end of the invasion.

In Noxus, when someone was accused, they were immediately tried by a council, and with The Emperor's consent, was judged. But no one could expect that Darius, Noxus' Northern Army Commander, would dole out the punishment at his own behest. Now, the minister's death passed over all of them as if fate believed it was its right inject tragedy in this stone-still peace.

Whatever this was, whatever instinct came over Darius and the culprit behind the rumor, she was clearly uninformed and inept to deal with this matter. There were people who had dealt, and were dealing with it now, she had no place among them. Her place was here in her room. Waiting for her sister.

When she decided that waiting was not something she could tolerate, she crept en route along the corridors which led to the columns. She passed the featureless walls, with its smooth bases and perfectly sculpted pillar rings. The only decorations were a few portraits which barely took up any of the prodigious amount of space there was. One would think it was a waste, but Cassie knew its message was clear.

Approaching the barracks of the Immortal Bastion, she stepped to the black stone ledge and absorbed the silence. Her chest protruded forward, taking in the solitary release she needed. What looked to be several in front of her, a thick sheet of fog laid above the houses and roads of Noxus. Enough to coax any blazing light to rest, even though nights like these called for the opposite. Still, Cassie always came here when she was unable to do anything of consequence.

She felt herself being pulled further into this atmosphere, a mixture of prospect and consternation. Her left foot brought her to the precipice of the ledge, which any lady in her right senses would recognize as dangerous. But Cassie was not in hers, and for a moment of weakness, it felt good.

She did not hear the figure enter the room. She did not stir any longer.

When it stepped parallel to where she stood, facing the sky, Cassie turned her head.

"I didn't think you would come, especially today."

The figure, a slender man in a coal cloak, returned the gesture, and his marble blue eyes asked her if she was fine. She wanted to say yes. She wanted to say that she didn't care. She wanted to say that although these accusations that had spurred from this incident were spreading like tumors throughout the kingdom's veins, she was not worried. But she was.

"Normally, Kat is the one who should be worried about this sort of thing. But with this incident....gods. Who knows how the Emperor is going to respond, if at all?"

The man took two steps to his left. "I believe that Darius sanctioned his own order. It was in a soldier that suspicion grew, and from him that it has spread to everyone." He said in a soothing voice.

Cassie shifted. "You mean, Darius? He is our greatest warrior. Surely he wouldn't take matters into his hands unless he was certain."

The man's eyes traced Cassie, followed from her shoulders to her interlocked fingers. She could feel him sensing her nervousness as he had many previous encounters. While his presence and behavior were peculiar to her at first, by now she had the strong assumption that his lethargic movements were not the result of her at all. But something else.

Somehow, he always detected her agitated tells, subtle or intentional.

"Certainty." he said, "That appears to be something that all Noxus, soldiers and statesman, sorely need. But what eyes see, say a different story."

Cassie looked at him and he let a wince slip, but subsequently repressed it with a blink.

"Have you heard of the woman Alyssa Leblanc?"

The name palpitated in her mind. It was the name that of the woman whom her mother visited on rare occasion, but was spoken by her mother as if a holiday was coming. She herself had met the woman once when she was younger. She could only remember her accented eyelashes and icy smile, the kind a snake makes before it bites you. She never told anyone that.

"She's a friend of my mothers. She's on of the council members who dispute whatever course of action The Emperor intends for whatever matter."

He nodded. "Indeed. She is considered equal among the nobility here, but I have reason to believe that she holds more influence than any one man has thought."

Cassie blinked at his pause.

"Late at night, she confides with The Emperor, the last one to leave the room. There are passages that I see her exit, one which I have seen no man enter. The Emperor does not even realize this yet, but Lady Leblanc has been taking great interest in his latest actions. There is a snake which is coiling around us, with its eyes fixated on every soul here, no matter how inavasive they appear."

Cassie thought. "What else do your eyes see?"

"Powder. I see our bastion built upon it. It's in the ink on trade agreements exchanged between the merchants. It's on everyone's face when they pass to deliver and receive information. There is instability in everyone here. Whether we like it or not, Cassiopeia, it is around us as well."

She looked at him. The goblet which stood watch several feet away reverberated an orange glow off his face. His eyes, ever relaxed, were in sharp focus.

"But for all this still discord, the silence, I cannot find any ignition to match."

Thinking of a way to present her question, she glanced back at the open air.

"Father told me before he left, that Kat was going to protect me, since mother's ill. But now he's gone and, a celebratory from clan Medarda has just been killed."

"Your mother. Has she been harmed?" There was no trace of thoughtlessness in his words.

Her lips pursed. "Yes. Doctors have said it must have been an unprocessed desert from dinner. Nothing serious. But that's not where the dread lies. Father is off to close that page in Ionia, and now Kat is the only one here for me. But even she knows too little of what's going on, and I'm not sure I can live with that."

He inched closer, but never overstepped. "You remind me of myself, Cassiopeia. Landlocked within the border that is your studies and your family."

She inhaled, smiling weakly at him while she did it. This was another tell he picked up.

"But when I started to listen and watch, it was like everything changed. The sophistication that they use in exchange of money or ideas becomes more coherent. By the time it becomes a habit, you will be listening to The Emperor himself in his council room."

"But how is respect won from those who refuse to barter with it. I'm a lady now, and the others still treat me as if I do not understand the way of this world."

She watched him lower his head, almost as if he was speaking to a child. He had a face that bore all the tender concern of a mentor, and yet he lacked the asperous pimpled beard of her real father. His skin was angular and smooth, like the marble chairs that her mother once let her feel in the council room.

It was as though the best of both her parents were immaculately welded into this one expression of patience.

"All you can do is try, Cassiopeia. I cannot ask you to be less circumspect, only persistent. You once told me your mother was the closest link you had to a power. Everything you are now, you learned from her. The respect you share is the first step. Gaining the favor of other lords and ladies will be as accrediting as it is redundant."

The words made sense. In an odd way, his riddled speech had become something of a second language to Cass, and as time passed, a highlight of their conversations, sometimes even more so than the purpose itself.

She let the words hang between them, and then accepted them with a nod. The left corner of his mouth curled. His face was soft, and it took her a full 10 seconds before she forced herself out of the trance. Mother would probably kill me after the first 3.

He turned to black screen which stretched across the sky once more. Then back to her. It seemed with every action he performed, every word he spoke, he carried out with calculated precision, as if standing on ceremony. But why here, in the presence of a young lady who set no expectations for anyone.

"Wait." She said instinctively before he even moved. "I wanted to ask you something else. What is your role in all this?"

"Are you accusing me of ordering the Hand of Noxus to kill Kino Medarda, Lady Du-Couteau?"

His words had a flavor of sarcasm in it, but being far from rude. She wanted to scoff, but she held it in to make sure he was not distracted.

"I mean who you are. You perpetually maintain all the grace and regality that The Emperor himself often fails to keep. I see no fear in your eyes when I bring up distressing instances such as this. You know so much about all the politicians here, and you tell me all you see. Why? Why speak to me alone when there are people of more august status than I?"

As she finished, she suddenly noticed his expression lost all sardonic trace. He looked concerned, but not afraid. Thoughtful, but not inattentive. His head raised while his eyes held Cassie's.

He had is own tells too.

"Like you, I want something greater than what I see. I did not believe that what I dreamed for myself contained reason that any Noxian could respect. Until you, Cassiopeia. It is time you are free from this."

For the first time, she felt her face mold into his. He became a mirror to who she was inside, what she was hiding, what she was too timid to tell even her family. And in that moment she did not even feel warmth, worry, confusion, or any other imbalanced emotion. Between them there was just understanding.

She nodded, and decided to let her grin escape her control. He returned with his trained smile.

Whenever she asked if she could accompany him to one of his meetings, or join him at an appointment of her choosing, he respectfully refused. She was not one to argue, but she could never help wondering why it was that he only appeared to her alone, never with anyone, and always interested in what she had to say.

But since Kat requested that she come see her in the corridor on the next level, she did not want to waste any further time.

"I can accompany you if you would like."

She stopped her walk, and faced his generous gaze once more.

"I think it would be better if you stayed here and enjoyed the air. You could learn something too."

Without waiting, she strode forth, past the beating goblets, and to the staircase.

"It's remarkable how soft a whisper one can here in the right circumstances."