I latched on to the idea of the list, Rose’s notes.
I followed it through several successive scenes. Some were fleeting, Rose picking up the sheet, reading it, putting it away. Others were longer. Rose doing more reading while I slept, or while I was busy with other things.
Only a few seconds had passed in reality.
“I did call you for a reason,” Rose said.
“Of course,” Faysal replied.
Rose’s mind flashed over a scene. Distinct and separate from what I was looking through.
The list. Rose writing a note.
There must be a reason the lawyers haven’t seized control of everything. They aren’t all powerful. What is their vulnerability?
Same vulnerability as any diabolist. Everyone loathes them.
Rose reached for Conquest. There was something sure about the action, a kind of confidence to it that wasn’t artificial. The same sort of confidence needed to leap off a one hundred foot cliff.
The confidence required for an action of scale.
I got the hell out of the way, as Rose fed her power and self into Conquest, allowing the incarnation to have a greater hold on her.
Focused on self preservation as I was, I saw Rose seize some of the ties I’d given her. To friends. It was unlike her usual Conquest-afflicted self. A strange side of Rose. Reaching to that for reassurance? For a different kind of power?
When she spoke, it was with power, without hesitation. “In joint partnership with Alister Behaim, I would hereby like to declare, to your ears, and all who would hear it, that we hereby claim ourselves as sovereign Lord and Lady in Jacob’s Bell, with all associated rights and powers.”
The words vibrated, carrying.
Rose could see the connections forming, the connections breaking. Some were major in scale, while others were to very distant places and things.
Faysal’s head turned as he watched the aftermath of the statement, disappearing into the distance.
Rose noted Tiff glancing at Ty, wide eyed. The two were huddled together. Tiff mouthed words. They might have been ‘what the fuck?’
“Let it be known,” Alister said, giving his support to Rose’s statement.
Rose could see that where some connections had been flailing, grasping, like so many tendrils or reaching arms, they held tight after that.
“Though,” Alister said, just under his breath, “I wouldn’t have minded knowing about this beforehand.”
“I’m sorry,” Rose said.
“You’re aware this is suicide? The basic, fundamental idea behind this whole scene was that one side wins, consolidates its power, gets everyone else under their thumb, and then makes the declaration. Not, you know, declaring lordship when we’re down, out, and just a few steps from dying in five different, horrible ways.”
“I’m aware,” Rose said, barely moving her lips. Her eye fell on the nearest imp.
Even with Faysal suggesting an alliance, the imps were afraid to approach.
“You should be aware,” Lewis said, “That the only power you have as Lord is the power others give you.”
“Yes,” Rose said. “But Johannes is dead, and Sandra knows she’s lost. How many people out there are utterly unsurprised to be hearing this declaration right now, resigning themselves to the fact that the war is over? Is Briar Girl? Maggie? The hag? Are the goblins nodding themselves and remarking that they expected the side with demons and diabolism to come out on top? There should be enough people in Jacob’s Bell who can believe Alister and I have become Lord and Lady that the belief holds some weight.”
“Enough weight to matter?” Faysal asked. “You have no realm, your soldiers are few in number. The spirits, as an extension of the world as a whole, can see you and evaluate you. They know that you aren’t much of a Lord at all, and that counts for a great deal more.”
Rose didn’t flinch.
Theatrics, I observed.
Faysal sat a little straighter. “As bids go, this counts for very little. You strike me as one who will have a reign spanning minutes.”
“There’s more to it,” Lewis concluded, as an extension to Faysal’s thought.
“Yes,” Rose said.
“Not merely buying time,” Lewis said. “I can look at you and I can tell, your demeanor would be different if you were still racing to piece together a plan.”
Rose smiled.
“So tell me,” Lewis said. “Why shouldn’t I order the imps to attack you now?”
“Ask Faysal,” Rose said. “If he thinks about it, he should realize why it isn’t in his interests to let it happen.”
Lewis glanced at the angel, leaning slightly to one side to look through gaps in our amassed group.
“I’m so goddamn confused,” Peter said, under his breath.
Rose reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a slight rub. Reassuring.
“And creeped out now, too,” he said.
“You put power into your declaration,” Faysal said. “You made it known.”
Rose nodded.
“You manipulated connections. Ones tying you to Toronto.”
“Yes,” Rose said.
“You let them know,” Faysal concluded. “The residents of Toronto.”
Rose smiled.
Faysal met Ms. Lewis’ eyes.
“Oh,” Alister said, under his breath. He turned and let his forehead rest on Rose’s shoulder, the only available surface he was comfortable using, without a wall available. “Peter? Given that we don’t have a proper blackguard with us, could you do me a favor and-”
“I don’t know what that is,” Peter said, interrupting.
Rose reached up to put a hand on the back of Alister’s head, patting it.
“Just- just do me a favor,” Alister said. “I can’t be sarcastic. In my place, give me a good one? Let me live vicariously through you?”
“I still don’t get what it is she just did,” Peter said.
“Faysal wants things neat and tidy,” Rose said, staring down the angel. “He wants us swept under the rug, so the demons can go back in their box and he can go back to angel business as per usual. In the interest of making that very hard to do, I’ve-”
“Declared yourself to be someone very important, to Toronto, for some reason,” Peter concluded. “Making things very messy, for Faysal.”
“And us,” Ainsley added.
Rose didn’t flinch, and didn’t take her eyes off Faysal.
“Brilliant,” Peter said, with every drip of sarcasm he could muster.
“Thank you,” Alister said, without raising his head. “I really appreciate it.”
“What are in-laws for?” Peter asked.
Alister raised his head to shoot Peter a look, just in time for Peter to clarify, “Cousin-in-law, anyway.”
Alister sighed.
Digging through memories, I’d found Rose musing on the last chapters of grandmother’s work.
Tonight I summon the demon Barbatorem. I have been the diabolist I was expected to be. In a week’s time, I summon my grandchildren. My children are useless, and it is largely my own fault. The grandchildren, left alone, will meet miserable ends, many claimed by dark powers. I have never liked using the demons, but I suspect few do. All the same, I hope that one set of Wrongs on my part will better this bloodline. I summon the first demon I bound myself, the first true step I took on this journey, and I use it to close this chapter.