Price of Power

"You can put it anywhere, looks like family won’t be coming back any time soon."

Caduka teleported them to the fairly big, neat apartment in a three-flat block. Lariska disposed carefully her stuff on a sofa in the living room. She looked once again at her in the mirror and touched her face. She didn’t know when was the last time Caduka saw her mother, but even though it must have been a long time she very well copied her look on her.

"If you want you can still use the toilet." Mentor said holding a glass of wine.

"What? Are you stealing out of their bar cabinet?" She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

"Just one glass, cool it ...unless you too want."

"No! Come on!" She was disgusted by her lawlessness.

"I’m not coming on, but" She drank the rest at once. "it’s time to go, move."

They went out into the street. City on its own was looking calm and well maintained, rows of small blocks right next to separate family houses on the sides of wide streets. They walked slowly, one wasn’t really in a hurry and the other still had doubts and busy with thoughts that she could endanger with it her own mother. Yet it really was close, few minutes and they were there. The sunset was approaching. The mansion had a huge plaza with a garden, it looked like that in it the majority of the event would happen. The whole property was surrounded by brick-metal fence, decorative lights were hanging around, they even prepared tables with refreshments and inside like before the gate were standing guards.

"Great, I will not be able to just walk in, so what is your plan?"

"I don’t know, I wanted to ask you the same." She responded facetiously.

"What?"

"You are the one that wants to get in, you should have one."

"Are. You. Kidding?"

"Absolutely not, maybe you will learn something."

"Now you are in a mood to teach me lessons?!" She couldn’t believe.

"Yes, observe, look for occasions, remember that others see less than you think they do."

"It is easy for you to say that, I have no idea how do you do this."

"Honestly, me neither, but for now I will take care of part of the job and when I will be done you will already be inside, understood?"

"But…"

"Not a single but, wait for me, okay?"

Before she even knew how to respond Caduka was gone, just like that. So this is how their cooperation was about to look like? Great. She sighed, 'observe', she could at least start from that, but not from the low ground. She checked the back door of block before property, it was open and she could go up the stairs to the roof.

From it, she had an excellent view on everything outside and within. She began to look around. A lot of guests were already inside, but not all of them. She looked closer at the gate and indeed, the guards were checking entry tickets. She could steal one, but there was a high chance that every single one had a name on it, and then again, she was an awful thief. So if not through then above, you could say that trees on both sides of the fence almost ideally formed the way that you could jump from one to another to get to the balcony on the side of the palace. But doing so she would damage her dress and torn it would make a poor cover. Someone athletic could with no problem climb and jump over the fence, but then someone could see her. Even though a square was huge it was also well lightened. She preferred not to risk and draw attention with something, even if she had no idea how to do it. However, it looked like that behind the estate there was an unloading of some goods, she wanted to take a closer look. She couldn’t go through the roofs so she went down back on the street and when she was passing the group she heard behind her:

"Elise? Elise!"

After the second time she realized that it was addressed to her, she was Elise, Elise Lemoine, her own mother. She turned and saw someone in a suit walking towards her.

"Yes?" She asked trying not to show fear.

"Come on, you do not recognize your brother?"

Yes, in her stories her mother mentioned a few times that she has a brother, yet she still didn’t know his name. Horror of horrors she had to somehow drag it on.

"I am sorry, I am just surprised to see you, we have not seen each other for a long time."

"Honestly, I was not expecting you here, where is Octavian?"

"He had to stay, responsibilities."

"It’s a pity, where are you going anyway? Are not going straight to the party?"

"Well, I wanted to but in all this rush I forgot my entry ticket." 'Even better.' she thought. After she would finally figure out how to get inside, he would have to her even more questions if she would meet him again.

"Then why will you not come with me? You can bring an accompanying person."

"Are you alone?"

"Yes."

"And you do not have anybody who could come with you?"

"Well, no actually, I do not think about having a family. Besides, dealing with all this business is exhausting."

"And you have never thought to do something less ...' exhausting'?

"Sometimes, but as I was writing to you before, I like it. Anyway, I would feel bad just throwing away parents' heritage. So, are you coming with me?"

She nodded and they went towards the gate, the crowd had already thinned a bit and they didn’t have to push through it or even wait in a line. They let them both in, after that she thought that could just leave him, or learn something from him.

"Do you maybe know from what occasion is this party?"

"Victor does not want to reveal too many details, only that it is about some new innovation. He is very secretive in some matters, friends he prefers not to talk about, but usually, he is an open person, yet you know something about secrets, don’t you?"

"I am sorry, I do not want to involve you in this."

"Yes I know, you repeated that a dozen times already."

They walked slowly along the garden, Lariska couldn’t believe that even the brother of her mother is falling for her disguise. She knew that she is similar to her, but she didn’t know that this much. Although, they didn’t see each other for a long time and Caduka did an amazing job.

"Is Lafrenière often doing such parties?" She was keep asking him.

"On such a scale? No, but he shows off very often, you can be sure he will make an entrance."

"He likes to make an impression." She said to herself.

"And he knows how to make it, how is in your library anyway?"

"Calm, it is a library after all. How well do you know Victor in general? I heard rumors that he, how to say it, is not fond of the current ruler. "

"How you say it the 'Sister'? It is not a secret that he had a dispute with her in the past, but about what it was he do not want to tell. However the resentment visibly stayed, he seems to think that everything our country achieved after the unification, it achieved it only thanks to us, the citizens."

"And that she is limiting us?"

"As far as I know, he never said that. We had no chance to meet closer, but yes, you can come to such conclusion."

The longer she was with him the more she was awaiting Caduka, she didn’t know for what exactly she should look for. She was doubting that she will learn something more from his uncle. Every time she wanted to overhear somebody he was talking to her, and furthermore, Victor himself wasn’t to be seen anywhere. Fortunately for her, soon her uncle has been bothered by someone who wanted to chat with him and she could take a breather. She didn’t even say anything, just disappeared before he even had time to introduce 'her'.

Maybe she freed herself just in time, not much later they started to place some metal cannons before front doors of the palace. A tall figure not less elegant than the rest of the crowd and with a fortune of hair gel on the head went to the top of them and tapped his glass to draw attention on him.

"Welcome and thank you to everyone gathered here tonight! Because today is a special day! This evening will be taken the next step in the innovation, in which we will be able to get rid of our personal restrictions..."

Lariska like the rest of the crowd was turned towards him and when he was continuing his speech she heard behind her:

"Don’t you think he is exaggerating a little?"

It was Caduka in the blazer.

"Lafrenière, is that him?"

"Most likely, out of curiosity, how did you get in?"

"My brother… I mean my mother’s let me in as an accompanying person."

Caduka out of sudden started to nervously look around like she has heard a suspicious sound in a dark forest, just to calm down shortly after.

"What has happened?" Lariska didn’t know what to think about that.

"Nothing, I thought that if your uncle is here, your grandparents should be aswell. They were horrible for Elise last time, I don’t think they would be nicer to you, you know, you."

"Why they even should be here?"

"We’re in Vanhoover, my and your mother’s hometown, haven’t I mentioned?"

"No, it looks like you slipped your mind!" She said trying not to shout.

"Fine, but you won’t be so lucky every time."

"And how did you got here?"

"I jumped over the fence. Anyway, lamp repair will cost them a bit."

At that moment, when Victor interrupted his speech the night sky has glowed with a hundred colors and explosions, everyone including him was looking at it.

"So about this was it all about? The fireworks?"

"Apparently, but notice that it’s not the gunpowder which isn’t known here much anyway, but magic. However, no one is casting spells. He wants to slowly share and introduce inventions to the common citizens, getting them used to it hoping that Sister won’t notice before it will be too late. This right here is supposed to be just a demonstration."

"It seems pretty bold, have you found about it in the district?"

"Yeah, that’s why guards are so rigorous, for someone outside this can look for a show of few talented magicians."

In the meantime, as they talked the show has ended and the crowd started to cheer, Victor himself went down the stairs and began to chat with his guests. Lariska started to walk towards him but she has been stopped.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"He is in the crowd now, careless, if we want to eliminate him we should do it now."

"And what? Even if we manage to escape, have you forgotten who you are? Do you want to set your mother up?"

Of course, she didn’t want, she admitted that she got a bit carried away.

"You just had to dress me up as her, so what do you want to do?"

"Back then I was thinking that it isn’t such a bad idea." She realized that it was rather stupid. "In about half an hour after the show ends, he is supposed to meet with someone in his office room. He sure will be there first. Let’s wait for him there."

They jumped off a tree on the balcony, like Lariska suspected no one saw them but branches damaged her dress a little, but if she didn’t have to deal with the elite it wasn’t bothering her. Caduka immediately started to rummage at the door.

"Can not you just teleport us inside?"

"Yeah, teleport here, teleport there, if it only was so simple and easy."

"So why you will not just open the lock with magic? I thought you know it well, my mother told me about your school."

"In time you can forget anything, also magic won’t solve your every problem. Changing the subject, are you not sorry that you just ditched your brother like that?"

"He is not my brother."

"But he thought that you are his sister. Anyway, think what you want about him, I think it’s good that you finally met him."

"Why?"

"There’s no point telling you this if you don’t see it."

She stood up and pushed the door. They were inside, good for them almost all guards were placed outside or on the ground floor and they could move through the wide, marble corridor quite freely. Thanks to her mechanical eye they found his office room without any troubles and when they got inside all they had to do was waiting.

Victor didn’t want to leave his guests, but he had to prepare for a talk with Garbardini. He was aware that what he did a few minutes ago was terribly controversial even though he had permission not only of his but also other directors. Nevertheless, he was proud of himself and he had hoped they will allow him to take the next step. He climbed the stairs and went straight to his office, he didn’t even have time to close the door and he felt a cold steel in his chest. He fell on the floor, but not dead yet, to see faces of his executors.

"W-why?" He asked distraught.

"You wanted to spread the technology to the common citizens, you even arranged a show as a form of advertisement, have you completely lost your mind?" Lariska said.

"I just wanted to help." He was trying to lean against the wall.

"Help who, how?" Caduka asked. "By exposure or by putting civilians in danger? Haven’t you heard what has happened in the capital? Half of the street destroyed. Not even mentioning the defamation of the Sister’s name. "

"Sister, pff, I wanted everyone to be equal, regardless of race or place of birth, is it that bad? It was my vision like you have your own. But I wasn’t killing others just because I was not agreeing with someone and don’t tell me that our differences define us, bloody Sayeh. Anyway, know that I wouldn’t have done anything like that if I wouldn’t get permission first, because I reckon with others. And slander of Sister? Honestly, I don’t have anything to her, but if it was supposed to help I added here and there a word or two."

After these words, he looked once again on one then the other, then nodded and fell down on the floor, his eyes were already empty.

"Your intentions might have been good, but that doesn’t make them right." Caduka whispered.

She was standing for a moment above the corpse till Lariska pat her, yet when they turned around she herself glanced one last time at the body.