Lady Mutiny

Seven

The upside of standing in for the Lord of the Assassins was the exclusive access to his private office and quarters.

Not that Cassandra couldn't have walked into his rooms any time she wanted, but as she lounged in Baz's plush chair with her feet propped up upon his elegantly carved wooden desk, she could see how the power of the positions could get to one's head.

It was that power that allowed her to focus on the dagger in her hand, the blade cleaning out dirt from underneath her fingernails, instead of paying attention to the two assassins on the other side of the desk, bickering over the kill one allegedly stole from the other.

The two before her - Jeremiah and Lexus, or rather, Jem and Lex within the Underground- barely had the decency of knocking before barging in on the meeting Cass and Wil made themselves endure. An action the assassins never would have dared if Baz was there, Cass observed as the two continued on with their arguing.

Wil was doing a fine job of playing mediator, and Cass was more than happy to let him have at it. He had been less than civil to her since Baz's departure, not that she expected anything less. He remained quite bitter regarding Baz's choice of her as his temporary replacement, and though Cass didn't necessarily share his sentiments, she understood the reasoning behind his frustrations. She was one of the newest members of the guild, after all.

And a woman, to boot.

But she was used to it, the glares and the snide comments in her wake, ever since Baz left her in charge while on his mission. She just hadn't realized how much more she had to face without the Lord there. Almost as if his presence alone had protected her from the onslaught of unnecessary commentary from the other assassins around her.

Baz had assigned every available mission himself before he left and assured that, should anything new arrive during his absence, he would handle it upon his return. Regarding their clientele, Wil was more than happy to accept the Marks - and the coin- to hold until Baz returned, and while he was weaving his network beyond the Guild, Cassandra dealt with the inner turmoil of its members.

Another glaring example that apparently having a woman as the stand-in Leader of the Guild of Assassins wasn't something even Baz was yet ready to announce to the Underground.

Cass's brows furrowed as she focused on her dagger at her fingertips. Lilia always wanted more power, and with that, a higher position in the Guild. Did Baz deny her the upward mobility she desired out of spite because of their rocky past? Or did he know that she'd leave them the moment a situation didn't resolve in a manner sufficient to the Lady Cortova?

Cass didn't believe the latter for a moment, but was it possible enough was enough for Lilia to desert and betray the Guild?

That was the one detail to all of it that left Cass awake at night as she lay alone in Baz's bed within his quarters. Lilia's disappearance after the Solstice festival 6 months ago was unprecedented, but then again, so was Lilia. When Baz had returned that night, he told Cass all about the Lord she was supposed to kill, and how Lilia had so poorly failed, and how she would spend the night within the local prison until they could decide what to do with her come the morning. As the sun rose, and Cass pulled on her boots to run to her sister's defense, Baz had already been out and back, with news that Lilia escaped overnight, his sources telling him that she vowed to the Guild that she would follow through until her Mark was made.

Any Assassin would have done the same, but for Lilia to have done so with such urgency left even Baz besides himself as he recounted the events. He said he tried to find her, to stop her, but she had left without a trace. She was the Guild's Second, after all- she had a mission to complete and a reputation to uphold.