Freedom, Humanity, and Other Delusions (Death's Handmaiden Book 3) Read online

  Francis shrugged. ‘Neither am I. She came asking for my endorsement as the EA chair. I told her that I preferred not to endorse either candidate until I had a better idea of their position on the school’s clubs. It seemed like that wasn’t good enough, but she said she’d be back when she’d formulated a comprehensive plan.’

  ‘A comprehensive plan? What does that mean?’

  ‘I have no idea.’ Francis pointed up at one of the screens. ‘Now he looks like he could be useful with a bit of training.’

  The student in question had just been taken out by the fox. However, he had almost got his own shot in first and he had uncovered the older student’s position when the others had not. It was possible they had a potential competitor there. ‘You may be correct, Francis. I’d suggest further evaluation.’

  ‘It’d be useful to get you to do some of that…’

  ‘I may be available.’

  Francis grinned and heaved a mock sigh. ‘Oh how I wish that you were.’

  ‘Francis Goretti Orlando, you’re too old for me and you know it.’

  ‘Only until November.’

  ‘And in November, I’ll still be with Suki.’

  There was another sigh. ‘And that’s a much bigger fly in the ointment. I’ll just have to wait until her birthday and try for both of you.’

  ‘Hm. Well, that’s something to look forward to. The look on your face when she turns you down will be priceless.’

  236/2/19.

  ‘There’s no real source for any of it,’ Melissa said. ‘There’s no consistency either. Lots of contradictory information. If you believe all the rumours, Nava’s sleeping with every eligible male in the school.’

  ‘Not just the males,’ Nava commented, her tone disinterested. ‘Several females have been named.’

  ‘I don’t think that’s where we should be focusing,’ Mitsuko said. She had called the house meeting, which was taking place in the sento, due to the appearance of a number of posts on the school’s gossip channels regarding Nava’s supposed promiscuity. ‘Why has someone decided to start posting this crap now?’

  ‘I’d have thought that was obvious,’ Courtney replied.

  ‘I tend to agree,’ Nava said. ‘It’s a fairly obvious attempt to throw you off your game. I know you don’t believe any of it, but I feel I should state that none of these rumours has any basis in fact.’ It was barely noticeable, but Mitsuko relaxed just a tiny bit at Nava’s words. Mitsuko did not believe the rumours, but hearing Nava deny them had settled any latent worry.

  ‘Well, one of the rumours said you were sleeping with me,’ Melissa said. ‘That’s true, but Suki’s with us when it happens, so I don’t think that counts. Who do you think started this? Taryn Borchardt is the obvious source, but–’

  ‘It’s her,’ Nava said.

  ‘You seem very sure.’

  Nava considered briefly. ‘Ninety, maybe ninety-five percent. She tried to seduce me at Flight Club last week. Seduce may not be the best term. She suggested she wanted to get to know me a lot better. Since she couldn’t get me, I believe these rumours are her plan B.’

  ‘You’re saying that she tried to take you away from me,’ Mitsuko said, ‘just to gain an advantage in the election?’

  ‘No. That was her primary reason, but she’s fundamentally competitive. She wanted me because it would mean she beat you.’

  ‘Makes sense,’ Courtney said. ‘Taryn would be at the top of my list of suspects for starting this. What do you want to do about it?’

  ‘There’s not much we can do,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Denials will just feed the rumour mill. I don’t see this as a problem, aside from it potentially damaging Nava’s reputation.’

  ‘I’m not sure what reputation I have,’ Nava said, ‘so maybe this is just establishing one.’

  ‘I think we should establish a better one.’

  ‘Then I suppose I should attempt to quash these rumours. I have no idea how to do that, however. The main thing as far as I’m concerned is that they don’t disturb you.’

  Mitsuko smiled. ‘I am undisturbed.’

  Nava gave a nod. ‘Then I am too.’

  236/2/20.

  ‘I’d just like to make it totally clear that I am not sleeping with Nava,’ Francis said.

  ‘I never thought you were, Francis,’ Mitsuko replied. It was lunchbreak and the student council was having a meeting. The rumours had not been the intended topic, but it was the topic which had come up almost immediately. ‘Even if you want to, you wouldn’t.’

  ‘I don’t–’ Francis cut himself off with a grimace. ‘Okay, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want her. I should probably stop the denials while I’m still believably innocent.’

  ‘A good policy, Francis,’ Darius said. Melissa and Marie were giggling. Courtney was doing her best not to. ‘The question is,’ Darius went on, ‘what do we do about this? It’s obvious that Taryn Borchardt Firmin is behind this. She’s attempting to undermine you, Mitsuko.’

  ‘I have no doubt,’ Mitsuko replied, ‘but she’s failing. I’m perfectly confident in my girlfriend. I’m a little surprised at your concern, Darius. We haven’t always been friends. I half expected you to run against me this year.’

  ‘Times, and opinions, change, President. My assessment of Taryn Borchardt is… I’d prefer to retain the current council. As is. You’ve been a good leader. I’ve no doubt we would lose Melissa too and she has been a most efficient secretary. I intend to assist you in rebuffing these accusations.’

  ‘There’s no way either of us can directly–’

  ‘Nothing you or Nava Greyling could say would make a difference if issued as a statement or anything similar. I agree. Leave it with me. I think I can come up with a way of turning the tables on whoever is spreading these rumours. Trust me.’

  Mitsuko gave a small grimace. ‘Don’t say things like that before unleashing diabolical plans, Darius.’

  Darius just shrugged. ‘I rather thought it was expected…’

  ~~~

  The members of the News Club were not exactly ninjas. Nava spotted their ambush from a safe enough distance that she could have avoided it. Doing so seemed like a waste of time, however. She was heading home – Mitsuko, Melissa, and Courtney had another council meeting – and she would have had to deviate quite a lot from her route to dodge the interview. So, Nava continued on until someone was stuffing a camera and microphone in her face.

  ‘Nava Greyling Sonkei, we’re with the News Club. Can we have a word?’ The News Club had sent their ace gossip reporter, Vivienne Janvier Plank. She was not a tall woman, but she was very attractive and very assertive. Her hair was a fiery red and her green eyes flashed whenever she felt she had something to sink her teeth into. Rumour had it that her teeth were barbed and once she latched on there was no getting rid of her.

  ‘I’ve no doubt you’ll have some words whether I agree or not, Vivienne Janvier,’ Nava replied.

  ‘You wound me.’ Vivienne did not look wounded. ‘A number of rumours have been spreading regarding your behaviour since you joined the Greylings. You’ve made no effort to deny any of them.’

  ‘I didn’t think it was necessary. Several of those rumours are mutually contradictory. If I were seeing all the people I’m linked with, I’d have had no time for classes. Frankly, spreading that kind of gossip just indicates that you can’t be bothered to do your own research. Rebuking you would only serve to encourage others. The originator of those rumours is clearly an honourless coward. Were I to discover who they were, rebuking them would be pointless.’

  Ignoring the insult against her own work, Vivienne jumped on the more inflammatory comment. ‘An honourless coward? That’s the kind of talk that gets you into a duel, Nava Greyling. You’re known to hate duelling, but you’re picking a fight.’

  ‘No one has come to me to lay these allegations before me. The originator of this baseless gossip is undoubtedly so far beneath my contempt as to be not worth the effort of striking. They wo
n’t reveal themselves anyway. If they did, they’d have to face me and they’re clearly too cowardly to do that. If you’ll excuse me, I have homework to get done.’

  ‘Thanks for your time,’ Vivienne said. ‘That was great.’

  Nava was not convinced she had done the right thing as she walked away. Vivienne had seemed rather pleased. When a gossip reporter was pleased, the object of her attention should probably not be happy.

  236/2/21.

  Apparently, Nava had things to learn about politics. Sometime around mid-morning, there was a subtle change in attitude from various people in class 22C. They had been giving her some nasty looks, and now they were back to something more like normal. Nava did not connect the dots until lunchtime when Melissa revealed what had been happening on the gossip channels.

  ‘Vivienne Janvier put out a vid post about eleven,’ Melissa said as they walked to the refectory. ‘There was some of that interview she got from you and another of her ambushing Darius. The whole thing basically says that it’s all lies and no right-thinking human would believe any of it.’

  ‘She was hyping the rumours herself yesterday,’ Nava countered.

  ‘Today she says they’re false accusations spread by a coward. Taryn Borchardt will be spitting mad.’

  ‘Try not to smirk so much when you say that.’

  ‘I’ll try, but I’ll fail.’

  ‘Hm. So, Vivienne managed to ambush Darius as well as me?’

  ‘It seems so,’ Melissa said.

  ‘Darius set it up,’ Mitsuko said when they joined her at the refectory for lunch.

  ‘He did?’ Melissa asked.

  ‘Probably Nava’s interview too. He set it up to take the wind out of Taryn’s sails. Vivienne is one of Darius’s classmates and Darius has strong political leanings.’

  ‘He did say he didn’t want Taryn taking Suki’s place,’ Melissa said, nodding.

  ‘He didn’t pull his punches either,’ Mitsuko went on. ‘Nava and I are showing great dignity in not reacting to the rumours. We couldn’t possibly reply, he said, but he can. Nava would never go behind my back. Anyone saying otherwise hasn’t met her or is lying. He mentioned a few things from last year which demonstrated your strength and he doubled down on the cowardice angle. Taryn can’t possibly respond at this point. If anyone comes up with evidence or even reasonable speculation suggesting she’s responsible, she’ll be crucified.’

  ‘I doubt she’s going to like that,’ Nava said. ‘I wonder what she’ll come up with next?’

  236/2/25.

  ‘The Sunday before the election and no sign of any more dirty tricks,’ Courtney said. ‘I was expecting something else, I have to admit.’

  ‘I’m not sure dirty tricks are really her thing,’ Nava replied from across the lounge. ‘I think she likes winning fair and square. It’s just that politics is a dirty business, so she tried the one thing she could come up with and that’s the end of it.’

  ‘Maybe…’ Courtney did not sound convinced.

  ‘One could suggest that she’s continuing,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Her campaign has largely been based on decrying the performance of the student council since I took control. She’s trying to make everything my fault. She’s even linked in the incident last summer when Free Beherbergen attacked the conference.’

  ‘And all of that was a mistake,’ Melissa said.

  ‘I’ve done my best to counter it.’

  ‘You almost don’t need to. Especially that business in Alliance City. The gossip channels have been full of chatter about the various events last year and how they were resolved by students, including you.’ Melissa looked across at Nava with a smirk. ‘Actually, the only criticism I’ve seen about it all is that the council has never managed to push Nava into some official position.’

  ‘That would be a battle I couldn’t win,’ Mitsuko said.

  ‘Mm. Terrorists is one thing, but persuading Nava to take a position on the council… I don’t think anyone can expect you to take on that kind of risk.’

  Nava looked between her two friends. ‘I don’t believe I’m that bad, but I’m glad we’re all on the same page.’

  236/2/31.

  The day of the election dawned fairly miserably. There was a steady drizzle which worsened to rain periodically falling from first light. It showed no sign of stopping as the day went on. It was probably a good thing that no one had to go out to vote, though everyone who could vote had lessons in the morning.

  The previous year, Nava had been more concerned about Mitsuko surviving than about her political career. No matter how the voting came out, it seemed unlikely that Taryn would try to assassinate her rival. Nava voted as soon as the website went live in the morning and then sat back to watch how things worked out. Nava was not, outwardly, nervous. Nava only showed emotions when she wanted to, which was practically never. She observed, watching the reactions of others as they waited for the evening and the results. It was fascinating.

  Mitsuko was, of course, outwardly just as calm as Nava. Unlike Nava, Mitsuko showed emotions, but not the ones she was feeling. The polling was giving her a good lead, but polls were not to be taken as reality. The student president was nervous and trying not to show it. She was all smiles. Only those practised in detecting emotions would be able to see that she was running on two hours of sleep, coffee, and adrenaline.

  That Melissa was nervous was more obvious. ‘There are some rumours floating about that voting is low this year,’ she said at lunch. ‘I do hope people haven’t become complacent.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Nava suggested.

  ‘I’m not worried.’ Pause. ‘Would you read over my resignation letter later? I don’t want any mistakes in it if I have to use it.’

  ‘But you’re not worried.’

  ‘N-no, not at all.’

  Taryn was about as good an actress as Mitsuko. When she appeared in the refectory, you could barely tell she was worked up over the election. She certainly appeared to be happy with how things were going, but Nava could see the pressure lurking behind the mask. It was a different kind of pressure from Mitsuko, however. Taryn was all about the competition. Taryn wanted to win. What Taryn was nervous about was losing – of course, Mitsuko was the same – but for Taryn it was the losing that would sting, not what she would be losing.

  The polling suggested that the race would not be a close one. However, if Melissa was right and fewer students had voted this year than usual, there could still be an upset. Taryn could end up winning because Mitsuko’s supporters thought it was a done deal. That, Nava thought, would be a particularly bad way to lose an election.

  ~~~

  Last year, the outgoing student president had presided over the results ceremony. He was in the audience this evening, but he was perfectly happy being a normal student working toward his finals and Courtney was standing at the podium in the theatre to read the results. Apparently, that was fairly normal when there was no resigning president to take the job. Courtney did not appear especially pleased that the SSF captain was the default presenter.

  Nava was in the audience this time around, rather than standing watch at the back of the stage. Well, Nava was always on some level of alert and she was keeping her eyes open for any signs of trouble. She was not expecting any this time, however, which made the entire thing seem a far more relaxed affair. Last year, Nava had been waiting for one of her estranged sisters to teleport in and attempt to execute Mitsuko. If that did happen this year, it would be a different estranged sister.

  ‘Let’s get this started,’ Courtney said. Not, perhaps, the most eloquent of opening lines, but it did fit the captain’s personality. The room took it as a signal to quit talking and listen, which was the point. ‘We’re all here to see who we’ve elected as student president for the next year. I’d like to comment up front that this has been one of the worst-engaged elections we’ve ever had at SAS-squared. I won’t reveal the percentage who voted at this time, but it was quite low.’

&
nbsp; There were mumbles and noises in various parts of the hall. Maybe a few people had not voted and now thought they should have. Courtney ignored them and tapped at the screen on the podium to call up the final results. ‘Very well. I’ll be reading the results in alphabetical order by clan name, not that it makes a lot of difference today. The results for the student president election of two-three-six are as follows. Taryn Borchardt Firmin, two thousand, five hundred and twenty-four votes. Mitsuko Trenton Sonkei, three thousand, seven hundred and eighty-four votes. Mitsuko Trenton Sonkei will continue as president of the student council for another year.’

  At the back of the stage, Taryn and Mitsuko were getting to their feet. Taryn’s face had hardened when the voting figures were read out, but she had relaxed almost immediately. She hated losing, but she accepted defeat well too. She offered Mitsuko a hand to shake and then remained at the back of the stage while Mitsuko walked forward to make her acceptance speech.

  Mitsuko shook hands with Courtney and then stepped up to the podium. She paused, looking up and around. ‘No one’s going to shoot at me this year? Well, that’s better than last time.’ Even the people near Nava who had, apparently, voted for Taryn laughed. ‘I thank you all for this chance to continue improving life here at SAS-squared. I am hopeful that things will be quieter here this year and that we can all get on with enjoying our time at our school. The only thing I have to worry about, it seems, is our little democracy. I’d like to nurture some additional competition for next year’s election. I think I’ve had a good opponent in Taryn Borchardt, but there must be others in the student body with their own ideas. Let’s hear them. Thank you.’

  236/2/32.

  ‘I’m stepping down at the end of next term.’ There was silence in the sento following the statement. Courtney had made it without any warning, though it was sort of to be expected given that she was in her final year at school.

  ‘I see,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Have you informed the administration?’ Unlike the student president, the captain of the SSF was assigned by the school’s administration. The previous captain had a say and no captain had ever been assigned without the agreement of the other student council members, but the captain position was somewhat akin to a job.