The Brightest Fell

Chapter 81

Rinisa's eyes widened. Then, she burst into giggles. "What? No. Oh my God, no. You sweet, naïve man! You think I'd settle for that, after everything I've been through, all that I've sacrificed for the cause? No, sweetheart. I've no intention of being a pawn when I can be a queen."

"A – what?" Abhijat gaped at her, his mind racing. "You think – he told you he'll marry you? Is that it?"

"It's only reasonable," she shrugged. "This war – and it is a war, make no mistake – he'd never have won it without me. So why shouldn't I want to share the spoils, fifty-fifty? A prime minister can be replaced if she becomes inconvenient; governments collapse all the time. A wife...well, we both know that's easier said than done."

Abhijat cleared his throat. "So, what made you change your mind?"

Rinisa raised an enquiring eyebrow.

"About pinning Badal's murder on Fasih. That hitman changed his story overnight. I'm guessing that was your doing?"

"Well, Jehan Fasih is quite possibly the biggest spoilsport this world has ever seen." She pouted. "He threatened to go public about the use of Amven at the La Fantome club."

"You mean how you used it to drug children and force them into prostitution?"

"Precisely," she sighed, rubbing tiredly at her eyes. "Can you imagine what the media would make of that story if it ever came out?"

"I've some ideas. For one, if the public became aware of the drug's potential for misuse, no government hoping for re-election would dream of ratifying its use in the justice system. Maganti's grand plan of a unilateral power-grab via the use of Amven on prisoners would be over before it even began."

"Well, you're certainly proving to be smarter than you look." Her eyes traveled slowly over the length of his body. She smirked, "Not that I have any problems with the way you look. But you can see why we had to scrap that bright little idea. Couldn't let Amven get a bad rap in the media. Not when the situation's this delicate. You come from a family of politicians, you should know that. Public opinion is everything."

"And Maganti thinks that having the prime minister of Naijan murdered in the capital of Maralana, the day before the New Year's gala he is supposed to be hosting," he let the skepticism seep into his voice. "Will help with his reputation?"

"Perhaps it wouldn't have, if you hadn't fallen for my story as easily as you did. But you did, didn't you?" She winked, her lips quirking as her gaze flickered over to Fasih once again. "You drove him here to this abandoned warehouse, all by yourself and seemingly under no duress, when you were supposed to be escorting him to a brunch appointment on the other side of town. Not the kind of thing you can pass off as an honest mistake.

"Now, why did you do that?" She shrugged. "Let's see. Jehan Fasih betrayed your father, caused your sister to get kicked out of Weritlan University, and has in general caused all kinds of trouble for your family. Some might even say he was the reason you had to leave the military. Is it so very unlikely that after all that, you might've wanted some revenge?

"Especially if Maralanese intelligence operatives – acting on a tip about a possible assassination attempt against the Naijani prime minister – happened to find you trying to kill Jehan in this very warehouse. And then, of course, they'd have to shoot you in order to save the prime minister. But as you can imagine, they'll have arrived too late.

"Fasih was already near death by the time they located the warehouse. He couldn't be saved, and died tragically on the way to the hospital. That's the story the reporters will get, at least.

"That gun you were pointing at Fasih not so long ago, with your fingerprints all over it? You can be sure that's the weapon we'll use to send him on his way, once we're done with him. You dismantled his phone, left your prints all over the parts that're now lying outside this building, begging to be found. My poor little soldier boy, I couldn't have created a more airtight case against you if I'd tried.