I Hate Dungeon School

"I'm not going to lie, Cassandra, I'm tempted to tell you to drown yourself in a bowl of gruel, but I'm too curious to actually say that," I said as I took a seat directly across from her.

"I thought you might be. I'd like to let bygones be bygones between us, if we can, so we can work together towards-" She shut up as I held up a hand.

"I'm going to be honest with you here, Cassandra. There is no way on this world, in the heavens, the hells, under the sight of all gods above and below, that anything will fix our relationship. I hate you, Cassandra. I have met horrors beyond your comprehension, I have dealt with knightly grab arses, and I hate them less than I hate you. That's not changing Cassandra."

To her credit, she actually looked hurt when I said that. I had always considered her to be cold and unfeeling. A monster in the skin of someone calling her my sister.

She was quiet for a long, awkward moment after that.

"I suppose I deserve that. I was horrible to you all while you were growing up. There was a reason for it, but in the end, it really is barely an excuse. I had vain hopes of toughening you up before our parents really got their hooks into you. We're both girls of the Marchesi line, our purpose is get married off for some political game. You've been the odd one out, red hair, blue eyes, all of that. You know how many rumors there were of you being an adoptee or the product of some adulterous fling?" She visibly deflated as she talked.

"I had a feeling, yes. Other noble children aren't particularly subtle with their barbs." I grumbled.

"Yes, well. Our parents knew that such rumors would affect marriage prospects. They were going to foist you off on the first suitor that had so much as a vague liking of you. I got it into my fool head that I had to turn you into something more useful. Thus, the magic and fighting training. I had no idea how to do that, and I thought being mean and horrible would help. I was wrong and stupid for that." She looked me up and down.

"That's all you have to say? Of course, you were stupid and wrong. I still have nightmares about the 'training' you put me through. I have scars, Cassandra. You can claim you did it for my own good until the world runs out of air, but I don't give a damn!" I snapped. Even when attempting an apology, it disgusted me to be in the same room as her.

She sighed and shrugged, the dismissiveness of the gesture setting my teeth to grinding.

"It seemed to have served its purpose. You're still alive at that barbaric Dungeon School, and rumors that have made it back here say you're decidedly effective. Much to the irritation of certain knights." She gave me a smirk.

"Ah. You heard about my duel with Cavendish then." I winced. I had known rumors would make it back, but I had secretly hoped they wouldn't.

"From the man himself. You see, sister, Sir Cavendish is a guest of my... Groom." She said the word with obvious disgust and distaste. I was starting to get a picture of what was going on, but I needed to follow this thread a bit further to confirm my suspicions.

It then dawned on me what she said. Cavendish was here as a guest. And likely still holding a grudge.

"Is this a trap, Cassandra? Did you invite me to trap?" My muscles tensed, halfway expecting to get jumped by someone in hiding.

"No. Well, not from me. I sent you the invitation out of some half-hearted hope we could reconcile. I had mostly hoped you'd tear up the invitation and I could ease my conscience knowing I had done the bare minimum of social nicety, despite you being disowned, exiled, and all that. Since then, though, the situation has changed. For the worst." Her face turned deadly serious.

"Explain."

"Our family finances haven't been great for a while. Mother and father have worked very hard to keep this hidden. Since the banning of War Slaves and all related industry a century ago, our grandparents and our parents have been working on a dwindling amount of funds, and nothing else they've tried has worked. Our family, quite frankly, is absolute garbage at making an honest living. So our parents, and the Togallis, got it into their heads to get back in the business."

"That's absolutely idiotic. It's not banned just in Burgotova. Sword-slaves are banned in the entirety of the Mortal Kingdoms! Were they going to break away from the alliance as well?"

"Yes. And what's worse is that more and more families were starting to get on board. It started to be random chatter, little stupid conspiracies, the usual. But then they got financial backing from the Knightly Order of the Obsidian Gauntlet. They've already put in orders for sword-slaves, and have volunteered to help with 'harvesting'. They've got a crop in mind already." She scowled.

I sat there for a moment searching my brain for any hint of what she might be talking about. The horrible realization hit me like a hammer.

"The kobolds?! They want to re-enslave the kobolds? Why the hells would they want to do that? And break away from the Mortal Alliance? What the hells would possess them to even think of this as a good idea?"

"That's the part that really scares me. I have no idea. Our parents aren't good people; we both know that. They're greedy and cruel, but this seems idiotic. They met with the leader of the Obsidian Gauntlet, and suddenly, they told me I was getting married and that the wedding was also a declaration of rebellion. At first I thought it was a weird joke when I sent you the invitation, but now I'm convinced they're legitimate. And too many nobles are also on their side."

"And at the center of this is the Obsidian Gauntlet. But why Cavendish? What's his stake in all this?"

"He wasn't involved until after your duel. He started coming along with their leader to meetings with our parents after that, and you can tell whatever you did to him has him fuming. The knights started adding conditions. And our parents keep agreeing."

"I don't like the sound of 'conditions.' Sounds very bad for me." I said, feeling increasingly tense from my growing sense of dread.

"It is. Cavendish is trying to get our parents to rescind the banishment. Accept you to the family, and have you married off. To him. I don't know why he'd want that, but I don't trust it at all." Her words hit me in the stomach like a lead weight.

"To me? And they agreed? What in the hells is going on here? And this has all been happening since I've been gone? It hasn't even been a full year!"

"It's been going on since before you left. The secret meetings and the like. That's part of why they found an excuse to kick you out. They were worried that your attitude would sour their negotiations somehow. That dumb little prank you pulled was good enough."

"That's why? That's why I was thrown out of the only life I had known to fend for myself in another part of the Kingdoms, why I have to dress in a frilly little maid dress playing nice with drunks to afford meals, because our parents were negotiating political suicide and didn't want me to ruin it? Then the Marchesi line deserves to end, as far as I'm concerned!" I stood and shouted at her. I began to pace the room in anger.

Cassandra said nothing, just watching me, without comment or reaction. Somehow, this irritated me even more than anything she could have said.

She always acted like this. If she wasn't yelling at me for some insignificant slight or another, she acted like she was above it all.

There was a twitch in her eye, however. A crack in her mask? Finally.

She took a deep breath and spoke. "For what it's worth, Alta, I actually agree with you."

"You what?" I blinked. Cassandra agreeing with me was one thing, a marvel to treasure forever, but her agreeing with the downfall of the Marchesi?

"After you left, father made me officially the heir of the family. I became privy to exactly how the Marchesi gained power and money, before and after the unification of Burgotova. Our family is stained in so much blood and horror that it makes me sick. The Knights, Mages, and even some of the churches helped cover up a lot of it. The things I've seen, Alta." There were tears in the corner of her eyes, and a distinctly sickly cast on her face.

I fought the urge to embrace her. It was an emotion that came to me unbidden, and I hated it. Trying to comfort my roommates and allies over our trials softened me, I think, but I still couldn't get myself to reach out to Cassandra. There was still too much bitterness in my heart to fully allow myself that, but her tears and disgust seemed genuine.

"Is that why you want me to help you? Did you suddenly grow a conscience?" I couldn't help but snark at her. I hated myself for it as soon as the words left my mouth.

"Listen to me, Alta. I know I'm a cold-hearted bitch, but there is a limit to the depths my bitchiness is willing to go. Our family, our parents, have gone beyond those depths into the inky blackness of pure bastardry, and I refuse to tolerate it." Cassandra said with her voice full of more rage than I had ever heard come from her.

She was serious. I recognized her rage, a survival tactic from her attempts at training me, and it was legitimate and serious.

I stared at her for a good long time. I swallowed my bitter pride and looked her right in the eye.

"What exactly do you need from me then?" I asked quietly.

"I need chaos, Alta. I need chaos and scandal during the reception. The wedding needs to go off as normal, to lull everyone into a sense of security. I have others helping out, but the less you know about them, the better. I imagine you can manage chaos." She smirked at me. I couldn't help but smirk back.

"Of course I can. Always happy to. My girlfriend and I, especially." My smirk turned a little more wicked.

"Girlfriend? Which one of your friends is it? Not Mariana? Please tell me you have more self-respect than that." She sighed and rubbed her temple.

"Of course not, Mariana. Ew. EW. No, it's the tall black black-haired half-elf. Her name is Eira. She's a spellsong." I winked.

An entire dance of emotions played across Cassandra's face. "A spellsong? A half-elf spellsong? A woman half-elf spellsong? Gods above and below, Alta, that's the full trifecta of things to infuriate mother and father. I love it and hate it at the same time." She grinned.

"Still have your own prejudices, I see." I couldn't help the scowl spreading across my face.

"Admittedly, yes. For the purposes of this, I'll put them aside. With any luck, when this is all over, we'll never have to interact again. I'm sure you'd like that." She sighed sadly, though I couldn't tell if it was feigned or not.

No matter.

"Ok, let's discuss details," I said, settling into the chair for a good, long conspiratorial conversation.