Chapter 66: Not Very Political
Nacho processed the information, fitting it into the mental map he’d been building since arriving in Lumen. The Sirens were under pressure from multiple directions. The Empire above them demanding tribute. The pirates attacking their supply lines. Internal politics tearing apart their leadership.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, Sera was trying to hold everything together with nothing but willpower and stubbornness.
Same as when I left. Only worse.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you need to understand what’s at stake." She stopped walking and turned to face him, her expression unreadable. "When I gave you that mission, the intelligence gathering, the infiltration, it wasn’t just busywork to keep you out of trouble. The Empire is planning something. I don’t know what yet, but the pieces are moving in ways I’ve never seen before."
"Lady Vex."
Sera nodded slowly. "The High Chancellor has been consolidating control over the Empire’s criminal networks for years. The Consortium isn’t just a local problem. It reaches into every major city, every trade route, every institution that handles money or power."
"Including the Sirens?"
"Including the Sirens." Her jaw tightened. "Korith has been receiving payments from a shell company connected to the Consortium. I can’t prove it yet, but I know it’s true. She’s being bought, and she doesn’t even realize she’s selling our people’s future."
The pieces clicked together in Nacho’s mind with uncomfortable clarity. Korith wasn’t just a political rival trying to grab power. She was a puppet, whether she knew it or not, dancing to strings held by someone far more dangerous than she could imagine.
And Sera had been fighting this war alone, with no allies she could trust and no resources she could spare.
No wonder she looks exhausted. She’s been drowning for months and no one even noticed.
"What do you need from me?"
The question came out before he could stop it, surprising him as much as it seemed to surprise her. Her eyes widened fractionally, the first crack in that perfect composure she wore like armor.
"I need information," she said after a moment. "Real information, not the sanitized reports I’ve been getting from official channels. The kind of information that only comes from people who operate outside the system."
"The Rat King."
"And Vance. And whoever else you’ve managed to wrap around your tentacles since arriving." A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "You’ve built a network here in two weeks that most spies spend years cultivating. I want access to it."
Nacho studied her face, looking for any sign of deception or hidden agenda. Through Mind Fortress, he probed the edges of her thoughts again, and again found nothing but that impenetrable wall.
She’s not lying. But she’s not telling me everything either.
"What else?"
The question made her pause. Her composure flickered again, something uncomfortable passing behind her eyes before she locked it down.
"I need to know what happened to Commander Vael."
The name hit him like a physical blow, not because he knew who Vael was, but because of what it revealed about Sera. The expedition that had failed. The one Korith was using against her. The weight she’d been carrying since before they even met.
That’s personal. That’s more than politics.
"Who was Vael to you?"
"My closest peer." The words came out clipped, almost mechanical. "The only person in Lumen who could strategize at my level without needing me to slow down and explain myself. I sent her on that expedition because I trusted her to handle it. The intelligence was wrong, and now she’s either dead or captured, and I don’t know which."
"And you think the intelligence was deliberately compromised."
It wasn’t a question, and she didn’t treat it like one.
"Someone wanted that expedition to fail. Someone inside Lumen, with access to our military planning." Her hands were shaking now, a barely perceptible tremor that she controlled with visible effort. "Finding Vael is secondary. What matters is finding out who betrayed her, and making sure they can’t do it again."
Nacho stood in silence for a long moment, processing everything she’d told him. The political situation in Lumen. The Consortium’s reach. Korith’s corruption. Vael’s disappearance.
It was a lot. More than he’d bargained for when he agreed to this arrangement back in that infirmary room.
But it was also an opportunity.
"I’ll help you," he said. "On one condition."
"Name it."
"You tell me what you actually think about what I’ve been doing here. The Velvet House. The massages. All of it."
The question caught her off guard. He saw it in the way her eyes widened, in the slight hitch of her breath that she almost managed to hide.
For a long moment, she didn’t answer.
Then she did.
"I think you’re doing what you have to do to survive in a world that wasn’t designed for you." Her voice was quiet, stripped of its usual command. "I think you’re using the tools you have, even when those tools are uncomfortable or unconventional. I think you’ve helped more people in two weeks than most Sirens help in a lifetime, and I think you’ve hurt some people too, even if they don’t remember it afterward."
She met his eyes, and for the first time since he’d known her, he saw something raw underneath that perfect composure.
"I think you’re dangerous. I think you’re useful. And I think you’re exactly what Lumen needs right now, even if no one else can see it."
The words hung in the air between them, heavier than they should have been. Nacho found himself genuinely uncertain how to respond, which was a rare feeling for someone who’d made a career out of reading people and telling them what they wanted to hear.
She’s not condemning me. But she’s not absolving me either. She’s just stating facts, the way she always does.
"That’s not an answer to my question."
"Yes it is." Sera turned away from him, looking toward the eastern horizon where the sun was starting to peek above the rooftops. "You asked what I think. I think you’re complicated. I think you’re making choices that most people wouldn’t have the stomach to make. And I think you’re going to keep making those choices regardless of what I think about them."
"Does that bother you?"