Chapter 4: The Invisible Women
Silas returned to his private chamber within the Consort Quarters. The encounter with Lady Seraphina had clarified his immediate objective. He was blind and deaf in a palace full of predators. He needed a network.
In his past life as a corporate raider Silas had learned a fundamental truth about power. The people who truly ran the world were not the executives in the boardrooms. They were the assistants the secretaries and the cleaning staff. They were the invisible people who held the keys managed the schedules and threw away the shredded documents.
In the Sunless Throne the principle was exactly the same. The arrogant lords and ladies ignored the servants. And that was a fatal flaw Silas intended to exploit. He would build a network of spies. A shadow harem of maids forgotten noble daughters and courtesans who were underestimated by the court.
He pushed open the heavy oak door to his room.
A young woman was kneeling on the floor scrubbing the marble tiles. She wore the simple grey uniform of a palace maid. When she heard the door open she flinched violently and dropped her brush. The soapy water splashed across the polished stone.
"Forgive me My Lord," she gasped pressing her forehead to the wet floor. Her entire body trembled. "I thought the room was empty. I will clean it immediately. Please do not strike me."
Silas closed the door quietly and locked it.
He did not move toward her. He simply stood near the entrance and observed. She was young perhaps nineteen with pale skin and dark hair pulled back into a tight braid. Her uniform was clean but frayed at the edges. More importantly Silas noticed the faint purple bruising around her wrists and the slight limp in her posture.
"Stand up," Silas said. His voice was calm and devoid of anger.
The maid hesitated before slowly rising to her feet. She kept her eyes glued to the floor.
"What is your name?" Silas asked.
"Elara My Lord," she whispered.
"Look at me Elara."
She slowly raised her head. Her eyes were wide and filled with a deep ingrained terror.
System, Silas thought. Activate Aura Reader.
[Aura Reader Level 1: Activated. Cost 10 SP per minute. Current SP: 60.]
A faint mist materialized around Elara. It was a swirling chaotic mix of pale blue and deep grey. Fear and despair. There was no yellow of deceit and no red of malice. She was exactly what she appeared to be. A terrified victim of the palace hierarchy.
Silas deactivated the skill to save his points.
"Who gave you those bruises Elara?" Silas asked gesturing to her wrists.
Elara swallowed hard and her eyes darted toward the door. "It was nothing My Lord. I was clumsy."
"Lysander," Silas stated. It was not a question.
Elara gasped and took a step back. Her silence was all the confirmation Silas needed. Lysander was losing the Queen’s favor and he was taking his frustration out on the servants. It was a classic display of displaced aggression. It was also incredibly stupid.
"Lysander is a fool," Silas said walking slowly toward a velvet armchair and sitting down. "He beats the people who pour his wine and wash his sheets. He thinks because you are silent you are blind. But you are not blind are you Elara?"
Elara stared at him in shock. No consort had ever spoken to her like this. They usually treated her like a piece of furniture.
"I see everything My Lord," she whispered cautiously.
"I know you do," Silas replied resting his elbows on his knees and steepling his fingers. "You see who visits Lysander in the dead of night. You hear the whispers in the corridors when the nobles think they are alone. You know the secrets of this palace better than the Queen herself."
Elara trembled but she did not look away. There was a spark of intelligence in her eyes that Silas recognized. It was the spark of a survivor.
"I am building something Elara," Silas said his voice dropping to a smooth hypnotic cadence. "I am going to tear Lysander down from his pedestal. And after him I am going to dismantle anyone else who stands in my way. But I cannot do it alone. I need eyes in the shadows. I need women like you who are invisible to the arrogant fools of this court."
Elara gripped the fabric of her skirt. "If they catch me spying they will flay me alive."
"They will not catch you because they do not even look at you," Silas countered. "And in return for your service I offer you my absolute protection. When I rise you will rise with me. You will never scrub another floor and no man will ever lay a hand on you again without my permission."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small gold coin he had found in the desk drawer earlier. He tossed it onto the floor at her feet.
"That is for your immediate debts," Silas said. "Bring me Lysander’s schedule. I want to know who he meets with the City Guard and what he eats for breakfast. Do this and you will have a place in my inner circle."
Elara looked at the gold coin. It was more money than she made in a year. She looked back up at Silas. The fear in her eyes was slowly being replaced by something much more dangerous. Hope.
She dropped to her knees and picked up the coin clutching it tightly to her chest.
"I will bring you his schedule tonight My Lord," Elara said her voice steady for the first time.
"Good," Silas smiled a cold calculating smile. "Welcome to the shadows Elara."
As she hurried out of the room Silas leaned back in his chair. The first thread of his web had been spun. Elara would recruit others. Maids cooks and eventually the neglected wives of the nobility. He would build a harem of beautiful invisible spies and they would help him conquer the Sunless Throne from the inside out.
