"It isn't that simple, Claire."
She looked to Senator Kantor, lost. "Isn't it?"
A deep sigh preceded Senator Kantor's explanation. "You are still young, and will learn in time that things are not always as they seem."
Claire cocked her head, her previously glowing image of so highly regarded a Senator distorted by the sad impotence of such a man. "Shepherd once told me the same thing… You just echoed the words of a madman."
Senator Kantor offered a conciliatory smile, his look of pity disarming. "I'm asking you to trust me."
Corday understood what riled her; bone deep, he felt the same away. "We make progress every day, Claire. I swear it to you."
Claire looked to her friend and could see he had faith in the Alpha charged to lead the rebellion.
"I understand." And she did. She understood that the longer they waited, the more people would die—that the world was a nightmare where the men and women who'd once sworn to uphold the law might hand her back to a despot for food that would only last so long.
She understood perfectly.
She hurt; everyone hurt. And it had to end.
Once Senator Kantor had left, Corday took her hand, and led her back to the couch to rest. When he had her to himself, Corday smiled and pulled a gift out of his pocket.
"I have something to cheer you up." The Enforcer, his face dimpled, held up what was pinched between his fingers. "A few weeks ago I went to your residence. Everything was pretty smashed up, but I found this hidden under the lining of your jewelry box."
He slid a band of gold on her finger.
The gold was warm, but Claire's reaction to it utterly cold. "This was my mother's wedding ring."
As a child she'd hated the sight of it, still angry her mother had abandoned her, too young to accept what had happened. Claire had forgotten she'd even had it tucked away. Now it fit, just like her mother's disappointment in life fit. Holding up her hand to view the grim thing, she saw the correlation to her mother's impetus—a pretty, sparkling reminder that one could always choose.
"Thank you, Corday."
He took her hand again, stroked her fingers, and promised, "I want you to know that I understand the way you feel, but he's right. If the Senator's life was not gravely threatened, I don't know if I would trust even him with you."
Claire wasn't sure what to say. "Why haven't either of you asked me about Shepherd?"
Corday started to purr, scooting closer to put an arm around her shoulder. "Considering that you escaped once, anything he'd allowed you to hear may have been planted to mislead the resistance should you get free again. I hate to say it, but every move that monster makes is… brilliant. There is nothing you can give us."
No one was on her side, and though she tried to hide her look of hurt, it didn't matter. Corday saw.
She chose to tell him things anyway; she needed him to hear her. "He was born in the Undercroft, his mother incarcerated by Premier Callas. His lover's name is Svana."
The Beta listened, Claire's words confirming what Brigadier Dane had conjectured. It would explain how Shepherd had been incarcerated off record, but the thought of a woman being thrown into that hell… that his own government had done such a thing, just could not be. Could it?
Claire continued, eyes far away as she blathered on. "Svana has an accent I've never heard before—like she's not from here."
"There are a thousand kilometers of snow in every direction outside this Dome, Claire. Outsiders cannot wander in."
"Just like women cannot be thrown in the Undercroft and entire cities cannot fall overnight?" To Claire it seemed there had to be more… dark truths about themselves that had to be recognized. Meeting her friend's eyes, she confessed, "I don't think Premier Callas was a good man… I'm afraid Shepherd's harsh opinion of us might not be wrong."
Corday's arm tightened around her. "Are you saying you agree with him?"
"No," she answered quickly. "No. Evil cannot change evil. Maybe his underlying motivation was once principled; I know he thinks it is, but it's not."
"That's right, Claire," Corday reaffirmed, worried to see her so lost. "Shepherd and his army are delusional."
Cheek to his shoulder, she agreed, "Aren't we all a little these days…"Chapter 2Claire was not a violent woman. She did not know how to fight. She was not physically strong.
But she wasn't defenseless. Claire was fast and clever. She just needed to find a way to use those traits to further her agenda. Deceiving Corday again did not sit well with her; but his loyalty, his intentions, were tied up in Senator Kantor's leadership.
Maybe the Senator's plan would work… perhaps rebels could uncover the location of the contagion. Then what? Rally the people over a series of hard years while the Dome continued to crack and more snow fell? Claire was not going to wait to find out.