The wire had bought Losham time. It might have bought him weeks of pacification by getting his brothers to accept the testimony of the harem staff and the recorded ambient noise of the harem itself. For now, they believed that Lord Navuh wasstill alive and still in his apartment and still, in some general way, in charge.
The brothers, including Kolhood, were terrified of Lord Navuh. The fear of their father was the only thing that had kept them in check. The wire had reinforced the fear by providing evidence that the source was present and intact.
Only the wire was no longer transmitting, and the brothers would soon resume their pressure on Losham to provide evidence of the presence of Lord Navuh and the mandate he'd given to Losham to run things in his absence.
They would push and push until the bluff was revealed, and then they would eliminate Losham.
If only there was a way to maintain the level of fear. A way to reinforce the fiction that Navuh was still around and that he trusted Losham to run the island.
A thought started to form, simple and elegant at the same time.
The hive passed the thought between them, refining it as it went. Within perhaps fifteen seconds of internal time that corresponded to perhaps four seconds of external time, the plan was assembled.
Across the table, Losham was saying something that Number One had missed.
"They have no power base," Losham was saying. "They will not be in a position to mount a real challenge for leadership, and they will fall in line."
"There may be a better way," Number One said.
Losham, who had been working through his own argument, refocused on Number One. "I'm not running away," he said.
The collective registered the response with surprise. They hadn't expected him to think about running. Losham was too enamored with the position of power he found himself holding to abandon it even to save his own life.
It came from the assistant, they realized.
Rami's feelings spiked and washed across the room at the wordsbetter way. The assistant had been hoping Losham would see reason. He'd been hoping the male he loved would not sentence them both to death by clinging to power.
"We weren't going to suggest that you run," Number One said. "We will never suggest that. It's crucial for the survival of the island that you stay in power. The senior brothers would plunge this place into an even worse darkness, and the junior brothers would sow chaos that would result in rivers of blood. You are the only one who will maintain order and bring some light to the occupants of this place."
Losham didn't speak for a long moment, and even though he tried to maintain a neutral expression, he wasn't succeeding in hiding his reaction to Dave's words. He didn't see himself as an agent of light. He knew very well that he was on the side of darkness, and he was comfortable there.
He cleared his throat. "What's the plan?"
"It's based on fear and illusions," Number One said. "The wire. Your brothers' fear of your father. The harem."
"Go on."
"The wire is no longer transmitting. Your brothers are placated for now, but that will not last. Within days, they will be demanding more proof."
"I know. That's why the assassinations need to happen quickly. We can't spend weeks planning. We have days at most."
"When they push, you let them. You let them come to you and demand to see your father. And when they make the demand, you tell them you are tired of their distrust. You tell them that if they don't believe the wire, they can go and see for themselves. You tell them to go to the harem and demand to see their father. You will not accompany them because you are not going to risk your father's wrath, but they are welcome to go and face Lord Navuh alone."
Losham was very still.
"Why would I do that?"
"I'm getting there."
"Go on."
"They will arrive at the harem and demand to be allowed inside and have an audience with Lord Navuh, or at least the head of security. The guards are not going to stop them, but they will ask them to disarm for obvious reasons. No immortals are allowed into Lord Navuh's private sanctuary, and especially no immortals with weapons on them. They will not dare take any guards with them either, for the same reason. Once they are inside, they will be taken to their father."
"I don't understand."
Usually, Losham was sharper than that, but the plan was probably too outlandish for him to conceive.
"One of us will be wearing one of your father's elaborate robes and standing at the cliff's edge, with his back to the path and his face to the ocean. The servants will be thralled to lead your brothers to him."
