Grand Reopening [Baccarrat Mansion]

[Helena]

“I did not say it would be easy. But it will be necessary. What better poster boy? He is working for you because it is right, despite the bad blood of the past -- this thrice-times attempted murder, as you say. Taming what can be tamed and refraining from killing the innocent is exactly what you should be doing." She said it a little scathing, but with no true heat; it was just her truer face, unperturbed by considering what he made of her. Honest and blunt. “And if not him, his qualities are what you must seek. A saviour. A champion. That is our narrative, or where we shall begin at least.”

Helena took the files without preamble, the moment he laid them down. Her posture remained rigid, utterly confident in herself and her words. “These surviving traitors are your priority – they are your would-be allies, for they shall become your enemies instead, if left unchecked. We have something to offer them, and they us. We must win them to our cause. Then the potentials must also be analysed, and those of prospective use groomed towards sympathy for our way of thinking. But you must stop calling them gods. It is silly, and makes of them something they are not. That we are not.” Her eyes scanned quickly, absorbing the information. Though after a moment her eyes flickered up.

“Is my name among those on these lists?” It was not through fear she asked, but calculation. For what he had said about lineage, and what he had revealed about his secret. That, more than anything, was something a child of the di inferi understood.

“I find your vision agreeable – justice and order. Fair, but ruthless. Sedation is indeed a short term solution for those who prove intractable. Consider my club yours for the purpose. And I have contacts for the consideration of safe teaching. For women, at least. I trust you understand there are differences between the sexes.” She closed the file, though for now left it resting in her lap. Her stare was direct and unblinking as she considered him once more.

“You have resources, as do I. But the assurances I seek are… different. I may be able to offer more of my family’s resources under certain conditions. A family’s good name is, as you say, of importance for those like us. Once we have agreed fully on the way forward, the alliance between us should be more permanent.”