As a gesture of good faith and to remove temptation when her mother returned, Alessandria passed the old lady the finest bottle of wine the Firehearts owned.
“Oh Nemmy, look! Look! Oh, this will look fabulous in my collection. Oh, she is wonderful Nemmy. Let me fine a Guard,” the old lady said as she shuffled towards the door.
Alessandria stood close to Nemesio and asked: “Please explain,”
Nemesio smiled and looked in her eyes.
“The Inquisition needed to find a person to look after the criminal underworld. A person who would stop anything major from happening. So I was sent undercover and I made sure she rise to power,”
“Nemmy?”
“She’s a bit eccentric,”
“Only slightly,”
The shuffling sounds of the old lady returned as she shuffled towards them.
“Oh Nemmy, I know ya don’t come here to see me. Why ya here Nemmy?”
Nemesio gestured over to Alessandria.
“Oh Nemmy, you don’t need to ask my blessing to marry her. She’s a Fireheart, a good family. And just look at her. She’s fabulous,”
Alessandria smiled without knowing why.
“No, Serpent. She needs to talk to you,”
“Oh, why didn’t ya say so?”
The old lady shuffled over to Alessandria.
“If my Nemmy talks to you then so can I. What’s up?”
“Um, thank you. This morning there was an attack on the Queen,”
“No, not Queeny. My Queeny been good to me over the years. Ya know not sending in the soldiers. How can I help my Queeny?”
“The men that attacked were hired guns, well-trained, well-armed and wore black cloaks. There was a woman there too. Do you know these people?”
The old lady shuffled away and circled herself a few times.
“Oh Nemmy, your girl is clever, very clever. She remembered the woman. You wouldn’t have. The men I don’t know but the woman and the black cloaks. I know them. I know who hired them,”
“Great, who?”
The old lady’s face changed from overexcitement to something more serious. She shuffled over to Alessandria.
“I’ll make ya a deal. I’ll give ya the name of the person who hired them. And the underworld support on ya law change. If ya do something for me,”
Immediately, Alessandria wanted to scream and shout an agreement. She needed all the support she could get, and it wouldn’t surprise her if the underworld could bring some of the other Noble Houses in line. But she hated to think the cost.
“What’s the catch?”
“Ah as my Nemmy will you. I’m a great deal maker. I’m honourable too. If you get my grandson released from the Queen’s Court, he’s on trial, you can have your name and my support. It’s all on my honour. Nemmy can vouch for me,”
Nemesio nodded.
Alessandria wanted to say no. She didn’t want to free a criminal but freeing one life for the sake of her Queen, was it worth it?