"What are you trying to pull Thaddeus?"
Thaddeus couldn't help but grin, he'd crossed the first hurdle. She hadn't killed him where he stood.
"I'm surrendering to you, Ruling Lady," he said promptly. "If you'll allow me explain, I think I can demonstrate that, alive, I'm of more value to you than danger."
There was an extended pause before the reply came. "Go on."
"What I propose is that I leave the Heterodyne lands to gather information for you about the rest of Europe. The political situation in the low countries, french clockwork, italian glasswork, whatever you feel might cause trouble for the Heterodynes in the future. We both know that you're a stronger spark than I, and with the full resources of the estate at your disposal the chance that I might be able to unseat you is negligable. I won't deny that I'd prefer to be reigning lord, but traveling throughout Europe gathering information is much more appealing to me than working to gather the resources it would take to unseat you."
Thaddeus finished, and waited. He expected a long wait after his little speech as his sister worked through the various options and he wasn't disappointed.
Finally his sister spoke, "Very well. I agree, in principle that the benefits of your proposal outweigh the risks. There are some details though . . ."
"Of course. May I lower my arms and sit while we plan them through?"
The negotiations took quite some time. Thaddeus wanted to be sure he had enough resources to take care of himself when he left, and his wanted to be sure that he wouldn't be coming back with an army. Eventually they managed to reach an agreement. . . "All right Thad. On your stomach, hands behind your neck, knees bent."
As his sister tied him up Thad attempted to relax. The password which would tell the jägers to open the Chamber of Challenge took some time -- time enough for anyone active in the chamber to interrupt.
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