[Lauchenoiria]

Somewhere in Huenya
Evening in Huenya, morning in Kerlile

Nelichē was completely miserable. She couldn’t get her head around everything that had happened. Her divided loyalties were tearing her in a thousand directions, none of which she wanted to go in. No matter what she did, someone would get hurt and killed. There was no other way it could possibly go. The only question was who would live and who would die. Inaction was a form of action, for her. She couldn’t just ignore it. So, Nelichē decided to choose the best of a bad bunch of options. She picked up the phone and dialled Councillor Robinson.

“This is the private line of Councillor Carmen Robinson, state your identity and business,” came the calm response from the phone.

“This is the Aurora Nelichē,” she replied. “I need to speak to the Councillor on a secure line about an emergency immediately.”

“Please hold,” said the voice, a note of worry audible. Nelichē waited for three minutes and twenty-six seconds before the line clicked and she heard Carmen Robinson herself. “Hello?”

“Councillor Robinson, is this line secure?” Nelichē asked calmly.

“Yes, what’s this about?” the Councillor was worried.

“I hope you’re right about this, I am not the person in this conversation who needs to ensure it is secure. It will be you in danger if you’ve lied to me.”

“I haven’t lied,” the Councillor said irritably. Probably true, by her tone.

“I know,” Nelichē said calmly.

“Know what?”

“Rita - Riley Nelson, I mean. Veronica Penners, Tlalzixiuhxa. Your Auroras.”

The silence stretched longer than Nelichē had waited on hold, before Robinson replied, her voice cracking slightly. “What do you want?”

“Nothing,” Nelichē said. “This isn’t a blackmail call, it’s a warning. Yauhmi knows. Calhualyana probably knows. Both of these people have strong relations with the Council. I’m advising you to do something about this before it leaks and becomes news.”

“What… what exactly do you want me to do?”

"Fix this, Councillor. I don't care about your plot, I don't support it, but I care about Yauhmi and I care about Huenya. Rita endangered them, because of you, so you're going to fix it or I will have to take matters into my own hands. Do the right thing, Councillor."

“What the hell do you expect me to do that won’t get people killed?”

“Not my problem,” Nelichē shrugged. “I didn’t set this in motion, you did. You’re going to have to decide who lives and who dies, because you created this situation - or, your mother did, I suppose. But she’s not here so the buck passes to you. I don’t care about your plot, I just want to avoid unrest in Kerlile. And I want to avoid destroying Kerlile’s relationship with Huenya. So, I’m warning you, because you’re best placed to work out how to get out of this with minimal casualties.”

“Nelichē, please, I…”

“Do something, Councillor, or I will,” Nelichē said, then hung up the phone, plucked out the SIM card, threw the handset on the ground and crushed it with her heel. She bit the SIM card in two and chucked one half in the nearby river. She placed the other half in her pocket, and picked up the smashed handset, throwing it in a nearby bin. Then, she got back in her car and drove away from the remote sightseeing spot she’d made the call in.