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- 65
A plan was coming together, but still Edwin felt the tug of discontent. He felt useless in this room; kept on a leash when a part of him wanted to be turned loose so he could tear out the throat of anyone who hurt his sister. But there was wisdom in careful planning, and he tried his best to tamp down his personal feelings on the matter.
“She’s strong enough to take it,” Celeste said of his assessment that Barrett would do everything in his power to break Addie’s spirit. They’d gone a round or two on this point already, and Edwin was tempted to ask her if she still believed his father a common thug, but he kept his mouth shut. “Because if we rush in and botch it, it’s going to take that much longer and be that much harder. Between Varric and I, we’ve got the muscle to get her out by force, if need be, but the risk of someone getting hurt - or dead - in the process goes way up. Better to take some time and lay a plan and a backup or two.”
Edwin didn’t disagree. He’d already said as much. And while he wanted to get Addie out as soon as possible, he wasn’t willing to throw away innocent lives to do it. Restating the plan to this point, he realized there was a need for distraction, as Nicolette had said.
“If by ‘him’, you mean your father, a ‘Vint delegation at his door should hold his attention if we do it that way. If not, we go in at night, while he's sleeping.”
Celeste went on to ask Josc about her contact, and thankfully that piece of the puzzle seemed easy enough to arrange.
“Do you have any suggestions for keeping the guards distracted?” Nicolette asked. “Are they to be scared from their positions, or lured?”
"I know I'm not participating in that part of the plan, but lured might be best? The men I've seen at the estate when I've been for visits don't seem to be the type to easily scare. Well, all except for one of the gate guards who froze up when Algernon and I walked past one late afternoon." Edwin snorted at that. "Doesn't seem to keen on dogs that one."
“I agree, luring them is least likely to cause a stir. The men my father has hired of late are the unemployable sort. Men who were released from previous duties because of their temperament; because they’re not above cruelty for cruelty’s sake.”
He’d obtained records on a few of them. It had all been part of his strategy to work from the outside in, dismantling the pieces of armor that protected his father before striking at the heart. For five years he’d been working on that plan, and in one night it had mostly unraveled.
“I don’t think they’ll truly care about a fire, or anything a city guard would care about,” Edwin mused. He considered Varric for a moment, then said, “if he’s expecting me, he’ll have promised a substantial amount of coin to those men if they finish what he started. Why not give them the opportunity? We can set up some kind of trap in the alleyway. I’ll be the bait, Nicolette can spring said trap once we get them where we want them, and they’ll be out of the way for a while.”
It would give him something to do, at least, and provide an excuse for theatrics that would temper his more lethal desires.
“She’s strong enough to take it,” Celeste said of his assessment that Barrett would do everything in his power to break Addie’s spirit. They’d gone a round or two on this point already, and Edwin was tempted to ask her if she still believed his father a common thug, but he kept his mouth shut. “Because if we rush in and botch it, it’s going to take that much longer and be that much harder. Between Varric and I, we’ve got the muscle to get her out by force, if need be, but the risk of someone getting hurt - or dead - in the process goes way up. Better to take some time and lay a plan and a backup or two.”
Edwin didn’t disagree. He’d already said as much. And while he wanted to get Addie out as soon as possible, he wasn’t willing to throw away innocent lives to do it. Restating the plan to this point, he realized there was a need for distraction, as Nicolette had said.
“If by ‘him’, you mean your father, a ‘Vint delegation at his door should hold his attention if we do it that way. If not, we go in at night, while he's sleeping.”
Celeste went on to ask Josc about her contact, and thankfully that piece of the puzzle seemed easy enough to arrange.
“Do you have any suggestions for keeping the guards distracted?” Nicolette asked. “Are they to be scared from their positions, or lured?”
"I know I'm not participating in that part of the plan, but lured might be best? The men I've seen at the estate when I've been for visits don't seem to be the type to easily scare. Well, all except for one of the gate guards who froze up when Algernon and I walked past one late afternoon." Edwin snorted at that. "Doesn't seem to keen on dogs that one."
“I agree, luring them is least likely to cause a stir. The men my father has hired of late are the unemployable sort. Men who were released from previous duties because of their temperament; because they’re not above cruelty for cruelty’s sake.”
He’d obtained records on a few of them. It had all been part of his strategy to work from the outside in, dismantling the pieces of armor that protected his father before striking at the heart. For five years he’d been working on that plan, and in one night it had mostly unraveled.
“I don’t think they’ll truly care about a fire, or anything a city guard would care about,” Edwin mused. He considered Varric for a moment, then said, “if he’s expecting me, he’ll have promised a substantial amount of coin to those men if they finish what he started. Why not give them the opportunity? We can set up some kind of trap in the alleyway. I’ll be the bait, Nicolette can spring said trap once we get them where we want them, and they’ll be out of the way for a while.”
It would give him something to do, at least, and provide an excuse for theatrics that would temper his more lethal desires.