Chapter 6
I take my inspiration from riot posts, judgments, and general lore. This post has actual quotes from LeBlanc's judgment and it was a big inspiration to me, so I want to give them credit.
Sitting across from each other, an outsider would see a curious old man with a bird and a beautiful young woman sipping tea and having a pleasant conversation. Why not being entirely untrue, the gravity of the conversation that would take place supersedes the mundane facts of either one of them.
"Exquisite," Swain rasped. "Matron LeBlanc, you have always had impeccable taste."
“I have.” LeBlanc replied with a curt smile. So many of her tastes were memories from an ancient being rather than her own. LeBlanc was herself, and not. Whenever those tastes clashed with this body’s natural ones, there was an added bitter aftertaste. It might have been mental, a physical representation of a bitter defeat when one mind dominating another, or simply a remnant of a taste bud that wouldn’t be controlled.
Swain passed over the thorned onyx ring, given to him as a symbol of agreement and cooperation by LeBlanc. As he did, he said, "The Black Rose is yours, Matron, but I have become something greater. The time has come. Join me in fellowship, and we can restore what was taken from us by Boram Darkwill."
Of course LeBlanc knew of what he was speaking but that didn’t make her happy. While she was away, Swain took it upon himself to enact his own plan. If she had commanded him to do it, she wouldn’t have been upset at how brilliant the plan was. He was becoming stronger.
Swain had been inducted back into the military, as General Darkwill’s aid. He had approached the general offering to work loyally under him, while offering up the secrets of the general’s enemy, the Black Rose, as further incentive. Darkwill had become too cocky since his takeover of the military and gladly accepted that this former rival would now be his new pawn for glory and victory.
Swain was now in the perfect place to design and enact the death of General Baron Darkwill.
At that moment, her assistant arrived at the door, informing her that General Du Couteau had arrived. “Send him up.” Leblanc replied, sending Swain a questioning glance. Swain had acted again outside of her will. This Du Couteau had been doing quite a bit of snooping around and was not at all un-clever.
Du Couteau had even begun researching into how the Institute of War was influencing the world. If only this man had appeared later, he would have been of great use. ‘It is too early, I can’t have this fool snooping around and interfering with my plans,’ she thought. It occurred to LeBlanc that perhaps Swain had invited Du Couteau here so that she would have to get rid of him. With Du Couteau gone, it left a place for Swain at Darkwill’s side. That clever ******* Swain was getting out of hand. If it hadn’t been for LeBlanc’s ultimate goals, she would have had to deal with him too.
Marcus Du Couteau walked into the room. He was already tense, imagining that this meeting could be the last thing he did on earth. But it was worth it. ‘I was able to see Cassiopeia one last time. If only little Kat wasn’t away, I would have liked to have seen her too,’ he thought ruefully. ‘A letter will have to do if this goes wrong.’ Having the chance to confront the leaders of the massive conspiracy that he had been researching was too good a chance to pass up. ‘It’s for the future of Noxus, and my daughters.’ Hopefully, he hadn’t made a mistake in coming.