Keita didn't have to wait too long: in just twelve seconds (he had literally counted them in his head) Leuce arrived and opened the door of his house, smiling welcomingly even if not too much. "Oh, hello Tzegorn. How can I help you?"
The lionman's tone already gave Keita a lot of information: first of all, that Tzegorn and Leuce had a cordial relationship, but that they didn't really appreciate each other. Or at least, that the lionman didn't really like the tigerman. Leuce was hiding his hostility because at the moment his interests, whether they concerned the simple welfare of the city or the slaying of dragons, coincided with Tzegorn's; but once those interests were no longer aligned, he wouldn't hesitate to do anything to get rid of the tigerman, even if only figuratively, not by actual murder. That was how politics basically worked: as long as there was a common interest everyone got along, their enmities didn't matter; but as soon as this interest ceased to exist, everyone snapped at each other without any restraint. There were no eternal enemies or allies: there was only profit and the strategies to get the most out of every situation. "We need to talk. Can I come in?"
Leuce narrowed his eyelids slightly, in a clear sign of concern, but still maintained a calm and relaxed expression. Obviously he was tense about what Tzegorn wanted to tell him, since Keita had specifically asked to speak in the house and consequently that this conversation remained private, which could mean many things, and very few of them were positive. However, neither could he blatantly refuse the request of another member of the Council. Furthermore, refusing to welcome Tzegorn into one's home would have meant publicly declaring one's enmity with him, which would have had rather serious repercussions not only on their relationship, but also on the relationship with the other members of the Council, since the two of them had many supporters in common and therefore in such a situation they would have had to choose which side to take, and Leuce was certainly not foolish enough to believe that they would have sided with him out of pure loyalty. Of the two, Tzegorn was the favorite, since he had more political power thanks to the fact that he had stood by Zamor during the epidemic and had gained much support; in the event of a conflict, most of their mutual supporters would side with the tigerman, and Leuce certainly didn't want that. So he made the smartest move: he moved slightly and pointed to the inside of his house, and with a friendly smile he said: "Of course, take a seat. Forgive the lack of cleaning, I haven't had much time to dedicate myself to housework lately I should really find myself a wife, heh heh..."
Keita ignored the lionman's joke and entered the house. It wasn't much different from the other houses, but it was definitely more spacious even though it belonged to only one person. After all, Leuce was still an important person in the community, it was natural that he had more comforts. That house was also one of the few that had glass in the windows, which were not considered essential given the absence of bloodsucking insects such as mosquitoes and flies and above all due to the fact that it was never cold in the desert, indeed a well-ventilated house was certainly welcome. This meant that no one from outside could hear them. "Do you want to sit down?" Leuce asked him pointing to a chair, but Keita signaled that he didn't want to do it. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"I know everything, Leuce" Keita replied immediately, without any mincing words. "I know that Dyana is your informant and that you used her to spy on dragons"
With those words, Keita was betting a lot: in fact, her sentences would have made sense only if Leuce and Tzegorn hadn't been in agreement from the beginning. Otherwise the lionman would have simply replied: 'But how? You too have decided this! How can you not remember that?', and it wouldn't take him long to realize that the one in front of him wasn't Tzegorn at all; at which point Keita would have had no choice but to kill Leuce, turn him into an avatar, and have one of her sisters possess him before anyone noticed, and she would thus have lost an excellent source of information. She'd decided to risk it based on the behavior the lionman demonstrated when she showed up at his door, which clearly demonstrated that he and Tzegorn didn't get along, and thus raised the odds that each had sent a spy. by one's own and individual decision, without consulting the other. This theory was supported by the fact that there were actually two spies, and this would not have made sense in a joint project between Tzegorn and Leuce, since a single spy would have reported to both and would have been less likely to be discovered. However, there was always the possibility that Tzegorn and Leuce had hit it off and that their enmity had been overcome by the alignment of their interests.
Fortunately, her initial guess turned out to be correct: in fact Leuce didn't seem surprised at all, but on the contrary he grunted and shook his head making his mane wave. "Yes, that's right. So what? You did it too, right? Atelas, I'm sure he's your spy. In fact, I'm surprised it took you so long to come and talk to me about this... but in deep down you've always been a man who likes to do things on her own. So, what do you want to do? Denounce me? And for what? For asking one of my soldiers how was her day? Could I just say that I just wanted to make sure that she doesn't drank or slack off while hanging out with her new friends. Do you have any evidence to the contrary?"
Keita internally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Leuce could live another day. Good: she wouldn't have lost her source of information. "I don't mean exposing you or anything like that. I just came here to talk. You have a spy, I have mine; why don't we pool the knowledge we've acquired? No need to share goals, only means. I'll tell you what I know and you tell me what you know, and then each one of us goes his own way. It's a gentlemen's deal, Leuce"
Leuce crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't intend to collaborate with you" he answered in a firm voice. "Forgive me, but as I've told you many times before, I don't share your mentality. You put a spy among the dragons to destroy them, you didn't even consider other possibilities. I sent Dyana among them just to see if I could or no trust them. I don't want to kill them the way you want, not until they are a danger to this community and to my people, and so far they have shown that they aren't at all, in fact we already owe them a great deal. So no, I am not going to give you no information. I don't collaborate with assassins"
Unbeknownst to him, Leuce had just earned the right to go on living. Keita under her illusion was smiling satisfied; it seemed that the lionman, even though he had sent a spy, was not entirely against the idea of having dragons around. Sure, he'd had them checked out, but what fool wouldn't keep tabs on his worst enemy, even though they were now allies? Newcomers and dragons had been enemies for thousands of years after all, it would have been absurd to imagine that the newcomers would have calmly accepted to live with them, above all because they were technically the prey and the dragons the predators, at least for the current level of force that prevailed in Iluvatan City. Leuce therefore had a good chance of being 'exonerated' and therefore of being able to avoid being killed because he was considered a potentially dangerous subject for their family.
However, Keita wasn't done; there was always the possibility that Leuce was faking it. Also, she had to act as if she were Tzegorn, so she replied: "You say you don't want to partner with assassins, yet you're defending seventeen of them right now. Don't be a hypocrite, Leuce. You know better than I do what dragons do. Or did you too let yourself be duped by their alleged kindness? Good, let them raise us like animals for slaughter then! When they have exhausted their food reserves, you can boast of having assured them a very large one! Maybe they'll reward you by eating you first!"
"Spare me your sermon. I'm not an extremist, I don't see things in black and white like you" Leuce replied, then he sighed. "Look, maybe you don't know it though I doubt it, but Simus was here some time ago trying to get me to follow your line of thinking. He gave me the story that you and the other noble families know. I don't deny that you have some good reasons not to trust dragons... but what happened centuries ago involved other tigermen and other dragons. What matters now aren't the people of the past, but those of the present. If we focus on the past, then so do I and We should be bitter enemies, because our people have slaughtered each other many times, yet here we are talking like two normal neighbors. We aren't our ancestors. And likewise, these dragons that they live with us now they aren't like the other dragons. They have given us no reason to believe they are enemies. Of course, it is okay to continue to watch them and keep our guard up, but we must not try to kill them when they haven't yet done anything Don't forget that we owe them a debt, or better a mountain of debt. Therefore, save your breath: I don't intend to join you in any way"
Keita remained silent. What story was Leuce referring to? She remembered that Haku had mentioned something like that, that Tzegorn had said before he died... perhaps this story contained the reason for some people's hatred towards dragons, a hatred far too great to be justified with fear accrued because of stories and tales about dragons. Just as she was thinking what to say, someone knocked on the door again; Leuce stiffened and looked at Keita, perhaps fearing that Tzegorn had brought men with him to eliminate him if he opposed him, but he opened the door anyway, and Dyana was revealed to be behind it. "Lord Leuce, I've come for the daily report of... uh, hello, Lord Tzegorn"
Keita shrugged and spoke in a friendly voice: "Hello, Lady Dyana. Don't worry, I was just about to leave" she said walking towards the door, then she look at Leuce. "It's been a pleasure talking to you. You've given me a lot to think about, and I promise I'll at least think about it. In any case, have a nice day. I hope we'll have interesting chats like this again in the future"
Leuce didn't seem very happy, but Keita didn't give him time to answer: she limited herself to leaving the house and walking through the streets. She walked away a long way and then, as soon as she thought she was in a fairly isolated place, she slipped into an alley and changed her appearance again into that of a normal young woman. With that, crossing the whole city would have been less flashy and above all less annoying, since finally she wouldn't have to put up with everyone's greetings. When she came out of the alley she was smiling: she hadn't gotten what she wanted, but she had canceled a potential opponent from her list and above all she had gotten a new lead. The next person she would visit would be Simus, another tigerman member of the Council, who apparently knew some very interesting things about why Tzegorn detested dragons so much.
"Sister!" a voice suddenly called to her; Keita turned and she saw Serengal running towards her. "Lucky I knew you were around here…you need to come quickly! Darbi just told us what she saw through Haku's communication device… and you won't believe it!"
Keita tilted her head slightly. She knew her sister wouldn't have bothered her if it wasn't really urgent. It seemed that her visit to Simus would have to be postponed.