"You do realize the gargantuan thing you're taking on here?" Emma asked. "Sebastian Shaw is a powerful man, throne or not. Deposing him could possibly just make him a more vicious, animalistic enemy." She opened the top drawer of her desk, pulled out a small tube of expensive hand cream, and squirted a small glob onto the palm of her already soft hands. A gentle floral scent wafted into the air. Gently, Emma massaged the lotion in.

"Then again, death doesn't seem to take with him either, does it?" she asked as she placed the tube back into its home. "You'll have no choice but to destroy him utterly and entirely. Social standing, monetarily, all of that. You're already aware, I know, but it doesn't hurt to reiterate these things." Emma studied Marcelo carefully. Did he have what it took to bring Shaw down? Had stronger men already not tried to do the same?

Then again, there were different kinds of strength, and Marcelo didn't seem to be going into this chin first.

Certainly that was promising.

"Goodness, why not just pump him full of drugs and a mild strain of the Legacy Virus and shuffle him off to Madripoor?"