Daughter of the Empire 4

i'm baaaaaaack ! :D

With the new circumstances, the Anasati was made a reluctant ally; Mara's son was the Anasati Lord's grandson, and though he would much rather kill Mara, Tecuma (the Anasati Lord), cared for his grandson.
The spy network informed Mara that her late husband's mistress was a Minwanabi spy. Without letting the spy know she was discovered, Mara dispensed the former mistress in the pretense of a jealous wife. As it turned out though, the spy, Teani, was actually an Anasati spy playing the role as a Minwanabi spy for the Acoma (What happened was, as an Anasati spy, she went to the Minwanabi; then the Minwanabi used her to spy on the Acoma... ;P). Teani had unexpectedly loved Mara's late husband; so now she vowed to kill Mara when the chance arrived. After being dispensed, she left again for the Minwanabi house.
As soon as the traditional mourning period was over, Mara received a multitude of marriage petitions. One of those petitions came from a Minwanabi's ally. Not wanting to seem weak, Mara accepted the petition (not the marriage), but since there would probably be an assassin among the visiting retinue, she decided to fight back. Using her charms she led the suitor to be smitten with her, and he vainly conceded by using up already declining wealth to impress Mara. Though the suitor withdrew his proposal, Mara benefitted by tricking the suitor into owing her a favor should he become ruling lord after his father.
With that advantage in mind, Mara then faced the next hardship: she had been invited by her enemy the Minwanabi to the annual celebration held at the Minwanabi house in honor of the Warlod's birthday. Finally, the time had come for Mara to confront her sworn enemy.

NEXT POST: How can Mara act to once again change the odds in favor of the Acoma house? Find out in the next, and final post 'Daughter of the Empire 5'...