Location: Myriad Realms, Yellow Plains, Freedom Fighter's headquarters.
When her blunt words were met with pin-drop silence, Blair glanced around the table, her brows furrowing as she sought support, "Come on, guys, back me up here. I know I'm not the only one feeling this way, right?"
The head of operations leaned back, arms crossed. "Beggars can't be choosers," he said with a shrug. "But that being said, it's up to the leader to decide—our job is to follow." His words made it clear that some of them were at least open to the idea of Matron joining their ranks, hoping Baylor could keep her in check by giving their marriage a real shot. Of course, whether he could ever truly erase Ellen from his heart—as Sansa wanted—was another matter entirely.
Luna, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke up, "I propose that if she really wants to join our cause, she has to make an oath—no using her freaky abilities on any Freedom Fighter members. If she agrees, I'm game."
She leaned forward, her gaze sharp predicting, "With Wyatt leading us and her assisting, we could bring our vision to fruition in a year, tops."
Her confidence wasn't unfounded. If Sansa was truly committed to their cause and willing to follow Wyatt's lead, nothing in the Card World could stop them. Not even the Emissary of Light—because Sansa was his natural enemy. That was precisely why he had allied himself with Matron and the Supreme Leader in the first place.
By the time the Three Michiefs were done with the Founders of the Central Government and rulers of the other four regions, their only real obstacle to world domination was themselves. And that, ironically, was why it had been so easy for Aba Windsor to pick them off one by one in Clown Mask's future vision.
"This is fucked up—you guys know that, right?" Blair shouted, slamming her fists on the table. She was livid. "She's partly the reason we're even in this mess! If she hadn't tried to take over our share of the black market—killing our people left and right—we would've had enough funds, from selling the silver, to go into hiding before the World Leaders joined forces against us!"
She looked around, her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths, only to realize the majority of the captains were actually for Sansa joining them. The rest stayed neutral. And she? She was completely alone in her stance.
Jax let out a weary sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Blair, I get it. Letting her in—it feels like we're spitting on the graves of our fallen comrades. But Luna's right." He met her glare head-on and proceed to persuade her, "With Sansa on our side, we might actually end this a hell of a lot sooner. And who knows? We might even get to enjoy the paradise we've been fighting so damn hard to build for our future generations with them."
His voice softened, the exhaustion in his eyes evident. "Our people are dying, Blair. And yeah, Matron played a role in that… but if we keep carrying this fight on the backs of the good people of our organization, sooner or later, those backs are gonna break. Our current situation is an example of it."
Seeing that she already had the majority vote—even before Wyatt had spoken—Sansa felt a surge of pride and became overconfident thinking,'It wouldn't be too difficult to take the Freedom Fighters right out from under Wyatt and Henricks' noses.'
Sure, there was the minor inconvenience of taking an oath not to use her abilities on any Freedom Fighter members, but she could easily find a way around that. All she had to do was be careful with her wording when making the oath. If she played this right, not only would she gain legitimacy within the organization, but she'd also have more influence over its direction once she was in.
Everything was falling into place.
Now, all she needed was Wyatt's approval. Once he gave the nod, she'd officially be part of the Freedom Fighters. And from there, she could truly claim the organization—for her beloved husband.
Her fingers subconsciously grazed her wrist as she thought of Baylor.'I just need to wrap this up and get back home to him…'She missed his touch, his embrace. No matter how much she had of him, it never felt like enough. After all, she had been thirsty of his warm touch and embrace for decades now.
Lost in the memory of their intimate time together, Sansa almost drooled, completely forgetting her surroundings. A warm shiver ran down her spine as she thought about their long-overdue honeymoon. It was more than a decade and a half late, but she did not seem to care. As she still feels like she had just married him yesterday—a newly wedded bride.
The captains exchanged glances, their expressions shifting from wary to downright puzzled. Was this really Matron? The cold, calculating mastermind they knew? For the first time, they saw her completely off guard, lost in her own world. And that was… unsettling for reasons unknown to them.
The fake Baylor standing behind her noticed his master's embarrassing moment and let out a deliberate cough. Sansa blinked, snapping out of her thoughts,'Shit.'
Feeling all eyes on her, she blushed—an unfamiliar heat creeping up her neck—before quickly composing herself. With forced nonchalance, she looked toward Wyatt and said, "Can we hurry this up? I have a honeymoon to plan with Baylor."
The room fell into stunned silence.
Blair's jaw practically hit the floor.'This—one of the most feared Card Apprentices in existence—was acting like a lovestruck newlywed?'She couldn't wrap her head around it thinking that the woman before her played a major role in their downfall. It infuriated her.
Blair clenched her fists, biting back the urge to scream. She cussed Henricks in her mind thinking,'This is your fault, you slippery old bastard.'If only he had finished her off when he had the chance instead of taunting this lunatic bride, they wouldn't be in half the mess they were currently in.