"You lied to me! You didn't hold up your end of the bargain, and now you have the guts to ask me to do my part? I filmed those videos for you, I-"

"No, you didn't." Nelson crossed his arms, watching with cool eyes as Ravenna paced furiously in front of him. "You filmed those videos for you. I just gave you an excuse to do it. I've been following your story for years- I know how you are. You've been alone for so long, and now that you finally have a platform, you need the world to see your pain. You need people on your side. I gave you that. I also dethroned your enemy. Consider us even." 

He'd spent nearly his entire life planning this, and Ravenna had never been part of the equation. Her demands were proving to be a nuisance- an unnecessary extra step standing between him and the throne. She'd overplayed her hand by assuming he needed her, when in reality, she did little more than speed up the inevitable. According to Nelson's calculations, the costs of the deal were beginning to outweigh the benefits. It was time to end this. Nelson ran his hand through his short, graying hair, showing off the small Arcanese flag pin on his blazer. It had only recently replaced its American predecessor- a subtle but telling touch, in Nelson's opinion. Let the game begin. 

"I didn't say I wanted her dethroned, or shamed. I said I wanted her dead. And now, thanks to you, she's probably fled the country and I'll never get near her again." As usual, a brooding scowl occupied most of Ravenna's face, but it couldn't fool a man like Alan Nelson. He was very familiar with the specific brand of fear that hid in her eyes. He'd seen it many times before at the negotiating table- it was the terror that filled a person when they realized their opponent had stripped away whatever lies they were telling, whatever persona they were projecting, and was staring straight into their soul. It was the terror that told Nelson he'd won. 

A small smile crossed Nelson's face as he leaned forward in his tall, black armchair- a chair that, just a few hours ago, had been occupied by Juliana VanderSchee. He'd set up shop in the Queen's office at Order headquarters, as both a symbolic representation of his new role and a practical move- he was currently in the process of consolidating his power there. Of course, with an arsenal of Thornton Tech weapons at his disposal and complete control of the military, it wouldn't be too difficult, but the Order of Chance was both extremely powerful and notoriously bad with change. It couldn't hurt to stick around for a while.

"Listen, sweetheart," Nelson leaned over Juliana's heavy wooden desk with a condescending sneer. "Right now, I basically control Arcana City and am moments away from controlling the Order of Chance. You're an international terrorist who I have every right to arrest or even kill. I have no idea what makes you think you have any kind of bargaining power here." He'd gotten all he could out of his collaboration with the former princess. Now, it was time to swoop in for the kill. 

"You're a cheat," Ravenna shook her head in disbelief. "You don't care about your family's honor, or making things right in Arcana. You just wanted the throne!" 

Ad hominem. She was getting emotional. Another sign that this conversation was going his way. Soon, she would be putty in his hands. It took all of Nelson's carefully practiced control of his facial expressions to keep him from smiling. 

"People who try to take over countries are generally not philanthropists. Your boyfriend was the exception, not the rule." 

"Don't you dare bring Roy into this!" Ah, a touchy subject. Nelson loved it when he found those- they could be both temporarily disarming and endlessly entertaining. 

"Well, I have what I want," Nelson shrugged with feigned innocence. "I have no further motivation to help you. Yet, on a similar note, I have no real motivation to get in your way even though my new position suggests that I should. So, that leaves the question... what are you going to do now?" 

"I'm leaving. I'm going to find my sister and do what you couldn't do," Ravenna spat, planting her feet and staring Nelson in the face to show her resolve. 

"Very well then," Nelson nodded. "There are a lot of carcopters in the royal hangar, and the guards won't be watching them too closely, if you know what I mean. Good luck, Ravenna." 

"Thank you." Ravenna zipped up her leather jacket and headed for the office door. 

A self-satisfied grin lit up Nelson's face as he watched her retreating figure. He was getting rid of her without having to lift a finger, and she thought he was doing her a favor. I'm a strategic genius, he thought to himself before his thoughts were interrupted by the vibrating cell phone on his desk. 

"Alan Nelson, Lord Regent of Arcana," he said, pressing the phone to his ear. 

"Max Thornton, CEO of Thornton Tech," came the voice on the other end of the line, mockingly imitating his introduction. "Listen, when we made that deal, you didn't tell me you were going to use my weapons to take over a country." 

"Ah, Max, my dear friend," Nelson pushed himself back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk. "I knew you'd call, although I can't understand what you hope to argue. You sold a product- I bought it. Nothing illegal or even immoral about that." 

"I wasn't given sufficient information to make a fair sale. You know that." 

"Imagine a world where every customer had to tell every seller exactly what they planned to do with the stuff they bought. I can tell you there'd be a lot more embarrassment and a lot less business in that world." 

"What I sold you wasn't a washing machine. I, like any sane, rational person, assumed it would be used for purely defensive purposes. Since that is obviously not the case, I called to let you know that I am no longer interested in doing business with you." 

"Aw, that's a shame," Nelson clicked his tongue. "Because I've quite conveniently just come into control of the treasury of one of the wealthiest nations in the world. It's unfortunate that I won't be able to share that windfall with the man who helped me get here." 

After a momentary pause, Max gave exactly the reply Nelson had been expecting. "Alright. How much?" 

And scene. Another piece of the puzzle had just fallen neatly into place. Juliana could move objects with her mind and Chase's poison darts almost always met their target, but Nelson's power was far more profound. He knew what people wanted- even if they didn't know it themselves. Ravenna wanted infamy. Max wanted money. It was a simple formula, really- Nelson gave people what they wanted, and they never let him down.