Wenzhou’s careful Chen Zhongren nodded. “The Members have loved Xiao Hei Wang since birth. Now that they’ve almost become a martyr for the Alliance, they’ll love them even more. If we put Xiao Hei Wang in charge, the Members will never let them pass power back to us when they see us as a group of murderers. We have to hold on to our shares, insist on our own family successors, keep Xiao Hei Wang out or we’ll never get back in. And Xiao Hei Wang is a pious son—if they rule, their mother rules.”

Beijing agreed. “We must resist, keep our own in power, even if it’s a fight.”

“No,” the Chief Director countered, soft but clear. “Everyone under us is going down, Kraye saw to that. Fighting it will just rip the Hive apart. We’ve lost. We have no choice but to surrender.”

“Andō—”

“But not to Tai-kun.” The Chief Director did not glance up, too armored in conviction’s calm to care whether the faces around him showed hope or anger. “There is another who knows just as much as Tai-kun about the inner workings of the Directorate, who has the knowledge necessary to be our proxy and to keep our blocs together, who had no part in O.S., but whom our Members will be happy to throw off, and who will never be able to hold on to power in the Hive without us and our families’ constant support.”

“Who?”

Andō saved his file. “Before Kimura killed themself, they signed their shares over to me. My voting bloc is now almost a quarter of the Hive. As of this moment I have left all my shares in trust to Dominic Seneschal, for a duration of three years, on condition that they train a board of new Directors selected by the dominant shareholding groups.”

“Dominic Seneschal? From Xiao Hei Wang’s harem?” Behind closed doors some give a darker name than bash’ to His devoted servants.

Andō rose, giving the arms of the Director’s chair a light parting caress. “Dominic spies through Tai-kun’s tracker almost constantly. They’ve been spectator at every Directorate meeting Tai-kun has ever seen. And they have no qualms about lethal force. With our instruction and support, they can manage our blocs almost as well as Tai-kun.”

“But Dominic is from Madame’s!”

“They’re the worst of Madame’s! A monster!”

Does the fear flush in their faces speak of past encounters?

“True,” Andō confirmed. “Seneschal terrifies and disgusts everyone, especially the public. They could never hold power without us to back them. The Members will hate and fear them, and welcome us back when we’re ready to return.”

“But they work for Xiao Hei Wang. They’ll follow them as slavishly—more slavishly—than anyone.”

“No. You forget, Madame is our enemy, not Xiao Hei Wang. You all know what Madame has done to Dominic. Dominic hates Madame with a bitter, vengeful hatred, and if we give Dominic power they’ll fight to destroy Madame with more savagery, and more intimate knowledge, than any of us will ever have. A gun in Dominic’s hand is a gun aimed at Madame by the true enemy of our true enemy. And thanks to Madame’s training, Dominic believes a man may only love something weaker than themself. Dominic is an obedient servant, but beneath that wants nothing in this world more than to see Tai-kun fail. That contradiction will make them self-destruct in office. They will steer the Hive through the immediate chaos, preserve its independence for their own needs, but when they try to move forward, in a world where Tai-kun rules the other Hives, they will be paralyzed between wanting to help and hinder Tai-kun, and their policies will become a mass of contradictions. The Members will start to hate them, cry for their overthrow, and then they will remember us and ours as the better, stable way, and welcome us again.”