The Wings of Ashtaroth

Chapter 4: Friends: Section V: Kirin

Kirin: Lorar: Marianus's Domus

Kirin bit deep into the plum. Its flesh was mealy, but the tartness suited his mood. He rolled his shoulders and leaned back against the wall of the cramped waiting room adjacent to Marianus's private office. Marianus had been trapped inside, arguing with the Yellow Faction leader for what felt like hours. Oran and Ydelka had been sneaking nudges and poking each other like children for nearly the entire time, scrunched in close on a wood bench across from Kirin.

Ydelka giggled at something Oran had said and Kirin averted his gaze, focusing instead on the fruit bowl beside them.

So what if she laughed at the monster's jokes? She'd be disappointed as soon as he stripped for her and revealed his cocklessness. Then she'd be flouncing guiltily to Kirin's bed, all lust and apology for the three weeks she'd wasted on Oran.

Kirin's ear still rang now and then, but his hearing had mostly returned, and he could make out Marianus's words as the senator debated with Yakovius Lutelian. They were arguing about the recent Feislander attacks on Lorai settlements—news the kitchen slaves were still abuzz with, even several days after the first wave of refugees had poured inside Lorar's walls.

The newcomers weren't the settlers who'd been attacked, but citizens of Trionja and the other western cities, all fearing that King Ossa would somehow march his rabble east across the Trucia mountains and start burning proper Lorai towns instead of just colonies. On the way to the baths yesterday, Kirin had seen some of them huddled around cookfires in the forum. They'd been dirty and woebegone, and for what? Even Trionja was a thousand miles east of the Feislander capital of Atlin.

"The military doesn't have to justify its needs to masons and plumbers." Marianus's words were firm, but he maintained an even temper. "When a sewer needs repair, do I come banging on your doors to demand where you've found the coin? I don't, because I know to trust a master when it comes to his own craft. These Feislander raids are a broken drain pipe—fixing this mess won't be delicate or beautiful, but it needs doing. Immediately. Before Ossa grows bolder still and starts menacing Occidis and Casius and even Orentis. It's me you Yellowers'll come crying to when we have another Hurtha on our hands."

Hurtha the Hungry. A name still used to frighten children into obedience. Marianus had been a young man when he'd defeated the Feislander warlord. To come to the senator now that he was an old man and demand he protect Lorar yet again . . . it would be disrespectful even from a fellow Redder.

And Marianus sounded so sure of the threat. Perhaps Kirin was wrong about the danger posed by King Ossa.

"That's not the fucking point!" Yakovius yelled, shrill. "You're not fucking Pater till you win the election, or don't the rules apply to the great Marianus Rufus? Those funds aren't yours to distribute, which tells me it's not just the Whites you're in bed with, but the fucking Greys as well. Not that I'm fucking surprised. And what good are the shipyards in fucking Venius to defend our land borders in the west? You didn't steal those auratii to fund our defense against Ossa. You're building a navy to strike at Kemassen. A navy. Against fucking Kemassen. I don't have to be a fucking military man to see the flaw in that brilliant fucking plan."

Kirin chuckled, provoking a look from Ydelka. Yakovius was a fool if he thought Marianus was in bed with either Tarkis Murinus and the ruling Greys, or the twisty little Whites with their spy games.

There was a pause and Kirin's ear started to ring. He squished his lobe against his ear canal to try and pop it, imagining Marianus's groan before the senator started speaking again.

"There's a clear strategy here, if you have the eyes to see it," said Marianus. "Hadrianus and Luciferus have a legion each under their command, and thousands of Indasi cavalry at their disposal. A word and Hadrianus can ship his troops north to attack the Feislands while we hem the Masseni in using Luciferus's troops in Lera and our navy."