The Right to Die | ✓ Amby Winner 2023

8. Learn to Bring Sweets

When they finally climbed out of the hover, dawn greyed the sky. Aevryn's house was a sprawling mansion fenced off by spikes in the shape of gleaming swords. The grounds around M'yu were dotted with icy trees and sculptures of soldiers. Aevryn clipped up the path, bag in his hand. An old man with a hunched back and deep-worn smile lines opened the door for them. "Welcome home, Master."

"It's good to be here, Evriss." They moved inside, steps echoing around the vaulted ceilings. The house was dark, most of the workers likely asleep or just waking, and the grand room felt strangely empty.

Evriss looked over M'yu, head tilted. "This is...?"

Aevryn waved his hand, a look passing between the two men. "My new apprentice."

"Then I will make him accommodations accordingly." Evriss tapped at a console on the wall.

"Not the Jade Room," Aevryn said.

Evriss's head cocked. "No?"

"No. Put him closer to the library."

Evriss drew up a bit. "The Silver Room then?"

Aevryn tapped his thumb against his lip. "Yes. I think that'd be fitting."

Evriss looked at Aevryn sideways, but nodded. "As you wish, my lord." He keyed a few more buttons, and a pair of slaves appeared from around the corner. "Please change the sheets on the Silver Room. Does he have any luggage, my lord?" Evriss said, turning back.

"No. We left the Gloam as quickly as we could."

"Ahmm." The old man's eyes were uncomfortably perceptive, a bright clear blue. M'yu shifted, then walked around the huge room a bit just to get away. There were portraits on the walls with plaques beneath them, all with the z'Daras last name.

"Are these your family?" M'yu said.

"They were." Aevryn set his briefcase down, and a valet came to claim it. "Please have the hover pulled around as well," he told another, and they nodded briskly.

The amount of wealth in the room made M'yu's stomach turn. He had thought the Magnate was wealthy and ridiculously so, but that was understandable. Everyone hated the Magnate. But M'yu didn't hate Aevryn, no matter how much he'd like to. The display of everything, though—the gold plated frames, the marble floor, the rich rugs, the shimmering chandelier—it left the taste of decadent rot in M'yu's mouth. Unable to swallow it, he spat it out. "So how much do you buy your slaves for?"

Aevryn turned sharply, and the workers all froze. "Excuse me, boy?"

"I mean, I know what you bought me with. What about them?"

"Go," he said quietly, and the maids and valets slipped away. Evriss hesitated. Aevryn nodded at him, and the old man shuffled out of the room as well, closing a heavy oak door behind.

"I thought we'd already spoken about your actions having consequences," Aevryn growled.

"Consequences for who? You? We're in your own home."

"For the servants you so obviously care about." Aevryn leaned forward. "I mean, after all, what if my employees were slaves? Wouldn't your statement make them so much better about their situation? Or wait—does it just make you feel better about you? Ah, yes. High and mighty M'yu, better than the men with money because he doesn't have any. M'yu isn't corrupted; M'yu isn't selfish. Is that how you see it?"

"Aevryn—"

"Aevryn, what? This is my home, boy, and these are my people. You will be respectful, of me and them. Consider this your warning." He raised his voice and called for Evriss. When the old man entered, he said, "Move him to the Jade Room after all."