An Angel Called Eternity

To Bet on Losing Dogs - Cardinal Sin II: The Father and the Hawk

Cardinal Sin II: The Father and the Hawk

The Thirteenth Day of the Second Moon, 873 AD.
Athio, Aegan Hills, Western Dathan.

By the Child-King, his head hurt. Sin woke, bleary eyed and tired, as sunlight streamed into his quarters. There was a plate of food upon a small bedside table next to him, as well as a cup of heavily watered wine. It took him a moment or two to get his bearings, but once his eyes could stay open for more than a few seconds at a time he suddenly realised he was not alone in his chambers. Before him was a middle-aged man, bony fingers flitting through the piles of documents and reports on Sin's desk and eyes not once leaving whatever work he was doing at the moment. Sin sighed. Of course he was here, who else would have the courage to walk into his room uninvited if not Hawk, his most trusted servant.

"Saints, what time is it?"

The older man raised an eyebrow, still not looking up from the paper.

"Good morning to you as well, Father."

"Hawk, you are two decades older than me. Please do not call me Father."

The man snorted. They'd had this back-and-forwards for years now, ever since Hawk had become his batman. It was almost a morning ritual for the two of them, their argument over which honourific to use for Sin.

"As you wish, Cardinal. We are currently in the eleventh hour of the day."

Sin shot up at that, not feeling able to spare a second to make the quip he would have liked to make about how Hawk would go back to using 'Father' before the day was out, as the feeling that he'd been out of it for too long sank in.

"By the thousand and One, you should have had me up hours ago! Right, what have I missed, anything important? Have we been compromised in any way?"

Hawk looked up at him incredulously.

"Do you honestly think that I'd be sat here performing administrative duties if we'd been found out? No. You needed the rest. We've been doing this for quite some time now Sin, and you need to rest every now and again. Otherwise you'll slip up, and if that happens we're fucked."

Sin took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. The man was right. Sin's paranoia was almost entirely unfounded as of right now. Hawk was dependable and experienced; if anyone knew the correct thing to do if something were to happen... Sin's mind trailed off as he caught a whiff of the food on the plate next to him. He snagged a few choice pieces of ham and a few granary rolls. Some blue cheese and a pickled onion had been placed on the plate, and if they tasted half as good as they smelt then he was very much looking forwards to scarfing it all down.

"Any wetwork to take care of today?"

Hawk shook his head.

"Last night's batch seems to have gotten out smoothly, no wetwork required. A few guards have been apparently spooked by your appearance last night, but I take it there was nothing to worry about there?"

Sin shook his head, halfway through a mouthful of ham. He swallowed and washed it down with some of the wine before talking.

"Nah, just a kid who didn't realise who I was and an older guard who looked close to shitting himself. I think we should be fine."

Hawk nodded once, returning to the paperwork that Sin really should have been doing himself.

"I'll make sure an eye is kept on the barracks that the two of them are stationed in. I don't expect either of them to have realised anything, but better to be safe than sorry. We can't abide rumours spreading at the moment."