An Angel Called Eternity

To Bet on Losing Dogs - Lykourgos IX: A Choir's Reprise

Lykourgos IX: A Choir's Reprise

The Twenty-Seventh Day of the Eighth Moon, 873 AD.
Stagspring, Central Owkrestos, Klironomea.

Today had started much the same as most days had this last week, and as many were likely to in the coming moons.

Paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork.

Some of the matters he needed to deal with were rather important and sweeping, such as the matter of internal trade monopolies and the relationship between the patriarchs of the church here in Owkrestos and back home. Patriarch Olyver held nominal control over them, seeing as he was the head of the Conclave of Patriarchs, but that didn't mean his peers across the rest of Klironomea had to just ignore their distaste for his firebrand speeches and unwillingness to compromise. Well, his unwillingness to compromise unless there was some 'leverage' you held over him. That had worked pretty well.

Other matters were so miniscule in importance that it was almost laughable. Really, why was he the one expected to sort out whether or not a pair of runaways married by an Owkrestan captain who'd performed a sham wedding ceremony aboard his ship in Teleytaian waters were actually bound by their vows? Surely that was something for the clergy or the clerks to debate over? Hell, he'd be quite happy with literally anyone waltzing in here and telling him that they'd take care of this sort of thing.

At least when all the matters were looked through he'd have cemented his control of Owkrestos. Whilst the major settlements and the regions around captured holdfasts were certainly within his purview there was likely to be a long-running and continuously elusive rebellious movement against his rule in the more rural and wild places of Owkrestos. Still, he'd expected such a thing. The rural types would be won over in time when it became clear to them that he had no intention of treating them any differently than his Teleytaian subjects, and as for those die-hard rebels who refused all sense and continued their fight from within the deep woods?

Well, the Umbra were always hungry, and they were always lurking in the dark places of this world. They'd sort the problem out for him in time.

If the day had continued on with mundane activities and thoughts such as that then perhaps he would have been rather bored by the time he went to sleep, but as it happened today was not going to be the same as all the rest. Today there was a fire.

The sounds of pounding footsteps echoed outside the room he'd taken as his office, and so immediately he leapt to his feet and made for the door. When he opened the door he was greeted with perhaps a dozen or so servants running with buckets and pails, their expressions ranging from grimly determined to anxious and fearful.

"What is it? What's going on?"

A passing servant hurriedly stopped themselves, the usual nerves displayed by his Owkrestan servants seemingly overruled by panic at something else.

"There's a fire in the eastern kitchens, your Grace! It's all hands on deck in the palace!"

Lykourgos stilled at once, hand coming to his mouth. He hadn't the time to think on what to do, so instead he did the first thing that came to mind. He turned to the young man guarding his door and began giving him orders.

"Eros, take a score of my men and help set up a bucket chain from the kitchen to the wells!"

"But your Grace, I-"

"Now, Eros!"

Eros' protests fell on deaf ears, for Lykourgos was set on making sure this fire was contained. He didn't know exactly how bad it was, but if it meant that all of the servants were being roused and summoned then it had to be either expansive or at least was at risk of expanding greatly. Neither of those particularly filled Lykourgos with confidence; the Huntsfort was far from the greatest royal residence even when it had been at its height, and it was far from being at its best point at the moment. Twice in the last half-decade had it fallen to an invading army, the first of which resulted in a sack, and the neglect it had suffered from its previous royal occupants wasn't exactly helpful in keeping it well-maintained. The last thing this small palace needed was a fire gutting it from within.