Every noble speaks at the same time, waving their hands and papers in the air, the wide sleeves of their silk tunics flapping. As if that can help them get their point across better.
My hands rest on the arms of my iron throne. I tap my nails on the cold metal, but through all the shouting, I can’t hear the satisfying sound.
A bunch of toddlers. That’s what my House Dzuni looks like today.
I want to tell them all to go fuck themselves for wasting my time. Everyone’s time. But as the new Ezkai General, the youngest one in history and the very first human, I can’t afford the luxury of losing my temper.
Something tells me thatmygovernment acting this way in a meeting with me is not a good sign.
A number of Ezkai line the walls on both sides of the entrance. There are still plenty of faces that aren’t familiar to me in Order of Ezkai. But I recognize Fern and Bloom.
When Bloom catches my eye, she winks.
I glance at Noire standing at my side. He watches the nobles in the lodges in front of us reaching high with a calm face, one eyebrow quirked up, amusement dancing in his eyes.
I wish I could find this funny.
As if Noire can sense me staring, he glances at me. I press my lips into a tight line. A corner of his mouth lifts.
“It’s nothing personal, you must know,” he says. He must be a mind reader. Or am I really this easy to read? “House Dzunialways acts like parentless children who need to be disciplined. It’s one of the requirements to be accepted into the House.”
I can’t help it. That forces a half smile out of me. I inhale and direct my attention back at the nobles.
“Nonsense!” A nobleman with white-as-snow hair and wearing a plum-color silk tunic says to one of his fellow nobles, leaning forward in his seat. “A new Ezkai General means a fresh start!”
“So, Nobleman Alberich, are we supposed to forget all the laws that have been in place for close to a thousand years now that we have a new General?” scoffs a noblewoman in a lilac-color tunic. I remember her from one of Vera’s soirees I attended—Noblewoman Genji.She was rather fond of Jax.“That would throw the whole country into absolute chaos! Your logic simply doesn’t make any sense.”
Nobleman Alberich crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s not what I mean, noblewoman. Don’t take my words and twist them into something they’re not.” He turns his attention away from Noblewoman Genji, pinning me with his gaze. “General, this new law you wish to pass was introduced by the late Ezkai General and wasn’t met with much support back then either. We have spent many moons fighting over it. Many noblemen and noblewomen gathered here today worry greatly that it might cause a drift, and put the government at danger because of it. Is it truly worth all the trouble, especially when it’s not evenyourlaw?”
I keep his gaze, calm.
This law they speak of is the thing Vera wanted, fought for tooth and nail. It’s the law that finally puts control over one out of many Caligos businesses that plague Ekios.
It’s the law that saves lives.
It’s the law that honors Vera, and everything she has done for me and everyone else, even if they have no idea about it.
Even if it’s the first and the last thing I do as an Ezkai General, I’ll pass this damn law for Vera.
I promised it to her, and I intend to keep that promise, spirits of the gods be damned.
Ignoring the pain that seizes my heart in its cruel grip, I tilt my chin up. “Whether it’s mine or not, it’s a law that’s for the good of all people. Now tell me, Nobleman Alberich, why does this law worry you and, according to you, so many others?”
“Well, General, there are…concerns regarding the issues that might come from trying to control the activities of Caligos businesses,” he says.
I arch an eyebrow. “Let me make sure I understand you correctly, Nobleman Alberich. You, mighty House Dzuni, worry about making the life of criminals inconvenient?” He presses his lips into a thin line. I lean forward in my seat. “What an embarrassment that is. I would expect high society to be above it all. At the end of the day, you’re the noble people of high morals I swore to protect and serve, not those who choose to remain on the outskirts of our prospering society.”
“You speak beautifully, General. If you don’t care about the criminals, then what about the reaction fromyourmoral and honorable people? You may not know it yet, you’re so new and fresh, but Ekions are set in their old ways. I sense many won’t be happy to know that whores are considered equals to merchants, fishermen, and other hardworking people of our nation,” says a nobleman with an angelic face and blond curls falling over his forehead.
He adjusts the sleeves of his bloodred tunic and looks at me with his piercing sky-color eyes. There’s a challenge there. One that rufflesmyfeathers.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, Nobleman Yoni, but last Friday at the Golden Dragon you did look like you were enjoying yourself surrounded by the most beautiful women you call whores. Somuch so that you even lost all of your wits and spent a considerable time that evening crawling on your knees…” Noire trails off, voice full of innocent amusement.
The whole auditorium erupts with laughter. Nobleman Yoni’s eyes flash with anger. He speaks no more.
“It’s no secret all the noblefolk in this auditorium enjoy the company of beautiful younglings,” Nobleman Alberich says. “That’s precisely why we have Caetras, well-educated and behaved creatures we can worship on our knees if we so desire, and they allows us. It’s tradition.”
At least now I know who’s in cahoots with who. Nobleman Alberich and Nobleman Yoni are fighting against me on this too hard.
