was from the spirit realm, as was only right and suitable for a god. Conwrath looked away.
Japesh sat on a gilded wooden stool near the door of the magistrateâs office, a look of practiced neutrality fixed as firmly across his features as other men might don a helm. His eyes held a different message: Say the word, Captain, and Iâll gut this one. God Speaker or no. Surely your wife canât be too mad. And if heâs supposed to live, his goddess will save him then, wonât she?
A study in self-importance, Breemsonâs office spoke as loudly to the manâs stubborn pride as his own offended reaction to the presence of the Grudgebearers in his city. What wasnât gilded was lacquered. Nothing was local except for the door itself. If Conwrath guessed correctly, the magistrateâs desk was made from purpleheart wood, which had to have been hauled all the way from Castleguard in Upper Barrone.
Conwrath amused himself by trying to estimate the shipping costs for the item itself as well as for strictly the materials necessary. The Dwarves preferred locally sourced materials and placed prohibitive taxes on those transporting construction materials across the intercontinental Junland Bridge, which would have been the fastest way to get the desk from the Upper continent to the Lower one. The tariffs alone to get the cursed thing across the length of Barrony . . . Conwrath suspected the goddess had not demanded such expenses be incurred.
âWhy do they want to see me about it?â Breemson hissed. âItâs not my fault we didnât have the correct instructions! Shidarva judge me now if Iâve angered them deliberately.â
âMagistrate.â Conwrath tried not to sound too condescending. âThe Grudgers arenât angry with anyone. Theyââ
âArenât angry? They killed and ate half the trade delegation!â Breemson shrieked. âAnd then they dare to come to my doorstep to threaten me.â
Conwrath didnât like the inflection on that âdareâ or the âme.â Indignation never sat well with an Aern.
âI believe Kholster is approaching you in an open, honest manner . . . hoping to . . . ahââ
âClear up any further misunderstoodings,â Japesh added helpfully.
âMisunderstandings?â Breemson squawked as he bounded out of his chair. Conwrath winced at the volume. The Aern had particularly good hearing. What, he wondered, were the odds that Kholster and every one of his Aern could hear every word they were saying, even from out in the audience chamber? âI suppose having the Long Speakers withhold news of his arrival was meant as a sign of openness and honesty then? I assume I misunderstood that, too?â
âCousin.â Conwrath began a different tack. âThis is easy. I know the Aern seem backward and savage from your side of the battle, but theyâre knife-to-the-chest sort of people. Never a knife in the dark. If they want to kill you, theyâll tell you thatâs what they intend to doââ
âThey donât get sneaky until after theyâve put words against you,â Japesh said.
âAgainst me how?â Breemson froze.
All three of them turned to the door at the sound of a commotion outside in the magisterial arena. Conwrath thought he heard the tail end of what might have been the word âunconsciousâ followed by a clang, a thump, and the sound of a body hitting the door and sliding to the ground.
âGenerally,â Kholster said, as he opened the door and stepped over the unconscious guard who had been posted at it, âI shout them with thunderous volume at the offending party, in front of many witnesses.â He frowned at Breemson, and Conwrath wondered what the pudgy official with his sweat-stained robes and holy tattoos must look like to the Aern.
Then he knew. Aern tended to make food comparisons
Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Danica Winters, Casey Dawes