Free Chuggie and the Desecration of Stagwater by Brent Michael Kelley Page B

least you're honest. What about this stranger? What's so special about him?
    "Norchug Mot Losiat." Non spoke slowly, his way of adding emphasis: "He carries vast power."
    "I don't suppose we can leave this place after we recruit him?" Fey Voletta asked. She pulled her hood back, revealing the intricate, geometric scarring on her face. Self-imposed, these graceful scars, covered her entire body and indicated her devotion to blade worship.
    "We leave only if the city breaks the contract."
    "How likely is that?" She didn't expect a favorable reply.
    "Stagwater has violated their contract again and again. We won't forgive much more."
    Non walked over to Fey Voletta. A massive metal finger touched her gently beneath the chin and raised her up face to look at his.
    "If our recruitment of this man is upended, so is the arrangement. The contract is voided." Non's eyes glowed blue.
    "Whatever," she said, pulling away. "We should be running this entire blasted world."
    "Steel Jacks are guests here," Non said. "We serve our human hosts by enforcing their laws. If we chose to rule, that would make us invaders." Non's eyes grew bright again.
    A silent moment passed between them.
    "First thing in the morning, I'll see what I can learn from the guardsmen. Then I'll work on the magistrates." Fey Voletta smiled, gave a bow, and turned toward the door. She looked over her shoulder at Non. "I'll do my best," she said, then closed the door on the Steel Jack's grimy office. The thought of returning to civilization gave her a bigger charge than slaughtering this entire piss pot town.
    Almost.
     
     

    ◊ ◊ ◊
     
     
    Exotic taxidermied animals hung on the walls. Elaborately carved and heavily polished woodwork trimmed windows and bookcases. Tables and chairs of gleaming mahogany sat silent and solid on the sienna carpet, without so much as a hint of a wobble.
    Kale, Haste, and Fitch convened at a corner table in a private room at The Stagwater Magisterial Club. Kale dropped Arden Voss' book onto the table between them. Haste plopped himself down in a chair and opened the book. Fitch, like the toady he was, snuggled right up to Haste. Kale looked over their shoulders at the tangle of papers and miscellaneous crap that was supposed to be a book.
    The old man kept a lot of notes. But like all of these seer types, his organization was for shit. Voss apparently thought scrawling random notes any which way on the page was a good idea.
    Haste paged through the volume while Kale puffed on a cigar. He flicked his ashes in the general direction of the freestanding stone ashtray. Such foolishness trying to decipher Voss' nonsense.
    "Do you have to do that in here?" Fitch waved away the smoke from Kale's cigar. He pinched his face into a knot. "Filthy habit."
    Kale started to speak, "How about I put it out on your —."
    "Here it is," Fitch nearly fell out of his chair he was leaning over so far. "It talks about a witch named Shola that Voss put on his seer council." The corner of Haste's rubbery lip curled into a sneer at the mention of the witch's name.
    "What about the traveler with the horns?" Kale pointed at the book with his cigar.
    "I just found the entry, you dolt. Give me a chance to examine it."
    Kale lunged at Fitch like he was going to throw a punch.
    "If you can't act like adults, you are of no use to me." Haste said as he pulled the book away from Fitch.
    Kale and Fitch locked eyes. As the pretend-preacher tapped his senfen in a subtle taunt, Kale fantasized about choking him with it. Not just strangling him with the chain, oh no. He would be ramming the pendant down Fitch's throat to block his airway.
     "Hmm. Cast out for incitement and bound in exile," Haste read with a cruel grin on his lips. "What else here… Ah, she was screaming in the streets about 'a man… coming, bringing destruction, not many live,' over and over."
    Haste clearly knew more about this than he let on. A seer and a liar – what a combination. Kale nearly laughed