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“You put me in a tomb?” “It’s a very nice tomb. One of our nicest,” Caeror assures me, nudging me to a start along the walkway.
Oh, well as long as it's one of the best tombs!
“No, Eidhin. No. I’m not alright.” There’s a massive hand on my shoulder. I look up to see Eidhin crouching in front of me. Eyes locked to mine. “Whatever you need,” he says quietly.
i would die for eihdin
“I’d hug you, but we’re both kind of sweaty.” I sling my good arm forcefully around her shoulders, squeezing her close against my drenched tunic. She laughs as she feigns struggling before embracing me back. “Disgusting.”
aequa, love of my life
“She will be more… engaged, with you,” says Aequa eventually. Eidhin’s eyes narrow. “So much more engaged,” I agree, the corners of my mouth curling involuntarily as Aequa coughs, barely restraining herself.
they’re MENACES
Eidhin glares at me, then Aequa, then at me again. “I am from Military. Her father is a Tertius in Governance.” Aequa’s lips twitch. “So would you describe yourself as… forbidden?” She says the last in a seductive whisper. Eyes wide.
I LOVE HER LOL
“We need her.” “You need her.” “I need her,” I agree. Another long pause, and then he nods. Seems to break from his sombreness and introspection, just a little. “Then we need her.”
how does vis make friends EVERYWHERE he goes
“So he didn’t eat you straight away,” calls Aequa. “Now what?” “Now what?” I repeat to Diago affectionately. I study the alupi. He’s so big. “Do you two want a pat?” I call over my shoulder. “No,” they reply in near unison. I give Diago another absent scratch. Thinking. “They’ll change their minds,” I murmur to him, getting to my feet.
found family <3
The fourth or fifth time I call him, only for him to pad straight over to Aequa and butt his massive head into her side until she relents and scratches under his chin, I give up. Glower down at the animal as he flops to the ground and rolls, begging her to rub his stomach. “You are an ass,” I tell the wolf irritably.
same tho, diago
I glare, still panting from the exertion, then try to take the criticism in good humour. Nod to the silent, eerily staring girl in the corner. “Kiya has no complaints.” “Do you like his dancing, Kiya?” asks Netiqret. She stares at me, and shakes her head firmly.
Lol
“The assessor was very impressed with me.” “She should have been, given how much I paid her. And then told her you were a struggling cousin who had been dropped repeatedly on his head as a child.” “Hilarious.” “The cousin part, yes. The payment part is true though.” I glower. “You couldn’t just let me have it?” “Some things are morally wrong to encourage, Siamun. Even by omission.”
HAH
“I have names! All the names. Well. All the ones who matter. Details about those names, too. All the things they did. All the ways in which they helped with the attacks on the naumachia and Solivagus.” He makes a show of reading. “Hmm. Yes. Yes. Your names are on here! Wonderful. Even yours, Uncle. I included it as an addendum about the cover-up, after you found out what they’d done.”
now THIS is a morally gray character
“What did you tell him?” “About your weaknesses? Where did I start. Your temper, obviously. Mule-like stubbornness. Rashness. Inability to believe you could be wrong about something. Hmm. What else? The fact you’re terrible when it comes to anything even approaching artistic. Oh, and the way you used to go red and stuttery every time a pretty girl tried to talk to you—remember that? And you were very slow to pick up—”
SO accurate but i still love him
“SYNCHRONOUS!” The woman’s scream is panicked, a shriek so abrupt that I stumble. The word ricochets through my skull.
BAHAH i’m imagining the spongebob gif where they’re just running around panicking
If nothing else, the way the word “synchronous’ ” was screamed—the term my father used for me, last night—suggests that I’m an enemy here. UNWORTHY. Oh. And that, too.
HAHAHAHAHA
I watch the violence with vaguely disturbed horror, even if it’s not against flesh. The statue returns and thrusts the arm at me, an almost angry motion. “No need to be petulant.” I take it.
“here, damn”
He slept on the floor, the first night. I woke to him curled up by my feet on the second. And then on the third, to my choking on his fetid breath with his nose almost touching mine. He grunted sleepily and rolled onto his back as I shoved him away.
he’s just a babyyyyy
Aequa’s silence only lasts just past the door, to check we’re alone. “I’m coming with you.” “No idea what you’re talking about.” She punches my arm. Hard. “Ow.”
i missed them (mostly her)
“Well here are the consequences. My friend was killed less than an hour ago. Her head was crushed by a Tertius. Some of that is my fault. A lot of that is my fault. But she would still be with me right now if it were not for your gods-damned war.”
i’m literally so fucking pissed, it’s not funny
I think of Cari. Trying to breathe life back into her. Knowing she was dead, knowing they were coming for me, and still I tried. Again, and again, and again.
oh fuck you james
“Siamun.” I turn. She hasn’t moved, still facing the other way. Daughter cradled in her arms. “Make it matter.”
STOPPPPPPPPPPPP THIS MADNESS
I cannot lose him. Not him too.
a book hasn’t infuriated me like this in so long, if eidhin dies i’m dnfing
Tara is striding down the street. Smiling too, a broad, genuine thing that lights up her face in a way I haven’t seen before. The warmth is so foreign on her that I almost laugh.
IDGAF ABOUT HER, hell i prefer emissa
“My name was Caeror.”
oh fUCK YOU I KNEW I COULDN’T TRUST UR ASS
For the first time since the Iudicium, I see him smile. And before I can turn, before I can process it, the familiar voice emerges from the murmurs behind. Wry, and quiet, and utterly perplexed. “Hail, Vis.”
i get him back but at what cost
