“A hint,” Jeremiah joked. “If they’re oglingother womenat the bar the whole time, they might not be interested in the likes ofyou.”
“Excuse you,” Hans said. “Bisexuality exists. Look athim!”
When I glanced over, Hans was pointing a brown, calloused finger in my direction.
“I do indeed exist, bisexually,” I acknowledged. “Neither of you assholes are creative enough to conjure me up in your imaginations.”
“If Hans could conjure up anything, it would probably be a lesbian,” Jeremiah said.
“Alright, enough aboutmysex life, you sneaky bastard. The cradle robber’s over here trying to make jokes.”
Cradle robber?
I raised a brow, peering over at Jeremiah for context.
“Ignore him,” Jer muttered.
Before I could press him for details, I felt the hair on the back of my neck prickle as my body reacted faster than my mind—my neck snapping instinctively towards the Western Gates, towards the sound of commotion. Shouting.
What the fuck?
“Did you two hear that?”
My lieutenants paused, listening—and then quickly met my eyes. I gave them both a brief, terse nod, and the three of us were off, sprinting northwest towards the source of the disturbance. Within minutes, we arrived at a bit of a scene.
A small crowd had formed just outside the entrance to the Guest’s District of the city. A pair of novice guardsmen of ours appeared to be trying to reason with a small cluster of Pyrhhan noblesse flanked by several stiff-looking bodyguards—also Pyrhhan.
Oh, joy.
I jerked my head towards the throng of what appeared to be more common folk.Angrycommon folk.
“Sort that out, will you?” I murmured to my lieutenants before striding towards the party of Pyrhhan nobles with confidence. “I’ll handle these ones.”
As I approached, I quickly recognized two men in particular—Master Levi Mirkovic, High Advisor of Trade within the House of Embers, accompanied by his cousin Gidgeon, the Viscount of the Eastern Pyrhhan territories of Freyston.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” I offered with a slight bow of the head. A show of respect that was, admittedly, just for show.
“Oh, thank gods,” one of the younger guardsmen began. “Captain, there’s been—”
“Captain?” Levi interrupted, his lip curling with a sneer. “Good, I’m glad the Elder Guard had the sense to send someone with appropriate authority to handle this situation. Your men have left much to be desired,Captain.”
“I amsosorry to hear that, Advisor. How can I be of assistance?” I simpered smoothly, hoping that I bit back enough of the sarcasm in my tone that it wasn’t blatantly obvious.
I had never cared much for the Mirkovics. Especially not Levi—the man was a fucking twat.
“You canassistby arresting these miscreants immediately,” Levi demanded, shoving a finger towards the group of commoners.
As he did so, flickering embers encircled his wrist. Clearly, the Fire Conduit’s temper was getting away from him.
“I’m going to need a bit more information before I can proceed with any of that, Master Mirkovic,” I said smoothly, turning back to the freshling. “Brief me on the situation, Kraiggson.”
“Yes, sir. According to the Mirkovic party, this small group of Pyrhhan citizens began to follow their traveling caravan just as they passed through from Freyston into our territory. Once they had made it onto neutral ground, the Mirkovics claim that they started harassing their party, namely the Viscount and the High Advisor.”
Hardly a crime that warranted arrest in Sophrosyne.
“Weclaim? It’s the truth! They threatened to assault me!” Levi interjected, those flickering embers around his coiled fists beginning to grow, stoking themselves into flame as he shook with rage.
The High Advisor of the House of Embers looked as though he was ready to pounce against his own godsdamned constituents.