As soon as Veema whirled on her and held up the collar of her mother to make her demand, Nua almost froze. As formally as Veema could manage through bleary eyes and broken heart and cracked voice, she spoke.
"You didn't have to buy my mother, you didn't have to buy me, or set me free. But you did, My Lady. When you gave me sisters, mother said she couldn't walk away from a responsibility for people who needed her even if she wasn't asked her opinion about it." She held up the collar like it was a sacred relic and bent her head forward. "I can't either. So please… Please…?"
"Can you, mistress?" Veema asked.
Nua took the bronze lightly from the little blonde's hand. "Let me do what she did, follow in her footsteps, only I'll walk farther, finish what she started. Please." Veema begged.
Nua clenched her hand around the collar and put her other hand on the little blonde head. "There's no talking you out of this, is there, child?"
"No." Veema said in a steel voice far beyond her years.
"Then I'll compromise." Nua said and held the collar up. "I will not put this on anyone else. It will hang in my office to wait for you. When it comes time for you and your sisters to undertake your first assignment… if you still want this, it's yours."
Veema's mouth opened and closed while she looked down at the grass, she very clearly wanted to argue, but thinking the better of it, she finally gave a quiet nod and got to her feet.
"Go to your common room for now, no training today." Nua ordered, and the white haired twins were quick to take her by her arms and lead her away.
Shi, however, trailed behind them and stopped in front of her mistress. She went to her knees as she'd been taught, and stared up at Nua through angry hazel eyes. "You knew." She accused her mistress.
Nua didn't need to ask what the little girl meant.
"What they were going to do to them all when you took me… you knew and kept it from me…" Shi whispered the accusation again.
"Yes." Nua admitted and crossed her arms in front of her. "I did know. But it was save one or save none."
"Why… why didn't you tell me… mistress?" Shi added the honorific when she saw the rising fury in the eyes of the statuesque elf.
"You want the truth?" Nua asked with sudden amiability.
"Yes!" Shi said, her whole body shaking with anger.
Nua crouched in front of her and put a hand on her cheek. "Because you've been through enough. I couldn't be sure how you'd respond."
"You're my…" Shi pursed her little lips for a moment, "Ah, you don't like to be called 'crawlmaker', but…"
"Listen to me, Shi. They didn't die for nothing, that's all I could do, get one of you out because there was only one of me." Nua explained patiently.
"Why me?" Shi asked with a glower, her little fists clenched.
"You were there." Nua said with a flat voice, "No other reason, I knew I could get you out, so I did. And I got everyone else killed to make sure. You know their fates if I didn't, they were just waiting to die. All I could do was make sure it was so that 'one' of you would live."
"So they're all gone forever, all my nestmates, talkmates everyone… just so I could be your meat?" Shi demanded.
"More than that. Much more than that." Nua answered her with a sharp voice of reproach. "They died so you'd get a chance. That's all I can give you, you like your lessons, your sisters, your food and nest?"
Shi gave a reluctant nod.
"I'm giving all that to you for a reason, not for fun. You will learn, and one day you will get a chance to go back and kill eatmen. If you're still… sore, about what I did, when you're old enough I'll let you have a try at me first. But until then, Shi…" Nua closed her fingers beneath Shi's jaw, "Obey. Obey and take the chance you have to be more than just a breeding number and an eatman's evening meal." Her hand was firm, but soft against the child's skin, but it was a hard stare that held Shi bound.
Shi looked briefly lost in thought. "You didn't eat my nestmother, why not?"
"That's not how we do things." Nua said with a fierce expression, "I was her mistress, I took care of her, and she took care of my household, when she died, I chose to treat her with honor for how she passed away. The beastmen, what you call 'eatmen' consider us lessers, just livestock. I don't see my property that way."
"Then why'd I see people buying people? Same thing idn'it?" Shi demanded, and Nua pondered that for a moment.
"Maybe so. Maybe so. But I am not one of the eatmen. They care nothing for us, but I will treat you all as my children… and I will miss your… nestmother." Nua said with a sick lump in her throat.
"So are you my nestmother, or my crawlmaker?" Shi asked with a sudden confused look that had her scratching her head.
"A good mistress… is both, I guess. Now… go on inside, comfort Veema, your talkmate is sad, and could use whatever comfort she can get now." Nua said with a gentle pat on Shi's cheek.
Shi began to calm at Nua's assertion of authority and relax a little at the mention of the sorrowful talkmates. "So, this is when I hug, right? I like those. They're warm, not like that." Shi said, and tapped Nua's hand.
Nua gave a fragile smile, "Yes, this is when you hug, go on."
"Yes… mistress but… when do I get another knife time?" Shi asked with chilling calm in her hazel eyes.
"Soon, very soon… but why?" Nua furrowed her brow as a cold shiver ran up her spine.
"Because I almost have enough hair to make a doll out of it. If I just get one more with long hair, I'll bet I could do it. The others had enough for part of a doll, but not quite a whole one." The childish frustration in her pouty lips was evident and her little foot stamped again.
"I'll send someone out to buy you and your sisters a few dolls, don't worry about that." Nua said with a sweet voice that concealed her recollection of Solution's warning. 'That one will start killing as soon as she can.'
"Just remember… you don't kill unless I or Lady Solution tell you to do so. Do you understand me?" Inspiration struck a moment later, "As the 'supreme crawlmaker' it was for me to decide to save you and let the rest behind you die. And so only I or my bodyguard get to decide who else lives or dies. Is that clear, Shi?"
Shi turned it over in her head for a moment, and a sage nod of childish comprehension slowly happened. "Yes… that's like a goddess, like nestmother said, goddess decides everything, and we don't do things without you saying, and you're our feeder and everything… right?"
"That's… close enough." Nua shivered internally, but went with it. "Now I'm telling you, go do the hugs with Veema, it's a sad thing when you lose someone you like, it's OK to be sad, and OK to make each other feel not sad anymore, alright?" Nua asked rhetorically.
"Yes, goddess, I understand. I'll do what you say. That's what we're supposed to do. And I promise I'll get really good at both the hugs and the knife stuff." She managed a tiny smile, and left happier by her new understanding of the way the world worked, she skipped back toward the estate.
"That was chilling to hear." Rasgen said as he approached Nua.
The elven assassin pushed off of her knee and stood up. "I know. They really warped that girl, now that she thinks I'm a 'supreme crawlmaker' she thinks nothing of the fact that I got everybody she knew killed, just to get her out."
"Absolute innocence… but who have they 'practiced' on?" Rasgen asked with a vaguely concerned look between the receding blue haired girl and the blonde noblewoman.
"Knowing Solution, bandits. There are a lot of them out there still after all." Nua replied nonchalantly. "Especially around former Komestran lands. I know it seems harsh to bring that to children, but… this is a hard, hard place. I need them to be able to survive in it or I've failed them." Nua put a hand on his cheek while she lied to him and gave him a delicate smile while she changed the subject.
"I know this has been a… a bad day, you'll forgive me if I take the rest of it to myself, won't you… dear?" Nua asked hopefully.
"Yes… I think I understand. This has been a great deal to take in, and I'll need to get that law written for you as I promised." Rasgen replied as gently as his voice would allow him to.
Nua brought herself close to him, barely inches between their bodies, "Good, now, I'll marry you in four days, just as I promised, again, I am sorry for not allowing for a long engagement, I know you all like big celebrations that take weeks or months of planning. But I'll buy enough wine to keep the whole city happy, and I'll make our wedding night something you're glad you didn't have to wait for."
Rasgen fought the lustful urges rising in him, forcing himself to focus, "What about… everything. The murders, the agent in the city, the…"
Nua put a finger to his lips and brought her own close to his ear, "Rasgen… if you'll authorize me a free left hand, I'll get started right away. They won't be pretty measures that I'll take. But with the city drunk as a cover for the next few days, it should be fine. And if it isn't, I'm leaving and you can blame me."
"How far do you intend to go in your investigation…?" Rasgen frowned deeply.
"I won't hurt a single hair on a law abiding citizen's head, and there may be fewer criminals in your prison by the time I'm done, but that's all. Do I have your permission?" Nua asked, and then before he could speak, she kissed him, pressing her lips to his and letting him briefly savor the moment before she broke away.
Rasgen almost gasped, caught off guard by the unlooked for affection. Her lips were soft and almost 'sweet', even the sound of her breath was enchanting after a fashion. It was difficult to deny her, and he could think of no reason to do so. "Yes. I don't like what Freyjin was suggesting before she died, her notes would still be in the carriage, I'll have them brought in before I go." He replied, and when her grip was relaxed, he was on his way.
"Now… I need to visit Tir…" Nua thought to herself before she too, began to walk back to the estate, the bronze collar in hand, being absently stroked back and forth by her thumb until she made it to her office, and taking down a priceless artwork, she hung it on the wall.
"He's getting worse." The lionman Prime Minister growled. "Yesterday the God-Emperor spent all day in bed complaining of a headache. Today he came out, but he left all the decisions to me and to his sons."
Around the table, various bearmen, birdmen, catmen, and others bedecked in glittering adornments or with their fur or feathers dyed to reveal their family crests or social status, sat unhappily glaring. "His sons are no better, as he's gotten worse, they've begun to let their true selves out."
A bearman general complained, "I hear the oldest son muttering slurs against my kind, and it isn't subtle. I hear the younger son doing the same things around birdmen. That's strange and infuriating by itself. But both are asking their father for a grand tournament to determine a new champion after the death of Timnah, and they want it to be to the death. It's a waste of good warriors."
"It's worse than that, Prime Minister." A catman added, "They're being sloppy about their desired campaigns. They want a mass harvest of two cities, but are barely bothering with logistics of food or other resources for the way there. Even against meat, we have to have supplies to go to places. But they're not doing what they're supposed to in order to get ready." The catman pounded on the table hard enough to crack it, emphasizing his words.
A gorillaman pounded his chest in fury, "It's even worse than that… they're banishing some of their closest confidants and servants, prattling on about 'conspiracies' and each one is asking what the other is up to, it's thrown the administration of palace affairs into chaos! We can't work like this, let alone manage an expedition!"
He threw up his thick hands and slapped the dark fingers over his face, drawing them down in exasperation.
The Prime Minister let the complaints wash over him again, and again, and again. They were not few in number as the erratic behavior of the God-Emperor's sons continued to pile up in one bizarre story after another, while fending off questions about the God-Emperor's own health which grew ever more urgent.
"Now, now. There's no need to panic." He finally growled out as reasonably as he could, "I'm sure his sons are just worried about their father, he's hardly 'young' anymore, but he's never been prone to illness. I'm sure he'll be fine, but as a precaution we've had our finest healers come by and they've cured his headaches for now. It's just the burden of rule, nothing more."
There were sullen, doubtful looks from around the table, but he pressed on to the next item of concern, "On another note, I confirmed one thing the escort of the sacrifice told us. There was indeed a fort destroyed under mysterious circumstances some years ago, everyone slaughtered and the stock gone."
"Did you tell them what it told you?" The general asked.
"Of course not, they may be cousins, but I doubt the Devor emperor would truly believe the rest of that story. He did ask why we brought it up, but I treated it as a legend I'd heard and wondered if it was true." The Prime Minister said with a sagacious bow of his head.
"Alright, but do you believe it? That there really is a force out there to the west that is a threat?" The general's derisive voice said that he didn't, but the Prime Minister paused.
"Do I look like a warrior to you, general?" The Prime Minister asked, and drew himself up. He was tall and lean, with trimmed claws for practical utility, but sharp teeth and sharp eyes, golden fur save for where his crest was painted in purple on his chest, and a thick dark mane any lionman would be proud of.
"Yes." The bearman general answered.
"Thank you." The Prime Minister chuckled, "I thought so too when I was a young cub, I thought I was big and dangerous and nobody could beat me, then one day I pushed a smaller cub out of the way when I was walking somewhere. I was strong, he was weak. Why not? He ran off, and the next day when passing by the same place, I was confronted by his father. He tore me apart without saying a word until he was done. Can you guess what he said?"
Intrigued by the story, the table collectively shook their heads in silence and leaned in to hear more. The Prime Minister leaned in as well and continued his story. "He said, 'Only an idiot thinks the smaller can't have someone bigger behind them.' and I never forgot that. His father, by the way, was Timnah. The same Timnah the sacrifice's escort killed in single combat in the arena."
He paused to let that sink in, "The God-Emperor is right, her training came from somewhere. Her equipment came from somewhere, and someone destroyed the Devorian fort. He believes that 'she' believed what she told us. If what she said is true... I don't know if they are a real threat so far west, but I believe we'd be foolish not to find out. Per the God-Emperor's directive, I've sent birdmen flying west to speak with the Trolls, with permission to go farther west from there. We'll see what moves in the far west. If there are no threats, fine. If there are threats, then the escort gave us time to prepare, and we'll teach them a hard lesson about what it means to threaten the Tlalmok Empire and the Triumvirate."