Guardian of the Night

23

With a glass in each hand, Asnarrus moved across to his desk, placing one glass upon the surface, in front of the chair he expected her to sit upon, and his own glass before his own, cushioned chair. He sat down with a groaning sigh, as though his day had tired him so very much, and steepled his fingers over his stomach, waiting with patience for Bilain to take her seat. He expected her to do as he wished without needing to ask.

As she moved toward the desk, she noticed the panes of glass she had broken with Asnarrus' head in her previous visit were now repaired. Replaced within the diamond shaped, leaded windows by new, clear glass. She half-wished she had pushed him all the way through that glass now, to cast him out to fall into the gardens below. He may not have died, but he would not have sat with such comfort as he did right now. She looked up to the highest point of the window, leaning to see above, but saw nothing.

"You win. She wins. I'll drop it, the entire investigation. Just give me back my family." The chair felt uncomfortable beneath her, or, perhaps it was her acceptance of defeat that discomforted her? "No-one will know what really happened. There are no records or reports about what I learned. Just another murder in The Sprawl. Just another fire. It's over."

"It's a start, I'll admit, but it isn't quite all that we want from you, Grasall." Confident in his total control of the situation, Asnarrus reached out for his glass, sipping it and giving a surprised smile of appreciation. "It is rather good, isn't it. Sweet. Anyway, Grasall, what we require of you now is your complete obedience. A Watch Captain will be very useful in the days to come. And a Watch Captain well known for her fairness and integrity? Well, that's worth its weight in gold."

He raised the glass in salute as Bilain realised that she had made a mistake. She had come here expecting her admission of defeat would have her enemies release her family without question. Instead, it had only led to Asnarrus bringing her more to heel. And, with the lives of Ranaie and Amaini at stake, Bilain wasn't certain she could refuse.

-+-

Asnarrus smiled across the table at her, as though they were close friends, good friends, while he held a boot to the throat of her family. He had no idea, not one shred of understanding about how close he was to death. Were Bilain still the woman she once was, the woman she had had to become before joining the army and finding discipline, order and duty, he wouldn't even have the time to piss himself.

Instead, he sat there in the smug assumption that he held all the cards in this particular game. He didn't. If Bilain even thought that she had surrendered her dignity too late, if she had inkling that either Ranaie or Amaini were harmed, this entire building would know it, the rest of the Municipal Ward soon after and then the High Ward, where Ghistreen hid herself, believing those walls could stop even the most determined of attacks. They could not.

"I want to see my family." She put the glass upon the desk surface and shoved it along toward him, untouched. "Don't misunderstand me when I say that you will let me see them or you will die. That isn't a threat. The threat would be that if either of them are harmed, in any way, I won't just kill you, I'll hurt you. For a very, very long time and I happen to know a healer that would not be averse to keeping you alive for me to do so."

Bilain could imagine Kaluun's reaction to that. The glee of Bilain coming to her way of thinking after trying so hard to show her lawful credentials. All her talk of justice and law becoming dust, fading away at the first sign of terrible things happening to her and the ones she loved. A blatant hypocrisy, if not an understandable one. Were Bilain to ask it, Kaluun would ask Shurivno to help her and take great pride in doing so. At least, that was what Bilain believed.

Asnarrus appeared to take her threat with the seriousness it deserved, before slapping the table and laughing. He seemed to find much funny about this latest encounter of theirs. He took another sip of the rum, smacking his lips before putting the empty glass down. He still said nothing about her threat, taking to his feet and moving toward the windows. Bilain ran her eyes across the topmost parts of the windows, but Asnarrus only looked out toward the docks.