The Cartel: The Apprentice, Volume 1

Chapter 2: The Penthouse

The Apprentice Protocol

1. The bonded will submit to and execute the bondholder's will in all matters.

2. The bonded will address the bondholder with deference and submission.

3. The bonded will defend the bondholder's estate, life, and honor by any method necessary unto the death of the bonded.

4. The bonded will permit only the bondholder carnal access to the bonded.

5. The bonded will engage in any and all carnal activities the bondholder requires.

6. The bonded will not presume to know the bondholder's will.

7. The bonded will adhere to the letter and the spirit of the governing protocols.

8. The bonded will not bear arms in the presence of the bondholder.

9. The bonded will not speak unless addressed.

10. The bonded will answer truly to any inquiry.

11. The bonded will flank the bondholder at all times.

12. The bonded will defer to and honor all of greater rank.

Sevenday 1, Day 1

Following the path defined by her slate, Lilian navigated the corridor, slowing as she passed the entrance to milord's commerce suite. The double-width, black-enameled doors drew Lilian's eyes and brought recall of milord's kiss. For the two bells since, Lilian had buried herself in training interrogatives to avoid thinking about her unsettling interview with Lucius Mercio and his equally unsettling kiss. Milord! He is milord.

Pushing aside the compulsion to dwell on milord, Lilian mentally reviewed her notes on milord's protégé. Within the ranks of the Serengeti associates, protégés were second only to the master associates. Monsignor Lucius' protégé outranked all the others. Highly ranked simply by his position as protégé, Master Nickolas Cyncad also held the red and gold seal of conservatorship.

Only the most trusted of blood and commerce kin are honored with conservatorship. Under the protocols, conservators were milord's vessels. In the administration of the entrusted property, the conservator's will was treated as milord's. Misused, conservatorship ruined estates. As conservator of Desperation Mine and Refinery, Nickolas was high in milord's favor. Even a minor Vistrite holding was of immense value.

Lilian had a great deal to learn. Much of it would be from Master Nickolas. After milord and Master Straus, the protégé would have the greatest impact on her advancement and success.

As Lilian traversed the route to Master Nickolas' office, she noted that the thirty-fifth storey had the same gray with scarlet and gold décor as the rest of Blooded Dagger territory, which extended down eleven storeys. Beneath Blooded Dagger were Grey Spear's seven storeys and then Iron Hammer's five. The bottom ten storeys were devoted to the common areas: the Archives, Communications Central, the training facilities, the Serengeti Militia and Control Center, the medical facilities, conference chambers, research facilities, and laboratories.

Unlike on the associate and servitor levels, on this level the carpeting was thicker and the use of scarlet and gold more extensive. The worksites were four times the size of Lilian's and constructed of cherry wood rather than fabricated materials. The paucity of doors along the exterior walls suggested sizable offices.