Rhian, Palisade

By the time I’m sitting down writing this story, everything that eventually happens with me and Strauss has already been said and done. There’s no need for holding back on the nitty-gritty between us, right? But when going over the events with Michael on the day of my trial, I might have failed to mention a few of the finer details.

One of those details was the bit about Strauss making my knees weak.

Even though Michael was one of my best mates and wouldn’t judge, it felt wrong sharing something so private when someone else’s feelings were involved. Some things ought to be kept sacred under certain circumstances. Also, there were enough rumours circulating about Strauss, and I wasn’t about to throw my hat in the pile. It’s not like I thought Michael would gossip, but again, it didn’t feel right. Not to mention, falling for an outcast priest-in-training wasn’t the most brilliant idea I’d ever had. Under Palisade law, nothing could come of it. We were expected to stick to our own race.

Besides, it didn't change anything about the outcome of the story.

Anyhow. Michael was more interested in what happened on the job than why I wanted to stay at the church. We were given time to get our affairs in order before the trial. Michael was only there because like always, I refused to speak otherwise.

I had my reasons.

For one, Michael lived for attending my trials. There’d been more than a few over the eight years we’d known each other, and I’d never hear the end of it if he wasn’t invited to this one. For two, he made me look better. Michael Reider was a stand-up Partisan with a spotless record, and there was something to be said about our friendship. For three, certain people were less likely to act out of order if someone like him were watching.

Councilwoman Blanchett was my number one concern that day. Never mind the fact she’d been trying to take me down for years, everything I was about to explain took place in her territory, right under her nose, and I reckoned she’d do anything to make sure the horseshite flying out her mouth came up smelling like fresh-cut roses.

The reason me and Gus were in Delphia was simple. The Assembly caught wind of a band of Palisade defects hiding out on the Isle of Inspiration. We were warned to expect at least twenty, and seeing it was just me and Gus, we weren't meant to kill them. We were only meant to find them.

“So basically, your job was to do your job,” Michael said.

“Aye, nothing we haven’t done a thousand times afore."

“Other than locating the defects, did you have any other direct orders?”

“That’s the difference between our kind of job and your kind of job, Commander, Sir, Michael, Sir. In our line of business, orders are a lot like my rights.”

Michael chuckled. “Discretionary?”

“Exactly.” I nodded. “Bottom line, once we found their hideout, we were meant to notify Councilwoman Kelly so she could send a group of Chasers out after them.”

"Did you have a plan?"

"We weren't given a lot to go on, so no, we didn't have a plan. But we had some ideas. We thought about questioning some of the local shops—mainly food stalls and whatnot. The defects had to be sustaining themselves somehow.”

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“Makes sense, but wouldn't it be risky to put themselves out there like that?”

“Right,” I said. “It’s not like we figured they’d be hanging around the market, shopping for snacks willy-nilly.”

“Speaking of snacks,” Michael said. “What do you have?”

I always kept something stashed away in my satchel for him. I tossed over a dusty red apple. Michael bloody loved apples. He took a big bite.

“Anyhow—never mind the shopping, we reckoned the theft patterns around town might give us a clue.”

Michael nodded. “Okay, that seems reasonable.”

“Aye, we’re reasonable people. The thing is, after having a hard think on the matter, we knew there had to be another layer.”

Michael Reider was a charming man with a lot of upsides. He also had a lot of downsides. One of them was talking with his mouth full.

Crunch, chew, chew. “What do you mean?”

“The defects on our list had been on the run for years,” I said. “Some of them more than five. Partisans don’t last long on the lam without making friends along the way. There had to be Barrens in their circle.”

“Okay, but I don’t see how that’s helpful.”

“It’s helpful so far as we realized questioning random people wouldn't be our best approach. We couldn’t trust the Barrens, and talking to the wrong one could unravel everything. The more defects involved in these sorts of jobs, the more complicated it gets. Unless the leader of the operation kept them under constant observation, they’d all have their own connections, motivations, and their own shares in the game. Like a goddess-be-damned spiderweb. Anyhow, seeing as we were a day early—”

Of all the things that could have interrupted us in that exact moment, I doubt either of us expected it’d be a knock at the door.

“Are we supposed to answer that?” Michael asked.

I shrugged, and then Michael shrugged, and then he stood up and opened the door.

Most Amali Partisans didn’t need to know Andrei Strauss to recognize Andrei Strauss. He was a bit of a legend for being such an excellent fuck-up that he was tossed in a silver cell for half a decade. Also, he was the only mixed-breed Amali most of us had ever seen. He stood out against the full-breeds like a naked man in a snowstorm.

On the other side of the door, Strauss peered over Michael’s head. He was taller than most Amali, but he was still shorter than most Celestian. Ten to one, he was wondering where everyone was, and then I spotted him eying the torch in the corner dubiously and whatnot. It was tricky not laughing.

"Am I late?” he asked.

“Well, I guess it depends why you’re here,” Michael said. “They’re on lunch.”

Strauss handed Michael a slip of paper. I chewed on my lip while he read it.

“That’s weird.” Michael gave the paper back. “But okay. Come on in.”

Strauss and I had a lot more in common than it might seem straightaway. He had his own complicated history with the Assembly, so I reckoned he felt a lot less nervous stepping into that room than most Partisans would do. After closing the door behind him, he joined us on the floor in the middle of the room. I tried keeping things casual, but it was hard not to stare. I'd felt a certain way about him long afore I’d seen him in person. I was still getting used to how much I liked his face.

According to the letter I couldn’t read anyhow, Councilwoman Kelly summoned Strauss to speak as a witness in my defense.

“You reckon they know?” I asked him.

Michael looked between us. “Know what?”

Strauss shook his head. “I think we both know where I’d be if they knew.”

“Knew what?” Michael looked between us again.

“Eh—I’m tired of talking,” I said. “Strauss can pick up where I left off.”

“I’d love to, Sinclair, if only I knew where you left off.”

“Your timing couldn’t be more perfect, actually. We’d just arrived at the church…”