by Auryn Hadley
"Sire, section 22, subsection 19b says they would be nullified, and any promises or treaties signed during that time would be nullified as well," Ilija called back.
"Ah, yes." Dominik sighed. "I thought it was something like that. I would hate to think that was the case, Ms. Berrik."
"Does your," she glanced at Rragri, "co-ruler also think that our concerns may justify an intent to deceive?"
Rragri whuffed and looked at the Vargwar. She spoke to the Representative in Grauoran, but Harrgra called out in Glish, "The concerns of you humans is not my concern. Your alliance is with the humans of Anglia. I have signed no treaties. My soldiers owe you no fealty. We traveled here because of the many good things that the Kaisae said about this land. I am saddened to see things have changed so much while she was away."
Berrik looked at the beasts, stunned.
"You didn't think they would speak?” Dom guessed. “My own Grauoran is pretty rough, but I've been learning. And so you know, the title Kaisae is the Iliran version of Orassae. Sal's use of that title and her comprehension of the Grauoran language is what managed to form our," he gestured to Rragri, "own alliance. I would’ve thought that the Conglomerate would be more excited to hear of this."
Rragri looked up. "I only brought a small force. Maybe we did not bring enough soldiers for them to care?"
Dom shook his head. "You brought more than me Rragri. I could only spare seven hundred and fifty. I'm ashamed to say that I'm jealous of your ability to mobilize so many troops in only a few days."
Rragri shrugged. "It's just an expeditionary force."
General Sturmgren chuckled. "Sire, Orass, um, I'm sorry, I didn't get the title. Madam. How many troops did you bring?"
Dom answered, "It's Orassae, and it does twist the tongue at first, sir. She brought a thousand."
"Shit," he whispered.
"I am sorry," Harrgra said, "What do feces mean in that context? I can not translate to her unless I understand myself."
Sal explained, "Same as maast. A phrase to show surprise and shock, usually."
Sturmgren gestured between the human and the grauori. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I see you have become accustomed to this."
"Yes, sir. Iliran is very close to Grauoran. The two languages can most easily be compared to proper Glish and the Glish spoken in Guttertown. Neither of us needs to learn more than a few nuances to be understood. Cursing and expletives are relatively new to them, though."
"Representative Berrik?" Dominik asked the woman staring at them behind the table. "Do you have any additional questions that I can answer for you about Lieutenant Luxx's time in Anglia?"
"No. Thank you, King Jens," she said.
"Good. Then can we assume that the charges against Salryc Luxx will be dismissed? I would hate to think that the efforts she went through - and the misery we put her through - would be the cause of punishment for her."
Berrik sighed heavily. "Yes, I believe we can find that Lieutenant Luxx is clear of any wrongdoing on her last mission. This does not mean I am pleased with the outcome, young lady. I will be altering your orders and will have them sent to you all this afternoon. You may be dismissed."
Sal saluted professionally, then nodded at Dominik. He grabbed her shoulder and looked at the humans on the dais, waiting for them to disperse. Berrik glared at him once more, but he just smiled. "Lieutenant, hold the pup for me, please," Dom said, gesturing to Rhyx. "I would hate to think that I allowed her to run loose in a courtroom."
Sal held out her arms to Rhyx, asking her in iliri, "How did you get in here anyway, and does your dam know where you are?"
"No, amma. But I can reach the knobs now. I grew again. Amma Roo said it's because I'm going to be a strong Nacione," Rhyx answered in the same language.
Rragri whuffed. "You taught her Iliran, not Grauoran?"
Sal shrugged. "It's what we know, Orassae. And Laetus. Your timing was very much appreciated."
"Why do the humans hate you?" Rragri asked.
Sal glanced around. Not here, Orassae. Some know enough Iliran to follow what we say.
I understand. Let me show you the pack, then. And soon, you will be Kaisae again. I will call you Sal if you call me Rragri?
Thank you, my friend. May I invite a friend to come with us?
Rragri nodded at her, so Sal looked back. The General was just making his way from the room.
"General?" she called out.
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"Anglia would like to know if you'd be interested in seeing the new soldiers. I believe you might find them fascinating."
General Sturmgren smiled. "I'd love that, actually. Orassae, thank you. Is there any way I can see them spar, perhaps?"
Rragri whuffed and nodded. Please tell him that I would be honored to have my Ahnor demonstrate our abilities.
Sal and Harrgra began to speak at the same time, both pausing to glance at the other.
Sal ducked her head. "Sorry, Vargwar. I overstepped my place."
He nodded at her and dropped his eyes. "Thank you, Kaisae. General, the Orassae would like you to know that her own mate will demonstrate for you."
General Sturmgren glanced between Sal and the grauori for a long moment. "Thank you, Orassae," he said, watching Sal.
As a group, they exited the building. Sal noticed the Shields had returned to their uniforms. Once again, they appeared to be little more than typical Anglian elite soldiers. She hoped no one would realize that most of them had been here for the past few weeks to watch over her. Ilija moved to her side, and Sal tapped his arm.
"Ilija, this is General Sturmgren. He designed the idea of elite operations units and assisted in the formation of most of them. General, this is Colonel Ilja Vayu. Oh, I'm sorry. Lord Colonel Ilija Vayu Valmere."
"Name change?" Sturmgren asked.
Ilija shrugged. "I got married and managed to go from a soldier to a noble. I keep the name, but officially I'm known by my lands now, hence Valmere. I'm still Colonel Vayu to the men, though, sir."
"I see. The white ones, I assume they're yours?"
"Yes, sir. Please don't judge us too harshly. The unit has only been together a few months now."
General Sturmgren looked up at Ilija and smiled. "Yes, and yet they change clothes quickly. Tell the man with the scar, here," the General traced a line across his bicep, "that he needs a little more practice hiding in plain sight. If he hadn't been supporting the Blades, he would've been arrested three days ago."
Ilija laughed. "Dag!" he yelled, before falling silent.
Across from them, Dag nodded, then called over, "Sorry, sir. First time and all that. I'll keep it in mind."
"Ok, that's the second time you've done that. What's the trick?" Sturmgren asked.
Sal just looked up at Ilija. "Remember the talk we had about Conglomerate habits? Yeah. Have fun with that one."
Ilija sighed. "Sir - "
"Yeah," Sturmgren said, interrupting. "I'm Ran to you, boy. I may be a general and you're just a colonel, but you are running the army while I'm slowly being pushed out. Let's use first names, shall we?"
Ilija nodded. "Ran, the grauori have a few hidden talents. I'm not sure if the Orassae wants them too well known or not."
"Rai do na kahr," Rragri said. "Sal?"
"Nope, not me. I gave up leading. That's a question for Blaec."
Sturmgren raised his eyebrow. "Major Doll, Lieutenant?"
"Seriously?" Dominik asked. "She has to call him Major Doll?"
Sturmgren nodded. "In public, yes. Oh, I know none of them call him that in private. Especially not her. LT, I think they use still. Doesn't mean we want to give the politicians anymore to work with than we need to."
"Yes, sir," Sal said quietly.
"Sal, I understand what Blaec meant when he said the chain of command got confusing," Ilija said. "Ran, to us, Sal outranks the entire military. I'm in the habit of reporting directly to her. She reports to you, and I outranked LT, but Sal has to respect his rank?"
"I'll make it easy for you, Ilija," Ran said. "Outside of Anglia, Sal is just a Lieutenant, like any of your others. You treat her as more than that and her life will get really ugly really fast. Same with Blaec Doll. The King and Orassae? They get privileges we soldiers don't."
Dom chuckled. "Ilija gets those, too. He's my brother-in-law now. Sorry to make it more complicated."
Ran nodded between them slyly. "No, you just gave Sal the excuse she needs. It would be horrible to start a diplomatic incident, as you seem to be aware, sire."
Dom patted the General's shoulder. "Would be a shame. So, let's show you what these mutts can do. You want to see one against a human or another grauori?"
"Oh, grauori first. And then if possible, a human. Please."
Chapter 6
Rragri yipped off a few words and the grauori in the courtyard all fell to their bellies. She called out two names, then Arrgro approached with a grey female. With a snarl, they tore into each other. Sturmgren watched, amazed, and gasped when the first spots of red appeared.
"Orassae, shouldn't you stop that?"
"Na, rill be ah k."
Tufts of fur floated in the air and dust powdered at their feet, but finally, Arrgro threw the female to the ground. He held her pinned, the deep sound of his growl vibrating against Sal's ribs. To anyone who didn't know, the friendly spar looked like the beasts were trying to kill each other.
"Umso," the female said, and Arrgro let her up.
Another female approached to lay her stubby hand against Arrgro's cheek. He closed his eyes for a moment until he sighed, then she moved to his opponent. When the female stepped away, Sturmgren saw the wounds were gone on both of the fighters.
"I was going to compliment you on their skills, but now I'm wondering if my old eyes are failing me," he whispered.
"No, sir. You see exactly what they wanted you to see," Sal explained.
Ran nodded, looking almost distracted. "How do humans fair against them?"
"Not well," Ilija said to the General. "Vanja!"
"Yes, sir," the Verdant Shield called back, jogging toward them.
"Would you be willing to spar against grauori? Sal wanted to show her general."
Vanja looked at Sal and dropped his eyes in respect. "I'd be honored. Laetus..." he smiled, "Lieutenant." Sal giggled, but Vanja pulled off his outer layer of armor, leaving only leather against his skin. "Who'm I up against?"
Rragri whuffed. "Hwa?"
"Fuck," Vanja groaned.
Hwa trotted up and bowed to the Orassae, then turned to Vanja. He curled his lips up in a snarl and nodded.
"Call it, Sal?" Vanja asked.
"Lay on!" she yelled. Rhyx watched from her arms in intent silence.
Hwa leapt across the distance. Tackling Vanja, he gripped the human with his hind feet and swiped at his chest with his hands. As they fought, Sal pointed things out to the General.
"Opposable thumbs on the hind legs. They move easily either on all four or bipedally. The claws are as deadly as they look, too, and tear both leather and resin. Seems their jaws can crush human bones, but we haven't tried against iliri, yet. Downside is they're extremely aggressive in combat and rarely back off. Their prey drive entices them to stalk, and they're easily drawn in. Retreat is almost unheard of with grauori."
The pair had fallen to the ground. Vanja was struggling against Hwa's strength. Sal heard the cry of nails on leather and nodded, knowing her packmate was working hard not to injure the human. Hwa grabbed at Vanja's neck, but the human pushed himself away, the aufrio leaping on him again and again. The fourth time, Vanja met Hwa with his knife at the grauori's throat.
"I win, Hwa."
"Ya, umso."
"Grats, Van," Sal called over. "That the first time?"
Panting for breath, the Anglian soldier nodded. "Fuck yeah. Damned beast is fast." He wiped sweat from his eyes and stood, reaching for his armor.
"See the grauori first," Ilija said, gesturing down. Blood trickled gently from Vanja's side, slowly staining his shirt.
"Damned mutt. You owe me a shirt."
Hwa shook his head no. "Owe ra cleanan."
"Ok, but you - and not Roo. Deal?"
Hwa nodded. "Real."
"I missed that," Ran said looking at Sal.
"Hwa got him with the hinds when he pinned him. Hwa trained Vanja, so the win was important to him. The banter is all friendly. Vanja just said that Hwa had to wash the blood out and not Hwa's mate, Roo. She's known for her domestic duties, but she has enough with the pups."
Ran's eyes narrowed slightly. "Blaec's wolves?"
"Yes, sir." Sal shifted the pup on her hip. "This is one of them," she teased the girl. "The troublemaker of the bunch."
"Na, amma. I a gud gerrus."
"You aren't a gerus yet," Sal reminded Rhyx. "You're just a grauori. Soon, though, you can be a maargra - when you're big enough to beat Cyno. K?"
"K."
"How'd you hide all this for these few weeks?" Sturmgren asked, gesturing at Rhyx.
"It's amazing how much is overlooked if you don't make a big deal of it. We didn't hide them. If anyone asked, we said they were common in Anglia and we managed to get the set to come with us. Raast and Rhyx know when to be silent, too. Well, usually. Rhyx, you know you can't run into the buildings calling for your amma, right?"
"Na. I wanna ta show oo I cud oben da dohr."
"But I was at work. You have to wait. Why didn't you show one of you davas?"
"Cuz dey wahs worried bout oo, so I taut it wud make oo happy."
Sturmgren chuckled. "She's precious; I'll give you that. What's amma and dava mean?"
Sal took a deep breath before answering. "Sir, it would cause a lot of problems if I translate that."
"Iliri thing, right?"
She nodded.
"Well. I hate to ask this, but can one of them watch her? I need to speak with you a moment, Lieutenant."
"Ilija?" Sal asked.
"Yeah. I'll hold her until Hwa takes her back to the cabins," he said, reaching out for the pup.
Sal passed Rhyx across and followed the General to a quiet corner. "I hate to be the one to tell you this," he started, but Sal shook her head.
"Farther, sir. Grauori ears."
When he nodded, she guided him another ten meters away from the Anglians. Finally, Sal indicated they were far enough. Without preamble, he said, "They're disbanding the Blades."
"They can't!" Sal gasped.
"They are. Tonight, each of you will get orders to report to a new unit in the morning. I put Blaec in Lightning Brigade. I can make things easier for him there. I'm sorry, but you're going into Azure Silence. Berrik said they kept their iliri in line, so she's hoping they can tame you as well."
"Maast. Sir, Wyra and I do not get along."
"Learn to deal with it, soldier. My hands are tied." He tried to make it sound stern, but his expression was sympathetic.
"Thanks for the head's up," Sal grumbled, then called out in her mind. I need every Black Blade in Blaec's cabin in ten minutes. No excuses!
As the men responded to her in her head, the General continued, "I tried to make the units you were assigned to at least make sense. Parliament doesn't want an Iliran outfit, and you all shoved it in their face a few times too many.
Sal nodded. "I understand, sir."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked her, touching her arm gently.
"No. Wait. Maybe? Sir, do you know where I can get my hands on tattoo ink?"
Ran chuckled. "I do. Seems you can always tell the real soldiers by the ink on their body. You have a color you prefer?"
"Yeah. Silver, but I'm not sure we can get it, sir."
"Ouch. I know where you can. You happen to be sitting on a spare hundred krits?"
Sal's head tilted to the side. "Year's back pay. Silver's regulated, though, isn't it?"
Ran tugged at his sleeve. The lightning bolt of his unit's symbol stood out against his dark skin in sh
ades of silver and gold. "I happen to have a line on it. I would've thought you'd go for black."
Digging in her pocket, she pulled out a slip of paper. "There's a reason for it." Scanning the number, she passed it across to him. "Anyway, can you acquire some before we get our orders? Just have it deducted from my reimbursement?"
The General nodded. "Sure. Can I borrow your grauori? I'm pretty sure he'll make it across the compound a lot faster than I will, and I don't expect them to hold off for too long. I do not want to know what you're doing, do I?"
"No, sir. We will not break any orders. I promise you that. For now."
The General patted her shoulder gently. "Lieutenant, I see why they followed you up there. You'll make a damned good general one day."
Sal chuckled. "No sir, I won't. Iliri don't become generals. But thank you, sir."
He turned to walk away, but Sal called out to him before he'd gone more than a few paces. "Sir?"
Ran turned back to her. "Yeah?"
"Sir, I swear, what comes next has nothing to do with you. You've always been fair to us. I hope there are no hard feelings."
The General sucked at his teeth. "None. I'm fucking pissed at them right now, too. I don't want to know, Lieutenant."
"Then just let me say this – you’re welcome, too. Remember that, ok?"
He chuckled. "Ok, thank you, too, I suppose. I'll have the wolf headed back to you in a few moments. Make sure the design is one you're happy to live with. Ok?"
He didn't give her the chance to salute, so Sal made her way back to get Rhyx. The pup wasn't there. When Sal had ordered the Blades to Blaec's cabin, Roo heard and collected her wayward daughter. That was all Sal needed. Jogging, she headed back to rejoin her pack.
Hwa, please help the General, she asked. He's going to send you back with ink. Risk, grab your kit? Shift, have a coffee or two. I think we'll do you first.
When she reached the Major's cabin, the Blades leaned casually against the door. They smiled when they saw her, and greeted her like a soldier just released from prison. Which she was. So was her partner, who pushed between the others to see her. Cyno pulled her to him and kissed her deeply. Sal returned it before she pulled away, gesturing for them all to get inside. Blaec waited behind the door, and Sal fell into his arms.
