With a slow but sure gesture, so as not to show the slightest hesitation, Wixarika placed his badge on the table and left the room without taking his eyes off Lyren. Lyren stood with her arms crossed, motionless and stiff in her black kostomyx. The two homines had spoken at length, then exchanged all manner of insults, threats and abuse at high volume. Wixarika was deeply saddened and upset, but nothing and nobody could change the new legion commander's mind. It was the same for everyone: either you give up or you leave.
Wixarika simply couldn't understand how things could have come to this. After what the renegade chief and tribe had done to her, after all she'd done to help Lyren integrate into the empire, she took this news like a dagger in the back, a betrayal she didn't have the resources to fight. For several years, she had rarely set foot in the Thesos legion hall, her position as akenakos taking up an inordinate amount of her time in Pyr. She had even been pleased to see Lyren take command following Azazor's disappearance, a renewal that would do no harm. She trusted him, and hadn't seen it coming.
Motionless, Lyren said nothing. It was hard for him to see his friend go, but it was undoubtedly one of the prices he had to pay. A single rule she had set, the same for everyone, a clear and simple choice. No discussion, no negotiation. There was no turning back. And yet, it wasn't a question of going and getting Sagaritis! Quite simply: abandon the Kamis cult, or be expelled from the Legions. She had given him the choice, as she had for all the other Legionnaires. As far as the latter were concerned, it was more a question of a dozen or so reservists, older ex-officers who had kept their badges more out of complacency than anything else, and hardly any of them were really active. A handful shrugged their shoulders, but they didn't care. Many were already devoting what was left of their small legionnaire pay to honoring the cult of the great Glouglou rather than the Kamis. As long as the shooki tastes the same, as long as we can remain neutral, as long as the bar doesn't burn down, they said. As long as you don't make a pact with the matis, they repeated. Lyren was surprised by some of the reactions. Deep down, they probably think I'm right, but can't admit it to themselves, she thought. Several even admitted that they had always been neutral, and that as long as they could remain so, they would respect the guild's new decision.
- For a change," replied an old Tryker who'd been a legionnaire at least since Dexton's time. I guess you know what you're doing, and it wouldn't hurt to make a change. I'm neutral, I've always been neutral.
- I don't have a problem with neutrals," she declared. akep for your support.
- But hey, one day you'll realize that it's better to stay away from one or the other...
- I understand, but I need an allied power.
- Maybe you're right. You know you're going to shake Dexton's brat with that...
Some, more Kamist than others, and one neutral, protested loudly. It even took two of them to pull out their retch and attack Lyren without further discussion. But these old-timers were sorely lacking in any training other than breaking through barrels of shooki, and were simply no match for Lyren. She parried a blow from her axe, which came crashing down on a small table, quickly drew a Tekorn dagger from her belt, then turned around and struck him in the side, followed by a knee blow to the stomach. She had no trouble disarming the hominin in the process, who fell to his knees, gasping for breath.
- Do you like kamis? Go and join them," declared Lyren in an icy voice, thrusting his dagger into a gap in the armor and ripping the badge from the homin's torso.
- Matis scum," muttered the legionnaire, before disappearing, recalled.
- Next," shouted Lyren, coolly, after straightening up and putting her hair back in place.
***
It had been a long day. Lyren looked at the crosses she had made in the guild register, her gaze lingering on certain names. A handful were still missing, some for several years. In particular, the name of a legionnaire, a convinced Kamist, whose fury Lyren feared as much as the blow of a sledgehammer. She was the very person who could have claimed his place. If only she'd been there.
- Pfft. Absentees are always wrong," declared Lyren, loudly, now alone in the guild hall.
The empty space of the guild council chamber echoed back at him strangely. As if the few words Wixarika had spoken to him in a cold, slow voice on the doorstep were still echoing off the walls of the Fyros Legions hall.
- We used to be friends. We're not anymore. Goodbye, Lyren.
Wixarika simply couldn't understand how things could have come to this. After what the renegade chief and tribe had done to her, after all she'd done to help Lyren integrate into the empire, she took this news like a dagger in the back, a betrayal she didn't have the resources to fight. For several years, she had rarely set foot in the Thesos legion hall, her position as akenakos taking up an inordinate amount of her time in Pyr. She had even been pleased to see Lyren take command following Azazor's disappearance, a renewal that would do no harm. She trusted him, and hadn't seen it coming.
Motionless, Lyren said nothing. It was hard for him to see his friend go, but it was undoubtedly one of the prices he had to pay. A single rule she had set, the same for everyone, a clear and simple choice. No discussion, no negotiation. There was no turning back. And yet, it wasn't a question of going and getting Sagaritis! Quite simply: abandon the Kamis cult, or be expelled from the Legions. She had given him the choice, as she had for all the other Legionnaires. As far as the latter were concerned, it was more a question of a dozen or so reservists, older ex-officers who had kept their badges more out of complacency than anything else, and hardly any of them were really active. A handful shrugged their shoulders, but they didn't care. Many were already devoting what was left of their small legionnaire pay to honoring the cult of the great Glouglou rather than the Kamis. As long as the shooki tastes the same, as long as we can remain neutral, as long as the bar doesn't burn down, they said. As long as you don't make a pact with the matis, they repeated. Lyren was surprised by some of the reactions. Deep down, they probably think I'm right, but can't admit it to themselves, she thought. Several even admitted that they had always been neutral, and that as long as they could remain so, they would respect the guild's new decision.
- For a change," replied an old Tryker who'd been a legionnaire at least since Dexton's time. I guess you know what you're doing, and it wouldn't hurt to make a change. I'm neutral, I've always been neutral.
- I don't have a problem with neutrals," she declared. akep for your support.
- But hey, one day you'll realize that it's better to stay away from one or the other...
- I understand, but I need an allied power.
- Maybe you're right. You know you're going to shake Dexton's brat with that...
Some, more Kamist than others, and one neutral, protested loudly. It even took two of them to pull out their retch and attack Lyren without further discussion. But these old-timers were sorely lacking in any training other than breaking through barrels of shooki, and were simply no match for Lyren. She parried a blow from her axe, which came crashing down on a small table, quickly drew a Tekorn dagger from her belt, then turned around and struck him in the side, followed by a knee blow to the stomach. She had no trouble disarming the hominin in the process, who fell to his knees, gasping for breath.
- Do you like kamis? Go and join them," declared Lyren in an icy voice, thrusting his dagger into a gap in the armor and ripping the badge from the homin's torso.
- Matis scum," muttered the legionnaire, before disappearing, recalled.
- Next," shouted Lyren, coolly, after straightening up and putting her hair back in place.
***
It had been a long day. Lyren looked at the crosses she had made in the guild register, her gaze lingering on certain names. A handful were still missing, some for several years. In particular, the name of a legionnaire, a convinced Kamist, whose fury Lyren feared as much as the blow of a sledgehammer. She was the very person who could have claimed his place. If only she'd been there.
- Pfft. Absentees are always wrong," declared Lyren, loudly, now alone in the guild hall.
The empty space of the guild council chamber echoed back at him strangely. As if the few words Wixarika had spoken to him in a cold, slow voice on the doorstep were still echoing off the walls of the Fyros Legions hall.
- We used to be friends. We're not anymore. Goodbye, Lyren.