Moral Stand (Aether’s Revival Book 7)

Gregory didn’t knock or announce himself; he walked straight into the common room that connected all the guard quarters. Six men were sitting at a table playing dice, but that stopped when they realized they had company.

One of the men stood up. He had an ugly burn scar on the left side of his face and numerous other scars dotting his exposed torso. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Magi Pettit. I’m conducting the inspection and audit of the establishment at the order of the owner and Magus Artok,” Gregory said. “I note that you have bone spark on the table. Bone spark is a prohibited substance, as it makes people unreasonably aggressive.”

“Look, little adept, your audit doesn’t include our quarters,” the man sneered as he came around the table.

“Jack, he’s a magi…” one of the other men said quietly. “Can’t fight them.”

“Oh, he doesn’t want a fight,” Jack Slim snickered. “I’m like Magi-killer. Done killed too many to count, even if they leave me with souvenirs.” One of his fingers traced the burn scar.

Gregory looked Jack over; he lived up to his name. Jack Slim was slender, but he was all tight-packed muscle. Gregory would’ve compared him to Jenn, but Jack was his height, not short like his wife. The scars told of a very violent life that the man kept surviving.

“You’ve already had some bone spark, have you?” Gregory asked. He let foresight and resonance combine, then looked into how this conflict would end before going back to combat readiness.

“What of it? Now piss off! This is a private residence. No slaves here, so no audit.”

“You’re wrong,” Gregory said simply. “The laws about whorehouses are very clear: inspections of the buildings are to cover every corner. Every law found to be broken inside needs to be remedied by the owner if they want to keep their license. Now, all of you should step to the side so I can conduct my inspection. Hindering me in my duty is yet another crime. Let’s hope that it’s only the bone spark that needs to be addressed.”

“Little fucking adept! You think you’re a real magi?!” Jack hissed, the hint of drug-addled madness in his eyes.

“Jack… come on, man,” a second guard said slowly. “Chainer will clear it all up. We just need to let him have his power trip.”

“Listen to your men. They know what to do,” Gregory said.

Jack’s eyes went past Gregory to Thera. “Oh, I see… The kitten brought you here. I’ll make you scream next time, pussy! Might not stop! Chainer will allow it once I tell him what you did!”

Gregory’s voice went cold. “Move now. You are hindering my search.”

Jack smirked. “Oh? Did me saying that to the whore upset you? Are you a beast lover, Magi? How sad. At least I know what to really use them for.”

The two guards who’d spoken before moved up to grab Jack’s arms. Both whispered for him to stop as they tried to pull him back. Jack shrugged them both off and snarled, his mouth starting to froth.

“Don’t you fucking tell me what to do! I’m in charge here!”

Both men backed up to the far wall with the other three. “How much did he have?” one asked.

“I don’t know, but too much, I’d say,” another said.

“Slave! Come here!” Jack snarled.

Thera let out a grunt of pain as the clipboard fell from her hands. With reluctant steps, enforced by her brand, she started to approach.

Gregory saw the future, watching how Jack would hurt Thera if he did nothing. Jack was using the power over the slaves that Chainer had given him to force her compliance. Once Thera was in reach, he’d break her arm, then do worse.

Gregory sighed, having known this was going to happen. He’d looked into the future and could see that Jack was going to attack him no matter what. There was no way to defuse the situation, and Gregory reminded himself to always look ahead, even when in town.

“You’ve twice failed to follow my orders,” Gregory said, sticking his hand out, barring Thera from walking toward the crazed man. “You have also compelled a slave who was assisting me, and have threatened my assistant with physical harm. All of these are crimes. I will arrest you now.”

Jack’s eyes gleamed with madness. “Come on, little man! Show me what you got! When you die, I’ll blame it on her— after I kill her! No one will care! They’ll just think a slave went mad and write it off!”

Gregory darted forward, then leapt back, knocking down Thera, who was still being compelled to go. He’d leapt backward because Jack had pulled two knives from sheathes on his back, and his sudden reversal in direction made Jack miss his swing. It also clearly showed his attack on Gregory to everyone present.

“Stay down!” Gregory told Thera firmly. “That’s an order from a magi!”

Thera froze in place, her eyes wide when his command overrode Jack’s.

Gregory got to his feet, summoning a wakizashi to hand. “Little known fact: all slave brands are made with an overriding command. When a magi commands them, it overrides all other orders unless they’re coming directly from someone who has their rune in hand.”

Jack was frothing as he giggled insanely. “Yeah, yeah! I’ll break her and kill her after! I’ll make her scream my name the entire time, too! But first!”

Gregory shifted, dodging and parrying Jack’s attacks. He made sure that Jack followed him, guiding him away from Thera. If he hadn’t, Jack would’ve taken the time to kill her when Gregory gave him a second to think.

“Attacking a magi is a death sentence!” Gregory said tightly. Without looking, he reached back and picked up a bottle, tossing it at one of the guards who’d taken a single step away from the wall. “I can kill more of you if I need to.”

The guard flattened himself against the wall, his eyes wide. The others slid a little away from him, but did the same. Gregory hadn’t even looked at them, and the bottle had just barely missed the guard’s head.

“Cowards!” Jack snarled. “I’ll make sure you regret that!”

“Better you than the magi…” the first guard muttered.

With the loose ends tied up, Gregory went on the offensive. He didn’t want to kill another person, but Jack was high on bone spark and couldn’t be reasoned with. Hardening his heart, he struck, thinking about all the slaves Jack had likely tortured and killed.

Jack went from a snarling, frothing madman to completely still in a second. Both blades fell from his unfeeling hands before he crumpled to the floor. Gregory looked down at the dying man, a small pang of sorrow touching his heart. He’d cut his spine at the base of his neck, the wound bleeding more than Gregory expected. Moving on reflex, he summoned a cloth to wipe his blade down, then dropped the cloth and let his ring take the sword.

“You have been found guilty of assaulting a magi, Jack Slim,” Gregory said woodenly. “The bone spark here is now attributed to you.”

Stepping away from the body, Gregory looked at the five men against the wall staring at him in shock. Then, he looked over at Thera, who was in the same state. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to try centering his mind as he let go of foresight, keeping resonance going.

“Thera, you are released to move.” With that said, he focused on the guards. “Gentlemen, I want every bit of contraband you have in front of me in five minutes. Then, all of you are to search Jack’s room. You will bring me his contraband. Once that’s done, you will stay in this room and food will be brought to you. If any of you fail to comply with that simple order, I will be displeased. Understood?”

The loud agreements clashed with each other, as they’d all answered at once.

“Go.”

The men scattered to comply. Seeing them go, he turned back to Thera, who had reclaimed her clipboard. She stood with her head bowed, shifting nervously while she waited.

Gregory sighed, knowing there were ways forward from this. It was just a matter of what he was willing to do. Those decisions could wait, so he took a seat. “Thera, come sit, please? I’ll need you to record what they bring us.”

“Yes, Magi…” Thera whispered, a tremor in her voice. She’d never seen anyone move as smoothly in combat as Gregory had, and her family had been very skilled in fighting. Part of her worried that she’d been mistaken about him, that maybe the kindness was the mask and the viciousness was the true him.

When she sat, Gregory spoke softly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to command you, but you would’ve been hurt otherwise.”

Thera’s thoughts all came to a sudden stop— his apology threw her confusion into overdrive. She couldn’t figure out which Gregory was the real one and which was the false one. He treated her well, but had also shown he could and would take down a hardened killer with contemptuous ease.

“When we finish, you can go back to the lounge,” Gregory went on. He was not looking at her, afraid of what he’d see. “I’d been hoping to play Go or Shogi afterward, but I understand if you’d rather not be near me anymore.”

Thera sat there dumbly, her mind a jumble. Neither of them spoke again, not even when the guards brought out what they’d had in their rooms.

It took nearly an hour to finish searching through all the guard rooms. There was a sizable pile of things on the table to be sorted through. Gregory dismissed some things that the law wasn’t clear on, but made sure he pointed out the clear contraband, most of which had come from Jack’s room.

“We’re done,” Gregory finally said. “Chainer will probably promote one of you. Don’t do what he did.” Gregory’s hand drifted toward Jack’s corpse on the floor. “Clean yourselves up and act better than thugs.” With that said, he knelt next to Jack’s body and stored it in his ring. He had one more major thing left to do; it would give Artok leverage, which the magus would thank him for later, he hoped.

A knock came on the door just before one of the cooks opened it. “I have… food?”