Chapter 194: Book 3 Chapter 57: Whatever you say, Cuz

Dantes walked down Midtown’s main street with Jacque tucked under his arm, Jacopo on his shoulder, and his remaining hound walking patiently at his side. It was a warm, wet day, but he still wore his jacket, if only to keep Jacopo from needing to sink his claws into him to maintain his perch. Jacque was awake and looking around as they moved. Dantes was walking without purpose, simply to stretch his legs and spend some time with his son. It was… difficult for him, in some ways, to move without a destination in mind, but he was learning to enjoy it

The people in Midtown gave him a respectful distance, some even bowing as he passed. Those he knew personally waved to him, or even shared brief hellos. There wasn’t as much fear as there had been in the past, now it was mostly respect, or even reverence. He was a gangster, a criminal, but he was theirs and they knew that. He’d gotten rid of Mondego who’d squeezed the life out of them, he’d helped heal many of the sick and hurt during the plague, and now he’d driven away an invading army. Midtown had suffered the least of any other part of the city and it was thanks to him. Even when the strange golden army had appeared, their shops and people had been protected by the plants and animals he’d encouraged them to grow and adopt. Sure, that encouragement had been forceful, but they were safe and that’s what mattered to them.

At certain corners Dantes would stop and hold Jacque in front of himself, letting stray dogs, cats, rats, and pigeons sniff at him, remembering what he looked and smelled like. As he did so, he would push a bit of his will through them, asking them to keep Jacque safe even when he wasn’t around. He wasn’t entirely sure what the result would be, but all of the vermin did respond to him in the affirmative, and it was quickly draining the gold in his vermin-marks, so it had to be doing something. Aside from that the sniffs and licks of the animals made Jacque laugh, which made it a win either way. He would save doing so with roaches for when they were alone, everyone had gotten used to him summoning all manner of critters at this point, or even moving plants at will, but roaches were still a bridge too far for many.

By the time he’d finished his walk, Jacque was sleeping with his head buried in Dantes’s shoulder. He walked into the Vixen, giving his hound a scratch before sending him upstairs to his garden.

The Vixen was busy again, at least for a morning, with some drinkers that may as well have never left, a few men gambling at the corner table, and some of Tak’s kobolds stopping in for breakfast. A number of them had chosen to move into the city rather than return to the outskirts. They were clanless anyway, so there was no reason to stay where the other kobolds were. Dantes had seen them as a good way to fill out some properties he’d brought up in the wake of the war through Desha.

Zilly, Sera, and Decker were sitting at the bar examining a series of carefully arranged dishes and glasses. Dantes approached quietly to keep from waking Jacque, but Zilly noticed him anyway.

“Dantes, we need to cut one of these dishes from the feast after Vera and Da-,” she coughed a bit, “Vampa’s wedding.”

“Why? I’m guessing it’s not a matter of cost?”

Zilly shook her head. “No, the feast is meant to be of four dishes as part of the ceremony. Not including dessert.”

“And the wine?”

Decker smiled. “The wine choices are perfect already, they need no notes.” He'd grown a thick beard and had a more relaxed bearing since he’d been with Hema. Last he’d heard, they’d moved in together.

“I believe that,” said Dantes, leaning carefully to see the food on the bar without disturbing Jacque. “I see Vera’s favorite, bladefish steak, so that has to stay. Is one of these Vampa’s favorite?”

“The apple and honey pork,” said Zilly pointing to one of the dishes.

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“Gods that man has great taste,” said Dantes shaking his head. “My aunt, this food, the man makes no poor decisions.”

“Aside from fighting other people for sport in a pit,” noted Zilly.

Dantes shrugged. “And working for me. I guess he’s about even actually. Still better than most though.” He looked at the remaining dishes, but Jacque began to fuss.

“Shh, “ muttered Dantes gently.

“Here, I’ll take him up to Alessa,” offered Sera. “These two don’t accept the explanation of, ‘because it tastes better’ and it’s beginning to drive me mad.”

Dantes kissed Jacque on the top of the head, and handed him to Sera who began cooing to him as she walked him up the stairs toward Alessa’s chambers.

“There’s three dishes left, so even if you completely disagree on two of them, there has to be one that’s settled between the two of you,” said Dantes.

Zilly nodded, “The shrimp.”

Dantes nodded looking at the remaining options. “Do the steak.”

Zilly frowned. “Why?”

Dantes smiled. “Because it tastes better.”

Zilly frowned at him. “Not helpful.”

“Sorry cousin, that’s the best I’ve got.”

Decker laughed. “This wedding will make you cousins won’t it?”

Zilly shook her head. “No. Vera isn’t really his aunt.”

Dantes nodded and started walking away. “Whatever you say, cuz.”

He made his way up to his audience chamber where he saw Jayk petting his hound, a bandage still wrapped around the back of his hand.

He stood and nodded at him.

“Looking for me, or just taking a break with the dog?”

“Both.”

Dantes nodded and made his way to his throne, falling into it. “Go ahead.”

Jayk nodded. “The King of Frasheid has been killed and the kingdom toppled by the slave rebellion.”

Dantes’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “That’s a larger piece of news than I was expecting, but not the kind we usually deal in between the two of us. Why mention it?”

“The one who actually killed the King was Gavain.”

Dantes leaned forward. “He slew a king?”

Jayk nodded. “Some refugees from Frasheid arrived this morning. Former nobility, they say that he slew him and slaughtered his way through the palace before leaving.”

“Gods. I’m surprised he still had the strength.”

“One of the refugees said it was like watching a god slaughter ants.”

Dantes reached involuntarily for his throat, rubbing it for a moment. He’d seen some commotion at the docks and around the temple that morning, but hadn’t been able to glean anything specific.

“There was some commotion around the temple today as well, any idea what’s going on?”

Jayk nodded. “I was actually there for Zak’s…” He paused and fussed with the bandage on his hand for a moment. “His burial arrangements, earlier today. They were saying there’s a new god. One that didn’t exist before.”

Dantes nodded, that made sense with the commotion. “Did they say what of? I think the last new god was when I was a kid was the Goddess of Artisans.”

Jayk shook his head. “It hasn’t been determined yet. The priests of Justice believe that he was carved from him.”

Dantes frowned. Gavain had just slain a king and escaped, and now there was a new god that had been carved from Justice, who Gavain worshiped. Between that and what he’d witnessed in his own dream, it wasn’t hard to guess that whatever deity had been born was supporting Godfrey, and he had his eyes on him.

Dantes looked at Jayk. “I want you to do whatever you can to track Gavain’s movements, I’ll set a meeting with the head of the adventurer’s guild. I already needed to talk to him as a councilman anyway.”

“Do you think he’s a danger to us?”

“I’ve been thrown into a hole before, and there wasn’t a single person involved that I didn’t think about killing. He’s a danger, of that I have no doubt. If we’re lucky though, he’ll have a long list and maybe lose a hand before he gets here,” Dantes wiggled his wooden fingers a bit.

Jayk didn’t laugh, just regarding him with a serious look.

“We’ll prepare. We’ve never lost when we’ve been prepared. Gavain was powerful before, but we’ve all grown past him now. We can manage him. If we’re lucky we can divert him away from us entirely.”

Jayk nodded. “I’ll keep track of it.”

“Good. Thank you.”

Jayk nodded, and walked away heading back toward the bar.

Dantes leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment as he cast his attention across the city. He was starting to check on his gardens that were regrowing, when he felt fingers in his hair.

He opened his eyes to see the face of a dragonkin staring at him with a mouth full of sharp teeth. He laughed.

“Hello, darling.”

She gave him a fanged kiss. “No response at all?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Jacopo saw you from the tree.”

She turned around, shifting back into the purple eyed form of Sevryn that he’d grown used to. She blew a kiss to Jacopo.

“I heard what you were talking about with Jayk.”

“Oh?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” She spoke with certainty, none of the mirth that he was used to hearing from her in her voice.

Dantes took her hand and kissed it. “I believe you.”