“Ah, no, I’ll want Bel for this.” Tiberius had never shared his dear friend Enzo’s love for horses. They were too skittish by half. Once possessed, they were much more reliable but they didn’t heal naturally. They did not quite rot or generate an odor, either – but it tended to leave irritating grease stains on your clothes.
So of course a giant black-and-purple cat was a reasonable substitute mount for a gentleman. Besides, Belona had a special talent. Technically so did all of her smaller kin, but carrying a house cat under his arm all the way across town seemed like a very poor idea. He locked up the tower and met Ursus in the street. The ride was awkward – most beasts of burden found big cats unnerving at the least. Alas.
At least Bel seemed happy.
Soon enough they were outside the so-called drinking establishment. It was no place Tiberius was familiar with, catering to soldiers and sailors. A little strange though, to find a handful of his house guards already here in their blue-and-copper uniforms. He was still struggling to find the proper balance between deadly indolence and too overbearing by half.
Delegation was a skill. Grandfather had known that. Tiberius followed Tacitus into the alley, leading Bel by the reins.
Adamo had been on leave – producing a rather anonymous corpse dressed in common clothes. His shoes might have given him away: House-issued boots, perhaps the only good shoes he owned. The body’s posture was odd and unnatural, like he’d died in the middle of a fit. Face down in the rain, that was rather sad.
Tiberius glanced up sharply at the question, gaze narrowing. He hadn’t been paying attention to the other man’s not-quite-a-spell. The glow was eerie in the eyes of a non-mage.
“Well, we should roll him over. And be careful of Bel. If he’s been poisoned she might go for his innards.” Huh, perhaps a smarter person could make even better use of calinic cats this way. If they knew how long each poison under the sun might take to work its way through a body.
“Otherwise, I can ask him to talk. If you’ve no further insights to glean from things as they are.”
So of course a giant black-and-purple cat was a reasonable substitute mount for a gentleman. Besides, Belona had a special talent. Technically so did all of her smaller kin, but carrying a house cat under his arm all the way across town seemed like a very poor idea. He locked up the tower and met Ursus in the street. The ride was awkward – most beasts of burden found big cats unnerving at the least. Alas.
At least Bel seemed happy.
Soon enough they were outside the so-called drinking establishment. It was no place Tiberius was familiar with, catering to soldiers and sailors. A little strange though, to find a handful of his house guards already here in their blue-and-copper uniforms. He was still struggling to find the proper balance between deadly indolence and too overbearing by half.
Delegation was a skill. Grandfather had known that. Tiberius followed Tacitus into the alley, leading Bel by the reins.
Adamo had been on leave – producing a rather anonymous corpse dressed in common clothes. His shoes might have given him away: House-issued boots, perhaps the only good shoes he owned. The body’s posture was odd and unnatural, like he’d died in the middle of a fit. Face down in the rain, that was rather sad.
Tiberius glanced up sharply at the question, gaze narrowing. He hadn’t been paying attention to the other man’s not-quite-a-spell. The glow was eerie in the eyes of a non-mage.
“Well, we should roll him over. And be careful of Bel. If he’s been poisoned she might go for his innards.” Huh, perhaps a smarter person could make even better use of calinic cats this way. If they knew how long each poison under the sun might take to work its way through a body.
“Otherwise, I can ask him to talk. If you’ve no further insights to glean from things as they are.”
07-12-2024, 04:11 PM
