NovelOnlineBah! Who would ever want to dwell in a house covered in metal? Nobody! Even if that metal was… so soothing, and emitting such a glorious, ephemeral light….
DAMMIT!
I connect a mind bridge to Eran Thouris who is leaning against the railing next to me, looking smug.
[Well?] she asks.
[It's nice.]
[Nice?] she asks, raising one scaled brow.
[Very nice.]
Follow current on NovelEnglish.netThat's all she's gonna get out of me.
And it is absolutely stunning.
Stupid city with its stupid shininess. Thinks it's all that! Well, it's not!
[Oh look. I think the clouds are going to part. We should get a good look at it now,] Eran says, enthused.
[Good look at what?] I grumble.
[They don't call them the Twin Cities for nothing. There! Look!]
The upper reaches of the mountain have been shrouded by cloud and mist, but, for a moment, I catch a glimpse of something golden breaking through, a beam of light that stabsright in the eye. Then, like magic, the clouds part, the mist fades, and I slump to the floor, defeated.
Regal palaces, imposing castles, a tower that rises like a mighty tree to pierce the heavens, easily several kilometres high. Each is a work of art, as if someone let Michaelangelant off the chain for a thousand years. Beautiful in design, delicate in construction, each line is aesthetically pleasing in context with those around it. Whoever made this city was determined to make it so damn pretty that nothing would ever cclose, and they didn't give a damn what it cost.
[If I built a hut in the sixth, wouldn't that be worth more? Since it'd be more rare?]
[The Colony would never do it either,] I admit. [Spending such an absurd amount of resources just to make things look nice? Impossible. It's too inefficient and doesn't provide any material benefit to the family.]
Huh, finally, we find the place where all the humans are. No giant magic lizard-wizards, no second-skin rock people, just humans. I mean, humans are scary enough by themselves, but at least I understand them a little better.
And naturally, they have imprinted unspeakably, eye-meltingly attractive artworks into the wall. Because of course they did. If Michaelangelant is in this fleet, she is frothing at the mouth right now.
[Do we expect much trouble here?] I ask, a little reluctantly.
[Not unless your people have been waging a secret war against the Atreum that I haven't heard about,] she replies.
[If we have, it's just as much a surprise toas it is to you.]
[We should be fine. The Atreum can be a little bureaucratic, but they are a well-run and organised sort of place. We have all our documents sorted well in advance. We're the kind of merchants who are especially welchere.]
Follow current on NovelEnglish.netSuch optimistic words, of course, doom us before we even arrive.
After Eran and the high-ranking brathians go ashore to finalise arrangements, we quickly find out things have gone awry.
[They want further guarantees of safety after what happened at Greystone,] Olivis tells me, after communicating with the shore party.
[Like what sort of guarantees? They wantto grind the edges off my mandibles or something?]
[Financial compensation,] Olivis says. [If any damage is caused to the city by the Colony, they are demanding the Brathian Island Conglomerate agree to pay damages.]
[Well… that doesn't seem unreasonable.]
Oof.
[How… how much?]
[If you repeat your actions at Greystone, the entire conglomerate will be bankrupt.]
[I'll be careful.]
[You'd better be….]
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