"Could he have been an assassin?" Alaiya patted her pets. They rumbled happily, brushing their heads against her face. "Doubtful. He was poorly trained, if he was." Qaetha watched her caress the massive beasts. "It is dangerous, what you have done," he said. "And what he did was more dangerous," Alaiya snapped. "He was no innocent family member, be assured. It is universally recognised that one does not bring weaponry into delicate matters, or at least one does not draw their weapon unless situations become obviously dire. Apart from the filthy Eayn birds, all other species accept this custom." Qaetha shrugged. "That is true," he acceded. "Whatever it may be, it is over now." The men swept away loose straw and excess dirt. The cobbled ground was uncovered like a prehistoric fossil. There was a line leading to the water pipes built into the fort walls. They worked in silence. There were three peaks on Mount Rol. The tallest was dedicated to the First, and the other two the homes of their respective matrons. While being one collective keep, it was split into three separate forts, all fanning out from the base of the mountain. Fort Secundus was a modest building, constructed into the fabric of the rock, a basic garrison of bricked stone blocks shielded behind a wall. Outside, the paved streets led to the docking harbours, and the rest of the fort's inhabitants. Secundus was tunneled deep into the granite, a series of warrens that housed the higher families. It was a maze of dwellings, workshops, subterranean passages and windowless chambers. It was mined all the way to the summits, where miradors and watchtowers peeked at the sprawling fields beyond Roliem Keep. Aputho stepped out from the portal leading into the fort. He shut the aging ironwood door, squinting. Millions of dust motes, gilded in sunslight, swirled around him. He carried a haunch, and held the meat out to Alaiya. He bowed to her and scuttled away. "You haven't been feeding them," Alaiya observed. "Yes, I have." "They are not vegetarians," she reminded, grabbing Avul by one of his teeth. She inspected his jowls like a prize specimen. The drinol glared accusingly at Qaetha, vibrating louder than a throttled vehicle. Alaiya fed Avul the haunch. It disappeared into his bowels. A whole thigh, enough for weeks, gone as nosh. Tevul sniffed Alaiya's hand for his own meal. The two drinols were eating half their livestock, Qaetha mused. Aputho brought out more chopped meat, strips of fat and blubber. "If you don't feed Tevul and Avul properly next time you send me traipsing off to human wastes," Alaiya reprimanded. "I'll let them eat you. Grass is not good for their digestion." She moved through the stable. Blind wolves pawed her for food. "How animals tolerate you is unbelievable," Qaetha confessed. "There is a lot of practice," she said, staring at him hard. He grunted. "Tell me," she said, walking along the stables. "How has my husband been?" "I have been well." "Do not play with me, Qaetha," Alaiya warned. He laughed, leaning on a post. The sweat on his body had dried into a musky odour. "He is drunk as ever," he replied. "I find it strange," Qaetha continued. "How you manage to dominate a hundred lifelong swordsmen, an entire fort's worth of population, humans on the other side of the galaxy and... [i]drinols[/i]," he emphasised, poking at Tevul's flank. "Yet you cannot control a fickle little... [i]husband[/i]." One of the men behind them cursed as he tipped over a barrel. Rainwater sloshed out. "There is only so much I can scare a husband with," Alaiya murmured, glancing over at the swearing sangheili. "[i]Unlike[/i] swordsmen, who decide to mate with whoever, whenever. You chose me, and I will make you rethink your previous urges." "I did provide the sons, my dear." "You did," she conceded. "Unlike," he pointed out, "Your original husband. How are the boys?" "Excellent cooks, it seems." He scowled. The two boys were stringing tack and folding leather sails with the others in the courtyard, and Aputho was hiding piles of rusted pig iron underneath canvas sheets. He had real blood to do that with the matron standing only thirty metres away. Qaetha remembered something. "News from the First, Alaiya," he informed her. "Something about the Criu." Alaiya perked. "What do the Criu want?" "Trade, I heard." "How did you hear? And trade?" "I stay [i]enlightened[/i]," he said. She kicked at the muddy straw on the ground, revealing a pair of corroded hammers. She flung the tools out of the stable, clattering all too loudly on the cobblestones. "What's this thing about trade?" Alaiya asked. "That's what I was wondering," he replied, watching two men unbundle hay. He closed his eyes and arched his neck into the lucent sunslight. "I thought the First and Third handled those matters. Why are you trading with our neighbours now?" "Don't answer me with a question, Helios." "I apologise," he answered solemnly. Avul swiveled his eye down to stare a him. Qaetha cracked open an eye. The drinol rumbled. "Vicious, he remarked. Alaiya left the stables, dusting her robes. "Are you going to the First now?" Qaetha asked, following after her. "I trust your [i]enlightenment[/i] will hit you soon," Alaiya retorted. She entered the fort, letting her vision adapt to the gloom. A shadowy corridor stretched into the mountain. Glass lamps twined from the craggy granite walls. Carved wooden beams supported the ceiling. "I think I should -" Qaetha started. She slammed the ironwood door. -- [Edited on 07.24.2012 12:16 AM PDT]