[Of Dog, Volpir, and Man (Out of Cruel Space)] - Bk 9 Ch 23

Corinaith

Corin looks up from his desk with a smile as the door to the servant's quarters opens, but his greeting dies in his throat. It’s not just his Marikath; a second woman in the palace's handmaiden's uniform quickly follows her in, the second girl keeping her head bowed in deference to her superior. Marikath, that is, not Corin. Never Corin. Not on this world anyway. 

"...Ah. Marikath. It seems you've brought someone new today."

"Yes, master. I have brought a new girl to potentially add to your staff. She's a cousin of mine and seeks work. If you request it, the consuls will almost certainly approve."

That’s odd. Marikath doesn't have any cousins she'd sponsor like that, to Corin's knowledge… and his knowledge of his Marikath is pretty damn good if he does say so himself. 

He takes a sip of his wine, and Marikath bustles across the room, topping off his glass almost automatically. She really is perfectly trained to serve his every need. Like a groom tending to a much beloved pet or prized race horse. Though, for Marikath, like many such individuals, she does harbor affection for her charge beyond affection for her paycheck. She had even before they'd become lovers. Before he'd sired children on her. A kind soul, his Marikath... So her helping someone isn't out of the ordinary, but now? In this way?

It makes him think that there’s more to this guest than might meet the eye. 

"Well, if Marikath thinks you're potentially of decent help, then let's get a good look at you, shall we? If you can't look a man in the eyes, you can hardly serve him. Especially someone as lowly as I."

"Begging your pardon, but you are the mate to the consuls. Your status is greater than mine."

"You are a citizen. I am not. That is the true difference in our station, even if the consuls would not forgive you for my mistreatment... but enough word games. Let me see your face, woman."

Only in this place could he dare be so commanding to a woman. Only in this one specific aspect of his life does he have a modicum of direct power. When the woman looks up, though, he's surprised to meet the eyes of... his contact! Familiar blue eyes he'd last seen wide with fear, before she'd fled on his insistence from the scene of his capture. Even if the punishment had been less than expected, he had still chosen to sacrifice himself, and had not thought to see his contact again in person. 

Still, he manages to not react, merely clearing his throat lightly. 

"That's better. What's your name?"

"Jaina, sir." 

She grins at him, then reaches into a pocket concealed within her outfit and pulls out what appears to be a scrambler, an easy to produce model that had been in the instructions of the various spycraft manuals that had been shared around to the various rebel groups over the years. Nothing particularly complex or even well made, but it’s extremely low signature and barely requires more than a little khutha, a sliver of protn, and a chunk of j'hest with a little khuta resin circuitry. And, with it, you could be making your conversations harder to eavesdrop on by axiom abilities or technology in the literal blink of an eye. 

It’s expensive, but could you really put a price on privacy when you’re engaged in the kind of conspiracy that could easily see you killed?

"Nice to see you again... and learn your name, Corin. You're quite the hero, you know?"

"...It is nice to see you, but why in the goddess's name are you here?" Corin hisses, glancing over at the door. "We could be interrupted at any time!"

"I had to see you! I wanted to see you after you... saved me..." Jaina breaks eye contact for a moment, a dusky blush covering her cheeks. Apparently his heroics had won him an admirer... and his people's passions tended to burn hot, like all of their emotions. "Then it went from wanting to needing to see you. The situation's changed. I knew Marikath from some other dead drops and messages, so when I saw her in the market the other day I asked her to get me into the palace and arrange a meeting. Things are happening in the city. I need to know if the consuls have said anything! Please, Corin, I know you... were punished." Jaina's face falls. She clearly had taken abandoning him to his fate rather hard. "But I need to know. I have a new friend. Out there." She gestures towards the sky. 

"The Council? You made contact?" Corin whispers, leaning in slightly.

"Better than the Council. My contact is with them now. They're... they're a species of mostly Men, Corin! They'll help us! At the very least, they're taking the Sword of the Stars as seriously as can be. They're sending a clandestine operation this way. They may even send a man into the palace to try and meet you in the future."

"...What women would send their menfolk willingly into this hellhole?"

Jaina shakes her head aggressively. 

"Women don't send men anywhere among their kind. If a man comes, it's of his own free will... and he'll be one of the most dangerous people in the palace. They'll underestimate him, whoever he is, and you can be damned sure that if the Consuls make a wrong move they'll bring hell down on themselves!"

Corin leans back slightly before sitting hard in his chair, stunned slightly, and he takes another sip of wine. 

"That... is a lot. I hope to the goddess your contact hasn't been turned and is just feeding us a story, because that sounds all too good to be true. Like something out of a storybook." 

"I know! I received some news articles using my new communication tool with them. They're as real as I can verify from here, Corin, and they're coming." Her eyes narrow. "Which is why we need everything we can get about Tte Sword of the Stars. Big things are happening. At least one expeditionary force has been sent off-world. They're not heading to one of our other worlds or one of the stations to break a rebellion or something. No one knows where they're going. Girls are also getting conscripted right off the streets. Mostly troublemakers and criminals, but no one knows what in the galaxy's name they're for! Some local toughs have shown back up in military police uniforms recently but proper bad girls have just vanished. I know a few girls connected to some of the prisons, suppliers and such, and they've been dropping their orders for supplies recently. Either they're upping the number of executions quietly or they have less prisoners for another reason. The consuls are making big moves!"

Corin frowns, frustration creeping into his bones. "Damn it. If I hadn't been caught and punished I might have heard something, but I've been out of the loop the last few weeks. I've only been permitted in the consul's presences again the last couple days. They haven't said anything in particular, in bed or out of it. They're looking forward to a social event with some big shots from off-world, a trade conglomerate that produces this incredible meat called beef..."

"That's them! It has to be! My contact told me to watch for something like that!"

"Then they'll be here soon," Corin says. "We'll need to find something for them. Something useful before then." He racks his brain, thinking about all the places he's been in the palace. "...The Consul's office. That's where all the information will be. Euryde's specifically."

Jaina and Marikath both stare are Corin before Jaina hisses;

"Are you crazy!? We can't raid the consul's office!"

"Not her office, but the data repository it's attached to. It's nominally secure, but it's in the palace annex like most of the supercomputers, and while they're secured, if you're starting from inside the palace... or have very good raiders available to you..."

Jaina's brow knits. "Fine. Fine, we'll do it your way. Prepare a chit. I'll communicate my way, but anything you find out between now and the formal visit… don't smuggle it out of the palace. Try to give to the Undaunted if you think they're reliable. Otherwise, we'll work something else out. In the meantime... Marikath and I can try to scout the data repository out a bit. Maybe the Undaunted can do something with that. They're reputed as being mighty warriors." 

"Let's hope so. They're-" 

SLAM!

Corin's door slams open, making him practically leap from his chair. Jaina vanishes the disruptor back into her pocket and begins devotedly massaging his feet as Marikath leaps to his carafe of wine, holding it as if on call to attend to his needs. 

"Corin!"

Storming into his rooms in a flurry of black robes and gold armor comes Captain Arenna Gladia in all her finery, slamming the door behind her again with enough force to be absolutely certain it had sealed. Corin looks over and does his absolute best to look non-plussed. 

"Captain Gladia. To what do I owe your unexpected company?"

"Oh, Corin." Gladia gushes. "Don't be so cold. Call me Arenna in private. Surely we're a bit closer than merely calling me Captain Gladia?"

He really could not fathom what the woman was up to sometimes. 

"...Oh. I suppose I'll indulge you. For now. Arenna. Now, surely you haven't come all this way in a tizzy simply to hear me say your name?"

"Ah." Arenna leans back dramatically holding a hand to her brow as her long, slender ears wiggle. "I have to leave the palace, so I merely wanted to see you again before going out into the city. There's all sorts of trouble with most of the garrison deploying, so we praetorians are having to supplement the lazy wastrels. Officers like myself are also being pressed into training fresh guardswomen to supplement the local security forces. It's an absolute horror."

"..." 

Corin and Jaina share a look, and Corin decides to turn on the charm, just a little bit. This is potentially very useful information. 

"Why, you poor thing. How cruel of them to send their newest captain off to scut work... and most of the garrison? That's strange. Did something happen?" 

"I figured you'd know before any of us plebs. You bed the consuls. Might even bed the Queen." 

Corin rolls his eyes. "I've never even seen the queen, much less bed her, if she even exists. I'm not entirely convinced she does." 

"Ah, she exists. Probably," Arenna says, dancing closer hesitantly before she jerkily leans in and steals a kiss - one which Corin gamely returns, even giving the praetorian warrior a little tongue, something he remembers Arenna liking from his punishment. A cruel part of him is hoping that she’s bonded, at least partially, to him, and that a few wet kisses would continue to inflict a bond on her. It's not brainwashing or mind control, but if the 'good' captain thinks of him biologically as her mate... it might give them some cover. 

"I love it when you kiss me back. I bet you don't do that for the consuls," Arenna says breathily, already looking much happier about her lot in life. 

"I don't kiss them at all. Not something they enjoy." 

"They're missing out." 

"Mhmm. You should be careful about stealing liberties with me regardless, Captain." 

"Hardly a theft when you kiss me back, Corin. Nor is it the first time." 

"...Well. It was your first time. I figured you deserved that much." And again, he wanted to bond her. 

"I. It." Arenna stammers, her cheeks reddening properly now, clearly embarrassed that Corin had known she was a virgin when she'd started having her way with him. Not quite the swaggering hardass she portrayed herself as if she didn't have the tits to visit a brothel… but then many of the praetorians are like that, apparently; Sergeant Gemma comes to mind. It makes him wonder just how much of their femininity was performative and how much half of them actually meant? 

Not that a performance couldn't be dangerous. The more shallow the man or woman alike, the more they'd fight to the death to preserve whatever thin shroud of self-image they'd cloaked themselves in. 

That particular lesson from the woman who had trained him had been one he'd learned the hard way, piercing the 'cloak' of a volatile guardswoman's self-image and earning himself a backhand that had knocked a few teeth out for his trouble. He could still feel, even taste, her heavy metal gauntlet. That she'd been flogged for damaging the clan's near priceless property hadn't made that particular experience any more fun. 

So how shallow was Arenna Gladia, and how close to the danger zone is he? Likely too close, especially with Jaina here. So how could he speed her on his way?

"...You know, Captain. It strikes me that I am, in theory, entitled to a guardian or two." 

Not quite a personal guard, but some men could receive such protection if they requested it, and Euryde had offered him soldiers before when she was pleased with him. 

"If you serve my mistresses well on your current assignment... I'll be sure to put in a good word for you. It would just be a trifle, but I'm sure we'd spend a little more time together. I do feel so exposed at public events at times, you know, without someone I can trust around. Someone... reliable. Sergeant Gemma would be a good aide for such a detail, she's a fine praetorian."

"Gemma... Yes. She's good... Detail. Hmmm..." The gears process behind Arenna's eyes for a moment and she straightens up, steel returning to her spine as if teleported there. "...Well, I have work to do! Mari, be a dear and keep an eye on Corin for me?"

Marikath curtsies. "Of course, my lady. It is my duty."

"You too, new girl."

Jaina keeps her head down, not looking up from her task, but does manage to respond; "As you will it, m'lady." 

Without another word and only a single lingering glance at Corin, heads off at a quick march, leaving a perplexed trio in her wake. 

"...I really don't understand her sometimes." Marikath says softly. 

"Sometimes? What in the hells was that!?" Jaina says, now hyperventilating slightly with the obvious danger passed.

"Nothing to fuss about for now. For now... Mari, get Jaina out of the palace. Quickly. That was important information, and we can't let everything unravel now!" 

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