Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
I cannot go on like this forever, but I do not know how to move things forward. I am being patient, but I wonder how long my patience will last. The last thing I want is for my control to snap and break the tentative truce between us. Melina no longer avoids me. She comes to all meals, smiles prettily and sits next to me. We talk of fort life, the changes I am making at her behest, and she tells me of her patients. It feels good. Friendly.
It is not enough.
I hunger for more, but I am also loath to destroy the ease between us.
It is on yet another restless morning that I am offered a diversion. The soldier Daniels arrives to the room I have claimed as my office and notifies me of a problem. "We've come across a scavenger hoard, sir. One of the men has been hiding away his spoils instead of turning them over to the fort. Your presence is required."
I get to my feet, straightening my robes. "Show me the way."
I can tell by Daniels' expression that he's not pleased at the discovery of the scavenger. The men are bristling with angry energy, and I don't blame them. Scavengers are employed by the fort. They go out, find useful items and bring them back. They turn over what they find and it is distributed amongst the fort's residents as needed. It's how we're able to feed the militia. It's how we're able to ensure the clinic has supplies. People hoarding goods for their own needs goes against everything I'm trying to establish here. I'm well aware there's a black market in the fort. I know that people trade goods in the shadows, and it's something I need to shut down.
"Have we caught the scavenger?" I ask as we stride across the compound. When Daniels nods, I contemplate what to do about that. My first instinct is to kill him. Gut him—painfully—and string him up in a public place for all to see. Let him serve as a warning to all. The Salorian in me knows this is the easiest answer. A people that are not afraid of consequences are not a people that are easily controlled.
Even so, I know Melina will hate such an action. She will think it unnecessarily cruel. She will give me angry looks and turn her back to me when she sleeps, and our easy conversations at dinner will be gone.
So I debate how I should proceed. Do I do what is right, or do I do what will please my soft mate?
Consort, I remind myself bitterly. She is a consort. A Salorian does not take a mate. I hate that I continue to slip up on that word, over and over again.
We arrive at a hovel at the edge of the fort. It reeks of filth and excrement, like many of the homes farther away from the center of the fort, where the streets have not yet been cleared. Dirty children race after chickens a short distance away, only to be snatched up by their parents, who are terrified at the sight of me. Good. At least there is some fear there. A leader who is not feared is useless.
Two of the soldiers emerge from the hovel, and a tall, thin, grimy man is cuffed between them. He looks unwashed and unrepentant, and glares at me as I approach with my men.
"The perpetrator, sir." Daniels gives him an angry look before turning back to me. "We think you should get a good look at his hoard before determining his punishment. It's one of the largest we've seen."
"Mmm." I gesture at the disgusting door that looks as if it's held onto its hinges by dirt alone. "Lead the way."
Daniels steps inside, and I follow after him. Another soldier is at my back, and he lights a lantern, providing enough light for the humans to see by.
The hovel is packed. There are stacks of books and boxes of canned goods taller than my head. Everywhere I turn, there are goods that have been stolen away. No wonder Daniels is in a rage. I touch one case of packets, judging that it is some sort of food powder based on the picture on the front. "He's certainly been busy, hasn't he?"
Daniels shakes his head. "He must have been stealing from the fort for years. Makes me fucking sick." He gestures at one stack. "Weapons are behind there, and over in the corner, he's got a lot of electronics. Some batteries, but not many. Lots of foodstuffs and toiletries and books."
"Medicine?" I ask, keeping my voice casual.
"Some of that, yeah. I told the men we'd be sending that over to Lady Melina right away." He gazes at me. "With your permission, sir, I'd like to have this heavily guarded until we can get it cleared out. I don't want wind of all this food getting out to the rest of the fort in case it starts a riot."