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Rien’s Rebellion 38 – 30 Storis 1138 Ragin

Ragin

30 Storis, 1138

I should have known. The bridgekeeper hesitated when I asked directions.

I tried to convince myself that I only smelled a hearth, that the rutted road wasn’t from water tanks and pump carts, that if a building had burned, it wasn’t Rien’s, but I’m not that good a liar. No red Advocate’s door showed on the block, but there was a blackened pit.

“No. No, no,” I muttered, running forward with Bellacosa’s reins over my arm. “Where is she?” I demanded of the closest person, an Archilian priestess covered in wet soot. Continue reading “Rien’s Rebellion 38 – 30 Storis 1138 Ragin”

Rien’s Rebellion 37 – 30 Storis 1138 Rien

Rien

29-30 Storis, 1138

I didn’t think I’d sleep after Bran left and the lock clicked, but once I turned the paste into slime, combed it into place and let it dry into a crisp approximation of a young man’s style, whatever had sustained me in getting here gave up. In fact, Bran was logically right — there was no reason anyone would look for me in his room, unless the Guard suspected my true crimes. Arson, murder, mutilating a corpse, flight from questioning, obstructing justice. At least. Despite those thoughts, my mind abdicated the moment I was flat. It wasn’t sleep so much as unconsciousness; restorative, it wasn’t. Continue reading “Rien’s Rebellion 37 – 30 Storis 1138 Rien”

Rien’s Rebellion 36 – 29 Storis 1138 Bran

Bran

29 Storis, 1138

“Bran.” The voice came out of the dark and between my ears, though both were muddy and vague. At first, I thought my mind was playing tricks, too much brandy and brooding.

“Bran.” 

No, it’s real, I decided, and shot upright. In the blackness of the storm, there was a shape just beyond the garden wall. Tall and thin, swathed in a pale coat. Continue reading “Rien’s Rebellion 36 – 29 Storis 1138 Bran”

Rien’s Rebellion 30 – 28 Storis 1138 Rien

Rien

28 Storis 1138

The next several days passed quietly, but satisfyingly, though the weather worsened. I would have preferred to work at the Belleview — a note on the door would have directed any surprise clients there — but carts couldn’t make it through the mud, and the sheer quantity of volumes meant we had to slog to them each morning instead of bringing them to us. We dove into the intricacies of  inheritance law, planning to submit the initial pleading to the Common Judicatura before Midwinter so opening arguments might be heard in late spring. Even if we won, Trensen would appeal, and the battle would begin. Linzara’s son might be fourteen or fifteen before we won unequivocally. Continue reading “Rien’s Rebellion 30 – 28 Storis 1138 Rien”

Rien’s Rebellion – Overview – README

Elevator pitch – The West Wing, if it were set in Westeros.

Action heroes experience some serious trauma. It’s not easy to beat up the bad guys and walk away unscathed. Even if that hero has really good reasons for putting their opposition in the vitamix, the hero still has to go home, look at their loved ones, look at themselves, and heal. That leaves marks on bodies and psyches.

The real heroes in those stories are the civil servants — the 911 operators who take the calls, the beat cops who get the civilians out of the way, the firefighters and EMS who handle the immediate emergency, the FEMA admins who get the money to get the destroyed buildings rebuilt, the social workers who handle the post-event trauma. The people who are doing the job of keeping civilization ticking. Continue reading “Rien’s Rebellion – Overview – README”