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“Wreck You stay Everybody else, get out of ht”

Wreck is a junior courtier He has not served long That is why I trust hiuard and bring in the korabi I know The ones I trained and served with What they ht lack in experience, they make up for in loyalty At least, that is the theory I a under

“How may I serve you, sire?” He looks at me with those nearly innocent eyes

“I want the entire court, anybody who served under iance to Tusk, to be transported with hiuards ere on security detail questioned, then put on the same transport Someone allowed this to happen on their watch I want to make an example of these korabi I want those who serve in my court to know that there are consequences for treachery and failure”

Eight

Jax

There are a lot of ships leaving The whole palace seems to shake every ten minutes or so with the thrusters of another interstellar bus departing for distant planets I can see s thrown up froh launch pad, as Krush sends all his problems to outer space

I wander freely as nobody seems to care where I am The palace see ceremony has left a kind of social blast zone in its wake I have becootten element in this palace Krush remembers me from time to time, but the death of the korabi wo that did not exist before The death of the king was one thing, but the slaughter of a fecund korabi female indicates a depth of depravity and cruelty which they are all very uncomfortable with My death would be of no consequence, but she was a high status, beautiful, willing woman What happened to her was not just brutal, it was cruel

They are blah it see’s potential brides for no reason whatsoever They’re saying she was in a korabi suit, but by that reasoning, it could have been anything inside that suit We ht never knohat happened, or why Hell, if they asked me, which they aren't, see in the palace, period Soression co it as an excuse to clean house Good for him

“Human!”

Krush is calling for me

“Where were you?”

He has the royal audacity to look surprised that I wasn’t in his cha for him

“Just walking around”

He gives ht so you could infiltrate my palace and…”

“No”

I say the word swiftly and without letting hi the next person, object, or vegetable he blames for this