“There isn’t much to suit your particular tastes in this room, Edward,” Maddox said, entering his quarters and shutting the door with an audible clack. “Most people don’t notice it, but I suffer very few vices. Alcohol is not one of them.”
He tossed his coat onto the bed and strode through the room, only deigning to give his guest a quick, dismissive glance before producing a heretofore undetected Heckler and Koch 9mm semi-automatic from somewhere on his person. Maddox seldom handled weapons of any kind outside of training, especially before the eyes of his colleagues. This was a rare exception. One prompted by Edward’s presence, which Maddox assumed was meant as a show of the other man’s foresight. Edward knew who was moving within headquarters and he wanted Maddox to know that.
“Celia and Lede are skulking around, I suspect. Why don’t you ever send one of them for one of these little conspiratorial interludes?”
He spoke in light and familiar tones, taking a seat at his desk and calmly disassembling the weapon with a practiced sort of ease. “I’d especially like to see more of Lede. I don’t normally favor northern women, but there’s something about that one,” he let the words hang, emphasizing them with a leer dripping with unspoken intent. “But, I guess you wouldn’t know what I’m talking about would you?”
“Say, now that the pendulum has swung left, how’s that boy you’ve been canoodling with?” Maddox banter was taking a dangerous candor, but he was enjoying himself. And anyway, Edward was, without a doubt, here to present Maddox with bad news. No reason not to take what enjoyment given the circumstances.
“At first, I suspected you were playing with him to get to the mother, but after all this time, I’m beginning to get the impression you have some sort of attachment to him. Oh well, just be sure not to play with him too much at the dinner table. Speaking of which, we’d better mosey on down to the hall. Harper will probably be delivering one of his speeches, and I’m sure you’ll be anxious to embarrass me in front of the entire establishment.”
Some time later, Maddox found himself starring blithely at the Ten and various other groupings of his peers from an isolated table in a far corner of the hall. Harper’s speech had all the necessary promises and threats of impending retribution and violence needed to satisfy the Aristocracy, and more importantly, the Ten. He’d heard such things before, every operative had, and many of them had probably spent time rehearsing similar speeches in anticipation of the day when they would be called upon to lead one of the Ten’s crusades.
Snorting with derision, he prodded at the mostly untouched food sitting before him and decided that he wasn’t that hungry after all. It was too much to hope for a beautiful woman to spend the evening with, so he settled for hoping the briefing would start soon.
He tossed his coat onto the bed and strode through the room, only deigning to give his guest a quick, dismissive glance before producing a heretofore undetected Heckler and Koch 9mm semi-automatic from somewhere on his person. Maddox seldom handled weapons of any kind outside of training, especially before the eyes of his colleagues. This was a rare exception. One prompted by Edward’s presence, which Maddox assumed was meant as a show of the other man’s foresight. Edward knew who was moving within headquarters and he wanted Maddox to know that.
“Celia and Lede are skulking around, I suspect. Why don’t you ever send one of them for one of these little conspiratorial interludes?”
He spoke in light and familiar tones, taking a seat at his desk and calmly disassembling the weapon with a practiced sort of ease. “I’d especially like to see more of Lede. I don’t normally favor northern women, but there’s something about that one,” he let the words hang, emphasizing them with a leer dripping with unspoken intent. “But, I guess you wouldn’t know what I’m talking about would you?”
“Say, now that the pendulum has swung left, how’s that boy you’ve been canoodling with?” Maddox banter was taking a dangerous candor, but he was enjoying himself. And anyway, Edward was, without a doubt, here to present Maddox with bad news. No reason not to take what enjoyment given the circumstances.
“At first, I suspected you were playing with him to get to the mother, but after all this time, I’m beginning to get the impression you have some sort of attachment to him. Oh well, just be sure not to play with him too much at the dinner table. Speaking of which, we’d better mosey on down to the hall. Harper will probably be delivering one of his speeches, and I’m sure you’ll be anxious to embarrass me in front of the entire establishment.”
Some time later, Maddox found himself starring blithely at the Ten and various other groupings of his peers from an isolated table in a far corner of the hall. Harper’s speech had all the necessary promises and threats of impending retribution and violence needed to satisfy the Aristocracy, and more importantly, the Ten. He’d heard such things before, every operative had, and many of them had probably spent time rehearsing similar speeches in anticipation of the day when they would be called upon to lead one of the Ten’s crusades.
Snorting with derision, he prodded at the mostly untouched food sitting before him and decided that he wasn’t that hungry after all. It was too much to hope for a beautiful woman to spend the evening with, so he settled for hoping the briefing would start soon.