Wartorn Obliteration

invasion but the unwanted penetration of the Isthmus by the Felk army?

Just heat some water and fill the tub. I will wash myself. I will scrub myself. I will scour away every last thing that has been done to me, and it will not deter me, will not daunt me, will not stand between me and my victory over my rightful adversary.

But Xink, sobbing now, still didn't hear her.

AQUINT (3)

The shock was so great that his first reaction was to laugh. He put his hands on his sides, put back his head, and guffawed, loud and long. It was just so... so... so audacious! By the gods, the nerve it must have taken.

'I think the joke's lost on me,' Cat finally said, with his usual disapproval.

They were outside the Registry, looking up at the north face of the building.

'The cheek!' Aquint managed, bringing his laughter under control. 'The grit, the fortitude. What is the matter with you, lad? Can't you appreciate the magnitude of this stunt?'

'You might want to appreciate it a little less loudly,' the boy said, his eyes flickering around at the other people.

Naturally, the sight had gathered a crowd. There was a lot of pointing and excited muttered comments. It was causing quite a stir.

Soldiers from the garrison were keeping everybody back, but dispersing the crowd wouldn't do much good. They would only reassemble a little farther away. Besides, the giant sigil could be seen from many streets away.

That obviously had been the whole idea behind it.

Aquint shook his head, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

'I'm stunned,' he said.

'Then maybe you should try to act it,' Cat said.

'Laughter is a way of dealing with shock. You might give it a try sometime.'

'I don't feel like laughing,' the boy said.

Aquint sighed. 'When do you? Lad, the younger you are when you sample the joys and merriments of life, the better your memories of your youth will be.'

Cat gave him a flat look. 'Will that include all the times I've almost starved in the streets? Or been beaten? Or nearly been stabbed to death because someone wanted what I had?'

Aquint shrugged. Sometimes, there was just no talking to the boy.

'Well, never mind,' Aquint said, adopting a businesslike tone. 'What do you make of it?'

'Of what?' Cat asked, probably just to be difficult.

'What do you think, boy? That bold and enormous display there on the outer wall of the Registry. The giant circle with the slash through it, rendered in black paint. What do you make of it?'

Cat considered a moment, then said, blandly, 'I'll bet the Broken Circle is responsible for it.'

For a moment, Aquint was almost tempted to cuff the boy. Instead, he chuckled. 'All right, Cat. Fun's over. Now, let's get to work. Come along.'

It was early morning. The two of them had received an urgent summons from Governor Jesile. Now Aquint understood what it was all about.

Evidently, sometime during the night, somebody had scaled the north outside wall of the Registry and painted the Broken Circle's emblem there on the white stone. Probably there had been more than one person involved in the stunt. What was truly remarkable was that it had been accomplished almost literally under the noses of the garrison, without raising the alarm.

And that, Aquint judged, took real daring. Whatever else, it was an admirable feat.

He and Cat went around to one of the Registry's other entrances. They made their way to Jesile's office.

Aquint expected to find the Felk governor ranting and furious. He was prepared to let Jesile vent his frustrations by barking orders and demanding that the Circle be brought in, right now.

Instead, Colonel Jesile was at his desk, immersed in paperwork, his hard face showing no special emotion. He glanced up when Aquint and Cat were admitted.

He didn't offer them seats, didn't say anything for a long, curiously blank moment. Then he said, conversationally, 'I've been contemplating the particular placement.'

Aquint blinked. 'How's that, Governor?'

'They chose the north wall,' Jesile said, as if pointing out something obvious.

'So they did,' said Aquint.

'You don't find that significant?'

'More significant than the fact that the perpetrator or perpetrators managed the deed at all?' Aquint didn't see what the colonel was getting at.

Jesile drummed his fingers among the opened scrolls on his desk. 'You're not a Felk native.'

It wasn't a question but Aquint answered anyway, 'No, I am not.' Then he added, with just a slight edge to his voice, 'I'm a Callahan by birth.' It was information Jesile surely already knew.

'If you were of Felk,' the governor said, 'you'd understand why those rebel bleeders painted that offense on the north wall.'

Suddenly, Aquint did understand. Felk was to the north. It was, in fact, the northernmost city-state of the Isthmus. The Broken Circle had no doubt chosen the northern face of the Registry deliberately for this operation, as a way of demonstrating their most poignant defiance.

'So they've got flair,' Aquint finally said, realizing as he did that he was being as drolly aggravating as Cat had been with him earlier.

'Flair?' Jesile said, spearing Aquint with his eyes. For a moment he seemed on the edge of an angry retort. Then he said, maintaining his calm manner, 'Very well. We'll agree they've got... flair. I hope you'll also agree that this crime cannot go unanswered.'

Aquint, even with his first reaction of stunned laughter, had known this. He had feared it.

'You're quite right,' he said to Jesile. He felt Cat giving him a long, subtle sidelong look.

Jesile nodded. 'Good. There will have to be visible punitive measures. Can you, at this time, locate any members of the so-called Broken Circle, which is currently operating against the lawful Felk occupation of Callah?'

It was a withering, formal question, and Aquint almost sagged under the weight of it.

'No,' he said at last, voice suddenly hoarse, 'I can't.'

Colonel Jesile nodded again. He made a notation on one of the scrolls on his desk.

'Very well,' Jesile said. 'I suggest that you and your associates in the Internal Security Corps continue—and perhaps, if I might advise, step up—your efforts to locate the rebel underground here in Callah. In the meantime, I am forced to take actions more aggressive and severe than I would normally be inclined to take. The matter is out of my hands. What occurred last night wasn't merely an act of vandalism. It was a formal declaration of war, as far as I'm concerned.'

Aquint nearly interrupted, but caught himself and held silent, dreading what was coming.

'If these people of Callah don't want the peace we've brought them,' Jesile said, 'then they can experience the alternative. Ten citizens will be rounded up at random. They will be flogged at the top of the watch, starting today at midday, in the public square. At the start of each subsequent watch, they will receive another regulation flogging. It will continue until the ten victims are all dead... or until at least one member of the Broken Circle comes forward and surrenders to this command.'

Jesile waved the back of his hand at Aquint and Cat.

'That's all. Dismissed.'