Randidly blinked Thanks
Then they began to fight
Tatiana sat in her office She took a sip of her tea and then sighed in pleasure White teas were her favorite This particular blend included both dried raspberries and what could only be grass that had been soaked in white wine The result was sour and bitter just the jolt she needed to start the day
Then the central spine of Kharon turned and looked to the North letting her eyes fade from the forefront of her focus so her mind could peer through the walls of her office Although it was far away she still could feel the place where Randidly Ghosthound had fought last night In retrospect some sort of challenge against him in the wake of the duos tournament was obvious She should have seen it coming But at least from what Tatiana had heard from Mrs Hamilton Randidly had inflicted a rather serious punishment against them She offered a sharp smile to the hardwood paneling of her office wall
She would give him shit for making more political work for her but if the Zones tried to make an issue of it Tatiana would butcher them How dare they legitimately try to ambush him After all the work he put into making them stronger
But Tatiana suppressed that frustration and turned her attention to hallways of City Hall around her She took another sip of her delicate tea and released a sigh As she grew more distant from Randidly during the process of preparing for his departure her uncanny intuition slowly evolved to include the creations of Randidly Ghosthound So she could faintly feel the sensation of each person moving about the building She could feel their feet tap lightly along the floor of the tiled halls
Tatiana stood and walked to the door She held the handle for several seconds waiting for her target to approach Then just as Commissioner Arrietti was hurrying past Tatiana opened the door When their eyes met she favored him with a smile Ah Commissioner How are you doing today
I am well thank you The Commissioner gave her a short bow Then he hesitated as though debating over whether or not to say something As always with the man his sense of duty won The report on corruption
Ah letÆs not talk about business right now Commissioner Tatiana waved her hand WouldnÆt her life be so much easier if she had more subordinates as determinedly single minded as he Then she brought her fist against her palm as though she had just remembered something Oh DidnÆt you tell me that you enjoyed barbecue I recently went to a new restaurant and the food was excellent If you have time perhaps you should stop in and give it a try
Oh Well I do consider myself something of a connoisseur of the grill The Police Commissioner said Then Tatiana gave him the address of a restaurant owned by a single middle aged woman with a warm smile and a spine of iron Tatiana had done a thorough investigation of the womanÆs background to make sure she had no ulterior motives for coming to Kharon and believed the two would be compatible Her intuition told her it was an ideal match All that was left was to see if Tatiana had lost her touch since coming to work in politics
With a nod Tatiana walked away from the Commissioner and went to the staircase in the East Wing of City Hall She could feel Commissioner Arrietti standing still and repeating the address to himself so he wouldnÆt forget it The image of the very serious expression he undoubtedly had on his face made her smile
As Tatiana descended to the ground floor she passed the bickering figures of Derek and Hydie on the wide stairwell Tatiana favored these two with a warm smile as well Ah back from your training expedition How did it go
No fatalities Derek announced in a jolly tone but the corner of his mouth twitched Unfortunately about a third of the participants suffered rather serious injuries Injuries so serious that we needed to call a dedicated healer in order to stitch them back together It just seemed like so many unlikely accidents befell our expedition
Oh shut up Hydie said frostily She was keeping a rather cool expression on her face but Tatiana could sense how legitimately disturbed she was about the accidents She was doing better at embracing her own Aura of Misfortune but she hadnÆt quite been able to avoid flinching at these consequences It would be a slow process of learning to accept herself WonÆt this build character If we give things too freely to people they will get spoiled
Well said Hydie Tatiana commented as she glided down the stairs past them She waved one hand over her shoulder in goodbye As long as they are alive they can learn and grow The rest well itÆs just experience
Once on the ground floor Tatiana quickened her pace Today she had quite a few actual meetings to get through mostly regarding the plans for KharonÆs floating islands In addition she had to meet with Vye and Naffur and plan out how they wanted to approach ExpiraÆs final Zone
Tatiana paused in her walk and looked straight up Although Randidly was floating on his island above she felt powerful image reverberations coming from him it appeared he had returned to training
You are somewhat hopeless Tatiana sighed as she briefly experienced the periphery of RandidlyÆs all consuming desire to strengthen himself then she went to her meeting and treated it like a palate cleanser She passed through the mundane realities of paperwork and meetings and was able to breathe a lung full of air without the near obsession of the Ghosthound lingering across her senses
Not that she minded RandidlyÆs presence But she needed to focus
If Kharon was a body Tatiana would have considered herself to be the inner ear She wasnÆt particularly responsible for any of the actual living that was done by the body but she was constantly monitoring its balance She checked in all of the various leaders and made sure they were mentally stable She took the temperature of the various workers in all of the major industries of Kharon She sat through meetings listening and reflecting on the way the Wandering City was developing
She listened to the pulse of the body senses taut for any perceived flaws
As days passed Kharon arrived at the previous edge of the world without much fanfare Without even pausing it crossed the equator into the wild wilderness that was the last obstacle before arriving at the final of EarthÆs Zones Monster resistance intensified but it was nothing the Order Ducis couldnÆt handle There was more work to do but it became predictable in a way Everything was beginning to settle into place
Which was why Tatiana wasnÆt surprised a week after the people of Expira attacked Randidly to find the Ghosthound himself waiting in her office Her skin began to tingle She knew why he was here immediately just from his posture
ItÆs time Randidly said quietly His hair that had grown wild during his training sessions had been trimmed back down to finger length Although the clothes he was wearing werenÆt particularly nice it was one of the compromise outfits that she had picked out for him to wear at official gatherings a short sleeve white button up and forest green shorts Wearing the outfit he seemed almost criminally mundane His tan right arm could belong to any clean cut young man
Even his emerald eyes were somehow sedate refusing to catch any of the evening light filtering in through her window
Tatiana felt a rising wave of emotion and pressed it sharply back down before it could sweep her away She walked around to her desk and examined the calendar sitting there even though she knew it by heart You donÆt plan to have the final meeting with Miss Collins and the teaching board regarding Keystones
No I already worry that the lessons IÆm pushing them to teach are a little too harsh for the current times Randidly folded his arms across his chest They have the right number of ideas now its just refining them Neveah will be remaining on Expira so she can still help with the Engraving when they are ready As for the other stuff Honestly you did it Tatiana YouÆve managed to make me completely superfluous in my own city These people donÆt need my help any longer