-
“This has been far and away the worst Secession day I have had,” True Name said.
+“This has been far and away the worst Secession Day I have had,” True Name said.
Ioan and May both snorted, then worked to finish their bites so that they could apologize.
“Sorry, True Name,” Ioan said. “I don’t know if you had a lot planned, but I’m glad you at least made it through.”
“It is okay to laugh. There is little else to do in the face of it.” She smiled weakly. “I am sorry that you two have been dragged into it along with me.”
“It’s alright.”
“Well, not alright, necessarily,” May added. “But I am glad that you are not dead.”
-“Thank you, May Then My Name. I appreciate it.”
+“Thank you, May Then My Name. I do appreciate it.”
They fell back to silence, then, Ioan and May self-consciously finishing their sandwiches while True Name simply stared into the fire. She had made herself half a sandwich, explaining that she wasn’t terribly hungry, and had yet to touch it.
Once they had finished, the skunk sat up straighter and said, “I think that I have had sufficient space from it, now. Can you tell me what Jonas said?”
Ey shrugged. “Not a whole lot, all told, especially given how much he talked. He said that he wants to meet up with you to discuss next steps and that he wants me there as an amanuensis so that I can write another book.”
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@“‘Blew up’?”
“Yeah, just yelled at him for sending assassins after you two — he confirmed that Guōweī mistook you for her, May — and told him to fuck himself.” Ey shrugged helplessly. “I was pretty upset, I guess.”
“I am surprised that you stuck around long enough to listen to him, my dear,” May said. “He sounds like he was in rare form.”
-“I mean, I don’t know what he’s like the rest of the time, but he was doing a really good job of being as insulting as possible. The ‘my skunks’ part. “I don’t have the training your pretty little skunks have”, he said, and “sometimes mommies and daddies fight, Ioan”.”
+“I mean, I don’t know what he’s like the rest of the time, but he was doing a really good job of being as insulting as possible. The ‘my skunks’ part. “I don’t have the training your pretty little skunks have”, he said, and ‘sometimes mommies and daddies fight’. All these little things”
True Name ground the heels of her palms against her eyes. “I am sorry that you had to go through that, Mx. Bălan. It does indeed sound like he was in fine form. Did he explain his reasons for having you along as amanuensis at all?”
“Just that he needed me to witness and write about what happens and leave the rest to the grown-ups.” Ey thought back and shrugged. “That was most of what he said. He wanted to talk with you, wanted me to witness, and wanted the whole stanza there.”
May frowned. “Including me?”
@@ -47,11 +47,11 @@“How many?”
“Instances?”
Ey nodded.
-“Twelve. Two per room, two extra in the kitchen, two on the balcony, two in the yard.”
-“Who were the other five, then?”
-She tilted her head quizzically. “You swept seventeen? Those were likely Jonas’s, I imagine.”
+“Five. One in the den, one in the bedroom, one extra in the kitchen, one on the balcony, one in the yard.”
+“Who were the other twelve, then?”
+She tilted her head quizzically. “You swept seventeen? Those were likely Jonas’s, I imagine, there to watch his plan unfold.”
May’s voice was steeped in sarcasm as she spoke. “Find out any juicy details?”
-Her cocladist held up her paws. “There is no excusing my actions. I know that there is little that I can do to earn your trust, May Then My Name, and at this point, even I suspect that I do not deserve it. There were few details of note enough to report back to me. We knew of your career changes. We knew of your…your feelings towards me. We…well, they learned about the Artemisians early on when you got your letter from Castor, though in the last decade, the reports that I have received have decreased in number, which I attributed to a lack of interesting goings on. That they did not report on the letter is a red flag I should have paid attention to sooner.”
+Her cocladist held up her paws. “There is no excusing my actions. I know that there is little that I can do to earn your trust, May Then My Name, and at this point, even I suspect that I do not deserve it. There were few details of note enough to report back to me. We knew of your career changes. We knew of your…your feelings towards me. We…well, they learned about the Artemisians early on when you got your letter from Castor, though in the last decade, the reports that I have received have decreased in number, which I attributed to a lack of interesting goings on. That they did not report on that letter is a red flag I should have paid attention to sooner.”
Ey shot May a questioning glance, but she shook her head. Perhaps she really doesn’t know about Codrin and the Name, ey thought.
“And why did you not?” May asked instead.
“Pay attention to the red flags?” True Name stared at the fire for a long few seconds, then shrugged. “I was overworked and being fed bad information.”
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@Ey pointed her toward the tent with one cot in it and watched her slip inside, then sat and waited for May to come back, staring at the fire and trying not to feel bad enough for the three of them.