Rytius Records (Substack Edition), Ch. 22

Chapter 22. Snake

22. Snake

Administrative staff and security personnel crowded the rear of the stage, and this made it difficult for a page to squeeze through; he was frisked twice before Ritius took note of him and pulled him aside. He leaned into Ritius’s ear and said something that first angered and then amused Ritius and then it appeared to have been resolved, because Ritius went back to his conference with Feelharmonica, Boniface, and War Councilor Hawkins. Rytius suspected that his brother had received bad news about casualties sustained during a confiscation, which certainly should have been delayed pending resolution of the affair before the council. Ritius demilitarized the exits and left the building without saying goodbye, and Rytius was sad for the young men that he was now certain he had killed that afternoon.

Ritius learned that he perhaps should be wary of underestimating his brother as well.

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