Heir of Beasts

Ch. 4.1- Still Standing

           

Shira

The ambassador leads me out of the brothel and into the busy streets of Soriko without uttering a word. I follow him quietly, intensely conscious that the last time I saw him I was crying like a child. Sands, he had to practically carry me back to the manor I was so overwrought. I feel the weight of shame slowing my footsteps.

"Ambassador," I hazard, licking my lips nervously. "I- I wanted to talk to you about the other night."

"The other night? I was in Orxen the other night."

"I mean the night of the council meeting," I clarify.

"Ah," he nods. "Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"I- wanted to apologize. I lost myself and I acted a fool, and I'm embarrassed you witnessed it. I can only hope you won't think less of me for it."

"I did think less of you," he admits. "I was furious you caused a scene at the council after all those high-brow promises you made, and that you wondered like a lost puppy around the city. I thought you a child."

"That's good to know," I mutter, blushing in shame.

"I thought less of you, at first," he clarifies.

"What?"
"I may be callous at times, but I understand grief. You lost your entire life not even a month and a half ago. I won't judge you for letting it break you for a night. I honestly preferred your honesty that night to your artifice every other."

"My artifice?" I ask, unsure if I should be offended.

"Your perfect manners and pretty smiles and all that false civility," he mutters derisively. "All so Shikkan. So like your mother."

"I will choose to take that last remark as a compliment," I respond, piqued.

He shrugs. "I like when people are direct. I deal with too much diplomatic pretending as it is."

"Well then," I tell him, "I won't- pretend around you. If you dislike my smiles and my manners, I have no problem doing without them. I'll be a proper brute. I'll even eat with my hands if you like."

Ambassador Nara chuckles. "You have a sharp tongue for one so good at acting placid."

"That's why they call it acting," I reply drolly. "Mother taught me well."

With my mention of Somitu the ambassador's face darkens. "You are so like her in some ways," he says, almost wistfully. "You have her nose, her mouth. You're prettier than her, granted, but your mannerisms are the same."

I color. He thinks me pretty?

"I still wonder about your connection to her," I say quietly, gauging his reaction. "Why

you're so intent on keeping a vow to a woman you seem to so dislike."

"I told you our connection," he says, his features hardening. "We were friends a long time ago. Now we're not. And I keep all my vows on principal. To break them would dishonor me."

"Ah," I reply lamely. There's something he's not telling me, something I want to press him for, but the set of his mouth stops me. I really shouldn't pry, not when he's helping me so much, not when I've already caused him so much trouble. I decide I'll let the subject drop indefinitely, if only out of deference.

We arrive back at the manor and wait for Tyro to return. It's an hour before he comes back, looking quite discomposed.

"What, man, did you run all the way?" The ambassador asks.