Page 55 of This Monster of Mine

“No, no. Every three weeks, the Tetrarchy meets to determine which cases constitute matters of national importance and schedules them for trial with all four of them at the Aequitas. But, if you ask me, that takes up the first hour,” Gaius confided. “They spend the rest digging into the goings-on in each other’s Quarters.”

“So it’s cutthroat, not cooperative.”

Gaius shrugged. “If they agreed on everything, we’d have a dictatorship.”

She raised the inkwell in agreement.

“I’ve also been asked to deliver this.” He hesitated before withdrawing an ivory-and-silver square of parchment. “I’m told that the other Petitors will be at a tavern near the Tetrarchy’s place of meeting, if you’d care to join them.”

Unfolding the square, Sarai grinned at Cisuré’s neatly printed invitation.Come drink!

“Gods, yes.”

It was strange being on the receiving end in a tavern.

Sarai thanked the overworked barmaid when she deposited an amphora of wine at their table. The woman’s eyes widened, sweeping over the array of robes—Harion’s varying shades of blue and Anek’s crimson and bronze were draped over the backs of their chairs. Cisuré still wore her ivory and silver, as Sarai did her black and gold, albeit only because she was so low on magic that her illusion only covered her hands, face, and neck. She probably shouldn’t have come, but, by Radiance, she needed a break.

“Temperance’s tits, at last,” Harion groused, emptying the amphora into his cup. Taking a gulp, he sighed in bliss. “Now, all I need is a woman.”

“Good luck.” Anek moved their cup when he tried to fill it. “I’ll need my senses tomorrow.”

“Like Cassandane doesn’t get sotted. The Tetrarchs probably cut loose at these meetings.” Harion gnawed at a chicken leg. “On Wisdom, these cases have been stupid as shit. The parties lie to my face and start sobbing when I reveal it. Not a brain between them.”

But they don’t question your findings. There hadn’t been a day when someone hadn’t raised her lack of education or made pointed comments about her sex. The words rolled off her for the most part. It was the gossip she couldn’t stand.

Kadra’s Quarter had come up with many a reason for her residing at Aoran Tower,allof which involved sex. Willing, unwilling—of whichhewas the victim—and just plain disgusting—the theory had involved entrails.That she worked over fifteen hours a day, reading petitions and jotting notes for when trials began at dawn, was apparently irrelevant.

“The letters aresoboring.” Cisuré groaned. “Tetrarch Aelius says I should read his to understand what Ur Dinyé wants, but they’re so dry.”

Sarai shrugged. “I like them.”

In addition to petitions, Tetrarchs received questions of law and policy from across the country. After she’d argued in favor of pardoning a deserter who had been forced into the military, Kadra had handed her a stack.

“Tetrarch Kadra, they don’t want an answer from me.”

“They want a response. How to raise taxes. How to exempt themselves from those taxes,” he’d said laconically.“You’ll be fair.”

“I’ll be excoriated,”she’d muttered but had reluctantly answered a few. No one had complained. Yet.

Cisuré nudged her playfully. “Youwouldlike them. It’s like traveling for you, isn’t it? I keep forgetting how little you’ve seen of Ur Dinyé.”

“We haven’t either.” Anek sliced at a steak of venison with mesmerizing precision. “Our trip to Miduz in second year wasn’t exactly a tour of the country.”

“But it provided perspective,” Cisuré said earnestly. “Tetrarch Aelius often speaks of the value of broadening our horizons. It helps us know our place in the world. Serving the gods and guiding people.”

“People don’t want to be guided, Saint.” Harion waved his cup. “They need a whipping.”

Cisuré scowled. “They need to trust in the Elsar. Their problems would vanish if they looked to the gods, but they aspire to grand positions instead of being happy with their lot and descend into anger and entitlement when their path doesn’t intersect with wealth. Then, they resent the rich.” She shook her head. “I wish they’d see it.”

Realizing that her jaw had descended, Sarai snapped it shut.So much for only looking up to Aelius.

“My family must be doomed then,” Anek noted. “We don’t care much for the gods.”

Cisuré’s face drooped. “You still haven’t given the Temple a try? Just once, Anek!”

“Don’t force it.”

“It’s for your own sake!”

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