Page 57 of By Mistake
Last time, he'd just talked to people, starting with servants and moving on to others that Farthing or his seedier staff would have spoken to, chasing them like a spider along a web, until he'd learned all about the prisoners.
Today, knowing about the prisoners, he would determine how exactly Farthing was manipulating all the paperwork.It wouldn't be entirely through the judges, though many of them could have been sent entirely above board.No, somewhere after sentencing, before being shipped out, the prisoners' destination was being altered.
He rarely bothered with undercover work, but being an investigator would work against him for this line of questioning, so plain, nigh-grungy clothes and a very light glamor it was.
After their sentencing, instead of returning to prison, the prisoners were transported to a holding station, where they would remain for possibly up to a week, though rarely more than a couple of days, for carriages to arrive to take them to where they had been sentenced.Some traveled just an hour or so away to work in the forests.Others were hauled clear to the coast to be bound to ships.
It was possible the paperwork was messed with at the courthouse, but it seemed far more likely the changes were happening here, where there were fewer eyes and less oversight.So far as most people knew and cared, all the real work had been done.This was just the last and least interesting part.What was there to oversee, except making sure prisoners didn't escape?
The building was an old, old depot, from back when the city was a town built up from a farming village, The farmers had come in from far and wide, carts piled with goods, gathering here, paying a couple of coins for a stall, everybody selling, buying, and trading.Wheat for apples, beer for cheese, homespun cloth for cured meats, vegetables for fruit.Eventually, as the town grew in size and changed in purpose, the depot had been abandoned in favor of various smaller markets all over town, much like the one where he and Andrus had met.
For years, the old depot had been left to languish, until a growing need for a place to keep prisoners being transported had inspired someone to repurpose it.Most of the space was given over to bunks and a large public washroom, typical of all but the wealthy houses, though far worse here than it was in town, where every block had at least one bathhouse and many had two or three.
The rest of the space was given over to offices and processing.Prisoners arrived, lined up, were processed in, assigned a bunk and given their rations for the day.Other prisoners were processed out, loaded into carriages, and sent on their way.There were about twenty guards on duty at any one time, though on especially busy days there could be as many as thirty.
Today, thankfully, was not a busy day.It wasn't entirely quiet, either, but definitely quietenough.
Amongst the bustling activity was exactly what he'd been hoping for: a delivery being made.A group of laborers were making what looked like a weekly delivery of foodstuffs, crates and sacks and barrels, all of it heavy and cumbersome.
He needed a minor distraction, something to draw the workers away long enough that he could sneak inside the restricted areas.
Say no more, darling, Shimari drawled softly in his mind.
Before Oresti could form a reply that he was more than capable of his own distractions, he caught a glimpse of a large, slinky black cat in the scrubby tree line, and a moment later there was horrific snarling and growling as he picked a fight with what sounded like a poor fox that hadn't been bothering anyone.
The laborers, some prisoners working in the yard, and the guards watching over them all turned their full attention to the sudden racket.Oresti darted forward, grabbed a large, heavy crate that hid his face, and headed inside where the others had been going back and forth.He strode past a guard into the storeroom, set down the crate, and hid behind a large, towering stack of barrels that held the cheap, watery beer doled out to the prisoners at dinner.
He settled in as comfortably as was possible, dozing lightly while he waited for the day to quiet down.
A soft, furry headbutt woke him up."What are you doing here?Shouldn't you be with the others?"
Shimari shifted, which of course meant he was straddling Oresti's lap in the narrow space.He smirked and settled more comfortably, like the jackass he was, and said, "Kressen is securely bound and off with his new humans getting acquainted against his will.It's hilarious to watch.Our little lordling is fast asleep.I promised him at least one of us would be there when he woke, but he will not wake before morning.So my day is free for now.What are we waiting for?"
"Everything to quiet down enough for me to sneak into the offices and see what I can find in the way of hard evidence.Ultimately, I'll need the records here, the copies at the courthouse to prove they've been altered, and I'm hoping to find some sort of record of payment that I can trace back to Farthing.That last bit will be tricky, but finding proof of the location change is a start."
"Do you want more distractions?There are plenty of rats around to draw out, cause a minor panic as they flood the place."
Oresti chuckled."Why not?Beats waiting until everyone vanishes or lies down for lunch.In all the panic, they won't notice anyone is in the office who shouldn't be."
"I'm not sure they would anyway.The soldiers are rather slovenly."Shimari sank hands into his hair and gripped tight before leaning in and kissing him, hard and hungry, too-sharp teeth puncturing his lip, tongue chasing to lap away the blood."Want to have fun first?"
"I'mworking," Oresti hissed—then groaned as Shimari bit his throat, right where it always made him full-body shudder, skin tingling all over, and all he could think about was several hours ago when he'd fucked Shimari hard while Shimari fucked Andrus.He'd been tight and warm and taken Oresti's cock like he was made for it, even as he took Andrus apart.
Shimari laughed, throaty and deep, all smug delight."That's what makes it fun, darling."He kissed Oresti again, long and deep, until all he could taste was demon and magic, and all he could see and hear was the beautiful figure sprawled across his lap like a wicked dream brought to life.
Then Shimari pulled away enough to get his pants open, bending and twisting in a way that didn't seem entirely possible to take Oresti's cock into his mouth, into his throat, sucking hard, laving and teasing with his tongue, throat hot and tight.Oresti bit his lip to keep himself quiet, even as he grabbed tight hold of Shimari's hair and fucked his face with greedy abandon.
Sharp claws teased, just barely pricking skin through his clothes, probably putting tiny holes in them that would force him to replace them, but Oresti just didn't care as he caught a glimpse of those glowing red eyes.Shuddering out Shimari's name, he came so hard his vision blacked out for a moment, and he only barely remembered to muffle his heavy breathing as he slowly calmed.
He reached out with a faintly trembling hand to return the favor, but Shimari playfully knocked it away."I'll take my payment by way of your ass later."
Oresti huffed a laugh, a shiver running down his spine."Sounds delightful."Andrus would watch them the whole time, heightening the experience, and when Shimari was done with him, Oresti would suck Andrus's cock.Who knew that all these years spent lonely and waiting would culminate in such an exquisite arrangement?
"Don't think I've ever been called exquisite before," Shimari said, smirking in mouth and tone like always, but there was an undercurrent ofsomethingthat made him think Shimari was genuinely moved by the thought.
"You're a demon of death who finds us interesting enough to be in a relationship with, even though we technically have you imprisoned and chained to us," Oresti replied as he fixed his clothes and smoothed down his messy hair as best he could."I'm not sure what to call that except exquisite."
Shimari kissed him again, but softly this time, lingering over it like someone warming their hands at a fire."Come along, Your Highness.Time to get back to work.The fun and the sweet words will have to wait their turn again.Be ready to move."
