Chapter 5: no more hangover

My exhibition of control went off with mild success in my eyes. Though Aygu like a whipped mut was calm for the moment...Each time he thought I wasn't looking he stole glances at me. He didn't even wince as they stitched his hand into a Stalky Stump. His Scarred skin was like a tapestry of tattoos and combat. 

I, as a noble, had been granted no mandated military service but had always reveled in the concept of warfare...Yet I refuse to participate in the deliberate slaying of my fellow countrymen outright. The factory behind him reverberated as the M-10 tank made its way away from our mock battleground. The tide of victory swept in this time, even if rapidly receding every moment.

I felt Aiko's lingering noiseless critiques of my actions as I wiped caked blood off my fingers. I nodded to her, my dreads plunging into my face for a moment as the calm Buriti breeze centered my mind in the hot sun. 

How would I comingle the two central forces without causing more casualties...Before it would be seen as the pangs of civil war--I must push our northern boundary with Svetlan. A shakey united facade can be managed considerably more uncomplicated than fatal coups. 

"Do you intend on standing out here all day?" Aygo had encroached his way into my small posse of crimson-garbed soldiers. He stuck out like a love abscess wearing that god-awful tribal headdress. If my mouth wasn't so parched I'd spit on him.

 I commenced my tour through the still-smoking rubble with Aiko, Aygu, and my small legion of royal sentries. Our footsteps resonated hollowly off the remains of decimated structures. The only other sound was the desolate breeze whistling through shattered windows. Survivors materialized gradually to gaze at us with starving, haunted eyes or rummaged desperately through the devastation for any slivers of their old lives.

My heart wrenched at the sight. Rebuilding this inoperable capital - my ancestral metropolis - now fell to me if Buriti was to ascend for the first time in history. But first, ensuring leadership and resources took precedence.

"Set up headquarters in the West Command Bunker, Aygus forces will no longer be occupying it so that will be where we house the new throne...." I heard Aiko's voice ring out like a siren "Send scouts to search for any high-ranking Buriti officials who may yet live. We'll need to form an emergency council." 

As she finished, the two Svetlan soldiers Aygu observed earlier pushed their way down the fractured road hastily. The others seem to be more focused on deliberately driving their way through the considerably more diminutive rebel childtroopers. 

Though these asshats treated them like canines we all were much more weary of the Svetlan immigrants. I could see scorn wash over each Buritian eye mine passed through the sea of warriors. 

"I will deal with those two later...Do not think because your field medics sutuared my wounds, that i will not bleed for my country evermore, child." Red dust clung to his head and outfit as he endeavored a stare-down. 

I felt my eyes roll as this 60-year-old warlord was now recreating petty games of supremacy. "Tell me 'King Vasca'...do you truly plan to continue mixing our forces with light dogs?"

I quickly pivoted to Aygu; his revolutionary contingent in tow, resentment thick on my tongue as they straggled behind well-trained Buriti draftees. "There is an abandoned factory near the outskirts that should serve your...purposes. Draft me lists of weapons, vehicles, and able ADULT soldiers among your ranks by nightfall. " a brief sneer flashed on his face but he nodded nonetheless. Aygu was a strong old fucker but he was not blockheaded enough to test me now. 

My eyes fell on four small children chasing a small monkey into an alley. I remembered the game well...'Sub-Human', a silly game Buriti children--Noble and commoner--That involved a rather violent and unsightly demise to any unfortunate ape, monkey, or even fellow races of man that didn't fit our description. 

I halted to monitor as the children seized the small monkey's appendages... quartering it with an undersized dull knife. I've heard rumors that outside Buriti animals are treated with respect--What a silly notion. Subjugation and dominance are the natural laws of man...even if outside the simple demarked borders, nature stands Emporer over any king.

My enthrallment with the scene of Buriti debauchery was noticed; Aygu's mangled hand twitched, but he bowed his head in acquiescence. We would need those lawless guerrillas to swell our meager ranks enough to defend this city and repel Svetlan incursions. Desperate times called for distasteful alliances. Simple and treacherous measures to reconstruct at pace if we expected to prevail. 

After parting ways with simple gestures of rank and status Aiko and I made our way to the previously rebel-occupied bunker. Each passing street we took seemed less bombed out by the foot. The rebels had made a very precise strike and most likely were hidden here during the air raid. The thought of my family's attempt to run and hide to no avail while their attackers used our resources.....They were much better off on our side than cutting my genetic lines jugular any longer. 

The architecture of this sector was slightly different than the others in the capital--A clean mark in my eyes that rebel, sympathizers, had taken root in itself but went ignored. The building was much more square like old Buriti huts. Brown in nature takes on different facade red hues in the changing desert temperatures. Red caked clay that was rarely washed off made the use of windows 'pointless' to the more hardcore natives. Giant boxy stalactites against the oasis basin the capital was nestled in.

We came up on the bustling bunker opening after some silent minutes of walking in the quiet unattacked zone. Everything was eerily quiet despite the considerable amount of soldiers entering and exiting the Facade of the building.

Their boots clatter were muffled by the soft white sand that normally was swept by a commoner or two...It seemed the people were more concerned with hiding from any man with a gun now.

I was saluted by a litany of crimson-dressed armed men and tattered rebels alike as my hands found the nearly searing hot metal bars of the bunker ladder. I refused to flinch as their pressed eyes microscoped in; scrutinizing my descent into the inferno-like bastion. 110-degree heat was common in Buriti but today had seemed to be even hotter as each ladder step increased in heat. 

After 13 seconds of psyche deadening sear on my dark skin. I felt the frigid air finally blast me with relief--the generators down here must be fully operational. The space was a broad gray passageway that was lined with some ludicrous antiques and armaments probably meant to make me feel like I still had anything besides my power left in this country.

 I strode down the hallway expecting the lavish ostentation that typically decorated my family's administrative quarters inside my new 'throne room'. Velvet drapes, exotic large hunting trophies from our minor subjugated territories, intricate mosaics illustrating Vascan martial accomplishments - proud insignia of MY new kingdom.

Instead, I was met with sterile concrete walls and the humming of fluorescent lights overhead. The blast room contained only a simple metal table and chairs, devoid of adornment. This space was for necessity not performance or show. It reflected the evacuation of fortune and consequences from a dynasty in tatters.

Before I could dwell farther the clanging of the vault doorway disrupted the hush. Aiko entered, freckled light brown face taut with irritation usually reserved for her enemies. I couldn't see past her but could tell she was silently making a vow to disembowel someone.

Behind her shuffled Minister Vadim Sankov, the former finance and geopolitics advisor to my late father. The old Svetlan pissant walked with a permanent cringe as if expecting a blow at any moment. His Buriti wife--Rosa I believe-- and daughter Yana trailed closely, brown weary eyes fixed on the cold cement floor.

 Seeing their hollow faces now, I understood the truth in unsightly rumors swirling in his house. I may come from a line of political leeches but no longer would men like this rape our country's populous of one of its strongest wealth....Barbarity behind closed doors backed by ignorance in the open was not my style.

He believed he maintained value with his extensive connections abroad and shrewd if ruthless policy acumen. I needed talented advisors, no matter how distasteful seemed to be the motto of many Vascan kings. He seemed much more comfortable than even Aygu around Aiko yet every glance I shot him and made him shift like a sand spider.

As they seated themselves across from Aiko and me, Sankov raised his eyes shortly to satisfy my impassive gaze then seemed to quiver from what he encountered there. His stout features were still angular...The Svetlan genetic line was marred by the lack of sunlight. His daughter seemed to be eying me with understandable apprehension as the vault closed loudly behind them.

Perhaps he realized the geriatric 'rules' no longer applied under my reign. Here elemental strategies for dominance and survival overrode the predictable dance of aristocratic manners and transaction. He would provide his expertise to me unconditionally. And in return, I would allow him to keep subsisting...If he played his next moments correctly that is.

"My liege, I haven't seen you since last summer...I give my condolences to you lovely mother and sister," he said as his voice was so shakey I instinctively let out a brief chuckle. 

"What a funny way to talk to someone you deemed 'unfit' for rule in a letter you signed off on for Dennis" I hadn't forgotten how even though I'd never met the man in earnest. He has blocked my accession to the throne along with my cousin. 

He took his time as he sat there fidgeting with his dusty red-stained blue handkerchief. "King Huckleberry Vasca I am simply a delegate and acting spokesperson for your country....I have taken up family and residence here as a mere placation," So this is what he truly is like...A viper concealing in a shallow recess. 

 "You do not have Svetlan's permission to take any military or political moves at this time...Please understand that with this--removal of the royal family my country will need to step in to"

"You attempt to play us off as children and lackeys for your melanin-deficient schemes still?" Aiko's voice came through like a bullet that stopped the heartbeat of his energy completely. I did not mind this subversion of my 'authority' as ruler due to knowing she would kill me if I 

didn't stand by Buriti truly.

He looked up at her with an unusual look of astonishment before flinching a direct gaze at me. "I do not wish to have HER muddy this conversation with emotion and talks of child-rearing." His snide comment seemed to please him as Aiko's fury was used against her.

 "Tell me Aiko Ewebatta...Do you really expect to be here much longer--you have managed to keep relevancy by playing your cards right yet still no solid marriage to the throne..."

Though it may seem like im permitting egregious disrespect to my right hand, I knew that to change the narrative on the strength of our peoples' women my voice was not needed in every battle my banner flew under.

I scanned his wife and daughter for a moment. They were like still furniture nailed into place as he monologued on distastefully. " Your father fought many tours under both the Vascan and Svetlan flag...I expect much less of his welp middle child but not such contrite acts of direct disdain for your better! I have spent decades scrubbing the annals of your people and the native Buritian both physical archives and oral traditions." 

Sankov prattled on, oblivious to the disgust rippling across his wife and daughter's faces. the older woman's light brown eyes kept flashing to Aiko as if appealing to a sister-in-arms against callous and controlling men like me and her husband.

His daughter stared straight ahead, jaw flexing, with a weariness far beyond her 25 years give or take that seemed to haunt her with each ticked moment. Her slender body recoiled when Sankov made sudden gestures, hinting at reflexes built from enduring violence. She locked eyes with me briefly - within them roiled humiliation, rage, and resignation.

I too felt those chaotic emotions resonate in my chest. 

Vadim's posture was rigid as if bracing for a blast, his smile oozing insincerity. His wife Rosa visibly recoiled when he made the brash comment about Aiko's status and marriageability. 

She folded her hands tightly in her lap, shoulders curling inward while staring deliberately at the floor. Their daughter had gone corpse-still, doe eyes fixed on her father with dawning horror and disgust at his words toward a woman who could easily kill him with one hand.

I noted Vadim's utter dismissal of his family's sentiments. His disregard for the formidable woman before him also intrigued me. This man was either a peerless fool or believed his Svetlan privilege would protect him even in precarious times.

 Either quality proved useless now that I held power. The crude entitlement he flaunted suggested darker truths hidden beneath his unctuous surface. I would let this play out a bit longer between them before interceding.

Aiko remained silent, dark eyes blazing as she bore holes into the old snake. Her relaxed fighting stance subtly shifted, muscles coiling as Vadim blathered on.

"Do you deny your status as a mere soldier?" Vadim pressed, emboldened by her lack of response. "It seems this mongrel upbringing has left you rather mute without a royal handler..."

In a blur Aiko seized the front of Vadim's robe, jerking him half out of his seat toward her snarling face. His eyes bulged in sudden terror at her strength as she held him helpless as a kitten. His wife and daughter gasped but seemed frozen in place, too accustomed to enduring abuse.

"The next words about my family should be selected carefully, worm." Aiko's voice was arctic. "Your pestilent existence relies solely on your use to the king. Become useless..." She flashed her feral teeth. "The basement bunker could always use another crimson stain."

She shoved him back down with enough force to topple the chair. Vadim, sallow face shining with sweat, readjusted his disheveled garments with quivering hands. When his panicking eyes met mine I offered an empty smile. We were well beyond etiquette's rules; only by confronting ugliness without flinching could Buriti begin to heal.

This man represented the worst of two worlds, both Vascan and Svetlan. The corruption washed over Buriti and empowered vermin like him while citizens starved. Conceivably discerning the atmospheric shift, Sankov faltered mid-sentence. Before he could resume his diatribe, I held up a dry and ashy hand.

"While a delegate's counsel has traditionally been heeded in this court, I believe Buriti must develop its own passage moving forward. These are unprecedented times requiring vision exceeding our comfort zone." I turned to Sankov's daughter, ignoring her sputtering father. "Therefore I name you our new Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs. You will serve as my attache in reestablishing international ties."

Stunned silence blanketed the gray room. Sankov's pale skin turned purple with shock and outrage. As he made to stand, guards materialized behind him, stone-faced with blades drawn. He opened his mouth but only managed a choked gurgle.

I leaned forward, meeting his blue bulging eyes. "There is also the matter of your long unpunished criminalities against your own clan during your diplomatic tenure here. I will be signing a royal edict approving the death penalty for domestic abuse by any government officials or millitary officers. An egregious precedent we are rectifying immediately."

The color drained from his face. As silence reigned with as much authority as I wielded in that welded bunker room. "Aiko please escort this man to a firing squad wall and--well" I gestured blankly as horror filled his face. "K-king Vasca mercy"

"your daughter and wife will be the ones to fogive your corpse...if they even give a fuck about you. I hope you feel every bullet Light Dog scum" 

I looked at his daughter for a quick moment expecting protest but with a hardy and resolute tone, she spoke causing her father to jump. " All Hail King Vasca!"

I smiled knowing another finger furled closed in my Tititanuim grip of this nation's heart and might....it was delicious.