In the Shadow of the Rings by Frank Kennedy (grave mercy .txt) 📕

paying immos at bottom Dims while hiding their books. Freelander partisans, most likely. The seamasters won’t act because they’re afraid of pushback from their biggest continental clients. And the Island Council won’t act because the seamasters dictate their agenda.”

Ryllen heard rumors of such things, usual y from Green Sun brothers and sisters who believed a ful -on Hokki civil war was inevitable. Yet now he saw confirmation in Kai’s earnest hazel eyes.

“What does it mean for Green Sun?”

“I think you know. Scaring these people isn’t enough. They have to learn a simple lesson. If they corrupt The Lagos, they die.”

“Lan Chua told you this?”

“He’s wanted to escalate for some time, but he’s a cautious man.

He believes we final y have the infrastructure to cul immos without drawing undo attention.”

Ryllen was never under any il usion, not even when he received the body stamp over his chest and committed to the cause. In his heart, Ryl en always sensed the truth about his roommate turned lover.

Kai was a kil er who long ago found peace and purpose in his work, though he never spoke of it directly. Instead, Kai talked of the need to maintain the purity of The Lagos, always using a righteous tone. He was neither angry nor impatient; Ryllen detected a quiet discipline.

“Cul them?” Ryllen said, pul ing on the pipe. “Like Kohlna?”

“But quietly.”

They didn’t speak of it again. The Quantum Majesty completed docking procedures. Soon, they disembarked.

The trip home in Kai’s bucket sedan was quiet. Traffic on the UpWay was sparse. Ryllen felt no tension, but the silence was a noted departure; Kai usual y played Jorca Hop at its most thunderous bass.

Was he waiting for Ryllen’s questions? Perhaps an admission he wasn’t prepared to kil immos? Or maybe Kai appreciated the need for peaceful introspection.

Ryllen closed his eyes and leaned back.

I’m a soldier, he thought. We’re justified. War is coming anyway. If we can’t preserve our way of life, what else wil we sacrifice?

It al made perfect sense, of course. He heard it from his Green Sun brothers and sisters often enough. The Kye-Do rings wil continue to poison the land, they said. The continentals wil want what we have.

They’l demand we share as equal partners, or worse.

We are the salvation and the future of the Hokki people.

Ryllen liked the idea of being a hero.

They’l thank me someday.

Their home was a simple flat with few adornments, part of a sprawling public estate sheltered by palms and bullabast trees, directly beneath the UpWay, mid-distance between the city center and exotic residences of the Haansu District. Neighbors looked out for each other but never pried. Kai said most were Modernists and Lagos Nationalists.

He doubted any would object to a Green Sun presence.

“They have as much to lose as we do,” Kai once said. “Their families go back centuries, and they care about the purity of their line no different than the elites in Haansu. We fight for them, RJ.”

Whenever Kai spoke of families, Ryllen saw a glint of pain. Kai never divulged the details of the Durin family schism, only once referencing a shipping accident and the betrayal of his biological sister, who moved to New Seoul years earlier.

“Being alone is kind of a kick,” Kai once said. “I asked Mei to sack with me once,” he added, referring to the adoptive sister he lusted after. “We both knew that was a sorry cudfrucking idea soon as I said it. You’re not bad seconds, RJ.”

They shared a laugh in the awkward moment, though Ryllen never forgot it. He hadn’t seen Mei since the night in Umkau when he joined Green Sun. He understood Kai’s temptation, but his strange chemistry with Mei unnerved Ryllen.

Now, an hour after Kai announced they’d soon be kil ing people, Ryllen undressed and fel into bed. He didn’t realize how exhausted the shipboard excursion left him; plus, Kai suggested they’d best rest up. The night was bound to be long – especial y if Lan Chua announced more than a new phase in their silent war.

“Do you want me?” Kai said, standing in the doorway. “If you need to be alone, I’l deal.”

Kai’s crooked smile implied only one possible response, so Ryllen slapped the pil ow by his side. Kai joined him.

“Thanks for being honest with me,” Ryl en said. “I knew we’d be dealing in blood eventual y. But it’s been five months, and I’d gotten used to our tactics. I thought they were effective.”

“They are. Just not enough.” He kissed Ryl en. “We won’t be executioners. We’l be kil ing invaders. Self-defense.”

Ryllen winced. These immos came for new opportunities lost to them on the continent, few if any armed for battle. Yet that word –

invaders – was becoming the de facto label Green Sun used to justify its actions.

“I know you stil have concerns,” Kai continued. “But they’re not innocent, RJ. If we give them space to organize, they’l form an army of their own. We’l have blood in the streets of Pinchon.”

“I know,” Ryl en whispered. “By then, it’l be too late.”

“Yes, it wil …”

The flashing glow on