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Chapter 87: Empty hours
publish date:
2026-10-31 20:43:11
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The monster's fated prey Chapter 92: Rope and grain
The argument in the stores had already grown legs by the time Lior arrived. Two inventory keepers stood on opposite sides of a long table covered in tallies, tags, and a single frayed length of rope that seemed to be the physical proof of someone’s outrage. A small audience of off duty warriors, guards and maids had formed in the doorway, the way people always did when a petty dispute promised better entertainment than their own chores. “Three coils,” the first keeper said, stabbing a finger at his list. “Three. Marked, dried, and stacked against the east wall. Now there are two and a half, and the half looks like it was cut by someone who hates clean edges.” “And the grain is short by two sacks if you count by the old marks,” the second keeper shot back. “Unless someone changed the marks. Which would be a different problem with a different name.” “Are you accusing me of changing marks?” “I am accusing the count of being wrong. If that lands on you, that is between you and the n
The monster's fated prey Chapter 91: Resuming duties
Morning arrived without softness, but it also arrived without drums. The rest stretch was over. Orders went out with the first light. Full posts. Regular rotations. The skeleton watch gave way to the ordinary pattern of a fortress back at work. People moved slower than they had before the break, as if their bodies had not fully agreed that the easier days were finished. Lior stood in the courtyard with a cup of water and watched the change settle in. Aziel was already near the hall steps, where a short line of small requests had formed the moment the rest rules lifted. Formal place at his side remained Lior’s. Practical first stop for the pack’s daily problems remained Aziel’s. Both facts returned with the duties. Pell found him before the line at the hall had thinned. Orin and Cale were with him, plus the fourth younger fighter they had mentioned before. “The yard is free,” Pell said. “We did not know if the regular day changed the offer.” “It did not,” Lior said. “After the br
The monster's fated prey Chapter 90: A clear sky
The last voices in the lower halls faded. The last door settled into its frame. The skeleton watch held the posts without talking more than the work required. Even the animals in the far pens had stopped shifting. What remained was stone, wind, and the low sound of a place that had, for once, agreed to sleep. Aziel found Lior near the inner stair with two cups of water and no armour in sight. “Short stretch of the wall,” he said. “Then we stop. No circuit. No checking the approaches.” Lior took one of the cups. “You are following Mara’s orders even in the dark.” “I am following common sense. It has been a rare week. I would like to end it without inventing new duties.” They climbed to the eastern stretch and walked without hurry. The stone under their boots was cool. The sky above the fortress was clear, thick with stars that the earlier cloud and rain had hidden for days. Below them the yards and roofs sat dark and still. The pack was asleep. Lior rested his free hand on the pa
The monster's fated prey Chapter 89: Live in
The dinner started louder than the first rest day gathering and only climbed from there. The main hall filled early. Benches scraped. Jugs travelled hand to hand before the food had fully landed on the tables. Someone had already started an argument near the kitchen doors about whose turn it was to fetch the next round of water, and neither side showed any sign of surrendering. Lior sat at Aziel’s right in the same formal place as always. The practical truth of the pack’s attention still bent toward Aziel when questions rose, but the noise of the hall did not feel sharp. It felt busy. Full. The sharper edge stayed quiet under the ordinary clamour. “You took the water last night,” one warrior insisted at the far end of the nearest table. “I saw you.” “You saw me carry a jug for the south post,” the other answered. “That does not make it my turn forever.” “It makes it your turn again.” “That is not how turns work.” “It is how they work when I am speaking.” A third voic
The monster's fated prey Chapter 88: Morning Yard
The request came while Lior was still finishing a cup of water in the courtyard. Three younger warriors stood a short distance away, clearly working up to it. Pell was one of them. The other two Lior knew by sight from the north stair and the stores. They were the age where rank still felt heavier than it needed to be and rest days still felt like a trick. Pell took the last step forward. “We were going to use the morning yard. Basic movement. Footwork. Nothing formal. We wanted to ask if you would run it with us.” Lior looked at them. The formal place at Aziel’s side usually put a careful gap between him and requests like this. The old distance sat in most eyes even when the words were polite. This morning the gap looked thinner. “Why me?” he asked. Pell shrugged, honest about it. “You see things when people move. We noticed during the earlier drills before the rest stretch. And you are here. And you are not Aziel. Sometimes that makes it easier to ask.” One of the othe
The monster's fated prey Chapter 87: Empty hours
Mara blocked the doorway before either of them could reach the main hall. She stood with her arms crossed and the expression she reserved for people who were about to argue with her and lose. Aziel stopped short. Lior nearly walked into his shoulder. “Light duties only,” Mara said. “Both of you. Full day. No wall. No meetings. No settling disputes in the courtyard. No sudden inspections of the stores.” Aziel’s face hardened into the look that usually ended discussions. “The skeleton watch still needs—” “The skeleton watch has captains,” Mara said. “You have been running on short rest since before the reserve. Lior went down hard after the last push and is still carrying it whether he admits it or not. Today you stay off the stone and out of every room where people bring you problems. If I find out you disobeyed, I will drug your water and you will sleep until tomorrow whether you like it or not.” Lior stared at her. “That is a serious threat.” “It is a promise,” Mara said. “Try
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