Breaking Point Epilogue 11

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“Here’s the final request from the Denver pack,” Selene said, handing me a folder. “Looks like it’s just a statement of alliance. ‘We stand together against the chaos,’ and all that. It’s a political move, but it looks like it’s about as advantageous for us as it is for them. People who are against werewolves already hate you, so making a formal alliance with the Pack is probably a net gain for us.”

 

“Thanks,” I said, taking the folder. “I’ll look it over, but for the moment tentatively assume it’s a go. You can probably go ahead and start planning our statement.”

 

“Will do,” she said, nodding. “We’ve also heard from those apsaras again. Sounds like this would be a strictly tourism visit. They’re willing to agree to some basic rules, including an armed escort and paying tribute for the privilege. I asked around a bit, and it sounds like they’re probably on the level. Apparently this particular group are known thrill-seekers. They’ll travel anywhere for a bit of excitement, the more dangerous the better. No political affiliations that I could find.”

 

“All right. Give them the go ahead, then. Any word back from the vampires that wanted to move in?”

 

“Yeah.” Selene grinned. “Apparently they aren’t so eager to live in your territory now. Something about not thinking it’s a particularly hospitable area for them.”

 

I snorted. “Yeah, I’ll bet. Can’t say I’m sorry not to have to deal with them. I do worry that there’ll be some problems without them, though. I don’t have much in the way of nice things to say about Katrin, but she did keep the vamp population under control.” I frowned, tapping one finger on the arm of my throne. “See if Hrafn’s still around,” I said after a moment. “I don’t remember for sure whether he got killed there at the end with Katrin, but if not I’d rather deal with him than any other vamp I know. Also, look into whether I could get some kind of official standing with their political organization. It’s probably too much to ask for there not to be any vampires in the city, but I might get them to agree to ask permission from me and pay tribute.”

 

“It will be done,” she said, nodding and making a note on a legal pad. Other business. Luna wants permission to officially relocate her business from Pryce’s to here. She’ll keep doing her business there, especially the shadier deals, but she’d be keeping some of the stock and meeting with contacts here.”

 

“Tell her that’s fine,” I said. “I’ll be just as glad to have her working where we can keep an eye on her.”

 

“Think that’s most of why she asked, honestly. Next up. Jibril wants to know when you’re going to deliver on your promise to give the ghouls a voice in establishing the new order.”

 

“I’ve got that preliminary meeting with the mayor in the works for next week. He’s invited, same as all the other faction leaders; I just hadn’t told him because I didn’t want to get his hopes up in case the meeting fell through. Guess I’d better at least let him know there’s a plan.”

 

She nodded. “I’ll make sure he hears about it. Through unofficial channels, so that none of the others will be able to complain of unfair treatment.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“No problem,” she said. “Moving on. Tindr says he’s too busy with that acquisition on the West Coast to do a full overview of the financials right now, but he should be able to meet with you tomorrow. In the meantime, we’re still solidly in the black, although the mercenaries are getting to be a serious drain.”

 

“We can probably let some of them go or shift them to standby,” I said. “Now that the crisis is mostly past, you know.”

 

“I’ll let him know to start looking into how many he wants to cut,” Selene said. “And I’ll check in with Kyi too, since I’m sure their numbers won’t be agreeing on much. On that note, Pellegrini wants to know when we’ll give his thugs back.”

 

“Tell him he can have them back any time. I only even took those guys because they were easy muscle and we were in a pinch.”

 

“Will do. And…looks like that’s everything for the moment. You scheduled judgments for Wednesday, so you don’t forget. They’ve been backing up a while and with the courts struggling we’ve been getting more requests than usual, so expect a full day.”

 

“Thanks, Selene,” I said. “This…it feels weird, you know? Going back to running things like it’s business as usual after so long running around putting out fires.”

 

She smiled. “That’s how you know you won, jarl. Things go back to normal.”

 

“Do you think we won?”

 

“City’s in one piece,” she said. “And nobody’s arguing that you’re the one in charge of it now. Casualties were lower than I would have believed possible—ours and civilian both. There people lining up out the door to sign up with your organization and make deals with you.” She nodded. “Yeah, I think I’d call that a win, jarl. Might not have been easy or painless, might not have been the win you wanted, but you came out on top in the end.” She grinned, the expression there and gone in a heartbeat. “Good job, boss. I’m going to go and draft these letters for you to read and sign.”

 

I watched her go, holding the file for the deal with the Denver pack in my right hand. With my left I scratched Snowflake’s ears where she was curled up around my feet. It seemed like I had a little more mobility in that hand since the Wild Hunt and subsequent insanity. I hadn’t really noticed during the chaos, but now that I had the attention to spare it was a welcome change. I still didn’t have much sensation in my fingers, and there was an odd translucency to it that wasn’t appropriate at all for human flesh, but I could move it reasonably well. It wasn’t everything I might have wished for, but it was far from nothing.

 

“Can’t really go back now,” I said quietly to no one in particular. I could feel that Snowflake was really asleep rather than faking it right now, so I wasn’t even talking to her. “Guess we just have to go forward and hope for the best.”

 

I sat in the empty throne room and scratched Snowflake’s ears as the sun set behind me.

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6 Comments

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6 Responses to Breaking Point Epilogue 11

  1. Emrys

    So that’s a wrap on book 11! The full book should be available as a downloadable file on Monday. Also, since I know in advance for once, tomorrow’s interlude might be delayed a day. I’m hoping it will be longer than usual, and I don’t expect to have time to work on it tonight.

  2. Soronel Haetir

    Nice end to an exciting ride. I can just imagine the upcoming chaos of Aiko and Winter marrying. You just _know_ something’s gonna throw a monkey wrench in that.

    On a textual note, shouldn’t “And nobody’s arguing that you’re the one in charge ” be “And nobody’s arguing that you’re not the one in charge ” or “And nobody’s arguing the fact you’re the one in charge ” or something?

    • Emrys

      For a technical definition of argue, yes. In this case that reads a little awkwardly to me, though. I used “nobody’s arguing” as shorthand for “nobody’s presenting an argument on the topic,” because it read more smoothly and Selene’s speech pattern has always been somewhat informal and not concerned with technical accuracy.

    • Alternative

      I can see the up coming chaos of a marriage organised by, or for Aiko. They don’t need a monkey wrench.

  3. Terra

    This has been a great book. Perhaps you should take a well deserved break. Please let us, the fans, know what your plans are.

  4. Aster

    That really was a great ride! I can’t wait to see what happens next. 🙂

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