Somewhere, in a room kept locked and, these days, unlived in there's a shelf with stones.
Stones are boring to most people. Â These ones sit in a simple row. Â They're remains of masonry. Â Some in good condition. Â Some with charcoal pencil writing on them noting something. Â Some with labels propped up against them.
There's one that doesn't belong. Â It's intact. Â It's unmarred. Â It's enameled and pristine and it looks powerful, for a piece of stone. Â It's from something that used to be impressive. Â It's from something that used to be important to a lot of people for a lot of different reasons.
It's important to Hammersmith because of that bloodstain on it and the name written on a bit of card next to it.
Who's "F.D. Min" ?
Maybe the brick will tell us.
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The royal gate had always been a thing of beauty. Â This was because it had never been knocked on. Â No one had ever been able to get this close to the gates Theodoric had had constructed during the Purge. Â They were lined with depictions of divine right, divine rule.
All the things Hammersmith resented right now about.
He was standing on top of those gates, wedging a part of the white-enameled parapet out of it's setting with a crowbar as he watched a crowd form below. Â A brick from this height could do a lot to an armored knight. Â Most of the crowd below were simple commoners. Â It would likely kill any one of the hairy skulls below, if it found a mark but, for the moment, it decided to stay lodged in it's mortared moorings. Â Give it some time. Â The giant roe wielding the prybar was very, very good at making masonry give up a steady, stable life. Â
He was wearing standard issue Mhigan military garb. Â Leathers and tunic emblazoned with a similar motif that was emblazoned into the crest over the gate that the crowd, below, was beginning to yell at. Â There were several non-standard additions to it though. Â Lengths of brass chain, several patches of red sewn into or against the leather and brigantine armor.
"Come on Mad Eye. You can't kill all of them."
There was that Roe from another time, another vision, another place. Â Heavy, overlarge book on their back, still completely clad in a leather coat held together with brass fittings and heavy red stitching, several thin, rodlike bangles chiming as they moved.
"Fuck off Min." Growled the giant in response. Â He'd almost gotten the stone out of the wall, but both of his eyes were fixed on the crowd below.
"You know you can't. Â So why are you up here." Â Min breathed as they drifted up to the wall's edge. Â A pair of shaded eyes joined the mad, red ones watching the throng of Mhigans below clamoring for the blood of the King. Â Over. Â And Over. Â And Over.
"It's not about killing them. Â You know as well as any." Â A crack of masonry giving way as the prybar finished it's work on the all too perfect wall. Â The giant began to toss the pristine brick up and down in his hand, still watching the crowd.
"You're still mad about Lihta. Â That'd explain why you've been playing so nice with the King." Â said Min.
"Did you come up here to talk or just be a smug shit, Weather Witch?" Â Rumbled the giant.
"A little of both. Â I'm not going to be a part of this. Â Regicide's worse than simple slaughter. Â One leaves the state standing, on a foundation of blood. Â The other means the entire house comes down. Â Maybe you've forgotten how to do things any other way. Â Maybe the sound of war machines firing and the stench of sulfur's burned your brain out." Â Min was already stepping for the stairs.
"Then you got about 10 minutes to get the fuck out of here Min."Â
Min stared. Â Â "Why 10?"Â Â The furious certainty of the giant Roe gave the shorter one a good deal of pause.
"Because I lit a slow fuse to blow this gate, outward, before you got up here. Â It's coming down. Â It's going to kill a lot of those idiots down there who didn't listen and clear out when I told 'em how the gate was going to open. Â And then they're going to get -really mad-." Â Hammersmith grinned, testing the heft of the stone in his hand.
"And then they're going to kill the king." Muttered Min.
Hammer nodded in response. Â "Them and the ones at the other gates. Â This is one that isn't manned by the Royals. Â King thinks this is the weak gate. Â The one that might get him killed. Â It's why he rivoted the damn thing shut and welded bars over it."
"That'll take most of the wall with it....you're going to collapse the entire wall just to open a gate? Â " Â She already knew the answer but the question was asked. Â Maybe out of habit. Â Maybe out of fear there was something worse coming.
"I don't do things by halves, Min. Â Besides. Â All the other gates got Royal Guard that'll be opening theirs. Â Nice and peaceful. Â Quiet and kind-like." The giant's answer was everything she'd expected. Â He looked over the wall, tossing the brick up and down in his hand as the red eyes moved from the mass of meat pressing against the wall, to the herds milling around the Gate further down the wall, some with primitive lengths of lumber as rams. Â "This Gate's mob, at least, is going to be full of fury and hate by the time it hits the palace. Â A lot of people are going to die and a lot of them are going to be Royals."
Min had pulled the book off her back and was scribbling in it. Furiously jotting something in quick, efficient shorthand as she grumbled. "This isn't going to get you revenge for the monks, Hammer, or for Lihta  It's just going to burn the city.  You want that?"
Maybe he was. Â Maybe he wasn't. Â Hammer tossed the brick over to Min as she snapped her book shut as a simple reply.
She bludgeoned him with it. Â A bloom of red over a virgin white stone. Â Hammersmith fell over, face down on a parapet. Â She followed up with several heavy thumps from the brass-bound book.
The red stained stone was tossed next to Hammersmith's concussed body.
Somewhere a fuse burned ever downward as Min walked away, sighing. Â
"Maybe we'll get lucky." Â
The sound of footsteps heading down stairs and away from an impending whirlwind of chaos. Â
The last words between two friends spun off into the noise of the crowd behind the gate
"Maybe you'll live through this and finally learn some regret."