Not One Tiger Warrior
"Damn him!"
Cathak Nekuto slammed his fist into the map; in his anger, sparks flew from his fingers and left scorchmarks on the parchment. Chi Wen watched impassively. She did not approve of Nekuto's reaction, but she held her toungue. The Herald's job was to deliver the messages, not to pass judgement on the recipient.
"It's just a request for recent intelligence reports from the south. I don't see why you're making such a big deal about it."
"Oh, it's more than that." Nekuto pulled scrolls off of the shelves of his study and threw them down into a pile on the table. "He wants troop deployments, patrol schedules, information about supply lines. I know what this is really about. He's always second-guessed my force allocations, even though I keep telling him I don't have enough soldiers to do what he wants. We can't just keep throwing more troops into that meat-grinder in the south! We lost so many good agents to the Southern Expedition fiasco, and I don't have anyone to replace them with."
By now, even Chi Wen had begun to grow impatient. "Yes, I know this, and so does he. Is this all of the documents?"
"Yes, this is all of them. Do what you want with it all... but tell him I don't care if he's the next Pasiap, Hesiah, and Sextes-Jylis rolled into one magnificent ball of theology, I'm not giving him a single Tiger Warrior from my legion."
She scowled at this. As a herald of the Sweet Voice of Brass and Glory, she understood that soldiers were prone to rough language and casual, homespun blasphemies... but she expected better of their commander. "Is that all?"
"Almost. Just one more thing: You tell him that if he wants the southern border secured, he's just going to have to drag his sorry, moping carcass down there and secure it himself."
"You're quite finished now?"
"Indeed."
"Good. Then my herald's duties are discharged." She scooped up the pile of scrolls and headed for the door. She paused before she stepped through, and turned once more to face the seething commander. Her words rolled with the cadence of distance drums, and her voice resounded with the finality of the Respect-Commanding Attitude. "I speak now as the Minister of Ascending Theology. Cathak Nekuto, your words have been heard and noted. I advise you now that you have one month's time to consider your disrespectful words and reconcile your heart towards the righteous agents of Heaven's Mandate. I expect you to have an apology prepared when the Nameless Ravine returns."
Nekuto's eyes narrowed. "A month? Where's he going this time?"
Chi Wen's scowl turned into a smile of satisfaction. "To secure the southern border. Personally."
