Cathak Nekuto
"When I heard that the Wyld Hunt Nekuto was attached to had all perished, I confess I breathed a sigh of relief. My husband was nothing special to look at, and his Aspect-granted passion was all for war. Without good enough breeding to even tinge his skin, taking him into my bed was like bedding a mortal, and most of the servants are easier on the eyes. He had a little snub nose, close-set eyes and some of the most boring brown hair I've ever seen. I'm not saying he was ugly, mind you, just that I could have done much better as one judges these things.
"I suppose he could have made up for it if he were at least a decent conversationalist, but he couldn't even manage to get that right, always going on about his troops and their battles. Where was the talk of gardens, of parties, of music? He was barely around long enough to be a nuisance and still I'm better off without him. I hope my next husband proves the better man."
-- Cathak Tilis, Widow of Cathak Nekuto
Little Egg Lost
"We didn't talk about our lives before, much. It was one of the unwritten rules of Pasiap's Stair; whatever came before didn't matter, we were training for our futures as officers of the Realm. Nekuto wasn't a patrician, otherwise he would've been adopted into one of the Great Houses straightaway and sent to the House of Bells, instead of ending up with us at the Stair. But he didn't grow up on the streets like I did, either, son of a dockworker. You could see it in his eyes; he'd had just enough privilege to dream of a grand life and just enough struggle to know it would never happen. Not until he exalted, anyway.
"Nekuto was more determined to succeed than anyone else in our fang; than anyone else at the Stair, probably. Seizing his chance to realize those old dreams, I guess. He didn't make fang leader until our third year - Meplit had a harder time backing down and I had an easier time with the war Charms, being Water Aspected - but I don't think we would've made it to that third year if it wasn't for Nekuto. He stayed up late with us to make sure we got the tactical principles we'd get tested on the next day, he was the one who went back to carry Verun when he'd fall, even though Bepof was stronger. He was our heart.
"They spilt us up after we graduated, of course. I went to the twelfth near Chiaroscuro and they sent Nekuto to the fifth up in Cherak. I mustered out when they put the legions under control of the great houses - I serve the Realm and the Empress, not a bunch of petty would-be kings. Nekuto's probably still with it, though; I think about him carrying Verun and I can't imagine him doing anything else but leading troops."
-- Ceges Halen, Talonlord of the Twelfth Legion, Retired
The Phoenix Hatches
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