"Bleugh, this tastes like fish piss!"

"I'm more worried about how you were able to identify fish piss."

"Ha, you're very funny, mop hair." Lan frowned for a moment, the mug halfway to his lips. "Think I might just have water," he muttered as he got up from the table he shared with Bon.

The Salient Mango was filled that late afternoon with honest folks and the working people. Men gambling on several tables were loud with their wins and losses alike. The serving girls were practically sliding through the cramped space, all the while carrying a tray of drinks! A cat would take lessons on elegance from Jarro's girls.

Lan returned with a mug of water. Bon didn't bother concealing his smirk.
"You alright up there?"

"I'm fine," Lan replied not so sullenly, sipping his oh-so-cold water.

A commotion broke out at the other end of the common room. The shoving and yelling kind of commotion. It had all the ingredients to become a proper nasty brawl. Not something Jarro would like that evening. There had been too much of that recently. Especially now that the war was over.

Bon excused himself before slowly making his way to the commotion centre. The men at the back who saw him went quiet and frantically tapped those in front of them. By the time he got to the table, everyone had hushed as they formed a cordon around him.

"What's all the racket for?" Bon asked casually.

"Who in Mudfell are you?" A big fellow with a nasty scar on the bridge of his nose said. He folded his arms, a nasty sneer painted on his hard blocky features. Bon decided he didn't like him.

Bon cocked his head at him. "You must be new here. My name is Bon, and I'm a priest."

The big fellow still had on his sneer. "Aren't you too young to be a priest? Well, priest, your friends are sore losers."

"Oh?" Bon turned to inspect the faces around him. More than a few were familiar. An arched eyebrow was the only prompt they needed before words of grievance were born from their lips.

More yelling and incoherent ramblings. The shoving was about to begin anew. However, he could make out words like 'weighted dice' and 'cheating' key ingredients for a brawl.

He turned back to the grinning big man. "How about a game?" Bon asked, gesturing at the table with dice on it.

Before then, he hadn't thought a sneer could grow wider and more irritating. I'm going to wipe that sneer off your face.

A grunt was the reply he got. They sat and although everyone around the table had been about to beat the demon out of each other, Bon could see coins exchanging hands. They'd bet on the end of the world, these honest folks.

"One game. I'll put in a crown."

"I'll take your crown, boy."

The big man shook and dropped his dice cup on the table. They stared at each other.

"Odds," Bon said.

"Evens."

He lifted the cup and his sneer dipped from his face like shit from a flying bird. A cheer followed and it wasn't hard to say why. The honest folk's twisted form of justice had been served.

Big Man glared at the dice and pointed an accusatory finger at Bon. "You cheated!" The words sounded foreign on his tongue. He was probably used to being addressed so, not the other way around. First time for everything, as they say. "You rotting cheat. You changed my dice!" He growled, one hand slipping into his shirt for whatever dagger or weapon he kept in there.

Bon moved faster. He lashed out and seized Big Man's shirt, pulling him forward to deliver a forehead slam on his nose. He quickly followed that up by slamming his face against the wooden table. He'd been seeing stars after that one. Someone placed a bottle on Bon's free-waiting hand. He whacked it on Big Man's head.

Bon slipped his legs from underneath him and pushed hard on the table with his feet, throwing Big Man from his chair.

The man got on his feet faster than Bon had expected even though he looked to have lost more than half his wits on the table.

The space between them allowed him to pull out the dagger he'd been reaching for earlier.

Bon forced an exaggerated yawn to aggravate him. And sweet goddess above, the fool fell for it. His face was a blushing red from all the smashing and slamming, now it was a disturbing shade of pink.

He charged like a bull and snarled like some beast from the children's bedtime stories.

Bon saw the overextended lunge before he made it. He easily sidestepped the dagger and rammed his elbow on Big Man's chin. He gasped after that one hit. The world was surely upside down for him as Bon flipped him on a table.

The bar was silent now. You could almost hear the breathing of every man. Bon searched the man's pockets and brought out his heavy purses. He opened it and poured the contents on Big Man's face.

The honest folk cheered and some were already diving at the falling pieces.

Bon made his way to the counter and tossed Jarro a crown. "For the table."

Jarro caught the crown and held it up to the lantern above his head.

"That's good coin in your hands. I wonder why you're squinting at it."

Jarro gave him an amused look. "You know why, Bon." He grinned. Jarro's grin wasn't a pretty thing to see. With a good number of his front row teeth missing, a gaping grin would describe it better.

He went back to his table with Lan. His old friend had steady eyes on him. A steady look that said he was about to get all mother hen.

"Save it."

Lan lifted his hands. "I didn't say anything. However, Bon, I must ask. Why did you have to do that though?"

A group of men were carrying Big Man out of the bar.

"I didn't like his sneer."

Lan kept his eyes on Bon as he sipped his water. "I guess wars have been started for less."

"Hmm." The mention of 'war' always had a way of catapulting the minds of those who've had a front-row seat experience to its many horrors. The mind wanders and travels until it begins to feel like you're right there on the battlefield, again. The screaming, the chaos, the madfest. It—

"Bon."

Lan's voice managed to pull him back before he travelled deeper into the hooks and torments of his mind.

He blinked at his friend and ignored the concerned look on his face.
"What?" he asked when he saw Kaj the doorman signalling at him. Bon curled an eyebrow at him. Kaj just cocked towards the door in response.

Bon sighed, rising from the table.

"You're not coming back?"

"I don't think I will. Enjoy your water, Lan."

Bon got to the door and met Kaj standing outside. "What is it Kaj? I—"

A red-haired little girl rose from where she crouched beside the door. Bon's features softened and a small smile worked its way to his lips.

"Tomi," he crouched so they were at eye level, "what are you doing here?"

Her fingers flashed before her so fast that Bon could barely follow. Tomi only fast-signed when she was nervous.

"Slow down, girl."

She frowned at him and then sighed deeply. You would think she was suffering the annoyance of a dull child. Tomi then began to sign slowly. When she was done, it was Bon doing the frowning.

"Let's go."

Bon waved down a rickshaw. "Tedoia Es--" he cut off when Tomi pulled on his sleeves which made him crease his brows in question.
"He's not there," she signed. "At the other place."
Right, the other place.

He turned back to the driver, "Haram's Pier," he told the driver before jumping into his seat. Tomi sat opposite him. She was also giving him that piercing olive-green stare of hers.

"Stop looking at me like that. You know how he is."

"I do. But you weren't even worried about him. I found him at the fat man's place this eve."

Bon scoffed. "You are wasting your worries on him," he casually said, "how's Skye by the way? Does she miss me?"

"It's Bon Bon! And she's fine." She tilted her chin at him, then added. "You are changing the subject."

Bon got down the rickshaw not bothering to see if Tomi paid the driver. Haram's Pier had her doors wide open as he helped himself inside the building. He found the reserved stairs leading to the second floor of the building.

"Your man's been here for days, and he hasn't paid a single penny," someone from below was yelling their displeasure at him, probably fat Haram or that skinny wife of his. They both had one thing in common they sounded like a squealing pig when yelling.

It was the same room he always took. Bon didn't bother knocking. He exhaled in anticipation. Here we go again.

Bon kicked the door open and ducked immediately. He heard the whistling of a blade soaring past where his head would have been had he still been standing, and clang against the wall opposite the open door.

He rose to his feet, trying not to gag when the maladies of the room assaulted his nostrils. "What in mudfell, old man? Did you shit yourself?"

"Go shove mud up your bottom," a voice croaked.

"You sound pathetic." Bon unhooked the latch and opened the windows. He hungrily welcomed the sweet fresh untainted air.

"How did you find me?" Nasben croaked. His voice irritated Bon almost as much as his patron's. Almost.

Bon glared at his father. The old man had several empty bottles by his side at the foot of the bed. "Don't flatter yourself. I wasn't looking for you. But now that I'm here, we're going home." He clasped his hands behind his back.

Silence. This was a common theme and they both knew what came next. Nasben unfailingly reacted first. He quickly snatched one of the bottles beside him and smashed it against the bed stand. "Don't you dare touch me!"

Bon had his foot on Nasben's hand even before he finished making his threat. "A request I would have willingly obliged. Unfortunately, my foot won't suffice to carry your dignified stinking arse back to the estate." He pressed his foot hard on Nasben's wrist eliciting a pained grunt from the old man. "So how about you do me a favour by dropping that bottle and I'll let you walk out on your feet, by yourself, hmm?"

"Fine." He grudgingly agreed in less of a croak for his voice was beginning to lose its temporal itch. "I'll get you next time!"

"Right, you will." He removed his foot from Nasben's wrist as the latter dropped the bottle. "We're leaving in five minutes."

"Boy." Bon paused at the door while Nasben attempted to put proper clothes on. "Clear the bill for me, would you?"

Bon grimaced and left without a word.

***********

The ride to the estate was a long and quiet one. Bon appreciated the quiet. Nasben had a post-reflection look on his face. Not that Bon thought he did much of that. He also avoided looking at Tomi, which was normal. The girl made him ashamed somehow if Nasben was still capable of such that is.

On the steps of their two-storey mansion stood a waiting Tam, the house steward.
"Master Nasben. Master Bon. Mistress Tomi." Tam greeted all three of them in that cultured manner of his.

"What's the news, Tam?" Bon asked as he suddenly yanked Tomi off her feet. She gave a silent giggle as Bon placed her on his shoulder.

"There's a letter for you, Master Bon."

"A letter? From who?"

"It's from the Crown, sir."

Bon gaped at him. "The what?"