Emperor of Shadows by Mike Truk

Author:Mike Truk [Truk, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-28T22:00:00+00:00

* * *

A gentle touch stirred me from dreams of dark alleyways and demonic shapes. I sat up, alarmed, and saw Tamara perched on the edge of the divan, her pale robes ash gray in the dawn light coming through the window.

“You were having a nightmare,” she said softly. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have woken you.”

“No, I’m glad you did.” I rubbed my eyes, sat up, saw that Cerys was gone. “I overslept.”

“I seriously doubt that. Sometimes I think you don’t sleep at all anymore.”

“Some. Here and there. It’s dawn already? The Hanged God wept. I meant to get through a bunch of pressing items Pogo needed to be taken care of before today’s council meeting.” I went to rise, but Tamara placed a firm hand on my shoulder.

“Kellik. You need to pace yourself. You can’t continue at this rate.”

I gave her an uneasy smile, mostly bravado. “Says who? I’m a king troll, don’t you know. I’ve a city to run.”

“Are you running the city, or the other way round? It’s been a month since Aurelius died, and you’ve lurched from one emergency to the next.”

“There’ve been a lot of emergencies.”

“And there always will be. But you need to be strong and collected if you’re going to handle them all. You look exhausted.”

I ran a shaky hand through my hair. “Yeah, well, there’s a lot on my mind. Word on the street Olandipolis has fallen?”

Tamara sighed, pulled off her white cap, and ran her fingers through her brown hair. “Yes.”

“See what I mean? What am I supposed to do, nap while the hereshen marches on Port Gloom?”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t work. Just that you need to pace yourself. There will always be too much for you to attend. Either get better at delegating or slow down and take care of yourself before you start making critical mistakes.”

I wanted to argue with her, to point out that if I was to run this city, then I had to call the shots. But the sight of my crowded desk, the piles of folders that arose across the floor, the awareness of just how much lay before me, silenced my retort.

“I’ve already started delegating.” I leaned back against the wall. “Pogo’s taking on a bunch of the bureaucracy. Creating a new treasury. Reforming the taxation system.” I waved a hand vaguely. “And a bunch of other stuff.”

“Good. Because you need to spend your energy and attention on the matters only you can handle. The rest? Delegate to people you either trust or can command to trust.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “So you’re alright with my commanding people to behave suddenly?”

She smiled guiltily. “Not forever. But there is a hereshen about to attack us.”

“Along with a death squad of demon-possessed Aunts and Uncles coming for my head,” I sighed. “And all kinds of complexities with the women in this house.”

“Oh?” Tamara curled up on the divan and laid her head down on my lap. “Tell me about it.”

So I did, idly running my fingers through her hair as I caught her up to speed.

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