With and Without, Within and Without by Euan McAllen

Author:Euan McAllen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, world, surreal, romance, dark, murder, mystery, war, maze, revolution
ISBN: 9781789822014
Publisher: Andrews UK
Published: 2019-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

***

The two chiefs – one with greater clout than the other – sat at opposite ends of a dining table. Adolphinus looked down its length at Bushcatti who was looking down at his plate. Was his master satisfied with his meal?

‘Is the food satisfactory Your Most Esteemed Excellency?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you have a pleasant journey?’

‘No.’

Adolphinus tried to make polite conversation, but his master just wanted to eat. The penny dropped, and Adolphinus confined himself to observing his master eat, and the moves he made: the way he pushed the meat and vegetables around the plate, seeking out only the best bits to put into his mouth; the way he chewed as if it hurt. Adolphinus, not hungry, went through the motions, and sat impatiently; wishing for the serious talk to begin, like a dog waiting for the bone to be thrown his way.

While the two chiefs sat in a cold embrace, and ate without conviction or conversation, in another part of the monastery, the Chief of Police was engaged in raucous laughter with Mostrum, Captain of the Guard. They were drinking beer and munching on pork pies, without a care in the world. It was a reunion, but not of old mates.

During the course of the previous visit, they had come to know each other well: each admired the other for his aggressive, heartless application of authority; for his secret contempt for the trappings of power and the egotism it generated. Both felt driven to puncture the pomposity, the pretentiousness of the world - not because they laid claim to the moral high ground, but because it was wicked fun. Each took pleasure in dominating weak, fragile souls, and the opposite sex. Each admired the rebel inside the other. Each stuck two fingers up to God, for when had God ever struck them down? Neither believed in him. He was just a convenient device, and each played the game of lip service. There was something close to pure evil buried deep within the both of them, and each sensed a hint of it in the other. They were soulmates, but without a soul to share between them.

The two were in their element, for lunching with them was Paminio, personal assistant to Chief, Chief Monk Bushcatti; and he was suffering. Mostrum beat him near senseless with his verbal abuse, purely for the entertainment of the chief of police. Not wishing to make a scene, or appear defeated, Paminio put up with it. He expected nothing less from the captain. The captain was a fool, a moron, a degenerate. And this chief of police seemed to share the same characteristics. Paminio was outnumbered and outgunned. But what was it his mother had once told him? Sticks and stones may break your bones but words can never hurt you. Unfortunately, she had got it wrong. Words could hurt.

As on previous occasions, Mostrum ridiculed Paminio for his preoccupation with cleanliness, body odour; and his aversion to alcohol.

‘A man who does not drink beer is not a normal man!’ shouted Mostrum.

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