And then a month went by and we cleaned the city. Huzzah!

...

Well, I wished. If it only were that easy. I know life and people have a talent to throw a wrench in one's plans, but what happened to me today was too much. Today was a crappy day. But I am getting ahead of myself. Damn, I am so frustrated!

Back to our normal schedule.

My day started like the previous ones. With Dime fighting a lot of somethings next to his old nest. The flow of raw emotions and the thrill of the hunt erased any kind of drowsiness I had. I needed to seriously find out what he was doing. It was like the blasted bird was fighting an army. And he was winning. I could feel some pinpricks of pain but Dime cared not a bit about the shallow wounds he was taking. I could only get the empathic input and the bird was mighty angry. I was glad he hadn't a slingshot.

I had to stay mindful of my own feelings, bottling up what I was sensing from Dime and separating it from my own. Worse, I could feel Penny was also agitated. While she couldn't sense Dime directly, she could sense me. I couldn't let the sky-lord's anger upset the mare so I had to keep it from upsetting me. But it did leave me on edge.

After my morning beauty routine, I donned my armor with the gambeson, put on cargo pants, boots and threw a shirt over the mail hauberk. With a sports bra underneath everything, I learned my lesson. It was a bit tight but the shirt and pants were from Earth so any damage to my clothes would be repaired later. Better than to keep ruining designer dresses. I also attached a longsword and a dagger to my belt, along with some pouches for knick-knacks and a few lower denomination coins. Coppers and a few silvers. Then I went to the kitchen.

As I walked past one of the rectangular, tall windows in the corridor facing south-east, I saw a plume of black smoke rising, far away. Another fire. I stopped to study the smoke. It was rising and the prevailing winds in the region blew from the grassy plateau to the north down on the valley. The smoke was going out of town. It was tall, indicating that the fire that created it happened at least an hour ago, in my rough estimate. And it rose as a column without broadening before the high winds picked it up and blew it south. It meant the fire wasn't spreading. I made a mental note to ask around about it once I was out, but the fire didn't concern me now. Maybe I would go there and clean it up as a priority, maybe not.

I was a fool for taking this job without negotiating my salary.

Anyway, I reached the kitchen. Belle and the cooks were busy with the endless struggle of feeding an army. A small one but I was sure there were over a hundred guards in Abil-Kisu's place, including my own dozen.

"Sandra, welcome," Belle greeted me with an endearing smile. I wanted to squeeze those freckles but I had to act with propriety.

"Good morning, Belle-Sunu. Could you spare me a moment? I have something to ask you," Before she could answer I dragged her out of the kitchen.

I explained to her what happened yesterday, and the butchering of the rodents. Also that I had about a hundred kilograms of rat meat with me. Giant rats, if you measure them by Earth standards. Then I addressed my main concern.

"Is there any prejudice against eating rat meat? I mean, among the upper society?"

Belle blinked. "Well, it is not something they usually eat, but no. Meat is meat, it is just that the rats are usually left alone. They are too vicious. Sometimes you hear a rumor that a child was eaten by rats. I never had one happening next to me, as I grew in a rich man's slave pens, but the stories circulate too often."

I remembered how scared the people were. Rats the size of dogs with whatever monstrous constitution the magic of the world granted them. I half-dismissed the tales of children becoming rat food as it was too convenient as an old wive's tale to scare children and cover-up more gruesome endings.

"So, you don't eat tubers or roots, but you eat rats, eh?" I teased. To each their own.

"The tubers are poisonous to people! And no, I won't try those fried sticks of death you made last time!" She protested. "The gods made you nigh-immune to poison, but us, we are made of softer stuff."

There was a sliver of devotion not entirely toward the gods in her speech. But Belle's words deserved merit. Maybe there was a faint poison in these tubers, and I just tanked through it.

"Okay. So, should I gift some rat meat for the house food supplies? Would the cook be offended?"

She shook her head. "No. Not at all. Lord Abil-Kisu feeds his servants well, but meat is meat. I am sure the men, especially, would appreciate."

"Let's go somewhere I can dump my stash then. Oh. How are the preparations for the arrival of the 'ladies' from the capital?" I whispered the last part to her.

I wanted to make a surprise for the kids. Their moms were coming back to be with them, they should be thrilled and I wanted to do the best by them. I felt guilty for being sucked into this minister's job and having little time to spend with them. Stupid Nephew trying to cheat death.

"It is going well. We will make the fried pastries you taught us. Just make sure you are here before they arrive."

We talked about some minor issues while we cleared a large and sturdy table at the back of the kitchen meant to process meat. Several shallow cuts covered the surface, showing how old it was. Concerned about contamination, I stopped Belle.

"Let me do something about this table before we use it. I know they clean it up but these cracks on the wood are bad."

I summoned my ingot bag and took three titanium ingots. I wanted to cover the table in a smooth layer of titanium to keep the meat from being contaminated. It was also a good practice to manipulate the metal without affecting my armor. One that could one day save my life if I had to do it in a stressful situation, like combat. I used my power slowly and found the first barrier. Having the titanium wrapped around my body and trying to affect only the ingot in my hand was like trying to have a conversation with someone a couple meters away in a rock concert. Every single ring of my suit of mail replied when I tried to tune the titanium's resonance.

So I had to learn how to filter out the noise. Ignore the rings in my armor and focus only on the ingot. It was like doing ventriloquism, like... I don't know. Like that streamer husband playing League while his wife wanted him to go buy milk for the kids. It didn't end well for both but I was amazed at his ability to ignore the woman. Not as much as I was appalled by the violence that ensued. I remember I even shook the computer screen telling him to stop being an ass and just go buy the damn milk. People watching the stream would surely understand. Anyway, that kind of single-minded focus stuck with me.

I tried and spent a lot of time just isolating the ingot from the armor. I felt the need to affect the mail rings like an itch I needed to scratch and I tried to just bear it. Then it came to me. The beautiful royal blue tint of my armor. How I wanted to preserve it. The titanium oxide around my armor. I used it as a barrier to keep the noise down. Surprisingly, it worked. It also dimmed the resonance from the ingot but the oxide layer there was an order of magnitude thinner.

No, I didn't measure that. It was how I felt it, okay?

And after trying for a few minutes more, I reached... nowhere. I just couldn't do that. It was my first frustration of the day.

"I can't do it," I exhaled, breaking the silence.

Belle was behind me all this time. "Don't worry," She chuckled. "It is good to know there are things you can't do, whatever you were trying to do with that metal and the table."

I sighed, swapped the titanium for an iron ingot and covered the table in record time. Then I dumped the rat meat on top of it.

"Here's your job. Prepare the meat for serving or for drying. There should be enough salt in my storeroom in the annex. Just don't disturb Nanna."

The girl was wide-eyed at the pile of rat bits. "Yes..." She mumbled. "I need a knife."

I left Belle working on the meat and went to eat my breakfast. At the stables, Penny was already saddled. After gracefully nodding at the stable hand praising the mare's intelligence, I left the merchant's estate and went to work. The first roadblock of the day was, well, blocking the road. A throng of people, including several armed guards was in front of my estate. The ministry's HQ. And then I was spotted, reported, and the throng's attention was on me.

I could see two councilmembers that bribed my scribes, some scribes I don't know, more wealthy people, and the workers I hired yesterday. And Dime is out of town. It would take several minutes for him to get here. I almost willed Penny to turn around and run away but it would solve nothing. I was the second most powerful person in this city's administrative hierarchy, for crying out loud.

"Hey, you! Woman!" Councilman who-are-you-again shouted, angry.

I looked over the crowd. My guards were at the gate, looking at me. Without any intention of coming to my aid. I snapped an HD pic of the scene so I could later tell who was present. Then I addressed the angry man.

"Yes, counselor? May I help you?" I replied with my business smile.

"I heard you seize my documents and imprisoned some honest scribes! I had to come to see it by myself!" He shouted back.

So straightforward. I was thankful that he at least saved me the trouble of guessing. But just that.

"I did either, counselor. I took the documentation from my ministry for safekeeping and I imprisoned some corrupt scribes. The ones taking bribes to falsify records," I answered and deadpanned at the end. "The ones that corrupted my scribes are still out there. I intend to bring them to justice."

"Well, we need those documents," One of the scribes entered the conversation.

This one had fancier clothing than the other scribes. It felt familiar and after a while, I remembered. It was the same style of tunic Nephew used when he was acting as the magistrate, but fancier.

"Pardon me, I don't think we were introduced. I'm Sandra Rinaldi, minister of Agriculture and Development," I greeted the possible new magistrate.

He huffed, annoyed. "I know who you are, woman. I am the new senior magistrate, appointed by the Enshi Es-Kina. And I demand the documents you took."

The pieces were falling in place now. This guy had the same power as that old mind-bender turned vegetable that tossed me in the hole, Sun-Goro. Meaning he was quite powerful in the city, and if we fell into a dick measuring contest, I'd lose by default.

But then again, dicks were not that valuable nowadays in Es-Kina, with all the scheduled imports. Nephew wanted to build his ziggurat and cheat death with women as fuel, and in particular, me as the cherry on top, pun intended. As William Hurt proclaimed, as long as I was available for business and not committed, I had huge bargaining power with Nephew. It was disgusting to even entertain the thought but going through yet another of these Bronze Age judicial trials would be even more disgusting and troublesome. I had no idea even if they had a harder trial than being tossed in a bottomless crevice.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, honorable senior magister. The scrolls in possession of the ministry are just copies for our use in planning the Enshi's Ziggurat. There are some scribbles and notes made both by me and the scribes, and their value as proper documents is null."

He wasn't pleased. I guess being talked back by a woman was not something he was used to. He clenched his eyebrows and rattled his jaw. "That doesn't matter. I am ordering you to hand over the scrolls, and you will do it now."

I sighed before I noticed and held my breath. "That I cannot do, magister. If you want the documents, you can use the copy your scribes have in the courthouse. The scrolls we are working on have sensitive information regarding the ministry."

He stared at me as if he was asking if I was mentally handicapped. Then he turned sideways and pointed at the plume of smoke. "The courthouse burned down to the ground tonight!" He screeched, his voice raising an octave. "All the documents inside burned down with it! The only copies of the deeds for the whole city are with you!"

He pointed an accusing finger at me and the crowd behind him grew angrier. I stared at the smoke and my jaw relaxed with the surprise. "The courthouse burned down?" I mumbled.

"Yes, you dolt!" He insulted me with a term that meant to compare one's intellect with a goat's. "Hand over the documents or I'll have you executed."

On the magister's left, councilman early-vote smirked. Nephew probably owed these guys a lot because they saved him from slavery and a trip to the water-goblin-depths and it seemed he was intent on calling it.

"And don't think the Enshi, magnanimous though he is, will side with you, wench," He barked at me, raising his voice like the 'good' politician he was. "Your plans to take over the city failed. I bet it was you who torched the archives."

At least I could agree with him in one thing. I've seen the security in the courthouse. The fire was no accident, it was arson. He wanted to incite the crowd behind him. I could see the people I hired yesterday confused, while the ones they brought with them shouting and inciting the crowd. But he gave me a golden opportunity to solve this problem and take him out of the equation. I cringe inside but I can't be naive. That guy wanted blood. He shall have it.

"Magistrate, I take offense at that accusation. I did no wrong and never left Abil-Kisu's estate during the night. I have his guards as witnesses that I did not set fire to the archives. I demand a trial."

As if I was going to back down. I knew very well this course of action could end with the councilman's death or mine but my hands were already tarnished with royal blood. Behind me, I heard Nietzche snickering and saw Machiavelli with a thumbs up. I was too weak to reach the other solution. The one where nobody died.

"Ha!" The councilman shouted in defiance. "You are like a weak twig. I won't even need a champion for that. Get off that horse, girl, so I can give you what you deserve."

Before moving, I tried something to confirm one thing that was bugging me. With my hand in my pocket, I summoned Tarhun's tablet and checked the crowd. The whole crowd, one by one. There was no reaction. At all. It was quite impossible that nobody in this crowd worshipped Tarhun so something was amiss. I needed to talk to Nanna, later.

I got down and instructed Penny to back off. Councilman wont-tell-name-to-women-cuz-its-custom took a sword from a guard and I drew mine. Again, I should get a titanium weapon. This duel would be over the moment he swung his blade at me if I did, my fine control in a hurry lacking. Maybe I can break his weapon without affecting mine. The reason I couldn't manipulate the titanium without affecting my armor was that I had too much of it all around me and it was distracting. And if I fail, I'll just break both our weapons. But I could use that... yes.

I detached the sword from the belt and stowed it on Penny's saddle. Then I drew the dagger and lowered my stance, my feet wide to start the ginga.

"I'm ready. Should we start?"

He roared and came with the sword on a two-handed grip. I weaved and dodged closing in, trying to get to stab him with the dagger. To my surprise, he didn't try to bring his sword to bear, he just lifted his leg and kicked my shin away, removing part of my balance for a moment. I gave up on the attack and dropped low and tumbled away.

I got back on my feet at the same time he readied another overhead swing. Our eyes met and I looked down. He smirked and drove the sword down, aiming at my neck. The swing was different this time, he was not committing everything, saving some strength to shift the blade's path. I shifted sideways and the sword cut into my shirt, drawing sparks as it slid over the mail underneath. Instead of moving to slash again, he drove the sword up while it was still next to me, planting his dominant leg firmly on the ground and shoving me off my feet. Then he headbutted me and stepped back.

I spun with the headbutt and fell on my back. The difference in physical strength was huge. The sword came, sharp point first and I rolled sideways. Another slash dug into the ground where I was and tossed dirt around and over me. Time to sacrifice the plum tree and save the peach. On the next roll, I got on my knees and stopped. The sword came at my neck. I shifted the dagger in my right hand and raised the left hand to block the blade.

He had this habit of putting his whole weight on the dominant leg to transmit more power to his swings. I could see his maniacal grin as he saw I wouldn't dodge his swing. Instead, I waved my left hand, drawing his attention while I threw the dagger at his immobile thigh. The sword dug into my hand and I could feel it chip my bones. We both shouted in pain. I tried to grip the sword but my hand wouldn't obey.

The pain was too great to concentrate on Decompose to manipulate the metal. Instead, I rusted his sword, accelerating the decay process of the metal and feeling the flakes of rust drop.

"Don't pull the dagger out, you moron!" I heard the new magistrate's voice.

Focusing my sight, I could see that the councilman had the dagger deep inside his thigh, a hand on each weapon. My own hand was rapidly healing and the feeling was returning.

"You are dead, woman!"

Councilman roared, dropped his sword and grabbed me by the neck of the mail. Then he headbutted me again. He let the dagger in the wound and moved to grab my neck. With both hands, he held me and pressed down on my throat with the thumbs. Tarhun's boon of half-damage meant he could only choke me halfway. I struggled but there was no escape from his vice-like grip.

Then I kicked the dagger deeper into his thigh and felt the blade scrape his femur. He released me. I gagged and gasped for air.

With mad eyes, he roared and pulled the dagger, drawing a gush of blood out of the puncture. He grabbed my shoulder, pinning me down, and came to stab my face. I kept my eyes on the weapon. Decompose. The iron flowed away from me, ruining the weapon and also dying the blood a sickly yellowish purple.

And now my hidden card. This close and with his attention on me and the dagger, he missed the movement of my right hand. I summoned my survival knife and stabbed his stomach, pulling the weapon sideways and storing it when it stopped cutting.

It was his time to gasp. He didn't let go of me but looked down to see the wound.

"Your loss," I told him and moved my hand next to my chin.

"Not yet, whore!" He hissed and raised his head to give me another headbutt.

I watched as his head came down. Then I summoned the knife again in my hand and pushed it against his neck. He impaled himself on the knife but still delivered a half-strength headbutt.

Then he gargled blood and dropped to the side of his wounded leg. I pushed him aside and stood up.

"There, problem solved," I shouted. "With the gods as witnesses, it was proven that I didn't set fire to the courthouse archives. Magistrate?"

Play along or face the crowd, jerk.

"Yes... yes! The gods have proclaimed their judgment and I witnessed it. Councilman Merem-Selit lost the trial and is considered guilty of setting fire to the courthouse. All of his assets are now confiscated by the court."

That was... a shitty move. By their laws, his assets should be mine but I will let this asshole get away with it. But he wasn't done.

"Miss Sandra, I still need the documents."

I told you it was a crappy day.

"I don't know where they are," I technically didn't lie. I know how to get them, but where did the stuff I stored go, I had no idea. "And now I am going to clean the blood and put on clean clothes. Go back to your courthouse and try to salvage something, magistrate. I am busy."

A staredown contest ensued as Merem-Selit exsanguinated on the road. Penny dug at the dirt, impatient. Then a raptor cry rang above us. Dime arrived, late to the party. I rose my arm without breaking eye contact and the Sky-Lord landed on it. I couldn't hold him for too long but I felt an updraft and the weight reduced. Dime's wind magic also had the effect of ruffling his feathers and making the bird look even more menacing.

"So?" I asked.

His eyes shifted to take in Dime's imponent figure. "Are these... guts?" The magistrate asked, disgusted.

My attention shifted and I felt the stench of carrion. I looked sideways and saw Dime, covered in gore and dried blood. And indeed, there was a piece of bowels stuck to his chest.

"It seems I need to clean my bird too. I don't know what it killed but it wasn't anything healthy."

And now that I took a good look, his crop was full. He was eating well.

"Ugh," He gagged. "I don't know if that's a sky-lord or a vulture anymore. Have it your way, miss. We shall meet again."

The magistrate took a few steps back. I nodded. "I won't make any promises, but I'll try to make copies of the documents. I hope we can work together toward Es-Kina's prosperity, instead of... what this guy was doing. Else I fear your tenure in the office will be a short one, magistrate."

'When the chieftain has penetrated enemy territory but not too deep, he is on facile ground. On facile ground, halt not,' Sun-Tzu said. I would keep the pressure on this guy until he caved. Hesitating now would make Merem-Selit's death pointless.

"You dare--"

I cut him and spoke over. "If it were not for Merem-Selit's machinations cutting me and Abil-Kisu's votes from the council, the previous magistrate wouldn't even be the Enshi. And speaking of transferring assets, I claim his votes in the council to myself. You can't sell these to rebuild your courthouse. Which you will have to do without my help, by the way.

"So, yes, I dare. Try me, magistrate. I'll make you think Sun-Goro catatonic state was a blissful retirement. You can have his business, his land, his gold. I keep the votes. Are we in agreement, magistrate?"

DIme crowed menacingly, raising his wings and lowering his head as if he was about to pounce.

"So shall it be. We will take our leave. Guards, take this corpse away. Justice was done here," He said with a nervous flair. "And we shouldn't take more of the minister's time for the sake of the city. Farewell, milady."

From dolt to milady, that was quite the improvement. Now, the key to politics was to always leave your opponent an exit. And always try to drive him toward the exit you want him to take. The magistrate got his justice, he filled his pockets, I got more votes in the council, and he was soon to be out of my neck. A win for everyone. I had no delusions that they would leave me alone. Maybe I'd have to kill a few more.

Maybe I should've taken over the city and then burned it to the ground. Instead, here I was, working for free and getting double-crossed at every corner.

The magistrate was moving away and the guards were carrying the body. Then I remembered that I still needed his services.

"Magistrate! Wait." I shouted at him.

He turned around, clearly holding back his anger. "What is it, milady minister?"

I pointed at my estate. "I have some corrupt scribes and guards imprisoned. It is your job to judge them and give them proper punishment."

He raised an eyebrow. "Imprisoned? Why didn't you just execute them? It is well within your power to punish your underlings." He seemed very curious. The word he used could also be translated into minions.

"I dislike killing," I sighed.

He shifted his gaze on the councilman's body. "I can see that. Well, let nobody say I shied away from my duties. Bring them to me and I'll grant them justice."

I walked toward the gate. As I moved past the magistrate, I whispered, "You better not release them."

"I won't," He grinned.

I could see the gears in his head turning. These scribes were useful to him, weren't they? I halted. "What are you going to do with them?"

"They shall be sentenced to slavery. I will have them in shackles, copying documents until their hands fall off and they die."

Well, a scribe was expensive to raise. It made sense to not slaughter them outright.

"I hope you aren't trying to have them falsify more property deeds."

"No. Now that the one pressing for the documents is gone, we can wait until you find where you misplaced the ones in your possession."

"I'll need more parchment and ink. But I can get the scribes working for me to make new copies. I won't say when, though."

He nodded. "That is acceptable. I thank you for your cooperation, milady minister." Then he turned to the crowd they brought. "Good, everyone. The issue here is settled. Miss Rinaldi is going to help us. Let us be on our way."

Son of a... priestess of Ishtar. He made it seem like he convinced me to help him.

"You owe me a few favors, magistrate," I told behind his back. "And I'll collect them."

He turned around and clapped his hands. "So shall it be. I'm in your debt, milady." He said loud enough for everyone to hear.

The crowd parted, the ones brought by the councilmen and the magistrate went away, while my workers and the wagon drivers stayed behind. I waved a hand to get their attention.

"Okay, everyone. I am going to freshen up and clean my bird, then we are off to work. Everyone, come inside, let's meet the rest of the team."