After resting for a few hours Layla felt much better. Even if right now she felt very embarrassed, ugh she had shown Benjamin her “mating dance”. Sure she was really quite distressed and needed to calm down, but, ugh, she had shown that to almost nobody! Not even to any of the clients she had during that more than two years she spent in that brothel back in Destroia. What was she thinking? Well, she wasn't thinking, obviously.

Then she felt sad. She liked Benjamin and was quite sure that he liked her back, at the very least as friend. As funny as it was to tease him and make passes at him and watch his awkward responses as he was obviously attracted, but obviously saw something wrong in in a more intimate relationship with a firefly-ascended Mutant, Layla wasn't laughing right now. Being rejected during that first night had made her angry, it was somewhat of an offense to her. She took pride in being able to look roughly like a human woman, and even if they would not actually have sex, she would have appreciated at least some cuddling, some validation of her skills. But right now there was something else tugging at her heart, making her feel uncomfortable.

She ignored that and decided to leave the room. She wondered where Benjamin went. Going back to the lobby, she realized that the one on the reception desk was now the elder daughter of the Calangos, the owners of the hotel. They were a family of four who she had met on the first time she came to Palma, before going on to Destroia. Quite nice people, husband, wife, elder daughter and younger son, they ran one of the few decent hotels which accepted anyone, partly of course because they were ascended from reptilians and thus weren't themselves allowed in many establishments in the city.

“Hey, Maya!” The lizard-girl smiled, as best as she could, and waved back at Layla. “Do you know where my friend, Benjamin, is?”

At the mention of him, the girl at the desk giggled, which made Layla curious. What did he do? In some ways Benjamin was quite the mystery to her, she wasn't quite sure if he was a big coward or stupidly courageous, for example.

“Friend, eh? You call each other friends, but from what my little bro told me, he seems to be quite protective of you.”

Huh, what did she mean by that? Well, he did try to sort of protect her back at Destroia when Rick was being an asshole.

“What happened? Stop giggling and implying things!” Well, it's not like she was opposed if what that girl implied was true... But she knew that Benjamin didn't feel the same way. “Come on, tell me. What did your little brother tell you?”

Maya beckoned her closer so she could speak in a low voice, like imparting a secret.

“It seems that when he came out of your shared room.” Emphasizing that, huh. “He looked pretty on edge, so my little bro told him about the bathhouses here, like the Duke's Respite.” Oh, that relatively new one, she heard some really good things about that place, it sure would have been nice if she could go there. “He seemed pretty excited about it, even wanted to bring you along.” Well, of course that wasn't going to happen. “Listen to this: He seemed furious when he heard he couldn't bring you along, little bro says he sounded like he was ready to pick a fight with someone when he left.”

Hearing that, two conflicting feelings immediately started to be felt by Layla. Of course, she was flattered and quite happy that Benjamin would get angry like that on her behalf, it almost felt like... But on the other side, she became very scared. It was not a good idea. Regardless of anything else, the law of segregation was something that had the complete approval of the mayor, Katzgart. Opposing it, and by extension, opposing him was a very bad idea. She had to talk with Benjamin, but it wasn't a good idea to go out looking for him, all she could do was wait. Please, don't go do something stupid and go after Katzgart before you come back.

As she hoped, Benjamin came back in one piece, he had likely not confronted any official or the Mayor himself about the law. Good, all she had to do was convince him and there probably wouldn't be any trouble.

“Welcome back. I hear you went to the Duke's Respite. Did you enjoy it?”

First, she had to probe his intentions. It was possible that halfway he realized that this whole thing was stupid and just not worth doing anything about. At her questions, Benjamin showed a biter smile.

“Well, not very much. I must say, even though it seems to be happening quite frequently to me lately, I am not a very big fan of making a fool out of myself. And I was just made fool of in spades today.” There was something different about him. Benjamin grabbed Layla's shoulders firmly, showing an intensity in his eyes that she had not seen before. “I went out to do the right thing! I'm sure it is the right thing!” He was frustrated in a way that made him slightly scary. “And yet every single one of my arguments were destroyed, by someone who isn't even really in favor of the damn law of segregation in the first place.”

He said it. So he really was bothered by this whole segregation thing. At least now that he mentioned it, Layla had a chance to try and make him not do anything stupid because of it. He really looked like someone who would do something really stupid if nobody did anything about it.

“Forget about it! Look, it's just not a big deal, okay? Most of the people affected don't mind it very much. If you don't want to deal with it, you can just move. It's not like we are even staying in this city for long. We can leave tomorrow if you're so bothered by this whole thing. There's Entoma, it's a whole country with and for people like me! Don't worry.”

Although, if she was being honest, she would have really liked to eat at one of those fancier restaurants in Palma. But it wasn't a huge problem, really. Their priority should be not stirring up trouble with the Mayor.

“No, you see, I understand. I know this. That guy also said that, but, how can I say it... I just doesn't change how I feel. It's just not right, and this may sound idiotic or like a child's tantrum, but I can't just not do anything. For myself, or you.”

Her? Huh? Since when was this about her?

“Uh, what are you talking about?”

Benjamin pulled her closer to him. Just... Were the heck was this new confidence and attitude coming from? Where did the awkward boy that awkwardly dodged her advances go? He was like a completely different person, or... was he? He did after all, risk his life more than once for the sake of adventure.

“I know that I have no arguments to dissuade anyone, and that I am probably way weaker than this Mayor Katzgart or whatever. But I can still make a statement. You might say that you're alright with being denied the use of things like bathhouses and restaurants. But you're not, nobody is. And after dealing with the kind of terror we did on our way here. You deserve better than to be treated like less than a person. You know... I might say that I'm doing this for you, but... Sorry, but you have no say in whether i'm doing it or not. If I can't do stupid things like this, then how can I call myself a man? Come on, let's get you some nice things and a nice dinner.”

Was she being pushed around by Benjamin? Now that was something she didn't really expect. But, really, it wasn't so bad. Seeing him, it almost made she forget her fear for him, instead...

Ludwig Katzgart was a satisfied man. He was the head of family that had controlled Palma for many generations now. He had the wealth to obtain most things his heart desired, but still had enough challenges thrown at him by the fact that he had to serve under that upstart Prelestia. With most members of his family being blessed with greater longevity than humans once they ascended, Ludwig Katzgart had governed the city for a few decades before Prelestia had taken the country from the Last Lion King in an impressive coup. He called himself and was called by others Mayor, as had his ancestors before him, but the truth was that dynastic as they were, the Katzgarts were effectively lords of Palma. It's just that self appointed titles of nobility usually weren't very well received by the Greater Nobles of the Wildlands, so the Katzgarts always took the safer route of being humble and refusing to be referred to as nobility.

Like his Ancestors before him, Ludwig was content with his control of of Palma, a fairly prosperous, but fairly inaccessible city, quite difficult to invade with and army, and kept himself out of the rest of the country's politics. So, of course he had pledged his loyalty to the Last Lion King when he became the city's mayor, but he also refused to involve himself in the civil war that Daedalus Prelestia started any further than sending a few supplies and allowing the Last Lion King's army to pass through Palma. It wasn't that he predicted the eventual victor of the war or anything, he just didn't want to be in the very bad side of any potential winners, as he knew that just being slightly on the bad side of either of them wouldn't be enough to dislodge him from his position of authority.

If he was honest, he would have preferred if Prelestia hadn't triumphed and become Duke Prelestia. Filthy birds, they weren't that much better than the rest of the non-mammal scum that littered the whole of the Wildlands, but at least they weren't too gross, Ludwig couldn't tolerate if he had to be under someone like that bitch that ruled Entoma, that hellhole full of bugs. At least, with the variety that there were out there, damn bugs rarely found a mate and didn't make multiple generation families. Alhough there were plenty of the fuckers flying around and diving into Pools of Reorigination, turning into first generation Mutants.

If possible, he didn't want to lift segregation on bird-ascended Mutants, but what was he going to do? That would probably give the Duke a very good excuse to come and fuck with this city, which there was no way Ludwig could tolerate. Although whether he tolerated it or not wouldn't change much, he knew that there was no way he could beat Duke Prelestia and confronting him directly would just mean the end of the Katzgarts.

So Ludwig Katzgarts lived his life: With moderate, mostly fulfilled ambitions as well as mild frustrations here and there, with a need to compromise so as to not get needlessly killed. It was a satisfying life, and one of the ways that it kept being satisfying what that almost every day he took friends to dine with at the prestigious Old Chad's Feast, one of the oldest restaurants in Palma. These friends were the successful businessmen of Palma, whether through their own ability, connection to the Katzgarts or a combination of both. This “ritual” was nicknamed by the city's people as the Ruling Council, for these were the people that made the city tick. Whatever they decided would soon be made law.

It was during one of these Ruling Council's that something curious happened.

After a busy day of taking care of the beautiful city of Palma, Ludwig Katzgart sat down to dine with two of his friends. Alan Malarkee, a dog-ascended Mutant who controlled a good chunk of the trade that was done with Destroia. Eddy Pasterino, a human who migrated from the Empire and had many entertainment ventures both in Palma, as well as Destroia. With these two accompanying him, considering the latest news, there was no other topic that they would discuss.

“So, it seems that good old Bernard, the Womanizer, has finally stepped down from the throne. Who do you think is going to end up on the Throne?”

Katzgart had a hunch himself, but he was going to first listen to his friend's perspectives, after all, both of them were more familiar with the Empire than he was. Pasterino was quite quick on his answer.

“Meh, who else but Frederick. Don't think there's anyone who could stop that guy. I really think he's the real deal, every other week I get this or that rumor about ridiculous things he does. As far as I know, his army is disciplined as hell full of really skillful guys.”

A good case. In response Malarkee, as he so frequently did, decided to play devil's advocate for someone that he probably didn't even think should win.

“Sure, but what about Charles? Rumors go that he is responsible for pretty much every great military grade weaponry innovation in the Empire for the last few years. Perhaps something like that could give him the kind of edge to actually beat all the others.”

It might seem like something of a possibility, except there was a little thing that made any chance he had be nothing but an illusion. Pasterino talked about it with glee.

“Hah! Wonderboy Prince of inventions has no fucking chance and you know it. With how much he fucking hates Mutants, there is no way he didn't do something stupid and has already been killed by the Duke or something. He did say he was going to Destroia for a little bit of face-time with the two candidates that are passing through there.”

Ah yes, the infamous problem of being hostile to the kind of people you really shouldn't be hostile towards. Katgart wondered if anyone in the Empire had any inkling as to how much influence Duke Prelestia had within the Empire. Still, Katzgart could understand part of it.

“You know, is he really wrong though? Mutants are better than animals, but are we even on par with humans?”

As always, when the topic took this turn, Pasterino threw his arms up in mock amazement.

“There we go! Time for more human-supremacist lectures from Ludwig! I swear, with how much love you and him both have for humans, I can't see why you don't get along well with the Duke.”

Katgart, as always, mostly ignored the reaction.

“No, I'm serious here! Becoming Mutants made us more than mere animals, and everything that we do which is considered in any way civilized is shit humans have done for millennia. Also, who was it that was responsible for the Pools? Humans, if it weren't for them I'd be licking myself all day, and you Malarkee, would be licking your balls.”

He knew that his friends were tired of this topic, but it was true. How could anyone deny it.

“Yeah, yeah, we should be grateful an all that shit. It still isn't a good idea to flaunt your hostility towards Mutants when you're going to go through Destroia and potentially meet with Duke Prelestia.”

Which was true, and a fact that let Katzgart go into a very important point.

“In the end, isn't the one favored by the Duke going to win?” His two friends answered with a look of disbelief. “Seriously! You guys didn't meet with him when he came on his way to Destroia, did you? He's decided that now is the time to make his dream become reality. Deliria. That fucker looked like he was being possessed by something. I don't think he will stop at anything to get someone on the Throne who is favorable to getting it built.”

Deliria, it wasn't an idea that Katzgart was particularly favorable to, since it would probably end Palma's monopoly as the gateway between the Wildlands and the Empire. Still, he didn't think he could stop it.

“Deliria, eh? When I first heard of it I thought it was only a pipe Dream. Then again, I thought Prelestia was just some upstart pretender before he toppled the seemingly eternal dynasty of the Lion Kings. It might be a problem for you two, but I wouldn't mind somewhere close to build more businesses in, heh.”

A problem, huh. The Katzgarts didn't maintain their position as rulers of Palma by being fools.

“Eh, it might not be as bad as you think for me. There are no other oasis in this damn desert, I'm sure the people of Deliria will be content to spend some good money in a well administered resort town. Now, as for Alan here, well, if his skill isn't enough to capture the flow of trade just because it goes to another city...”

Malarkee waved away the possibility of failure.

“Please, don't you guys know me any more? Anyway, it might start in our lifetime, but who's to say that Deliria might even get built while any of us are still alive.”

While they talked, their food arrived, along with some very unsavory news for Katzgart. One of the waiters whispered something to him. The glare he showed in response was enough to scare even his friends.

“What's wrong? It's been a long time since I last saw you make this kind of an expression.”

Pasterino looked slightly alarmed.

“A fucking pet of the Duke is causing trouble, it seems. For what reason I don't know. Some idiot has entered this restaurant with A. FUCKING, INSECT. MUTANT.” He punctuated every one of these words by hitting the table, making everyone around jump slightly in surprise. “I don't know if that fucker is here on the Duke's orders or because of his own idea, but I can't let anyone else deal with this and risk the wrath of the Duke.” He sighed. “Killing him would be a bad idea, and besides I'm not a big fan of this kind of thing, so I guess a few broken bones should be in order.”

This soured the mood for any conversation, so the three of them spent the rest of their meal in silence. The two friends of Katzgart trying to imagine what he would do to the poor fool that dared to do this. It was probably some idiot that managed to get the Duke's attention and had an inflated sense of self-worth or or something. The guy might think he's immune, but he was going to get taught a very painful lesson.

After they were finished, Katzgart even took it slow in drinking the coffee he always ordered. He was waiting on the other guy's dinner being done. Confronting the idiot in the restaurant would only cause trouble for the other customers and fighting in there would only result in the restaurant's property getting needlessly destroyed, something Katzgart really wanted to avoid. Eventually, a waiter came and whispered something else to him. This time he smiled.

“Are they leaving now?”

Malarkee asked, even though he already knew the answer.

“Yes, wanna come along with me and witness it?”

Pasterino shrugged.

“You know I'm always up for some quality entertainment. Sure, let's go.”

It didn't take long for the three of them to make their way to the restaurant's entrance and locate the two people the waiter was talking about. One of them was a human, the other was some kind of insect ascended mutant, who looked reasonably like a human, but had unmistakably bug-like features. Katzgart's anger flared, but he managed to hold it inside, as he waited for the two to exit the restaurant. When they did, he quickly followed them outside.

“Hey, asshole! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

The human turned back at that. His expression looked like that of a man who was going to war. At least he seemed to somewhat know what he was getting himself into. The insect-woman next to him immediately looked quite panicked and whispered something in the man's ear. She looked quite uncomfortable, perhaps she had been dragged there just to provoke Katzgart? She was a disgusting bug, but Katzgart fell somewhat bad for her.

“So you're Katzgart? What do you mean, what's wrong of me? I'm just a traveler who brought my friend for a nice dinner. Is there something wrong with that?”

Acting dumb, was he? How stupid. And friend? A human, with a disgusting bug? Now that's new. He probably just found her in some filthy alley and dressed her up pretty for this stupid farce.

“Being a traveler is no reason to act stupid, you should be very well informed that this city prohibits the entrance of non-mammal or non-avian people in most places. Not only that, you did this on the restaurant I, the city mayor, eat at almost every day. Are you claiming this is not an act of provocation?”

The man raised his arms and shrugged.

“You got me, it is a provocation, although I must say I thought you might start something in the restaurant. But you didn't, nobody even tried to drag us out.”

Bastard, he should know full well why nobody dared to fucking touch him. Waving around that stupid medal like some kind of protective charm.

“Of course, I'm not letting any citizen of this city get killed by the Duke because one of his idiot pets is acting stupid in my town. I also have a sense of decorum, why should other people's meals be ruined on your account? That's why I'm going to take care of you right now. But before I beat the shit out of you, tell me, what the fuck is your deal, asshole?”

The man looked surprised, while the insect-woman beside him said something while looking quite terrified. He said something back to her before looking back at Katzgart. What the fuck was wrong with him? How does he think he can get away with disrespecting Katzgart that much? Was he even fucking paying attention? Katzgart's anger was reaching a boiling point.

“Wow that's surprising. You seem like actually sort of a nice guy. Maybe this might have a point besides my self-satisfaction.” Must, not, punch, yet. “Do you really think it's right to deny her entry in so many places, like that restaurant? How do you think my friend feels, being unable to to experience the same kind of things as any other person in this city?”

It was Katzgart's turn to be surprised. That was his point? That was his deal? A self-righteous brat campaigning for the right of disgusting beings like the insect-woman? How laughable. He couldn't hold in a good chuckle.

“Really? Really? That's the point of this? What a joke. Perhaps a few days in hospital might help treat your defender-of-the-oppressed-syndrome. What's your name, boy?”

He wasn't the first to oppose this law. After all, it was in effect even before Ludwig Katzgart had been born. He and his ancestors before him had dealt with so-called rights activists. Every time, the activists were defeated with words, fists, claws or a combination of them. Some were honest, others were frauds, but none of them had the ability to actually do something besides whine. This one should be no different.

“I am Benjamin Sutton, son of Baron Sutton, one of the Three great Barons of Messina! Knowing that I cannot defeat you on this with words or fists, I have come to show you my spirit.”

The boy then raised his fists, ready for a fight. Imperial nobility, eh? This might end up more interesting than Katzgart originally thought.