Chrysalis

"What I want to know, Captain, is when you and our new oppressors will settle the matter of reparations!" the old man sneered.

Wallace Dalton, former Captain of the Rylleh City Guard and now the appointed military adjutant to the Rylleh branch of the Colony, suppressed the urge to spit and continued to grind his chew between his teeth, hoping the repetitive motion of his jaws would help burn off his irritation.

"Citizen Alliornus…" he began.

The old man's eyes blazed with fury.

"THAT'S LORD ALLIORNUS TO YOU, BOY!" he bellowed, spittle flying.

Wallace took a quick step back to dodge the expectorant and giggled internally at the impotent rage of this relic.

"Citizen Alliornus," he repeated with an added emphasis that he relished, "you are certainly aware that within this city, there is no such thing as a lord or lady, are you not?"

His needling produced the desired result as the once wealthy council member swelled up like a toad, jowls swinging as his temper took full hold.

"My family worked to found this city!" he declared with all the pomposity he could muster, "securing the future of their descendants and creating enduring prosperity for all the traitorous residents of this once great place. My authority, my belongings and my wealth have been illegally seized by these interloping insects and I DEMAND that they pay it back!"

these people. Would their self-interest ever cease? Wallace sighed and fixed the idiot in front of him with a steely glare that deflated

be as clear as I can possibly be with you, Charitus," he dropped formality and used the once powerful man's first name, "as grateful as the residents of this place are for what your ancestors did, they aren't so grateful that they are prepared to happily suffer under your incompetent and corrupt governance. If I were to hazard a guess, if the Lion Fist of city legend were to come back and see what his house had fallen to, he'd spit in your

ex-lord blustered and tried to speak up but Wallace spoke straight over

figure within the ant power structure knew your name or

the face during this speech that he almost appeared as if he were going to pop. Wallace watched the colour change with a vague sense of fascination, wondering just how dark a human complexion could possibly turn before they suffered a

"PIRACY and THEFT! Where

you demanded for your loans? Loans that only the truly desperate with nowhere else to turn would dare accept? I can remember many scenes of widows weeping in the street, begging for justice that they would never

the only

"… as I thought."

leaned to one side and spat a wad of coloured spit

I am you, and what do you know? I hear you wailing and I just don't

man close to a major aneurism, but hadn't quite

for this," he said stiffly, "the city cannot survive when those insects run roughshod over traditions and disregard our laws. There

city who would be willing to go back to your rule is far too stupid for

collecting the few lackeys he'd left outside on the way. Turning around, Wallace

to be so… direct… with them?" came the voice of his secretary, his former lieutenant,