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!"

and fixed the idiot in front of him with a steely glare that deflated the man like a puffed up

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

to speak up but Wallace spoke

all. I would be absolutely shocked to learn if any authority figure within the ant power structure knew your name or had heard of a single complaint you've lodged, which I have filed

man had grown so red in 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

he hollered. "PIRACY and THEFT! Where

the high rates you demanded for your loans? Loans that only the truly desperate with nowhere else to turn would dare accept? I can remember many scenes

was the only response

"… as I thought."

one side and spat a wad of coloured spit on the ground next to

street, I am you, and what do you know? I hear you wailing and I just don't care. So why don't you shut up,

measure of Charitus' face, Wallace judged he'd pushed the man close to a major aneurism, but hadn't quite managed to tip him over the line. More's the

stiffly, "the city cannot survive when those insects run roughshod

frankly? Anyone in this city who would be willing to go back to your rule is far too stupid for me to want them to continue living here. That is

the enraged scion of a once mighty house turned on his heel and left, striding out and collecting the few lackeys he'd left outside on the way. Turning around, Wallace found his spit bucket and cleaned out the

direct… with them?" came