Crucible of Fate

simply present.
    “What the fuck is the matter with you?” I stopped in place.
    He kept walking. Everyone else stayed with me, the procession halted.
    “Crane!” I barked.
    He let out a deep sigh and rounded on me.
    I waited expectantly.
    He tipped his head sideways because, apparently, he was waiting on me.
    “Crane—”
    “My semel.”
    I closed on him fast, pointing at his chest. “Don’t fuckin’ semel me. What the hell is wrong with you?”
    “In what way?”
    “In every way!” I snarled.
    He crossed his arms. “Am I not the maahes of this tribe?”
    “You know goddamn good and well that you’re the maahes! What the fuck does that—”
    “Then allow me to perform the duties of my station and conduct affairs as I see fit. If I need help, I’ll ask for it. If I mess up, you’ll definitely hear about it. But until then, don’t worry.”
    “I have to worry! Elham El Masry announced his intention to meet my maahes in the pit!”
    “I’m well aware.”
    “Crane! He was in line to be semel-aten! Since I killed Ammon, he’s out, and now he wants to be maahes because he can mess with me and my plans if he’s in your spot.”
    “Again.” He sounded annoyed. “I know.”
    “By law, anyone can challenge your position and—”
    “My semel—”
    “Crane,” I said, my voice rising in anger and frustration. “I don’t want Ammon El Masry’s little brother in my private circle! As maahes, he would hold considerable power and eventually could sway people to his cause and—”
    “Domin—”
    “Everyone expected him to be made maahes. Asdiel Kovo, the new priest, never stops asking me when it will happen. He, much like everyone else, never considered that Ammon’s brother would not be made maahes. He said that choosing you was—”
    “I don’t give a shit,” Crane cut me off. “The new priest is a dick.”
    Taj, who’d been listening the whole time, snorted from behind me, and when I looked back at him, he opened his eyes wide and shrugged.
    “What? Crane’s right, he is a dick.”
    “He’s a man in love with the sound of his own voice,” Mikhail chimed in.
    “Whatever he believes, or doesn’t, is of no interest to us. Crane’s right—do not concern yourself with these petty annoyances. Allow your maahes to handle the affairs of his station.”
    “Thank you,” Crane grumbled and stalked away, first down the hall, and then I saw him veer off down the stairs leading to the back entrance and beyond to the gardens.
    I faced Mikhail. “Have you lost your mind?”
    The expression on his face was pure annoyance. “Here’s what’s probably going to happen,” he said. “Elham will insist on a challenge, and it will be him and one other in the pit with Crane and whoever he chooses.”
    I figured there was more, and when I realized that was it, I glared. “For fuck’s sake, Mikhail, I know that! But it can’t be you, and it can’t be Taj or any of my khatyu or the Shu, so who the fuck from around here is going into the pit who gives a shit about Crane or me? That’s what I’m trying to get him to think about. Whoever he takes in there with him is just gonna fold and let him get beat up, or worse, and if anything happens to Crane on my watch, Jin will—”
    “Then you shouldn’t have brought him,” Mikhail said sharply. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting of the sylvans to lead.”
    He took off before I gave him my permission to go, and Taj gave me a quick nod before he was gone, walking away in the opposite direction.
    “Thanks,” I yelled out. “I really enjoy these morning get-togethers of ours!”
    No one was listening to me.
     
     
    T HE villa was supposed to be mine. It didn’t feel like it. The residence of the semel-aten, while a home, was more like a vast resort and college campus all rolled up together. I had no idea who half the people in the sprawling mansion were at any given time. The place was simply too big, too filled with marble columns and staircases and statues of gods and goddesses and balconies and alcoves and just space. So much yawning space. It was supposed to be my haven, but my sanctuary wouldn’t be filled with floor mosaics and frescoes that ran through rooms and down halls. Living in the villa of the semel-aten was like living in a museum. The only time I felt any sort of peace at all was when I was in my own quarters.
    The area I occupied with Yuri was small—by villa standards—and was located behind the patch of papyrus