Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

the heart to point out that the gowns and wigs came from Parliaments centuries apart.
    Their latest big idea had been to appoint an official Speaker of the House, someone who owed no allegiance to any particular party or cause, and could therefore keep order with utter impartiality. A good idea in principle. Unfortunately, they’d chosen Elias Gutman for the job. Supposedly because he’d been on so many sides at various times that he could truthfully be said to represent everyone’s interests. In fact, Gutman had been elected to the post because he bribed most of the MPs and intimidated the rest, a practice that had always done well for him in the past.
    It was said that Elias Gutman had a hand in every dirty deal in the Empire, though people were careful how loudly they said it. Gutman’s Family had banished him from Golgotha in his disreputable youth, and sent him money regularly as long as he promised not to come home, an arrangement that suited both parties. Gutman had used that money and his new freedom to become the first-class villain he’d always known he had inside him. He had even helped fund the rebellion, just to hedge his bets.
    But so many of his Family had died fighting on both sides on Golgotha that Elias found himself made the most senior member of his Family by default, and was invited to come home at last. He wasted no time in barging into the political process, sensing that this was where the real power and wealth would be in the new Empire. And now Elias Gutman was Speaker, with power to decide who was and who was not allowed to be heard in Parliament. Many MPs had been heard to ask how they got themselves in that position. But they were careful to say it very quietly.
    Even more unfortunately for all concerned, Parliament had made this important appointment while Owen Deathstalker was off chasing Valentine Wolfe and his cronies. Everyone was waiting to see what his reaction was going to be, torn between a desire for the best seat and a very real need to keep their heads well down, or at the very least out of the range of fire. Owen didn’t disappoint them. The moment the Chamber doors opened, he surged furiously forward into the House, Hazel striding cheerfully along beside him. Owen ignored the plaintive cries of the stewards as they tried to steer him to the assigned public area, and headed straight for Gutman, sitting on a raised platform between the two ranks of seats.
    Two armed guards moved forward to block his way. Owen punched out one, kicked the other in the groin, and just kept going. Hazel followed on behind, stepping gracefully over the groaning bodies on the floor. Gutman stirred just a little uneasily on his seat. He had arranged other, hidden protections, but suddenly face to face with the Deathstalker, he wasn’t quite as sure of their efficacy as he had been.
    Owen came to a halt directly beneath Gutman’s raised seat and glared up at him.
    “All right, what mentally deficient bunch of dickless wonders elected this crook as Speaker? I turn my back on you for five minutes, and you throw open the doors and invite the fox into the henhouse. Why didn’t you hand over the crown jewels to him as well while you were at it? In fact, I think I’ll check them right after I leave here, and if just one piece is missing, someone is going to suffer, and it sure as hell isn’t going to be me. Why Gutman, of all people? If there’s any vile trade in the Empire that he hasn’t profited from, it’s only because he hasn’t found out about it yet. The man deals in death and suffering; God knows how much blood he has on his hands.”
    “And how many have died at yours, sir Deathstalker?” said Gutman smoothly. “We’ve all had to do distressing things to get where we are today. But this is, after all, supposed to be a new order. A chance for everyone to remake themselves anew. To build new lives and careers, entirely separate from what their old history might have been. Or don’t you believe in second chances? In redemption?”
    “Not where you’re concerned,” said Owen flatly. “Grendels will turn vegetarian before you reform. I know you, Gutman.”
    “The fact remains,” Elias Gutman said easily, “that I have been freely elected to my position as Speaker of the House by these good men and women present. Or are you defying their authority?”
    “Don’t try to twist this!” said Owen, his voice rising angrily in spite of himself. “I didn’t spend years on the run