Page 36 of By Mistake
"Approximately five minutes, then I won't be able to keep them from coming back to clear out stragglers."
Oresti opened files quickly, shoving anything that looked remotely accurate into the satchel he'd brought along precisely for this purpose.
When he found an entire stack that looked like exactly what he sought, he shoved the whole thing inside, and the one beneath it, causing his satchel to nearly burst from volume and weight. "All right, let's go."
Shimari stepped in close, grabbed him by the arms, and then they were gone—and back in the palace, in his private chambers.
"That is going to take getting used to," Oresti said. He dropped the satchel on the parlor table and did some more stretching. "Thank you. That was all so much easier with you there. I'd have been there for at least a couple more hours yet, and had much more trouble sneaking back out."
Shimari grinned, all teeth and mischief. "Even had time for a little fun, Your Highness."
Oresti liked it better when Shimari called him darling , but there was something in the slightly bratty way he said Your Highness that was appealing too.
"Never thought I'd see the day I let someone suck my cock while I was working, but here we are.
" He went into the bedroom, where Andrus was fast asleep.
He was utterly still, not shifting or snoring or anything, and slightly pale. "So summoning Kressen went fine?"
"Depends on your definition of fine," an unfamiliar voice said sourly.
Oresti turned sharply, staring through the doorway where a tall, beautiful man dressed in black and gold with long silver hair stood beside Shimari with his arms crossed. He looked Oresti over and seemed to find him wanting. Oresti bowed. "Kressen of the Blood, an honor to meet you."
"You didn't bow to me ," Shimari said with amusement. "I think you threatened me."
"You deserved it," Kressen retorted.
Oresti asked, "What brings you to see us?"
"He wants to whine and complain like usual," Shimari said before Kressen could speak. "He's less a demon of blood and more one of whining."
"You're one to talk," Kressen said without any heat. "The little aura-reader is taking a nap, and the dryad has flitted off somewhere. I thought I might go explore the city and came to see if Shimari wanted to go with me."
"That sounds like a terrible idea," Oresti replied. "So I assume I'll see you this evening? I'll be here reading through these files for a few hours, then going to the courthouse to pull the matching copies there."
"Sounds dreadful. Enjoy. We'll tell Greivs you're here." Then they departed, a sleek black cat and an absurdly fluffy white one with dark brown fur at the ears, feet, and end of his tail.
Rolling his eyes at them, Oresti ordered food and then sat down to empty the satchel.
He wound up with about thirty-six files.
He fetched pen and paper and opened the first one.
When food arrived just a few minutes later, he ate absently while poring over the files, until he had a list of twenty-three that, judging by the listed crime and length of sentence, made no sense for the destination.
Greivs appeared as he was putting everything away and locking his desk. "Looks like I arrived at just the right time."
"Indeed. I'm off to the courthouse to find the matching files. Did you want to come?"
"Sure, though I have dinner with Coret at nine. Since we are bound to the same demon now, we are trying to get to know one another."
"How is Kressen? I met him briefly, but he didn't give much of anything away."
"Rightfully pissed off. He does not like 'wretched, greedy, backstabbing humans' even a little. But he seems to obey Shimari even when he wants to kill him." Greivs shrugged. "I suppose we'll see how it goes."
"Suppose so." Oresti dressed quickly, dropped a soft kiss on Andrus's brow, and then shrugged on his coat as they headed off.
"I haven't seen him or Shimari since they left to go explore town a few hours ago.
I should probably be concerned about that, but also, what could I really do to stop it?
" Other than issue a command, which he refused to do.
Whatever the binding, he would not treat Shimari like a slave or a pet.
Fond amusement flittered briefly through his mind, soft and insubstantial, and then was gone.
"So how did you get the records from the depot?"
Oresti related the tale as they walked, enjoying Greivs amusement over the matter as he had been more somber than usual lately—understandably—and probably needed some lightheartedness.
Especially since this mess was far from over, and Greivs was now directly involved, instead of simply helping him here and there.
Once more an Investigator, he was let into the courthouse and through to the file rooms without issue.
There, he split the list with Greivs, and together they made quick work of collecting the needed files.
He signed them out, and they headed back to the palace, stopping only for a snack at a food cart because divine though palace food might be, nothing beat street vendor skewers of chicken roasted in a sticky, spicy sweet sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
When they returned to his room, it was to find the missing demons returned, sprawled out indolently in his parlor drinking a blood red wine. He stole Shimari's cup and took a sip. "Going for the most expensive parts of my wine cellar, I see."
"Obviously."
Kressen stared through hooded eyes at Greivs, and Oresti was grateful he wasn't privy to that demon's thoughts.
"So are all zero class eyes red?"
"No," Shimari said. "Kressen and I are the oldest of the five, by far."
"Especially you," Kressen retorted. "Fucking ancient. You should see his true form. Absolutely decrepit."
Shimari rolled his eyes. "At least I'm not all pointy and dripping and disgusting. Anyway, red is a sign of age. In another millennia or two my eyes will turn entirely black. The others have orange or yellow eyes."
"That makes it extra precious your little pet summoned him by accident," Kressen said.
"The older the demon, the more difficult to summon and control.
Yet somehow he lies in repose from being the driving force behind summoning two of them.
Be careful he is not taken to become a living power source. "
"Not while he's under my protection," Shimari said.
"Well, I'll add that to my list of things to worry about," Oresti replied with a sigh, taking another deep swallow of wine before returning the glass. He fetched the files he needed from his locked desk, set them and the courthouse files on his worktable closer to the balcony.
Someone appeared at his side, and he turned to see Shimari holding a fresh glass of wine. "Doing something nice for me?"
"Well, I am fucking you later, so I probably should."
Oresti laughed and took the wine, as across the room, Kressen rolled his eyes, and Greivs laughed before pushing off the couch he'd been leaning against and joining Oresti.
"I can do this. Don't you have a dinner to get ready for?
I hope you're ready for marriage, because I promise, Coret's mother is already planning it.
She's not letting her beloved favorite child squirm out of this opportunity.
There's time enough to plan a spring wedding. "
"Shut up," Greivs said. "Have fun with your work, then. I'll see you tomorrow, unless you need my help with anything tonight."
Oresti waved him off. "Shimari can help me. You focus on you, Greivs. This matter with Farthing will reach a boiling point soon enough. Until then relax. Go have dinner. Good luck with your future mother-in-law."
"Ha, ha, and ha," Greivs said as he departed, Kressen turning into a cat and slinking off behind him.
"Everyone is going to start noticing the influx of particularly nosy cats if you two keep this up."
Shimari scoffed. "We can go about unnoticed when we like; doing it as cats is just more amusing." He fell silent, watching as Oresti worked, matching up files and marking where the depot copies had been altered.
Oresti was sick to his stomach, staring at the truth he'd already known so plainly laid out.
"There must be tens of these, if not hundreds.
Could go back years and years. Who knows how many others are doing this, how many prisoners have simply been lost…
" Oresti stopped, took several deep breaths to calm the rage.
So many people misused, hurt, forgotten.
Dead, when they should have been serving lighter sentences that wouldn't have hurt them.
Farthing and everyone else involved in this sort of abuse would pay . "We have evidence of the prisoner sentencing being altered illegally. I still need to find the money, though. Without proof that Farthing himself is paying off the guards…"
"So we go to the guards," Shimari said, finishing his own wine and setting the empty glass down.
"The depot captain would have to be in on it, along with at least a few guards every shift change and at least two of the office workers.
That's at least…nine people, if you assume captain, two office workers, and six guards. "
"Probably more like four guards per shift, so ten. All right. We start at the top then."
"Top of what?" came a sleepy voice.
They turned sharply, and even Shimari's face was filled with surprise. "You're awake already."
"When should I have woken?" Andrus asked, only slightly snippy.
Shimari crossed the room to fuss over him in a way he would never, ever admit to doing. "You should have slept until morning at least. Recall when you summoned me you slept for three days."
"Guess I'm getting better at collapsing dramatically," Andrus replied. "Don't worry, I'll probably go right back to sleep. I needed to piss, and now I'm hungry. What are you two doing?"