Fate's Crucible Ch. 02

"I'd rather thought so," he murmured, crimson eyes narrowed slightly as he skimmed the document.

"Father's been milking it dry," Amir said, lip curling up slightly. "So my advice is to make friends with the local peasants."

Zankoku nodded thoughtfully. "There's a rather large estate house there, is there not? I seem to remember using it as a headquarters."

"Indeed," Amir replied. "There is, along with a large network of tunnels which are currently unused. The manor itself still has the same caretaker you left after pulling out."

"Make arrangements to have the house repaired and refurbished," he said, giving his brother a nod. "We'll stay there, rather than in the guest rooms at the main house. And make sure to hire locals to do the work. They'll appreciate the consideration."

"As you wish," he said, making notes on his hand comp. "Good idea, that. No doubt they'll appreciate the income as well." He looked up from the comp, frowning slightly. "There is one thing I should tell you now." He took a deep breath. "Noira has been exiled."

Zankoku's eyes narrowed slightly and he nodded. "I rather expected he'd find some way to do it."

Amir glanced over at him. "Should I tell her of your imminent return?" His brother nodded and he continued. "I thought so. There's been a lot going on since you left, unfortunately. After she figured out what had happened, she raised a rather big stink about the genetic modification experiments. She managed to get two of the labs shut down, but she couldn't get the proper papers on Father's personal lab. He tried to have her committed, citing grief and hysterics. She countered with evidence of abuse." He glanced at his brother again, knowing this next part wouldn't go over well. "So... he had her formally accused of adultery. It was all I could do to keep her from being put to death."

Zankoku listened to this, his face a pleasant mask, but inwardly he was seething with impotent rage. "One more thing to make the old bastard suffer for."

"I don't disagree," Amir murmured, shifting through his papers more for something to do with his hands than for any real need.

"I'd challenge him to theHa'tashi'ai, if I thought he had any sense of personal honor. As it is, he'd probably just turn and run," Zankoku growled softly. "Again. No... an honor duel is far too good for him."

"Besides," Amir said, smirking wickedly. "He'd probably collapse of exhaustion."

Zan glanced over at his brother. "Gotten lazy, has he?"

"A bit," came the wry reply. "The only thing he seems to have any stamina for is sex. He's on his sixth wife. They keep dying." His eyes slitted in recollection, his papers rustling as he started shuffling them again.

"And always under circumstances that leave his hands clean, I'll wager," Zankoku said thoughtfully. "How many little bastards does he have running about?"

"That he acknowledges?" Amir pulled out a set of papers for his brother to sign. "Two, besides you and me. And one that he doesn't. These are yours as well," he added in an aside, passing the papers over. "I kept them for you when you left."

He took them with a nod. "I remember Sorcha and Dushir. Worthless flesh lumps."

Amir snorted. "Father's little brownnosers."

Zankoku's pen tapped lightly on the tabletop. "I'm sure they've been leeching off of the coffers." He smirked, slow and wicked. "We'll deal with them." He signed the papers and slid them back over to his brother. "What of the other one?"

Amir took a breath. "Nah'lae."

Zan's eyebrow rose at that. "A daughter?" He chuckled wickedly. "Bet he loved that. Who's her mother?"

Amir hesitated for a moment, then spoke. "Noira."

The pen stilled at that. "What...?" He met his brother's eyes. "When did this happen?"

Amir looked away, then back. "She was born shortly after your mother was exiled." He watched his brother warily. He knew that Zankoku would never hurt him, but he'd seen his brother's temper in action in the past and he had no great desire to see it now so he hurried to further explain. "Since she was born after that, he had no legal claim to her."

"Where are they now?" he asked, voice clipped.

"Mother gave the baby to our uncle and his wife," Amir said. "They adopted her and have been raising her."

Zankoku inhaled then exhaled slowly, calming himself. "And Mother? Where is she?"

Amir shrugged slightly. "I'm not exactly sure. The only one who might know is Renketsu."

"Mm," he nodded slightly. "That would make sense. Uncle would be the only one Mother would trust." Then he glanced over at his brother with a wry smile. "Not saying she doesn't trust you, little brother, but she'd want to protect you." Amir nodded, relaxing now that it seemed Zankoku had his temper under control.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sound the soft tap-tap-tap of Zankoku's pen on the tabletop. "So," he said finally, breaking the silence. "I want you to put the Muh'sa province back under my control. Especially the funds it generates. I want them cut off."

Amir's eyes lidded and he nodded, stylus quickly pecking at the small screen. "Already doing so." He pushed his glasses back up once, eyes narrowing to slits as he stared at the screen.

Zankoku watched his brother work, silently marveling at his loyalty. "Someday I'm going to have to come up with a way to suitably reward you, little brother," he mused, giving him a faint smirk.

His lips quirked. "I'm quite happy being just being your lawyer. And let's not forget the side benefit of seeing Father brought down."

"True," Zankoku said, regarding him curiously. "But there must be something else you want."

Amir waved a slim hand. "I get to ruin lives every day, Zankoku. I can walk into my office and break a spirit." He smirked slightly. "Trust me, I get my pleasure from business." He chuckled softly. "Some have called me a sand-shark. I quite like the imagery."

Zan leaned back in his seat, looking amused. "Yes, well, just as long as you don't forget there are other means of pleasure. You're eventually going to realize that your dick is for more than pissing from."

Amir looking over at him, lips pressing together. "I'm NOT a virgin, brother, much as you might think otherwise. I have gotten laid."

"Well, that's a relief," Zankoku grinned, enjoying teasing his so-serious younger brother. "I was starting to wonder."

Amir gave him an annoyed look. "What do you think I am, queer? There was a girl I was briefly interested in." His older brother raised an eyebrow, curious. "And she was interested in my bank account."

"Aaaah," he drawled, shaking his head. "One of those."

"Yes." He smirked faintly. "They're quite fun to set up."

Zankoku chuckled, sitting up. "It figures. You find ways to combine both of your pleasures. So glad to see you learned at least ONE thing from me."

Amir gave him a wry look. "Purr, my brother. Purr."

Zankoku laughed at that, signing a last document before leaning back in his seat again. Amir's lip quirked slightly, watching him. A slight change in the engine vibration made him blink, and he glanced over at his younger brother. "Are we stopping somewhere?"

"Mm-hm," Amir replied, checking over a few last documents.

"Ah, Yami's meeting," he said, remembering.

Amir glanced over at him again. "Aye, this is where Yami will be meeting her niece." Then he smirked faintly. "Took you a minute, dear sibling. You're not going senile on me, are you?" he asked with mock concern, eyes wide and innocent.

Zankoku snorted. "Hardly." He lobbed a wad of paper at his younger brother. "Ship travel makes it easy to lose track of time, that's all." Then he shook his head. "Acting innocent does NOT suit you." Amir laughed at that, catching the paper and tossing it into the trash. Zan tilted his head slightly, regarding his brother for a moment. "Age has improved you, little brother."

He smiled at that, pleased by the subtle compliment. "Well, I had to do something other than jack off, hm?" He then winked at his brother and sat down his PDA, rising to go to the cockpit and pilot the ship in. Zankoku chuckled, watching him go, then he sat up and stretched, enjoying the feel of his muscles pulling.

Yami stalked out of their room shortly thereafter, her hair piled atop her head in a loose bun. It was held in place by a spidersilk coiffure net seeded with dark glimmering pearls. Her body was encased in crimson leather with bits of silver accents here and there. She had even added red highlights to her eyelids, thus accenting her blood hued eyes. The curved scimitars strapped to her back were traditional, as were the sets of daggers on her thighs. She had decided to dress traditionally for the meeting, thinking the more formal appearance might give her an advantage.

Zankoku raised an eyebrow at her appearance, looking her over as she walked in. "Interesting," he commented with a slow smirk as she paused to tug on her gloves.

She glanced over at him. "Thank you," she replied curtly, taking a seat and strapping in. She was more nervous about this meeting than she would care to admit, fingers drumming on the side of the chair.

Zankoku noticed this, also picking up on her inadvertent mental pacing. He figured that he could at least offer her a distraction. "Tell me, are the swords for show or can you actually use them?"

Her lip quirked at that as she looked over at him. "I'm a full Blooded Daughter of the Setsuya clan. They're for use only. No weapons are for decoration."

He nodded at that. "No offence meant, my dear." He smiled slowly. "Perhaps you'd indulge me with a bit of a bout later?"

She inclined her head slightly, crimson eyes glittering as she regarded him. "If you think you can handle me, then I might be interested."

The smile widened into a smirk. "We can but find out," he purred.

Amir shook his head as he guided the ship down to the planetside dock.And he's hooked, he thought with amusement.

"Indeed," Yami replied, eyes lidding in anticipation before turning her head to look out the viewport. "Already here," she said softly, taking a slow breath to calm her nerves.

"Mm-hm," he said, looking as well. Then he glanced over at her. "Do you wish an escort?"

She looked over at him, blinking, then smiled slightly. "I would appreciate it."

He nodded, smirking faintly. "How intimidating an escort do you wish?"

"Depends, my dear," she said with a low chuckle and a wink. "In our culture, you are our pets."

"That's rather bemusing," Amir said, turning in his chair to look at the both of them.

"Well, I'm afraid we're rather the opposite," Zankoku said, giving his brother an amused look.

"Indeed," Amir added, grinning back at him. "Which is what I was about to say."

Yami eyed the both of them. "You two start that finishing each others' sentence shit and I'm gonna freak."

Zankoku waved a hand to dismiss that notion. "We haven't done that in quite some time."

She looked at them indulgently. "Oh, I don't know. You're doing well enough now."

Amir leaned back in his seat, an arm behind his head. "You're thinking armed escort, brother?"

"Mm-hm," he said. "Though I think full armor would be a bit much."

"Indeed," Yami agreed. "I'd like to impress the girl, not threaten her. She might retaliate if she feels that we mean her harm."

Zankoku nodded. "I left all my armor behind anyway."

Yami glanced over at him. "Actually," she said quietly. "You didn't leave it ALL behind. There's a breastplate and leg greaves in our room along with your collection of weapons. Including your sword."

"Mm-hm. I saw it," he replied. "I was referring to the full suit."

"I'm sure we can look intimidating enough without armor," Amir commented, eyeing his older brother as he spoke. "Though I'm no so muscular as you."

"Of course, those glasses might ruin your efforts to appear intimidating," Zan said, giving him a light smirk for his affectation.

"Yes, well, they serve a purpose," Amir informed him. "And I rather like the way they look." He pulled off the glasses, crimson eyes lidding as he tucked them into a breast pocket. Zankoku chuckled softly. The resemblance between the brothers was even more pronounced when Amir reached back and pulled out the tie holding his ebony hair back from his face. They could almost pass for twins, the only difference being their build.

Zankoku shrugged. "Wear them if you wish then."

Yami tilted her head, considering first one male then the other. "Actually, it's a bit more eerie without them. At a distance, I can't tell the difference. That could be useful at some point."

"We played quite a few pranks in our younger days," Zankoku admitted with a wry grin, giving his brother a conspiratorial smirk. "He doesn't look it but he's quite devious."

"Who, me?" Amir feigned shock, blinking. "Nonsense. I'm as innocent as the day I was born." Yami couldn't help but to laugh at that.

"I'm sure," she said dryly. "Wielding a briefcase and a subpoena."

Zankoku snorted softly. "There's no such thing as innocent in our family."

Amir considered that for a moment. "I don't know," he finally said. "You're pretty much as close to it as we come, Zankoku." He raised an eyebrow at that, watching his brother dock the ship.

"I fail to see how," he drawled wryly as he unfastened his restraints.

His brother regarded him, bemused. "You were always too honest for your own good." He unfastened himself and rose from the pilot's chair, going to his room to change.

Zankoku shrugged slightly. "Sometime the truth is much more cutting than a lie." Then he walked toward his room as well. Yami remained seated, watching the viewport for a few more minutes with her hand over the belt release. Then she shook her head, clicking it open and followed after Zankoku, her stiletto heels tapping lightly on the flooring.

He was changing clothing as she entered the bedroom, so she leaned against the doorway to silently watch him. He was slipping into a crimson mandarin style tunic with black edging, legs already encased in black leggings and she gave him a soft wolf-whistle as she slipped in, closing the door behind herself. Zankoku chuckled softly, glancing over at her as he reached for the katana on the wall.

"What?" she asked him, amused. "It looks good." Her hand rested on one of the mahogany bedposts, slim fingers wrapping around the wood. He smirked faintly, slinging the sword across his back. His head tilted slightly as he adjusted the strap, having to let it out a little. Evidently, he had broadened through the chest since he had last worn the weapon. He shifted the black leather strap, settling it over the crimson tunic, then glanced over at her again.

Yami couldn't help the faint rumble that escaped her as she looked him over. She had never seen him wear the sword before, or that particular outfit. It suited his noble bearing and she found it quite attractive.

"I take it you like?" he asked softly, pulling his hair back and securing it with a carved ebony clasp. He picked up a pair of daggers in forearm sheaths, then put them aside, debating instead on something different.

"Without a doubt," she replied honestly, watching him go over his collection of weapons. She couldn't help but to notice that the leggings had the added advantage of providing easy access, the thought making her shiver lightly.

He paused a moment, crimson eyes thoughtfully considering the myriad assortment of weapons that he had collected over the decades. "Hm..." He reached up onto the wall, pulling down a pair of slim harpies, looking them over. He strapped them on, then gave his wrist an experimental flick, the slender razor honed blade instantly shooting out.

Yami watched this, remembering. She knew those blades well, her fingers rubbing over faint patterns carved into her skin. "I'm going to have to get out of here," she said, shaking her head.

He glanced over at her, the blade retracting. "Oh?"

"You're going to make my leather chafe," she admitted wryly.

He chuckled softly. "Perhaps we can remedy that later then."

She smirked slowly. "Only if you promise to get out the whip." Then she pushed off of the post that she had been reclining against, striding for the door with a definite sway to her hips. He watched her go with evident amusement, then secreted a few more weapons on his person before walking out to join her.

"Where are we meeting your niece at then?" he asked as he closed the bedroom door behind him.

"At the edge of the city actually, in one of the tea houses," she answered, waiting on Amir to join them. "I figured you two would be comfortable enough there as well." He nodded, walking toward the hatch, placing a hand over the release button.

Amir padded out of his room as the hatch began to open, still tying his hair back. He was wearing a tunic in the same style as his older brother, but his was black with red draconic designs sewn into the material. The black leggings were the same, but rather than a sword he carried a spear with a wickedly barbed head. Crimson ribbons were wrapped beneath the metal end, the ends fluttering around the polished wooden shaft.

Zankoku nodded in approval as his brother joined him by the hatch and Yami regarded the pair of them wryly. "Godsdamn, you two are enough to give a girl palpitations." She slipped past them, starting down the ramp.

"Why, thank you my dear," Zankoku said with a faint smirk. "We do aim to please."

She laughed softly at that. "Then again, it could be just me. I tend to like the dangerous ones."

Amir nodded as he joined them, making sure the hatch locked behind them. "Yes, I've noticed." He gave his brother a wry smirk, which was returned.

"Good thing we're related," he retorted. "Who knows what she might attempt if we weren't." Yami thought about that for a moment, then smirked to herself.

Amir gave a low laugh. "Indeed. Though I must admit, those little bloody habits of her are interesting to watch." The two males fell into step with her as they left, slightly behind her.

"Oh?" Zan asked curiously.

"Mm-hm," his brother replied. "To get information from one of our sources, she tortured him for almost thirty-six hours. She cut off an inch of skin at a time, starting with his genitalia." Zankoku's eyes widened slightly at this and he regarded Yami with new interest.

She merely shrugged, leading them down the sidewalks away from the port. "He was a dick," she said, tone bemused. "Are you bragging on me, Amir?"

He chuckled at that. "Of course, Yami."

They walked out of the landing bay area, into the main section of the port and Zankoku froze, his head turning slowly. The sights, sounds, and more importantly, the scents of the docks slamming into his senses like a physical blow. Travelers, port employees, dockhands, cargo loaders; of all different races and species and all moving about busily. He growled softly in annoyance as the stimulation triggered the ever-present hunger, feeling it begin to faintly gnaw at him.

Amir watched him closely, crimson eyes slitting as he reached over to lightly touch his brother's arm. Zan took a deep breath, then let it out slowly before glancing over at him. "I'm fine."

He nodded. "I know. As soon as we're done, you can return and feed, yes?" He glanced over at Yami, who nodded.

"No complaints here," she agreed, a faint smirk turning up the corner of her mouth. Zankoku nodded as well, the red glow in his eyes fading a bit as he ruthlessly controlled his instinctive urges. She watched him, head tilted slightly, though she knew better than to touch him and distract him.

"Let's go then," he said, and she nodded. He fell into step behind her again as they left, his eyes still slightly narrowed.

Amir followed suit, his eyes half lidding as he took in their surroundings. He found it rather amusing that his brother had bound his hair back with a carved wooden clip that had been a gift from their mother Noira. Little things like that were what bound him to his brother. He wasn't sure how to explain it, nor did he know exactly what it was that made him remain so loyal to him. For him, it wasn't so much the major things, but the little seemingly insignificant details. Unconscious actions were what attracted him, for those were the true measure of a person. He shook his head, pulling out of his thoughts. He didn't want to lose track of his surroundings, for that sort of carelessness was what led to problems.