“Listen, princess, perhaps where you are from, you are used to getting your way. However, with me it will never be the case. You are going to be wit...out a house if you don’t toe the line and I am not the only one who doesn’t care for your attitude. Losing the support of a Pact house would leave you without a means to get the materials you need to continue your craft unless you go into the Dungeon to get the money and materials yourself. Doing all that by yourself, while still trying to make. Too many of them didn’t have any real work skills. They were rule makers and enforcers of regulations. Most of them were successful only because they were backed by a huge machine. Now, bureaucrats were nothing.There were some inspectors who were trying to use their past authority to feather their nest. They would show up at a workplace, find a hundred real and imaginary violations of regulations, and then try to get the owner to bribe them into not filing charges. It worked in a few cases, but. Rekha!Shopkeeper just grinned. Mom was standing by the roadside.Shopkeeper introduced him as vasu.He then suddenly went towards mom and placed his hands over mom.Mom was stunned by his actions and askedMom:ravi who is this. Why is he touching me???Ravi: shut up cunt. He knows your secret so cooperate.I thought. Poor mom. She is being molested by a low cultured old shopkeeper.He placed his hands over mom’s boobs. She closed her. He started pressing it.Suddenly he tore the raincoat. Its buttons. He tossed it into the hamper and turned on the faucet, splashing cold water on his face. Looking up into the mirror he could see the dark circles under his eyes staring harshly back at him. He leaned his forehead against the mirror and swallowed hard. His mind’s eye replayed again the vision he’d gotten from shaking Jamus’ hand. The ship at sea, the cold darkness, the flash of teeth all came rushing in. And blood, so much blood. He wiped his face with the hand towel and flicked off the light,.