Chapter 159: The Rules Of The Beastfolk 2

Tanaka wasn’t surprised. "I understand. He became the first king of Varghelm," he said. "Correct," Maeryn said. The Wolf King wasn’t emperor of the united beastman nations, but he was their official judge and jury. Their protector, as well. "The Lion Tribe maintains an independent ruler," Maeryn said.

"As do the Fox Folk and the Rabbit Kingdom. The smaller nations have chiefs, lords, elders or assemblies of sovereigns depending on their tradition," she explained. This law was much more appealing to Tanaka. "But when their disputes spill over into our borders, they kneel to the Wolf Crown," Maeryn added. "Precisely," Garric said.

The next law was more complicated, but in short, any dispute between beastman rulers is brought to the Wolf King’s council. "If either ruler refuses to accept this law..." Garric’s smile was devoid of humor. "They will be challenged," he said. Tanaka turned back to face him. "Politically?" he asked. "Sometimes," Garric replied.

Tanaka laughed. The beastmen weren’t perfect people, but it hardly surprised him. "The next law deals with interpersonal matters between beastmen of the same race," Maeryn said. Tanaka took a breath. He smelled the scent of a summer afternoon. No law against discrimination, then. "Foxes call wolves liars, lions call foxes secretive, warriors curse the timidity of merchants, and rabbits accuse everyone of being cruel murderers," Garric said.

"You mean the rabbit kingdoms?" Tanaka asked. Garric nodded. "The law allows no ethnic discrimination to be enforced by the courts but forbids excessive clan pride of any nation to become persecution of another," he explained. Tanaka’s expression darkened. "What about slavery?" he asked. Maeryn inhaled sharply.

"We only permit it under strict governmental regulation," she told him. Tanaka’s gaze had snapped to meet hers. His hands curled into a fist at his sides. Magic sparked quietly, but vanished just as soon. "Slavery?" he asked. "Bravelm permitted bonded servitude only under specific circumstances. Debt repayment, criminal punishment and captive recruitment in some regions of the kingdom. I’ll admit, it’s a poor regulation," she said.

She didn’t excuse it, and that surprised Tanaka. "It is illegal in other areas of the kingdom. The former slaves I freed from Varkesh were mostly men, drained of their magical potential through abuse and neglect of the humans who enslaved them," Tanaka said. Tanaka kept his thoughts to himself, his fingers tightening slightly around the table surface. "Eldoris doesn’t allow it," he said instead.

"As I suspected," Maeryn said. "Now tell me about the magical restrictions." "That’s a complicated law," Maeryn said. "The short version is that you may not cast a harmful spell within our borders if you don’t have a direct reason to do so." Self-defense spells were permitted, but offensive magic was a serious offence, Tanaka gathered. Training combat magic was only allowed in areas specifically approved by the Wolf King, and duels between wizards had to be registered and cleared by the city wardens if there was a chance by-standers might be harmed.

The more Tanaka thought about the law, the more he liked it. "What if someone begins attacking people with offensive spells right now?" he asked. Garric looked up. "The city’s protection wards against hostile magics will sense any unusual concentration of them, that is," Garric said. Tanaka cast his vision upwards at the ceiling of the chamber. So the enchantments protecting Varghelm against siege-magic weren’t limited to the palace gates.

That was a comforting reassurance, but not one Tanaka would take full advantage of yet. Tanaka stood to his feet. "If that’s the entire presentation, I’m ready to visit the shops," he said. Garric raised an eyebrow. "No argument?" he asked. "Why would I argue about something as sensible as this?" Tanaka asked. Garric frowned at him.

"You complained about the sign outside the building," Garric said. "I objected to the location of the sign," Tanaka said. The sign had been mounted next to the road, just a few paces from where Tanaka and Raizen had stopped. "I would have complained regardless," Maeryn admitted. They had reached the end of the discussion anyway.

Maeryn and Raizen left first. Garric had been called away to finalize arrangements for trade permits, and the young king decided to examine the city before returning to his hosts. Travel in human form was more convenient now that he could control it, but he wanted to see how much alteration he could make to his appearance without outright transforming. A surge of mana coursed through Tanaka, and his body responded.

Tiny black scales of natural transformation formed along the edges of his neck and forearms while his pupils slitted vertically like a dragon’s - but only after two small, curved horns pierced through his hair. Tanaka examined his new look in the window of a passing shop. It will do, he thought. Testing the extent of his new form now would be an interesting experiment.

Tanaka took it slowly at first, watching the crowd as he passed from one broad avenue to another. There were people enough to fill the city squares, but none appeared inclined to stop him. The sight of a human with unnatural features would have been surprising anywhere else. Varghelm simply had too many unique inhabitants for the people here to act shocked at a small sample of his own.

Tanaka turned down a quieter side street bordered by smaller buildings and independent shops. Then a sensation suddenly struck him from the side like an arrow from a bowstring, and he stumbled backwards. "Ah!" a voice cried. A woman, or what passed for a woman among the beastmen, spun around and backwards across the pitted cobblestones before righting herself with a quick shake of her dark-furred head.

Her face was human enough save for a pair of cat ears perked back along her skull, and amber eyes which missed nothing so suddenly. Even the tail which wagged in nervous apology appeared normal save for the odd shape of the girl’s collar. "My fault, I wasn’t watching--" she began.

She spun to apologize at the sight of Tanaka, but stopped short. Then nearly fell over backwards again. "I’m sorry, I’m sorry!" she gasped as she scrambled to her feet. "I’m not used to running into people!" Tanaka couldn’t believe what he was seeing. She spun around once more before she caught sight of him and bowed her head in sudden embarrassment.

"It’s quite alright," he said, steadying her before she could stumble back again. The girl’s ears flapped nervously before she regained her composure. "Please, don’t blame me!" she said. "I wouldn’t dream of it," he replied. "She just isn’t one of those types," he said to himself quietly before the girl could take off again.

She turned, quick and graceful, vanishing around the next corner almost as soon as he caught sight of her. Tanaka reached out with his mana sense, focusing on the strange girl’s trail as she vanished around the corner. There was something there. More than just a vague sensation, but it wasn’t familiar magic. What is it?

Tanaka narrowed his eyes. A strange sensation in the air warned him that whatever was causing this feeling could be dangerous. Not evil or malevolent, but something was amiss. More than being unprepared for a fight, something about this presence seemed... contained? Sealed away? Tanaka’s mind flashed back to the sensation of his own transformation, of ancient power locked behind layers of self-imposed limitation.

Like water beneath a mountain of stone. "Wait!" he called. The girl had vanished behind the next corner but Tanaka was already turning that way, silently committing her appearance to memory. Petite, black hair, amber eyes, cat ears and a collared neck. Strange markings marbled across the skin on her cheeks.

I’m going to remember you, he decided. Whoever you are, you’re not what you appeared to be.