This is the fortieth chapter of Wealthgiver, an alternate history serial romance about nationalism and cave-Thracians. For the back-of-the-book description and an index of chapters, click here. For the beginning, click here. For the previous chapter, click here.
"Again the refugees ask to be let in."
Nikolai caught himself shaking his head and instead clicked a hard "no."
"Elder Brother, the refugees come to the entrances and plead with the guards in the Good language."
Nikolai waved his hand. "We can forgive them that. No reason to kill them."
"I…wasn't thinking about executing the refugees, Elder Brother. I meant that it's hard for the guards to ignore pleas for food and shelter from their fellow Good."
The answer came easily. "Yes. The Good language is no longer sufficient to distinguish friend from foe. For one thousand and five hundred years we kept our words secret and sacred, but then came Andrei. The liar. The manipulator."
"And what could be more Good than to lie and manipulate?"
Nik…
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