Young Writers Society

For my LMS - approximately 850 words

Note: I don't feel like I've got Jamin's voice down yet

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    Jamin shut the door behind him with a short smirk. She had taken the bait. He had been almost certain she would, but it was reassuring to know that prey still worked the way he was used to. Once they started being unpredictable, that was when they became trouble. The female seemed utterly normal... and boring. Jenner had painted the her as cruel, cold, not snivelling. And even if he knew it was surely an act - knew because he had caught her pupils dilating at the mention of beastlings, had caught the hitch in her breathing - he found himself dissatisfied. He had wanted a cold glint in her eye, steel that he could work with and make into what he needed. If she had it, she had buried it far deeper than he could see.

    But Jenner had seen her. He didn't trust many people, no one, really, but he had always assured himself that Jenner was one of the best. So he believed her account to be truthful. If that was the case, then the beastling female didn't drag out that part of herself unless it came to her own kind. A particular cruelty, then, a hatred that was specific, that he wasn't going to question if it fulfilled what he had been looking for. The soft side of her, he could work with - extract and eliminate it.

    He eased through the crowd in the market, tipping the cap on his head at the people who greeted him. Though he was used to being one of the crowd, he had grudgingly admitted to Jenner that the uniform lent a different kind of anonymity. People looked at him but didn't see him. Didn't know him for who he was. Though few people in the barracks knew him for who he was, it was how he liked it. He counted it as a tool, not as a hindrance. The soldiers knew he was there, knew that his second wielded almost the same powers as he did, and never stepped out of line. He was feared and his spies weren't known. And that was how it was meant to be.

    Barely taking in the slight change in the buildings around him as they shifted from civilian homes and shops to the more austere form of the military. His rooms were lodged in a forgotten corner of the barracks, close enough for it not to be a trek for anyone who came, but secluded enough for them to be private – and for it to be easier to tell if anyone had intruded.

    It was ingrained into his being to check for any disturbances, any potential trouble as he moved, and he did just that as he cracked open the door, alert. His attention darted around the room before relaxing as he couldn't find a threat. Before settling into the stuffed chair next to the window, he discarded the jacket in a pile on the floor, dropping the cap on top. The imperial communiqué for the mission still sat where he had left it on the sill, half unfolded, one corner torn. He held it between three fingers and skimmed the letter again.

    The murmurs of an uprising in the mines and of beastlings rebelling had the Emperor concerned. He wanted more surveillance, and he wanted someone to learn of their plans. He hadn't specified how, so Jamin had worked out a plan of his own making, the way he knew the Emperor trusted him to. And this was his solution. A beastling to watch other beastlings. It was the easiest way, if anyone thought about it truthfully. And the hold they had over beastlings was an advantage that he could use.

    And he would. He could change that female, make her into something worthwhile to the army. It was something he had discussed with the emperor before, but that had never been approved. This once though, this once, he had been allowed to. There had been urgency in the Emperor's manner, and fear. So Jamin had been given free reign, and that was all he needed. If he could show the benefits of the human dominance, then there was something else he could take out of this. But asserting that dominance on a creature that hadn't submitted before...

    A feral grin twisted his features upwards. He knew how he would do it. Chase her, and enjoy the chase, enjoy the sight of her fear and her running from the inevitable. And if the chase didn't break her, then that was the next step – fracture whatever was left until all she did was follow his orders, until she would jump from a cliff at his command. And from what he had seen, getting her to spy on her own wouldn't be hard. Employ her hatred and hone it. He knew how powerful that could be. The grin spread as he stretched and settled again. He would enjoy this indeed.