Last time on all Ratcatcher all the time, Ratcatcher finally got to see the Prince of Shadows and recap events for him.
This time, Ratcatcher argues about how much money he should get! Exciting.
In another book, I’d probably like this. It’s cool to see some of the less glamorous parts of life, like the treasury issues underlying your ability to run around on a horse in armor. It’s just this is not the story for it.
Pelesh is actually our viewpoint character this chapter. He’s the guy in charge of giving him as much money as he needs, and who’s actually giving him practically nothing. Ratcatcher is pissed off. The problem is, neither of the two people involved should care. The only reason exalts don’t all have a charm that literally materializes money out of thin air at their whim is because wyld shaping and demon summoning already do that as well as everything else you’d ever need. Ratcatcher is bitching that this won’t be enough money. So kill people and take their stuff. That’s what other people are for, to resupply you with money, equipment or organs.
I’m going to go hunt down a dagger the size of your greedy little fist. It could be anywhere in the Realm or beyond by now, the only clue I have to its location is the name of a pissant Guild factor from the frayed ends of civilization, and you want to send me forth with a handful of spare change?
Furthermore, a name and the location it starts at is plenty to go on for normal people, let alone an exalt, and this is hardly an ordinary dagger. There aren’t many oricalchum weapons about, so it’s not like it’ll be that hard.
“Still here? What do you want now?”
“I want,” Ratcatcher said in a tightly controlled voice, “enough in my purse to do this thing properly. Is that too much to ask?”
Pelesh considered. “For you? Mmmm, yes, actually it is.
See, this is kind of the guy’s job, and he’s saying here that he refuses to do it because he’d rather Ratcatcher fail. The Prince doesn’t want petty office politics getting in the way of his will being done. It makes things take longer or fail completely. Ratcatcher could tell the Prince that his servant here is blowing off his orders and it’d probably lead to horrible murder.
The guy adds that Shamblemerry will find this hilarious, and Ratcatcher is all OMG YOU LIKE HER MORE THAN ME WHY? Because you suck as a person and you’re the unfavorite so no one will pretend otherwise.
But that’s not what our accountant friend says.
“My loyalty, as always, is to the Prince, Ratcatcher. This is something you would do well to remember. But it is no secret that you do not rank high among our Prince’s servants, and that others are better loved than you. Many would be happy to see you fall, and their favor is more worth cultivating than yours.
No, if you’re willing to fuck up the Prince’s plans to curry favor with other subordinates, you’re really not loyal to him. Ratcatcher seethes that if this guy wasn’t one of the people the Prince liked, he’d totally do something. Why not point out to the Prince that his favorite is getting full of himself?
Also, just to continue keeping track of gender, this book continues to be decidely middling. You’ll notice that we now have a second woman popping up to be not incompetent like Ratcatcher, yet she’s not actually here, now is she? Both Sandheart earlier and Shamblemerry now are only seen from a distance, with the actual people we meet almost exclusively male.
Pelesh is feeling pretty good about all this, as we find out a. Come morning, the man would be on the road and out of Pelesh‘s thinning hair So…Pelesh would appear to be another one of the Prince’s human servants. Meaning Ratcatcher just lost a social combat battle with a mortal. Jesus, that’s pathetic.
Pelesh considers what might happen if Ratcatcher does return, but thinks it’s unlikely. In truth, he wasn’t even sure the man was supposed to.
That’s – huh. I mean, it would be ominous but Ratcatcher is sort of the antagonist, but then I’m not sure the book agrees because we’ve spent most of our time on how poor Ratcatcher’s life sucks. Not clear why anyone would assume he’s set up for failure here either – the Prince does want Wren and seemed interested in the sword, so if he was trying to kill Ratcatcher, he should be sending him out to do something different. He’s trying to destroy Creation, he should have no lack of things to throw someone at until they die. Just send Ratcatcher to go mass murder villages and wait for him to run across some other, competent exalt.
Anyway, that’s all for this chapter. Next chapter, still more Ratcatcher.