It was nice of him to say, even though I was only wearing a cobalt blue button up and a pair of slacks to match. Mentally I made sure to add shopping spree to my to-do list. I’d been stuck in politician chic for so long that I didn’t really have any “fun” clothes. And with my new lease on life, that’s exactly what I needed.
“Thanks.” I said with a smile and a nod, laughing nervously as I took my seat opposite him in the booth. When he joined me, I asked, “You want a beer?”
Wrex smiled wide. “Are you trying to get me drunk, Mr. Watson?”
A genuine laugh rolled out of me, untouched by my nerves or lust. “I just know I could use one.”
“Sure,” Wrex chuckled. “I’ll join you.”
We ordered our beers, a raspberry gose for me because I could only tolerate sour beer while Wrex got some run of the mill IPA, and we clinked our bottles together in a cheers before relishing in our respective alcohol.
“So,” he said with a huff, setting his beer down on the table. “Wrage never mentioned any troubles concerning the petrylle.”
I shook my head. “Do you know why he’d do that?”
Sighing, it was Wrex’s turn to shake his head. “The only thing I can think of is it scares him. But in my opinion, that’s all the more reason to mention it.” He paused, looking like he was suddenly very uncomfortable. “Is every species represented on the board?”
“Of course.” I solidified. “Every creature species deserves to have a voice.”
“I couldn’t agree more, but…” Wrex sighed, his hands fidgeting with his beer bottle. “Maybe Wrage never said anything because of the caeboros on the board.”
My eyebrows knitted themselves into curious knots. What the hell did the caeboros have to do with why Wrage would withhold hardship within the petrylle community? Clearly something more nefarious was going on than I had first expected.
“Why would that matter?”
Laughing a bit, he picked up his beer. “You’ve never heard of the rivalry between petrylle and caeboros?”
Perplexity found its home amidst my features, darkening my usual brightness. “Rivalry? This is the first I’ve heard of it. Why, how bad is it?”
“Bad enough.” After taking another generous sip of his beer, Wrex rolled his shoulders and continued. “The troubles plaguing the petrylle at the moment is there’s an unusually large number of us going missing.”
“Missing?” Alarm caused my voice to shrill and increase in octave. “For how long?”
“As long as a few weeks, as short as a few days ago.” Wrex nodded. “That’s why I was so adamant about finding Wrage at the karaoke bar that night. I’d just heard of another petrylle being reported missing earlier that morning.”
That explained why Wrex had looked like a pissed off man on a mission that night. But it didn’t exactly paint a picture on this alleged discourse between petrylle and caeboros.
“That’s awful,” I nodded. “But what does it have to do with caeboros?”
“Caeboros would be the first culprits, given our history with them. They’re more likely to be behind the kidnappings.”
“Okay, hold on.” I smoothed the skin on my forehead, already feelings the beginning aches of a migraine forming. “What’s the history between the two of you?”
“Both petrylle and caeboros have deep history with religion,”Wrex explained. I nodded so he would continue. “It’s long rumored that petrylle helped build cathedrals.” Which made sense to me, considering that Wrage mentioned how often petrylle were given construction jobs, known for their strength. “The caeboros are convinced that the “angels” that humans are so fond of in their various religions are inspired by them.” He said the word angels like it was a curse, but I couldn’t deny the comparison. It was the first thing that had popped into my head when I’d been interviewing Kloan for a spot on the board. “There’s been animosity between us ever since.”
“So petrylle might have helped construct religious buildings and caeboros don’t like petrylle also being attached to religious lore?”
“Basically, yes.”
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. So caeboros were mad at petrylle over something that might not even be true?
“Wait,didpetrylle help construct religious buildings?”
“I’ve long heard rumblings about it growing up, but I’m nowhere near old enough to know how true it is.” I wanted to ask how old he was, but I knew now wasn’t the right time. “My point is, if there’s anyone in the Orb community that would be the most likely to make petrylle go missing, it would be caeboros.”
“But why would they want to make petrylle disappear?” Something wasn’t adding up, especially if it was caeboros behind the kidnappings. As serious as it was that Orbs were going missing in a certain community, I wanted to have all the evidence before moving forward. “Have any of them been seen since being taken or have any petrylle…turned up dead?”
“No, to both questions.” Wrex stated. “It doesn’t make sense for caeboros to be kidnapping us, given our gifts in contrast with theirs, that I can agree, but then again, it doesn’t make sense in the first place why petrylle would be disappearing.”
