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Joseph stared at his hands as he sat on the edge of the bed, still slightly shaking. The lantern flickering causing the shadows on the armoire to dance, almost mockingly. It was almost time for him to report for the night watch shift. What had he done to deserve this, how could this be happening? It wasn't possible. Maybe he was just dreaming and if- There was a knock on the door. Quickly pulling back on the black leather gloves and standing Will took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Constable Joseph McGrattan Miley, have I caught you at a bad time?" the short rotund man before him, with those eyes that seemed just a bit to small and close together for his face. The mostly bald head haphazardly covered with a poor attempt at a comb over. A smell that reeked of... what was that smell. It permeated the air around the fat man so strongly. So familiar. Yet Joseph couldn't quite place it. "Constable?" Shaking his head quickly snapping out of whatever distracted him Joseph quickly straightened up.

"Bidelf. I'm just preparing to start my night watch shift. However, I assume the only reason you would be" Joseph sneered at the next work, making no effort to hide his contempt for the man "grace me... with your presence is that Chancellor Adair would like to see me." Before Bidelf could respond Joseph pushed pass him, purposefully knocking the rat face man off balance.

It was such a long walk to the Chancellors manor. Well, more of a castle. It was one of the left over castles from the kingdoms that ruled here hundreds of years ago. Standing tall in the center of the city crafted of fine stone, harder than any they had ever found, worked so perfectly that to this day the level of detail and craftsman ship had not been matched. It made Joseph wonder sometimes, how did such primitives make such magnificent structures to stand the test of time, without the science they had now? Even under his feet he could see the cobble laid out last warm season beginning to crack and chip.

Winding through streets and alleys in a constable's uniform was as close to being famous Joseph had ever come. Somehow he enjoyed the way they would stop and stare or how some would even come up and thank him for his service. The other officers always played it up, loving the attention even more. They told wild stories that never happened and the people would listen enthralled and praise them like gods. Joseph just wanted to yell at them and tell them the truth. There was nothing to really be thanking them for. All the officers stayed in the uptown where the worst they had to stop was a disagreement between wealthy barons. Occasionally they regulated duels but nothing truly to help the city. They ignored everything in the rookery. It was beneath them, a problem better ignored because it didn't affect them.

When Joseph stopped he was standing in front of the main door to Chancellor Adair's quarters. No idea on how long he had been standing here, too lost in thought to enter. Knocking once, he opened the door slowly stepping in, walking along the carpet to the Chancellors desk and sitting down in one of the deep red leather chairs. Overstuffed and lavish, the same as just about everything in uptown. Waiting to be acknowledged Joseph glanced around the room. The oversized painting on the wall behind the chancellor's desk was supposedly his father Adair senior, who looked remarkably similar to Adair himself. The painting was surrounded by an intricate and lavish gold frame. Nowhere in the room was there a single lantern or torch. So even though he had decreed uptown to save on their electricity in this time of drought he himself was an exception. Of course.

"My dear Joseph, it is wonderful to see you. What are you now? Twenty-four? Twenty-five?" The chancellor turned in his seat grinning. Despite being well over fifty cycles old the man barely looked a day over twenty five. Joseph hated how he always addressed people like they were old friends. He knew how the chancellor was, bring you close, and make you comfortable. Sure he was likeable but had a temper that could change anything in seconds "Well you have been on my force for at least four years now. You've shown spectacular results and improvement in training as well. I've been keeping my eye on you and I believe you are ready. I would like to promote you to captain. You will be receiving your own squad of six men." Adair leaned forward, his fingers tenting as he gave a large toothy grin that almost had to be fake.

Joseph sat in shock unable to say anything as he tried to comprehend what was just said. He was being promoted? And to captain after only four years! That was unheard of especially at such a young age. Suddenly his stomach flipped and fell like a rock inside him. Leaning back against the overstuffed chair he sighed, running his fingers through the short black hair on his head. "Thank you Chancellor sir, but don't we already have six captains?" Six captains was all the enforcers in uptown ever had. That is how the rankings worked. The chain of command had always been six constables to each captain, six captains to each district warden, and six district wardens to each of the six generals who reported directly to the Chancellor. Promotions also always came from the person in charge of your position. Joseph should have been receiving this promotion from his district warden, not the chancellor himself.

Adair chuckled softly but his grin quickly faded as the air in the room seemed to become stagnant. The chancellor let out a soft sigh and leaned back into his chair, the shroud covering his face casting a shadow making all expressions unreadable. "Well captain. I see that you have quickly realized the problem here. That is one of the reasons I am choosing you for this role. You have always been one of the sharpest recruits and excelled at picking up things out of place, which is why you are not being promoted to a captain in uptown. After various complaints," he let the sentence hang as Joseph sat forward anticipating what came next "you will be captain of a single squad that reports directly to me. Your assignment is to patrol the... less pleasant quarters of Revensworth."