Chapter 54
May – 3,390 BC
Earth: Village of Assur
Colonel Mikhail Mannuki'ili
.
Two weeks later…
MIKHAIL
His feathers rustled as she led him past the inner sentries, into the kill-box of an alley which led to the central square. Unlike the outermost ring where the people had begun to tolerate him, here the people cried out and pressed themselves against the walls.
"Remember to eat—" Ninsianna attempted to distract him from the whispers "—a bite of everything."
"Your mother already fed me," Mikhail said.
"But that was ordinary food," she said. "This food is an offering from each village to make peace with your gods."
"I don't remember my gods," he said. "How can I possibly bind them to a peace treaty?"
"It's all ceremonial," she said. "You have to pretend to like it. And don't
