Flowers appeared on every block today as the city mourned the passing of Cal Leo, former ambassador to the West Beyond. At times gangster, drug runner, smuggler, and scoundrel, Leo’s relationship with Auxientia was a complicated one. He began life as a poor urchin in Smokedown district, where he grew up on the streets, begging and stealing.
Later in life, he said: “I felt left behind by the Parastin Order, the Gilded; the Bāhira would have nothing to do with someone like me, uncultured and undisciplined, and there was no way someone like me was going to have the smarts to get into Luciole Academy. So I begged. And I stole. And I took what I needed to survive.”
Leo’s complaint is certainly biased toward himself and his plight, but Auxientian Police Lieutenant Hemmer Giole reminds us, “This is the kid that murdered his best friend over the spoils of a robbery. He was wanted for theft, arson, murder, and a list of crimes too long to name. We should not forget that. Though he was pardoned in light of better behavior, he has done terrible things.”
“I begged. And I stole. And I took what I needed to survive.”
Cal Leo
The pardoning that Chief Giole referred to resulted from Leo’s negotiations with Auxientia’s enemies beyond the Western Wall. Five decades ago, in the midst of the Six-Year Siege, a petty thief and crook stepped in and personally dissuaded the beyonders from invasion. Our city will not be as safe without our “Ambassador Tramp.”
