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That was not nearly the comforting answer I’d have preferred.
We dressed in a hurry, without speaking much. Outside, the commotion did not subside; quite the opposite, it sounded as though whatever was happening was only escalating. I tried to find some answers through the windows, but they overlooked the garden behind the White Hall, where I couldn’t spot anything unusual going on. Which meant the sound was coming from theotherside of the building. Which meant there had to be an even larger crowd to produce a roar this loud.
Hundreds, if not thousands of people … and there weren’t that many reasons for them to gather there, now, on this morning, were there?
Had Halbert drummed up his supporters to offer me a fitting goodbye?
Worse, had that particular segment of the citizenry decided the little fae whore wasn’t leaving fast enough for their taste?
‘Come,’ Rosalind said as I braided my hair with trembling hands. ‘There’s a common drawing room nearby that looks out over the square.’
I snatched a dagger from my bag before following her.
Whatever was happening didn’t leave the rest of the city government unaffected; a few doors away, just outside the living area of the consuls, clerks were shouting urgently at each other. But no one seemed to have thought of informing us what was going on, and we did not run into anyone as we made our way to the cosily furnished sitting room. I almost stumbled over the edge of a rug as I hurried to the windows on the other side,yanking the gauzy curtains aside with so much force it was a surprise they didn’t come down.
The square outside was packed with people.
People, more specifically, carrying weapons.
My heart gave a panicked stutter – hundreds and hundreds of men and women standing at our doorstep, carrying swords and bows and the occasional pitchfork, their laughter and rough voices filling the air. If they tried to hurt me … Zera help me, I’d have to use magic. Lots of it. And if I was forced to mow down a horde of fae-hunting humans, then how would anyone ever trust me again in the non-magical world? How would we ever—
‘They’re not here to hurt us,’ Rosalind said, squinting at the crowd beside me.
I blinked.
And only then did I realise she was right.
Weapons, yes … but if I looked closer, the gathered group did not exactly resemble a furious mob in any other way. There was no shouting at the consuls, no chanting for me to come out and defend myself. There were no rallying speeches. They were loud, yes, but if I studied the faces I could make out two floors down, it was a lively, excited sort of loudness – the merry raucousness of men and women about to set off on an adventure.
I blinked again.
An adventure.
No. No, those were nonsensical thoughts welling up in my mind, driven by desperate hopes and dreams rather than by clear and logical observation. Of course they had some other reason to stand here, armed and buzzing with excitement. Of course they weren’t here to …
Gods help me.
Were they here to comewithus?
Unlikely. Impossible.
But some of them had brought horses – why would anyone bringhorsesto lynch a fae girl and her treasonous mother? And many of them, I registered only now, were carrying large backpacks on their shoulders. Which once again only made sense if—
‘Dear gods,’ Rosalind whispered. ‘Deargods.’
An incredulous smile was trembling around the corners of her lips when I glanced at her, inching closer and closer to a victorious burst of laughter. It was that smile that finally pushed me over the edge – impossible, yes, but ifshebelieved it …
We had an army?
We had a bloodyarmy.
I turned back to the square below, a breathless laugh releasing itself from my lips at the sight. Zera help me, an army. They must have heard Rosalind’s speech, these hundreds and hundreds of people, or perhaps they’d heard about it from friends who had been there. They must have started whispering about it, quietly at first –So do you think she was right? Do you think we’re in danger?
And at some point, the first of them must have said it out loud. After dinner, I imagined, and emboldened by a pint of beer:Damn it all, I’m going with them.
Those bursts of excitement I’d heard outside my window last night had not been threats. The opposite. I’d heard the news spread around me, going from door to door, from family to family – hell, I had unknowingly witnessed the first mass mobilisation in the history of the White City.
War had crept into this corner of the world after all.
