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Petra touches my arm from behind. “Is he someone to worry about?”
I shed the sudden bout of nerves with a shake of my head. It’s not as if two people in the country couldn’t have the same oddly dark eye color. Just a weird little kid.
“I don’t think so,” I say. “Let’s keep going.”
Around the back of the building I suggested, we find there’s only a narrow strip of path between the rear door and the walled bank of Tupno’s broad river. A rickety fire escape will take us most of the way to the roof.
Petra nods in approval. She motions to the soldier. “Let’s get everyone up to the roof, and then you can scout down the river for a vessel we can… borrow.”
Poltus needs both the soldier and the devout supporting him to make it onto the fire escape. As I gird myself to follow them, Casimir touches my shoulder.
“We’ll make them see the truth,” he says. “No matter what Lothar does, he can’t stop us from fighting back.”
Then he kisses me, swiftly but tenderly enough to send a tingle down to my toes.
When the courtesan releases me, Rheave pushes in with an intense expression. “I’ll be right there with you too,” my daimon-man says, and claims a scorching kiss of his own.
By the time I’m scrambling up the fire escape, my cheeks are flushed and some of the tension inside me has loosened.
We aren’t going to win over everyone today, but we can make a dent in the image the Order of the Wild has built up. We’ve come with proof.
I won’t let Petra down any more than my men would fail me.
We clamber onto the roof and stay at the back to prepare while the soldier hurries back down. The music, laughter, and excited shouts from the crowd in the square make my gut twist.
What Julita would have thought of this celebration, all this revelry centered around the villains she knew as torturers, I can’t imagine. I’m glad she never had to see the scourge sorcerers gain so much ground.
How can the civilians below sound so joyful when this festival is meant to rejoice in their former ruler’s murder? King Konram might have neglected some of his people and come down hard on the riven, but he never acted like a tyrant.
I’ve seen more brutality from the scourge sorcerers in the past few months than in all the years Konram and his father before him reigned.
But then, the Order of the Wild has been hiding many of the horrors of their founding from the rest of the country. That’s why we’re here—why Poltus is here.
With her wig and plain dress set aside, Petra steps to the edge of the roof. Delfis was able to obtain an amplifying charm for her, which sits on a silver chain at the base of her throat. The devout who came with us stands at her side.
As Petra draws her chin up regally, Rheave and I flank them, ready to protect them if need be. Rheave adjusts his bow against his shoulder.
My magic tingles through my chest, stirred up by all the energies below that have discomforted me.
“Good people of Tupno.” Petra’s amplified voice rings across the square, and dozens of faces throughout the crowd turn at just the first few words. “I come to you as the heir to the Melchiorek line and the rightful queen of Silana to expose the true enemy in your midst. My family has guided this country for nearly a century without incurring any wrath from the gods, and I intend to take care of all of you as well as I can from here forward. My parents were struck down by the traitors who’ve wrenched our home from us, not any divine intervention.”
The devout tugs his robes straight. His voice carries through the startled silence that’s gripped the crowd. “I am swore to serve Elox, and I can vouch that you’ve been told lies. The godlen haven’t given this treachery their blessing. They didn’t call for the king’s death. That was all human greed, fueled by the same brutal magic that once brought the gods’ wrath down on us. Surely none of us wants to return to a history where our cities broke and burned? That’s where the Order of the Wild will lead us. The woman beside me is the rightful queen and dedicated to putting Silana on the right path to harmony and happiness.”
A muttering is spreading through the civilians below. I tense instinctively, remembering the reaction of the people in Florian.
“If the gods wanted that girl on the throne, she’d be there!” someone hollers loud enough for us to hear, followed by a swell of approving murmurs.
“The gods can’t interfere quickly or directly,” Petra says. “But the Melchioreks have always served them and you well, no matter what Lothar claims. We pulled the country together after the Darium empire was driven out. My great grandmother started a program of training more medics to be sent all through the country. My grandfather saw new roads built to the most isolated parts of?—”
A volley of voices cuts through her speech.
“I don’t even remember any of that! What did King Konram do for us lately?”
“Why didn’t the rest of them have to fight for the throne like that first king did?”
“Right. King Konram just got the crown handed to him. He didn’t care about any of us!”
Petra holds up her hand. She must decide it’s time to move from addressing Lothar’s lies to stating her own worth as a ruler. “I promise you, I care. That’s why I came here to speak to you in person. I realize that my forebearers weren’t perfect, and I aim to do better. I want to listen to all your grievances and make?—”
