Page 88 of City of Stone and Silence

I don’t want to rule.

Of course you do, Prime says. It’s in our nature.

Your nature. Not mine.

Oh? He lowers his voice. Wherever you’ve found yourself, you’ve taken over, haven’t you? Become a leader? Seized command?

I—I stop, because, of course, he’s right. First the Sixteenth Ward, then Soliton. But that was because I had to, not because I wanted to be some kind of tyrant.

You can’t help it, he says, self-satisfied as a cat. It’s what you were born to do. It’s what you—we—are for. Accept it, and you will understand yourself. You can have peace.

I will have peace when I carve off your head, I tell him.

He laughs as I turn away, and the laughter lingers as I step off the dais and stalk out of the room.

“That’s it?” Meroe says, as I emerge.

“It’s done.” I hope. “One down, two to go.”

“Prime’s presents the most obvious difficulties,” Gragant says. “But getting Catoria to agree will not be easy. I regret that I cannot help you. Anything I do is likely to make her even more paranoid.”

“We’ll deal with Catoria,” I assure him. Somehow.

We depart the Minders’ ziggurat as soon as the sun rises.

Gragant comes to see us off, with the glowering Harak at his side. Meroe, Zarun, and I descend the ramp to the forest floor, our packs full of food from the monks’ stores. I sight on the great obelisk in the center of the city, a needle of stone barely visible over the trees from this angle. The Cresos ziggurat is across the city, but still far from Prime’s territory, so we’re unlikely to run into trouble.

Even so, I feel a bit nervous watching Zarun run off on his own. Someone needs to go back to the crew and give them an update, though, and he’s promised to send a runner to meet us at Catoria’s if there’s any sign of Soliton’s imminent departure.

Or if it’s gone already. All of this could be pointless. But I can still feel the great flow of Eddica power from the direction of the docks, and I think that means the ship is still in place. It’s like it’s feeding the city. Maybe that’s what the rotting thing is for.

“There’s an ugly thought,” I mutter.

“What?” Meroe says.

We’re well into our walk, the Minders’ stronghold vanished into the trees behind us, nothing ahead but sun-dappled forest. After yesterday, I’m still glorying in air that doesn’t feel like it’s shredding my skin, and in spite of my worries I actually find my spirits lifting. I tell Meroe what I was thinking, about Soliton feeding the city.

“Prime said something, when I was in the access point,” I tell her.

“He spoke to you again?”

I nod. “He still wants me to join him. He said this”—I wave vaguely at the forest—“was all created by Eddica adepts.” I frown, trying to remember. “He called them ‘Eddicants.’ Like they were a separate race, almost.”

“Hmm.” Meroe’s brow creases in concentration, an expression I find almost unbearably adorable. “I mean, obviously the system was created with Eddica power. And from what you’ve told me about the access points, it’s designed to let someone with Eddica talent control it.”

“I suppose. There’s still too much we don’t understand.” I throw up my hands. “What’s the point of all of it? Why build a giant dome at the end of the world, and then send huge ships to … what, collect sacrifices? Bring people here?” I feel like I’m on the edge of something I can’t quite grasp. “Were the ancients just insane?”

“I doubt they were insane,” Meroe says. “But that doesn’t mean we can understand them. One thing about reading history: you come to appreciate that people at other times and places don’t always think the way you do.”

“I suppose.” I shrug. “I always figured people were people.”

“You’d be surprised what they can convince themselves of, if they try hard enough.” She looks at me sidelong. “Do you know the story of Princess Vehnka?”

“I don’t think so. Should I?”

“Not unless you’ve studied Nimari folklore. She lived a thousand years ago or more, before the time of your Blessed One. Our people were at war with a country called Gemori. Princess Vehnka was married off to a Gemori prince, in an effort to forge a peace. But after the wedding, she finds evidence in the palace that the Gemori are planning a sneak attack. So she goes on an epic adventure, evading her husband’s guards, crossing the wild borderlands, encountering all kinds of dangerous beasts and unhelpful spirits. When she gets back to Nimar, she tells the king just in time about the Gemori treachery, and he goes out and wins a famous victory against their army. By the time he gets back, Vehnka has stabbed herself in the heart.”

“What?” I miss a step, nearly stumbling over a tree branch. “Why?”