Lestara gave a slow shake of her head. “I didn’t want to believe Keris would stoop so low.
Refused to believe it, even though Serin offered me proof.” She turned to address him. “But when you, who treats his precious tomes like children, could not bring yourself to recall where you’d left
my book, I knew Serin spoke true. You abandoned my book, which I’d given to you with love in my heart, in a tawdry inn where you coupled with the enemy.”
She lifted her chin, expression full of defiance as she panned the crowd like a queen delivering justice from her throne. Keris held his breath and waited for the judgement that had been held over him for so long. Waited for them to turn their weapons on him. Waited for them to hurl stones for violating an unwritten law that ruled every Maridrinian.
Silence.
“Do you hear me?” Lestara shouted. “Your king is in love with a Valcottan! He hasn’t been in Ithicana; he’s been in the south, rescuing Zarrah from Devil’s Island. He plans to make a Valcottan your queen! The sacking of Vencia was Petra’s retaliation for his audacity!”
Her accusation carried over the heads of the crowd, but no one spoke, though tension hummed through the air as everyone waited to see how he would respond. It occurred to Keris, as he listened to the moan of the wind and the shuffle of feet, how exhausting they must all find it to be endlessly at the mercy of those in power. To have their lives torn apart as the result of a petty feud between members of a single family, and to now listen as it was all dragged before them like dirty laundry. He could not change what had been done.
seven that she was destined to be queen finally revealed itself. “Fine,” she hissed. “I’ll confess what I But he could tell them why.
Keris cleared his throat, knowing that his life was very much on the line at this moment, and he’d be lying to say that fear didn’t thrum through his veins. But it had always needed to come to this. The chance to speak the damning truth and allow her death to absolve him of wrongdoing in the eyes of histruth had always needed to be revealed, else the dream of peace that he and Zarrah had nurtured between them would never come to pass. “It’s true. Zarrah Anaphora holds my heart, as I hold hers, and together, we hoped to end the war between our nations. Hoped to bring peace and prosperity to our people. Petra knew our intent, and sacked Vencia because she knew that a union between Zarrah and me was the death knell for the Endless War.”
Every muscle in his body tensed as Keris braced for the outburst, but instead, the only sound was his words being repeated back to those in the rear.
“The only thing I confess to is trying to rid Maridrina of a traitor,” Lestara shouted, voice rising out
“What’s wrong with you?” Lestara screamed. “Seize him! Kill him! All of this is his fault!”
One of the women watching picked up a handful of mud and chucked it at Lestara. “Shut your gob.
He might have shit in Petra’s porridge, but it’s clear enough that you were the one who opened our back door for her to fling her own mud.” Then the woman looked directly at him. “Ain’t never thought I’d see the day when a Veliant claimed to want to end the war. War’s all your family ever wants, strutting about like peacocks while our men bleed and die. We’ve been wanting an end to it since it began, but Veliants care only for their pride.”
Out in the open in a way that could never be undone, and though Keris knew the revelation might be
“You’ve seen the day,” Keris answered. “I want the war to end. Though if I’ve learned anything, it is that wanting something will not make it so.” Squaring his shoulders, Keris raised his voice so that it would carry out over the crowd. “One must fight for it.”
understand was his attempt to protect Maridrina from the traitor who’d taken the throne,” she shouted.
Knowing that he was close to losing them, he shouted, “Petra Anaphora is not the lawful ruler of Valcotta. On his deathbed, Emperor Ephraim voiced his desire for Valcotta to know peace and named his younger daughter, Aryana, heir to his throne because he knew that under Petra’s rule, the fires of war would only burn hotter. Instead of acceding to his wishes, Petra usurped the throne …” Zarrah’s story poured from his lips, the crowd watching with rapt eyes as he unveiled the truth.
“It is true that I was not in Ithicana negotiating terms of trade,” he continued. “But it was Ithicana who aided me in sailing south to rescue Zarrah, allowing us to join the rebels who have fought so tirelessly against Petra’s rule. Zarrah commands them now, with the intent of challenging Petra for the crown, but they cannot hope to defeat her alone.”
Sweat ran in rivulets down his spine as he paused, because this was the moment. This was when he needed to ask Maridrina to fight for the very people who’d just destroyed their homes, whose blades had been the death of those in the grave before them. “You.” He pointed at the woman who’d spoken.
“You claim that Maridrinians have long wanted this war to end. Have wanted the fighting to cease.
Have wanted peace, but my family wouldn’t allow it. That it continues only because of Veliant pride.
Do others share that belief?”
Nods and shouts of agreement rolled across the crowd, a rising tide of vitriol against his warmongering family.
“What if I told you that Valcottans feel the same way?”
The crowd fell silent.
“Like you, they wish for the end of the war, but under Petra’s rule, they are forced to fight. Forced to send their young people to join the Imperial Army’s ranks, many of them never seen alive again.
And while she wears Valcotta’s crown, Petra will never allow the war to end. It is her pride, her identity, her legacy, and to seek peace is beyond comprehension to her. Valcotta is at the mercy of a members of a single family, and to now listen as it was all dragged before them like dirty laundry. He tyrant, but so is Maridrina. If Petra will not allow her empire to stop warring against us, we are forced to fight back, forced to send the youth to the border to fight and fight and fight. And no matter how much I might wish to do otherwise, I’ll be forced into the role of my father, and grandfather, and great-grandfather, for like you, I will have no other choice!”
His mouth was dry, throat hoarse, but it was worth it, because he could see that the women were listening.
“Maridrina did not liberate itself from my father,” he shouted. “Ithicana fought that battle for us.
Their queen, my sister, defeated him, and in doing so, offered me the opportunity to change this kingdom for the better. And my greatest error has been underestimating the villainy of those like Petra who see the Endless War as a way to maintain their power, even if it means standing on the backs of countless dead. She will not be defeated with passivity, will only grow stronger if our complacency leaves her free to destroy those who rally against her. So I ask you, will you stand not just with me, but with Valcottans, and lift arms to bring Petra Anaphora’s tyranny to an end? Will you fight for peace?”
“You’ll let us fight?” the woman at the front of the crowd asked. “You’ll allow women to defend back door for her to fling her own mud.” Then the woman looked directly at him. “Ain’t never thoughtour families?”