Page 44 of The Moon Blessed King
‘Because even criminals deserve the dignity to be perceived the waythey chooseto be perceived.’
The hall is long. Quiet. Class schedules and painted portraits of famed academics of years gone by line the walls. Children should be here, laughing and learning and smiling. Not war criminals. Not Reapers. ‘If this works, if you do become king – are you going to live in Alerae?’
‘No.’
‘That’s where the ruler of Alelune lives.’
‘I won’t live there.’
‘The Blue Palace then?’
‘It is too far from Soleb.’
‘What would that matter to you? You will haveyour ownkingdom to rule.’ Cat stops short. She stumbles, catching herself in her effort to stay in line with him.
‘I didn’t marry your brother to abandon him, and I married him for far more than just a throne. Right now, thinking of all that comes after…we have not hadtime. Changes, here, there, yes! The Exalted freed, Altas and trade open along the river—’
‘You’re taking Altasback?’ Fen chokes. There’s no one in the hall to overhear them; they’re far enough away from the guards. But even so, she drops her voice, low and furtive. ‘Cat, after what they did!You can’t just take the city.‘
‘I’m not taking anything. Nothing is decided. Nothingcanbe decided until I get the throne. As for the rest…Elician and I will find a compromise, as a couple and as monarchs.’Compromiseis a loaded word, one with history that both countries take issue with. The Marias Compromise delivered Altas to Soleb many years ago andushered in over a decade of peace…and a decade of fierce resentment. Fen bites her lip. Shakes her head.
‘It’s too much…it’s too much change.’
‘Solebens,’ Cat sighs, wistful and sad. ‘You are all so desperate to cling to who you are today that you don’t dare dream of tomorrow. Life is the god of the sun, but even he sets and lets the moon rise, and when he takes his turn in the sky once more, lo,somethinghas changed.’
‘A new day is not the same as what you’re proposing.’
‘It is, Fen. A new day is exactly what I’m proposing. I don’t know what tomorrow looks like, but I know it will not be the same as today.’ He holds his hand out to her. ‘Come, your brother will wake soon.’ His hand is gloved again. Hidden away behind a familiar wrap of fabric that she knows far better than the sight of his skin. Once she shied from the thought of that touch. But she has changed. She takes his hand, and he squeezes his fingers around her palm.
They walk through the many halls of the school until they are almost at the entrance. The guards stationed there are talking to each other in harsh voices, shouting and passing questions back and forth. Their heads swivel when they see Cat, and Cat has one bewildered moment of incomprehension before he rallies and asks them, ‘What’s going on?’
‘We just brought food to the Alelunen soldiers,’ the lead of the group explains slowly.
‘And?’ Cat presses.
‘They’re dying,’ the guard gets out. Fenlia’s blood freezes in her veins. ‘They’re alldying, and we don’t knowwhy.’
Cat releases her hand. ‘Go get your brother,’ he commands, and she runs, as fast as she can, all the way back to the inn.
The guard did not exaggerate. The army Gillage sent to Soleb is dying. They cough up great mouthfuls of phlegm. Their faces are dripping with feverish sweat. But perhaps most alarming of all is their skin. Black splotches spread like death itself across their flesh, eerily reminiscent of the burns she erased from all the Reapers’ faces just that morning.
‘None of you noticed thisbefore?’ Fen asks the guards as Cat and Elician crouch at the feet of a prisoner closest to the door. The man is shivering violently, hugging himself tight, doing his best to obscure the dark marks from their sight.
‘They seemed fine yesterday,’ the guard replies hastily.
Lio, having joined Elician at the school, gives him a sharp look. ‘Yesterday you reported they were experiencing signs of a cold.’
‘But it wasn’t like this! I would have reported something like this!’
‘So, all of this happened overnight?’ Cat cuts in.
The guard shrugs helplessly, and Elician turns back to the soldier he was examining earlier. ‘What were the symptoms of the cold?’
The man spits at him. The glob does not get far. It dribbles down his chin and he hacks, doubling over and coughing as thick red-brown phlegm drains from his throat and onto the ground. ‘Do youwantto die?’ Fen asks, but Cat raises a sharp hand in her direction.
‘Stop,’ he commands.
‘It’s fine,’ Elician adds.
