Page 244 of Mother of Death and Dawn

“I don’timplyanything. It is fact. It seems that she did not take kindly to Maxantarius’s return to Ara. The Lightning Dust that destroyed the Towers was sent by her.”

The councilors gaped, speechless.

I didn’t blame them. It was a lot to process.

Iya, still, remained shockingly calm. “In light of this, I hope we all can agree that Nura Qan cannot remain Arch Commandant. Only one viable candidate from the sixteenth cycle of candidates remains.”

He nodded to me, and four sets of eyes turned to me as I rose.

“And so, I have summoned us together today to call upon Maxantarius Farlione. Councilors, how do you rule?”

The first councilor stood. His name was Waine, and he looked like he had aged a decade since he granted this title to Nura mere months ago. “Under these dire circumstances, I accept this nomination. I bestow the title of Arch Commandant to you, Maxantarius Farlione.”

I wasn’t expecting those words to hit me as hard as they did.

The second councilor rose and repeated her approval. And then the third.

At last, the fourth stood—a woman by the name of Helena. Of the five remaining councilors, Helena was the one I was the most concerned about. She had been one of the councilors who nominated Nura for her original candidacy a decade ago. She was a pragmatist, who ruled according to the law interpreted as strictly as possible.

“Do we have evidence of Nura’s involvement in the attack?” she asked. “That is a serious accusation.”

Iya glanced at me, and I shook my head. “Unfortunately not, Councilor. It was destroyed in the explosion.”

Nura’s little love note would have been the first thing to go up in the burst of Lightning Dust.

Helena looked pained. “I worry, Iya, about taking rash action before we understand our situation.”

Iya chose his words carefully. “Nura has already been willing to bend the laws of the Orders. She has been dabbling in magics that have been known to strip one’s sanity. Surely we all saw what happened to Zeryth Aldris. What’s more, if she had been captured by the Fey, she likely suffered torture at their hands. I’ve never known that to make someone moremoderate. Have you?”

“If we are looking for moderate, then why should we hand the title to a convicted war criminal?”

Waine scoffed, and Helena added, pointedly, “Regardless of what wepersonallymay think of the legitimacy of the conviction, it stands, nonetheless.”

“Most Arans view what happened in Sarlazai as a victory, not—”

“They shouldn’t,” I cut in. “Sarlazai never should have been allowed to happen. If you want to disqualify me on that basis, I won’t object. Perhaps I would do the same thing in your position.”

“You are familiar with the circumstances behind that, Helena,” Iya said, quietly. “The responsibility of Sarlazai doesn’t lie with him. We bear as much of it as he does. More, even.”

“We do,” Helena admitted. “In wartime, things seem more desperate. We become more willing to take… extreme measures, when presented to us.” Her eyes slipped to me, apologetic and pitying. “Reshaye was an extreme measure, Maxantarius. We should not have allowed it.”

“I understand the weight of what you’re entrusting me with,” I said. “Not just for the Orders, but for Ara. As long as I hold that power, I will make sure that nothing like that ever happens again. I can’t promise that I will be a perfect ruler. But I can promise that I will do everything that I can to lead us out of this mess with our country and our souls intact.”

I was almost surprised to hear such strong words come out of my mouth. And yet, as I said it, I fully meant it.

What was the point of having this power if I didn’t use it to improve this world?

It is a privilege to do nothing, Tisaanah had once told me.

Helena let out a long breath. “I had such hopes for her,” she muttered, as if to herself. Then she turned to me. “I bestow the title of Arch Commandant to you, Maxantarius Farlione. Wear it well.”

CHAPTERNINETY-EIGHT

TISAANAH

There was no celebration among the Council once Max was formally given the title. Everyone understood how solemn of an event this was. Congratulations and well wishes were murmured like condolences at a funeral. I gave Max a long, firm embrace, and he did not say a word.

Iya insisted that Max address the crowd that gathered outside the Palace. “They need to hear from you,” he said. “They need leadership.”

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