Page 48 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
“I have them aiding us in town—not here, where we raise our livestock and maintain most of the region’s vegetation,” I said, a muscle twitching in my jaw.
“Very well.” He sighed. “As you well know, there is much unrest in this realm. The Elders are worried the humans willdestroy themselves and their realm.” He paused and seemed to wait for me to reply.
“It’s only been thirty-one days since their endless winter started. They are still adapting to their new way of life,” I said. “Such sudden, drastic change is hard on anyone. Give them time.”
He drew in a staggering breath. “Elias”—he hesitated—“the Elders are done waiting. Their patience with us and the humans is gone.”
I stiffened, remembering the way the Elder sent his magic through our mouths and nostrils when my parents had tested his patience. “What does that mean?”
“They have authorized me to use brutal force as necessary.” My uncle ran a hand over his chin, working his jaw back and forth. “You and other region leaders are to do the same.”
“What do you mean,brutalforce?” I asked, gritting my teeth so hard I was sure they’d crack.
“Force, Elias.” He curled his lips and bared his teeth. “Beatings, lashings. The same laws the Elders set forth for us in Niev will be upheld here when someone breaks the law.”
“Such brutal punishments haven’t been upheld in our kingdom since before I was born,” I pointed out.
“How do you think Niev got to where it is today?” Uncle Hudson argued, his jaw tightening. “Thousands of years ago, our people were beaten into submission.”
Rage flowed through me like lava and rushed to my aching head, where it pounded the hardest.
“You can’t possibly expect me to?—”
“I expect you to do as you're told,” he yelled. Red spread from his face to his neck.
Outside, his Guardian roared loud enough to make our walls tremble.
“Follow orders, Elias,” he continued, his voice growing louder with each word shouted in my face. “If you would’ve just followed orders, this would never have. . .” He gave a quick shake of his head.
From across the room, Everly coughed, and my uncle glared at her. To my surprise, she still looked mostly human, which meant either George and Brenton hadn’t shared my magic with her, or she’d declined.
“She declined,”Nalari told me, her voice bleeding with pride.“She’s loyal to you, and more than wanting to taste magic again, she wanted to fulfill your orders.”
“I didn’t order her.”
“Commander Hudson”—she bowed her head in a show of respect—“if I may?”
Uncle Hudson gave her a stiff nod.
“Call it what you want,”Nalari replied.
“I’ve been working with the people of this region for a month now,” she said. “For the most part, they’re good people. They’re scared and hungry, and that combination can draw out the worst of even the best people.”
“What do you suggest?” He angled his head to the side in question.
When she shrugged, I raced to answer.
“Nalari and I have been scaling the area for more animals,” I said. “As the number of our livestock grows and we continue using our magic on the dams and younglings, it’ll give everyone in our region more to eat. We can clear more area for farmland and?—”
“In the meantime, people will continue to kill each other for food and shelter,” Uncle Hudson said.
I kept my expression passive and squared my shoulders back. “Not here, they’re not,” I told him.
“Your people are stealing as much from each other as the rest of the world.” A vein along his neck throbbed. “They may not be killing yet, but you can’t tell me they’re not fighting. I get daily reports from every single town and city in this Guardian-cursed world.”
I worked my jaw back and forth much the way my uncle had moments ago. “I can grow more food.”
“You can barely stand as it is.” A disgusted look washed over his face. “You want to deplete your energy further for these humans, fine, but you will enforce these punishments until your region is better under your command.”
