Page 77 of These Divided Shores
Mani reached the front of the crowd and dove onto the stage. Zey, down from him, hurled a Rhodofume pod that coated the platform in a thin veil of smoke.
The crowd erupted. Screams crashed through the air,people shuffling as they turned for the door.
Vex yanked Teo into him, face buried in Vex’s stomach. The defensors onstage drew weapons. A single pistol fired, the flash and burn of a bullet that careened into the sky.
But Elazar didn’t call for attack. “Friends,” he said, “raiders have found our gathering, but you have no need to fear. The Pious God will protect us—using the very ones who stand against him.”
The defensors on the edge of the room moved into the light. They directed the crowd’s attention to the stage with careful guidance, though many had guns drawn in their hands.
The screaming ceased. The crowd stilled.
On the stage, Cansu was standing now. Her eyes stayed on the crowd, no reaction to seeing Mani a pace away from her, or Zey next to him.
Elazar turned to her. “Kill them,” he said.
Ben’s chest incinerated. Vex buckled, pressing Teo closer.
Edda appeared next to Vex. Clearly, she had read the situation, her face white with panic. “We need to leave,” she said. “Now.”
On the stage, Cansu looked at Mani. Her face showed no recognition at all.
She closed the space between them and took the weapons from his outstretched hands. He let her, stricken by shock and confusion and the hovering trust that this was his leader—
Cansu turned the pistol on him and fired.
Mani crumpled to the stage. Zey cried out, but Cansu drove the knife into his gut.
Startled yelps dotted the room. Someone was weeping.
As Zey’s body crumpled to the stage, Cansu came into view again. She dropped the gun and knife and stepped back, showing neither reaction nor remorse.
“Sin is strong,” Elazar announced. “But the Pious God is stronger. This is the second of the four once-great stream raider Heads who the Pious God has purified. The first, Ingvar Pilkvist of the Mecht syndicate, surrendered himself to cleansing. Most raiders will be like Cansu Darzi: resistant to the Pious God, drowning in magic. But the light has come, and it will subdue even the greatest evil to obedience. You need not fear anymore. I will save your country.”
Ben had forgotten Ibarra was there, but he moved at Elazar’s beckoning.
“General,” Elazar said, “here is a tool the Pious God wishes you add to your great command as we bring the light to Grace Loray.”
Ibarra smirked. “Thank you, Eminence.”
Ben’s fingers dug into Gunnar’s arm until they went numb.
His father had used Menesia in the past to wipe memories of experiments. Ingvar might have surrendered to Elazar willingly, but Ben had seen him in the villages—the man was under Menesia’s influence to make him pliant.
But whatever Elazar had done to Cansu was deeper than simply forgetting. He had made her murder her own people.
“Benat.” Gunnar’s breath brushed Ben’s jaw. Sometime in the madness, he had come to hold Ben, one arm gripping his shoulder, the other across his waist.
Ben followed Gunnar’s look to the defensor closest to them—who was staring back, head tilted in a curious frown.
“Run!” Edda shouted as the defensor’s eyes widened in recognition.
“The prince!”
The room came alive again. The defensors along the edges, on the mezzanine, all swung toward the cry. That movement sent the crowd into a frenzy, screams and tangled prayers shooting up into the night sky.
Gunnar whirled Ben around and shoved him toward the door. Edda did the same to Vex, who grabbed Teo by the arm and ran.
The defensors stationed outside the room had weapons ready, but Gunnar washed them back with a wall of angry flame. They screamed, and a path cleared. The wide main doors of the fort still sat open.
