Page 20 of Spoils of war
“Yeah. No one’s really in the mood.”
Aran was already striding over. His voice was low, sharp.
“You haven’t heard?”
I blinked. “Heard what?”
“The Vultures have started enforcing the new laws. They’ve been dragging people out of their homes, anyone suspected of treason.”
”Treason?” I gasped.
”Anyone refusing to accept the new regime.” Will added.
It sounded like something they would do. No warning, no trials. Just steel and blood.
The Eye sees all.
That’s what those pamphlets had said. And mercy, they promised, would only come to the faithful.
“What laws are they enforcing?” I asked. ”I remember reading something about the Eye in that pamphlet? That’s their god, right?”
“Yeah. Their god, and their excuse for doing whatever they want,” Aran retorted. “The Eye isn’t just a symbol. It’s a threat. It’s a warning. ”
“Yeah, it’salways watching.”
Nora.
Her face was flushed from the bonfire, a streak of ash across her cheek like war paint. I hadn’t realized our conversation had drawn them in, but they were all looking at us now. Idalie shifted closer to the fire, hands curled tight in her lap. She’d sat beside me in class all year. Always soft-spoken, always polite. Now her lips trembled as she spoke.
Idalie’s voice trembled. “Didn’t it say something about blessings? … for cleansing?”
“What even is that?” Nora asked. “A blessing? From who?”
“Yeah... and they’re supposed to tell us what to do. What we’re allowed to say. Even what to wear?” Idalie added, almost too quiet to hear. Her braid was coming undone. She kept twisting the end of it around her finger like it was a lifeline.
Selma tossed her fiery hair over her shoulder and snorted. “Guess those freaks would throw a fit about this, then.” She slapped her bare thigh and leaned back dramatically on the crate behind her. “It has to be modest,” she added, rolling her eyes. “Ugh.”
“And no drinking,” Eryx said, pulling at his blond hair. “No sex, no fun—and if you're not straight, you’re basically an enemy of the Eye.”
“No more cocks for you then, huh?” Aran grinned.
Eryx didn’t laugh.
His mouth twisted like he wanted to say something back, but didn’t. He looked off to the side instead, jaw working. Maybe there was some truth to the joke, and maybe it stung.
“It’s like they want us to die of boredom,” Nora muttered.
“Maybe that’s the plan,” Will said. Nora let out a laugh, but it cracked halfway through and sounded too much like a sob.
“They raided Miro’s uncle’s village,” Idalie whispered. “His cousin was shot.”
Miro didn’t look up. He was crouched by the fire, arms wrapped around his knees, his face hidden in the shadow, staring at the flames like he could disappear into them.
”He was shot?” I asked. ”What do you mean raided?”
”One of the Eredians was trying to take his sister, and he tried stop—”
”They’re monsters, Kera. If you haven’t noticed.” Aran interruped, as Idalie tried to swallow her tears.
