Whisper of Blade | ✓ (Crimson #1)

Chapter 21: Break Our Bones

Being out in the lower ring of the city during daylight hours reminded Minerva of the reason why she stuck to a nocturnal schedule. The filth. The rot. The stench. All so much worse when she could see the source.

She loved her people and hated them as much as the day when Edina had first shown her their sad state. Most of all, the sight filled her with the twisted desire to burn everything to the ground.

Out of habit, her eyes scanned the rooftops. She forced them to lower and look at the faces of the crowd, lest they think her proud and uncaring. But staring into the eyes of children, with too ragged clothing and too hollow cheeks, almost drove her to throw herself off Mala and out of her shield of guards. To beg the children for their forgiveness of what her parents had done.

Unlike at the arrival of the Hydro embassy, the Pyronian citizens now watched in mute resignation—even their bitterness quelled by fear and exhaustion under the weight of heavy-handed rule. They knew the almost divine power of the Pyroline family and were powerless to resist it. So, Minerva knew she would need to do it for them.

"How did you gather the strength to rise above your situation?" Minerva asked Kaolin.

Her maidservant kept her gaze trained on their surroundings for threats, but nudged her toka to walk closer to Mala. "You mean how I entered my ... former occupation?"

"I mean how you had the ambition to work toward anything at all."

Minerva glanced to the side at a small girl with crooked teeth. Her face shone with admiration and the only reason Minerva noticed her teeth was because the child smiled at her. Despite them, or perhaps even because of the imperfection, Minerva thought the smile beautiful and nodded her head at the girl.

Then, when the girl pointed to her, drawing the ire of the woman at her side, Minerva wished she hadn't. When the woman slapped the child's hand, the smile disappeared and tears took its place. The procession never halted and the muffled cries fell behind her.

Kaolin sighed. "I had more privilege than the people here. Fire in the blood opens doors and I never lacked ambition. I've always wanted something more."

Minerva nodded, at the last words in particular. Wanting more wouldn't be an issue. The way to win the hearts of her people would be promising more. Not only that, but delivering on the promises. She needed change, but change required people with strength to commit to her vision.

"Why do you look so sad all of a sudden?" Kaolin asked. "I think I've made it pretty well all things considered."

Because how can I ask for strength when I'm so weak? How can I be strong—a spent soldier so close to her breaking point?

"Because I'm wishing I'd done, and could do, more."

They approached the corner of the street and Kaolin shifted in her saddle to look at her. "There's no use in breaking your bones over wishes like that. There's always tomorr—"

A scream rent the air.

"Bloody ..." Kaolin drew her bowstring, but from her flickering gaze, she didn't know where to sight it yet. "Maybe there isn't tomorrow."

Minerva's guards clustered tighter around her, weapons ready, at the same moment a ring cleared in the crowd ahead.

Just in time for a body tumbling from the rooftops to impact the vacated ground.

With adrenaline tearing through Minerva's veins, everything transpired both with the rapidity of lightning and at the sluggish pace of walking through mud.

She found the culprit an eternity embedded in a second after Kaolin did. The spy's first arrow sunk into the assassin's thigh and the second bounced off a shingle near his hand.