Drowned by Fire (Tales of a Dying Star Book 4) by David Kristoph

Author:David Kristoph [Kristoph, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-06-27T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Someone across the square cried out.

Gravel crunched as the men stopped just outside the door. More sounds as they began moving away. Pavani counted ten heartbeats before stealing a glance out the window. Across the square the soldiers gathered at another building. A line of people marched out of the apartment, hands in the air. Steadfasts, surrendering.

Pavani and Rob shared the window, watching. His breath was spicy like cinnamon as he let out a long breath.

The soldiers arranged the captives in a line in the street. The same voice giving commands earlier spoke loudly, intoning. "Here, in the open and beneath she who burns brightest, declare your eternal devotion to our mother Saria. Renounce your false God before her, so that she may hear you lament in apology. Raise your voices loudly, so that she may know the fervency of your belief!"

The captives all spoke at once, a jumbled scattering of, "We renounce our false God."

"Declare your love for Her," the man spoke, "the giver of life, the giver of light."

Again, more unison this time, the captives said, "We declare our love for our mother, Saria."

The leader dropped his rifle to the ground with a clatter, spreading his arms wide. "Go forth in her warmth. Go forth in her light, as Children!"

The soldiers all raised their faces to the sky, eyes closed. After a moment the captives did the same.

The leader bent to pick up his rifle, the ceremony over. "Anyone who wishes to fight with the Children of Saria will be rewarded. Make your way through the wall into the inner city. When you reach the front lines you'll be given weapons and assigned into combat groups. Walk in the open, without fear; those who hide in the shadows will be presumed enemies, loyal to the false god."

Hesitantly, the captives all walked east, toward the Wall. When they were out of sight the soldiers left the square in the opposite direction.

Rob slumped down, exhaling. Pavani relaxed too, but already her mind was racing, thinking of a plan.

Jorda emerged from the staircase and joined them. Rob relayed what they'd seen. "They can't think a few words spoken under duress mean anything," he said. "But that's how it begins, one lie at a time."

"He is conscious again," Jorda said, "though just barely. Mumbling incoherently, begging to die. He's in a terrible pain, too, though the medicine muted it. We can't possibly hope to travel to the Palace now. He'll bring every enemy within earshot down on us. We can't fight them all."

You're right, we can't. "What if we didn't fight?" Pavani asked.

The Flameguards looked at her blankly.

"You saw what they did with those civilians," she said to Rob. "They let them go as long as they renounced the Emperor. Nobody knows what He looks like. Stars, even I barely recognize him in those clothes. If we pretend to be civilians heading forward to fight, we might get through fine."

Jorda laughed. "And what will we say about His Luminance? That a shriveled, delirious man who has to be carried wants to fight?"

"I don't know," Pavani insisted.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.