Hushed voices once again broke out. This time, there were few arguments, as the rebels discussed the matter in earnest.
Before long, everyone was volunteering their opinion.
“They take too much in taxes from us! Whatever we earn, they steal! We’re barely better than slaves.”
“No, that’s not the real issue,” someone else said. “It’s that we can’t get any of the good jobs. Forget the Outcasts, even Laborer Callings have to dredge the bottom of the barrel. When we make coppers on the silver, it’s no wonder we can’t make better lives for ourselves.”
“If I may?” Janani asked, raising her hand.
Vir nodded for her to continue.
“Everyone brings up valid points, but they all stem from one source. Asuman.”
“Indeed,” a rebel said. “If we could get rid of him…”
Janani’s eyes widened. “Oh, I wasn’t—”
“That’s right! If we can kill him, our problems will be solved. But how do we do it?”
Vir put his hands up to hush the crowd.
“Janani, tell me more about Asuman.”
Janani looked at him in panic, but Vir smiled placatingly. “I’m not considering an assassination,” Vir said, easing her concern.
Unless executed masterfully, it’d be far too easy for the Chitrans to blame the Gargans, resulting in dire consequences. Even if that worst-case outcome was somehow avoided, there was no telling if Asuman’s successor would be better or worse. Vir refused to roll the dice with other peoples’ lives so carelessly.
Janani cleared her throat. “Asuman… detests Garga.”
“More like he hates our guts,” someone else said.
“Yes, well, losing a child to the war does many things to parents,” Janani shot back, glaring at the rebel.
“His child died?” Vir asked.
“Yes,” Janani replied. “He lost his son during the invasion. He has harbored a grudge against our clan ever since.”
“If he were deposed, who would take his place?” Vir asked.
Chatter broke out again, with each rebel offering different names. It soon became clear that there was no obvious successor—a dangerous situation.
“What about Greesha?” Vir asked, eyeing the woman who’d kept mostly silent until now.
Greesha let out a short, sharp laugh. “The sun will set before I sit in the governor’s seat. I might be a Ruler Calling, but it’s only because Raja Matiman values my abilities as a Seer. Even today, I’m under constant surveillance. As an ex-Gargan, he’d never be daft enough to put me in a position of power.”
“I see,” Vir said. This was going to be a tougher nut to crack than he’d thought.
Vir fell into thought as the room broke out into arguments once again.
Eventually, Janani came up to him. “I’m sorry. I truly wish we could do more, but…”
Vir shook his head. “If this could’ve been easily solved, it would have been, long ago. I just thought the Vaak persona would’ve helped.”
“It has!” Janani said. “It absolutely—”
Her words were cut short by a demon who broke into the warehouse, panic written all over his face.
“What’s the matter?” Greesha asked. “Is this location compromised?”
The demon shook his head. “No. Worse. There’s been a breach in the Boundary. Ash Beasts have broken through and they’re stampeding this way!”
The room fell deathly silent.
25PRELUDE TO A SLAUGHTER
“When?” Greesha asked. “How many?” Her tone was urgent, and the tension in the room was palpable.
“A runner just arrived,” the demon spoke rapidly, on edge. “They broke out some days ago. They’ll be here by the morrow!”
“Blasted Ash,” Greesha cursed.
“Vera have mercy. Why now, of all times?” someone else said in despair.
“We’re done for,” yet another voice mourned.
“I don’t understand,” Vir said. “We’re in a walled city. The Chitran have defenders. Sure, the walls might not be in the best shape, but the Ash Beasts will have lost most of their prana this far from the Boundary. What threat could they pose?”
“Have you looked at Samar Patag’s walls recently?” a rebel asked. “It can’t be described as just disarray. There are gaps everywhere!”
“Still…”
“This has happened before,” Janani said softly. “The Chitran are spread too thin to defend the wall, with its dilapidated state.”
“Then what do they do? If you say you’ve been attacked before, then you must have somehow recovered, right?”
“They cloister everyone worth protecting in the Keep and the surrounding areas,” Greesha said heavily. “Everyone inside stays safe. Everyone outside, well…”
“Then the slums… The Gargans?” Vir reeled in horror.
“I mentioned how children continue to be orphaned, even well after the war, yes?” Janani said, barely containing her anger.
Vir couldn’t believe this. Until now, he’d done his best to treat the Chitrans as impartially as he could. They’d attacked Garga for grievances that ran centuries deep. Whether or not those grievances were justified, they at least had a plausible justification for their action.
Vir was even willing to attribute some—not all—of their atrocities toward Gargans to mismanagement and incompetence.
But this?
This was unforgivable. Not only were the Kothis keeping Gargans prisoner in their own city, they weren’t even trying to save them when danger struck. It was a declaration to the world that Gargans were not their equal.
Whatever compassion Vir might’ve had for that clan evaporated in that single moment.
He turned to leave. This could not stand.
“What are you planning?” Janani asked, stopping him.
“I will resolve this personally,” Vir said, straining to keep his voice level and even. “And when I do, I’ll have each of you swear to uphold the peace I’ve fought for.”
Vir swept his pointed finger across the room, meeting the rebels’ gazes. Perhaps it was because of his mask, or perhaps they were simply too worried about the horde to reply. Not one refused.
Vir stormed to Samar Patag’s castle, using the shadows to propel him.
The time for subtlety was over. Rather, there was much to be gained by making a bold statement to the Chitran authorities.
Until now, Vir had avoided Governor Asuman to avoid rocking the boat, lest he shatter the fragile balance that supported the Gargan’s livelihoods.
When faced with the prospect of annihilation, such concerns became unimportant by comparison.
While Vir had never entered the Keep before—not as an adult, anyway—Dance of the Shadow Demon made infiltrating the facility easy enough.
It was perhaps a good thing the Iksana preferred to stay within their tunnels deep underground. They’d make for truly terrifying assassins; it’d take Vir less than an hour to decapitate the entire Chitran government in Samar Patag.
If only his problems were so easily solved. No, he needed to think not only of the immediate future, but of what came after. For both Gargans and everyone else currently living within the city.
Vir found Samar Patag’s leadership cloistered around a large oval desk in a tall room with vaulted ceilings.
“How much time do we have?” someone—a Chitran general, by his military uniform—asked.
“Not long,” another Chitran asked. “Our runner says they’ll be here by the morrow. I give us another six hours. Maybe eight, if the marshes bog them down.”
“They’re Ash Beasts. Poor terrain does not slow them.”
“And their numbers?”
“Many. More than the last one. I’m afraid the casualties will be quite severe this time around.”
“We can only pray that by the time they’ve had their fill of the Gargans, they’re ready to move on. It’s about time those dregs contributed to our city’s prosperity.”