Page 82 of Vilest Things
“May as well be generous about it,” Yilas says, finally trying Actia Province’s prefix.
The small window on the screen changes. Instead of a red box error, it turns into a green loading circle. Bibi sits up straight. Yilas and Chami hold very still.
It rings once. Twice.
“What thefuck?” are the first words emitted over the computer speakers, crackling with interference but otherwise audible. If Calla’s voice wasn’t immediately recognizable, her greeting sure is. “Who is this, and how are you getting through?”
“It’s me,” Yilas says in a rush. “Are you able to speak?”
“Erm, well… sure. Anton, take over the reins, would you?”
Yilas rears back. Chami blinks. Bibi, slowly, tilts her head.
“Anton?” she echoes. “Anton Makusa? Isn’t he dead?”
“That’s a long story I can’t be getting into on the roads of Actia. This damn desert is no joke. What’s happened? Is Chami okay?”
“I’m fine!” Chami chirps. “I’m here too!”
“Calla, the Crescent Societies are starting a coup in San-Er.” There’s no point beating around the bush. Yilas doesn’t know where the microphone is located if they’re calling from a computer, so she raises her voice. “They’ve been quietly killing guards and Weisannas in the last week, but it’s escalated to a widespread broadcast calling for the deaths of the council. Most of the councilmembers who remain in the capital are being attacked.”
The other side of the line hums. The pause goes on for long enough that Yilas wonders if the connection has dropped, though the green circle is still flashing on the screen.
“That is certainly a troublesome development.” Interference over the line crackles and sputters. “But there’s nothing I can do. Otta Avia went rogue, and we’re racing her to the crown. San-Er will have to hold tight until the delegation returns.”
Bibi gives Yilas a knowing look, as if to say:See, she doesn’t even care that much.
Yilas grimaces. “One more thing. The Crescent Societies actually helped us make this call. I’ve got someone here for you.”
“You’ve gotwhat?”
“Hello, Highness,” Bibi cuts in. “I’ll keep this quick—I know you’re a busy person. Upon your return to San-Er, you can count on our forces behind you. We only ask that you don’t combat us. We have a lot in common.”
“A lot in common—Yilas, is this a prank?”
“I assure you the temples have reached agreement,” Bibi continues before Yilas can answer. “We’ve never wanted utter chaos. We only want the kingdom to live how the gods made us. With you on the throne as our symbol, it’ll make for genuine and lasting change.”
Calla must have pulled the phone away from her ear. There’s faint muttering, the sort that doesn’t sound very agreeable.
“The Crescent Societies are under new leadership,” Yilas says weakly.
“Sure,” Calla answers, her voice accompanied by a burst of static when she returns to the line, “whatever.”
After all those years working with her, Yilas knows what one of Calla’s brush-offs sounds like. She’s strangely relieved, even though this is exactly what Chami predicted would happen. There had been a part of her afraid to hear interest when Bibi made her proposition. Yilas can’t really explain why.
“Listen, Yilas, Chami, while I’ve got you,” Calla says. Her words are growing more and more inaudible. If she’s riding through Actia while speaking, she may be getting too far from the cell tower they’ve connected to. “Have you ever heard of a Sinoa Tuoleimi?”
Yilas and Chami exchange a look. Neither of them completed their schooling before dropping out to become palace attendants. Despite their unfinished education, though, they learned their history lessons early, like all children inSan-Er. One of the first units they are taught is that King Akilas Shenzhi in the Palace of Earth led the war effort against Sica. During the war, his brother King Potau Tuoleimi manned the Palace of Heavens—though he wasn’t a real Tuoleimi, because the generation of Tuoleimis before him had no children and they moved over a Shenzhi instead.
“No clue,” Chami answers. “Was she a ruler before the war?”
“Must be,” Calla says, sounding thoughtful. “You’ve never heard the name? Maybe she was born a Shenzhi instead.”
Name swapping among the royals has always been common practice, even after the kingdom consolidated their capital into San-Er. King Kasa’s father, too, was a Shenzhi with two sons, while the other throne bore no children. King Kasa inherited San and the Palace of Earth, then Calla’s father was reassigned into a Tuoleimi for Er and the Palace of Heavens. Shenzhi and Tuoleimi were the same blood. The name was a formality to echo the palace.
“I’ve never heard of a Sinoa, full stop,” Yilas says. “What are you asking?”
“… figured it was a long shot… bizarre history…”
