Page 84 of Vilest Things
“And yet,” August says, “we were all the way inLaho Provincebefore something brought me back by chance.”
“By chance? You underestimate me.”
Anger tentatively releases its tight grip around August’s spine. He hears a note in Galipei’s tone. He knows what Galipei is implying.
“You saw the letter in the study.”
The Dovetail appeared on August’s radar when the palace guards raided the Crescent Societies after Leida’s treason and found communication in and out of the capital. Though the Dovetail and the Crescent Societies are bothrevolutionary groups, they disagree on one major facet: the Crescent Societies want to abolish the monarchy and let the gods rule; the Dovetail only want to eliminate bureaucracy—get rid of the council, the generals, the soldiers—and let the gods channel through the monarch on the throne.
And August knew he had an opportunity to work with.
“I didn’t find the letter until we were about to leave San-Er.” Galipei pauses. “I got in contact on your behalf to resume communication.”
August, maintaining his stride with his hands steady on the reins, casts a glance at Galipei and finds Galipei already watching him. His guard doesn’t seem too upset that August didn’t say anything about his plan. Eventually, he would have needed to—there’s very little that Galipei doesn’t see, and even less that August intentionally wants to keep from him. The pieces fell into place mere days before August was crowned. Between meddling in the games and making the necessary appearances in the palace to ease suspicion, he didn’t even have time to take his meals. Galipei must know he would have been told the moment the coronation occurred.
If Anton Makusa hadn’t behaved like the pest he is.
August tamps down that flare of rage as soon as it erupts. There will be time for that later.
“You did a fine job,” he says. “The council won’t survive this.”
Actia’s sand dunes blow fiercely with the wind. The harshness scratches at August’s eyes, though he refuses to hunch down and protect his face.
“August.”
Galipei’s brow is furrowed when August looks over again. Whatever he is to say, he hesitates, and after a few seconds pass, August prompts:
“Go on.”
His permission takes effect instantly. Galipei breaks his restraint.
“It didn’t make sense at first, but I understand. You wanted Otta to wake. You knew that cinnabar would trigger it.”
This was the one matter that August hoped Galipei wouldn’t decipher. The rest he will tell when the time comes. The rest he has reason and endless defense for, no matter who needs to die. Yet it is saving his half sister that troubles him the most, because he doesn’t believe in the gods, but it is impossible to explain why he figured there might be a chance this gamble would work unless the gods were real.
“It was a guess,” August says evenly. “She was practically dead already. Either it killed her or it resurrected her.”
The closer they crept to Kasa’s execution, the more and more it weighed on August that his biggest threat thereafter was the council. He didn’t have a true claim to the royal bloodline and the throne, as the gossiping aristocrats particularly liked to mention. It would take only one conniving councilmember to put the crown on someone else’s head and insist that the heavens had claimed them too, thus starting a debate about who deserved to be the ruler. August already knew the crown wasn’t real. He couldn’t risk anyone using the loophole to claim the heavens’ acceptance, yet he didn’t have another way to distinguish himself either, save for the crown’s will. He didn’t have royal blood. Kasa’s adoption was the only item that gave him any right to rule, and after Kasa was dead, what stopped the council from coming after that little fact the moment they were upset with him?
“August,” Galipei says, and his voice is distant, faint. “Why did it work? What do you know?”
Many years ago, August and Leida Miliu had a scheme to leave San-Er and recover the true divine crown from a lost palace deep within the borderlands. It was rumored to have the power to raze cities and change sea tides, read minds and order armies. With it, they could launch a coup against King Kasa by force. Wage war against Talin from the north and work their way down until they liberated the capital.
The problem was that they needed Anton Makusa to join them, because theprovinces were difficult to travel, and the borderlands even harder to navigate. If they wanted to survive, they needed to jump. Without Anton’s skill set, their plan was the flimsy make-believe of children. Then Otta found out, and she didn’t want him to go. Otta, in fact, was where Leida had learned about the crown, given how often Leida was spying, convinced that there was somethingoffabout that girl. His half sister had always been a bit peculiar. Though August warned Leida not to mind her, she continued downloading camera footage to keep an eye on Otta, until the day Otta noticed Leida lurking and snuck into Leida’s bedroom to do her own snooping.
“I’ll tell! I’ll tell! I swear I will!” Otta had rushed to confront August in his quarters. No matter how much he tried to quiet her, she was incensed at what she had found: a half-written proposal, not yet finished but addressed to Anton. Leida had composed a letter to prevent anyone in the palace from overhearing a treasonous conversation, and still, a treasonous discovery had been made.
“What do you want, Otta?” August had spat. “An invitation too? This is bigger than your stupid fling—”
“You can’t have him,” Otta returned. “And you can’t havethis.” She flapped the torn paper in her hand. “If Leida read that book closely, you’d see the crown is cursed. Do you think it is as easy as a mere retrieval? You need sacrifice.Enormoussacrifice—”
“I am willing,” August interrupted. “I know what I’m trying to achieve. It’s for the good of the kingdom.”
Otta flung open the curtain beside her. The sunlight that streamed through his window that day was so harsh it hurt his eyes, rare for San-Er.
“Look at you, pretending to be good. You’re worse for San than Kasa ever could be. You’ll put us in cages and call us your loyal subjects.”
There was no point arguing with Otta. August was aware of the ultimatum she was issuing him: take Anton away from her, and she would tattle. The next time he snuck into her rooms, hoping to steal the source that Leida hadbeen reading from, he found the book in Otta’s fireplace, burned to a charred remnant.
