Margaret stays with me without having to be told which enables me to
focus on wrangling the several hundred occupants of the palace into some semblance of order. Once that is achieved, I go and find Rath, who has not bothered with the minutiae of ensuring everybody isn’t in chaos.
“The bastard!” Rath is snarling and growling and pacing back and forth with predictable fury. He has not left the throne room, in spite of the fact that it is the part of the palace most damaged. I would be surprised if he could be dragged from this room.
“We are being provoked,” I say. In fact, I am being provoked. Krush knows how highly I value all things traditional and historical. He knows that destroying parts of the palace will infuriate me. I refuse to be manipulated that easily. If Krush wants to flatten the city, that is something we will have to deal with. “We need to destroy that shambles of a palace and return Krush either to the dungeon, or…”
“I have to be with him!” I hear the human screeching in the disorderly and disobedient way she has. If Rath ever had control of Lyric, he has lost it completely. She enters the room with a familiar escort.
“Tyvian…” I nod to the jailer who has been put back together. He has additional plate shielding around his throat.
“Tusk,” he scowls back. This is not the time for him to confront me, though I am sure that time is coming.
“NO! We can't strike back!” Lyric is screaming desperately. "Jax is down there. Her baby is down there. She's due any day!”
“We cannot allow Krush to destroy the palace. We cannot allow korabi to feel unsafe," Rath declares.
"Why not?” Lyric shoots the question back. “Humans feel unsafe all the time. Why should korabi be any different?”
“Korabi are generally not confronted with political issues, or the unfortunate reality of human occupation. With this strike, Krush has initiated fear into the population of a kind they have never experienced before. Krush must be…”
“Destroyed. Yes. But not until we have Jax and her baby clear of him,” Lyric insists laughably, as if she has some say in korabi strategy. This illusion of power has really gone to both of their heads.
Rath has made the mistake of allowing his human to feel as though she has a say in the affairs of state. Lyric having been a rebel leader in the past does give her some insight to the situation, but she should be kept in her place. They all need to be kept in their place.
Margaret
I am watching this chaos unfold with the interest of a tourist. This is not my world. These are not my people. I think I understand some of what is going on, but I am also certain that there is a lot going on that most of the people and korabi in the room don't understand.
“Enough,” Tusk growls softly.
The others stop and look at him with an expectancy that suggests they think he has the answers.
I am ever so impressed by the way he commands a room full of powerful and panicked personalities. Tusk is always in control, no matter what. I feel perfectly safe, even though I am arguably in the most danger I've been in since Mark was killed.
Everybody stops and looks at him, even the purple king.
“The palace needs to be repaired, and the defense systems need to be overhauled. There was no good reason for that rocket to ever make contact. We have more than enough technological defenses to ensure that we remain explosion free. Someone is still working from within the palace to undermine it.”
“And what do we tell the citizens? They are afraid for their homes and families. If Krush can hit the palace, he can hit them too.”
“We tell them he has been captured and is no longer a threat.”
“But we don't have him…” Tyvian says.
“We will go and capture him. Tonight. Not with any small force. Not with remote drones and missiles which he will surely be prepared to counter. We will bring the full force of the korabi royal guard down on Krush. We will capture him, and we will bring him to heel once and for all.”
“NO!” Lyric gasps. “NO, RATH!”
“Tyvian,” Rath says. “Take Lyric to the bunker. We are going to war.”
“Go with them,” Tusk tells me. "I trust you will not need to be dragged kicking and screaming.”
He says that, just as Lyric is carried past us kicking and screaming at the top of her lungs. She is furious and panicked and I feel sorry for her.
Eight
Tusk
War has come to Megaris. Humans dash through the streets in droves like panicked rats attempting to avoid the conflict which is to come. They sense it keenly, being a species given to war themselves. I wonder how many scum will hurl themselves at our claws or be cut down by our weapons for Krush’s maddened ego?