The Rising Dawn

Chapter Thirty-Three - The Rising Dawn

It was a tremulous dawn that came to Fourth that morning, full of shame and pity, creeping in, trying to avoid being noticed. Nika wished that she could do the same but the instant she stepped into the main room, every eye turned her way.

 She took a deep breath and forced her face as much as possible into its usual expression. She had tried to look like the Queen of Fourth today, as much as she ever had. She had tried to make it seem like she wasn’t breaking as much as they were.

  She didn’t sit on her throne, though. She simply walked to the back of the room and slid down the wall to sit hugging her knees on the floor beside Aono.

“How are they?” she whispered.

Aono looked at her. “You can read a crowd.”

Nika looked at them all. Most people bore injuries, minor or worse, and they clustered together, little packs joining, protection from the outside world. They were tired and cold-looking, as if a chill had entered their souls.

 Ethan looked bad, battling both grief and disillusionment in one. Nika guessed that he had taken part in skirmishes and passionate raids but never in out-and-out disaster, never on the losing side. It was a harsh lesson to force upon a person.

 Nika listened to the frightened babble, saw the wounds and the tears and the people who held others close, who pulled them together, kept them safe. She looked around at friends and enemies and families and came to a conclusion that shocked her.

  This was worth fighting for.

Fuya entered the room and nobody bothered to disguise their open staring. Her head was wrapped in bandages, clean and white, obscuring the horror. Nika was on her feet in a moment, hurrying over, hugging her tightly.

“Look at them,” Fuya whispered in her ear. “They’re hopeless. Gravity has taken over. Our wild leap is now a downward plunge.”

“I know,” Nika pulled away. “I need your help.”

“How?”

“They’re scared and frightened and hurt. Soon, they’re going to be angry. I need to make sure they’re angry with the right people.”

“The right people?” Fuya looked doubtful. “Who would that be?”

“Not us,” Nika said, as briskly as she could, ignoring the catch in her own voice.

“What do you want me to do?” Fuya asked, helplessly.

“They need to be together,” Nika explained. “They’re hopeless so they’re easily mouldable. We need to fill them with brotherhood and unity and love for everyone around them. Join them together. Make them see that they are worth fighting for.”

Fuya looked at her for a long time.

“I see,” she said, eventually. “Always scheming, hmm?”

“That’s my job,” Nika answered, stiffly. “Someone has to be calculated and manipulative or nothing would get done.”

Half of Fuya’s mouth smiled. “Naturally.”

Nika had fought all night with the idea. It seemed wrong and cold to be like this after all that had happened. But she felt it, all the pain and grief and emotion that made other people helpless. She just knew better how to lock it away.

“But I don’t know what to do,” she sighed. “I don’t know how to do it.”

“Confidence knock?” Fuya grimaced.

Nika shrugged. “I just…was never so good at instilling group spirit.”

“I can try something.”