“If anyone has information, we continue to ask for your assistance. Anyone who comes forward will be afforded all the protection we canmuster. The kings of old are watching us now. It is up to us to make them proud and prove the country they’ve built is stronger than the chaos a few rotten apples may try to sow.”
The king stepped back, Fernando placing a hand on his shoulder, his own smile bright and wide. Ian couldn’t see the faces of the crowd from where he stood, but it seemed the king’s hand was content with how the speech had landed, and that fact made his stomach turn.
Harlow stepped forward on the podium, and Ian’s shoulders tensed beneath the man’s gaze as it swept over the crowd.
“The king’s men are looking for more soldiers,” Harlow said, “as we’ve lost some to the war and others to sacred missions outside the city. Anyone who joins, Dragonborn or Dereyan, will be afforded extra rations to their families for their entire tenure of service.”
Ian growled. He’d been giving most of his own rations to the resistance members who were in hiding, but that wasn’t nearly enough. The entire lower city was starving. The farms had suffered a flood a few weeks back, but Ian knew there would be plenty of food if the upper city reduced their own rations to a reasonable amount. The palace stores could feed the entire city for a season if they willed it. But starvation was motivation, and plenty of desperate Dragonborn would join the army on a promise of food.
“Now,” Harlow continued, “you may see more activity as soldiers patrol the lower city and upper streets with more vigor. My men are there for all our protection. We aim to keep the peace, even as the resistance threatens us. With this in mind, the curfew for the lower city will continue until further notice. Any Dragonborn outside of their homes after dark without a valid token will be subject to search and arrest. You must have your papers with you at all times. This is for the protection of all. Do your part in the effort for peace by following the laws and keeping an eye out for suspicious behavior. We rely on you all.
“But know this.” His voice changed, taking on a hard edge even as something akin to excitement sparked in his eyes. “This war will be over soon. It may feel hopeless right now, but we’re doing more than you can know to protect our people, and we will bring this rebellion to an end.”
He gave a stiff bow before stepping backinto line.
Ian grimaced. There was something that Harlow hadn’t said in his speech. Something about the way he looked. He wasn’t bluffing. Harlow thought he was close to winning the war. Dread pooled in Ian’s stomach.
The crowd began to disperse, and Ian watched, acid crawling up his throat.
A flash of red drew his eyes, and he turned to see someone staring at him from a nearby alley, her eyes piercing even in the shadows. His breath caught, but he turned back to the crowd, keeping his face blank as he inched toward the corner of the building.
Flor was walking ahead of him, her own steps slow. He didn’t move to catch up with her, instead staying a dozen steps behind as she turned down narrow street after narrow street.
It was a long ten minutes before she turned down a dark and twisted alley. When he rounded the corner, she was gone, but he noticed a series of jutting bricks along the wall, creating a makeshift staircase. Swallowing back a groan at his own stupidity for drinking so much last night, he pulled himself up the wall until he was on the roof.
Flor stood next to the slight shapeshifter he’d met the week before—Lumi.
“What are you doing here?” he snapped, before Flor could open her mouth. “The city isn’t safe right now.”
“Oh, please. The city’s never been safe,” Flor said, lips pinched.
“If you get caught without papers or outside after curfew, you’re just as likely to end up headless as sent to the farms. Every night there’s another incident with a Dragonborn turning up dead.”
“We heard about the bomb. We came to help.”
“King’s balls, how long have you been here?”
“A few days,” Flor said. “We’ve been staying with Nando.”
Ian sent a curse at Nando. He’d talked to the bastard just two days ago, and he hadn’t mentioned the two new refugees.
Flor was staring at him, something in her expression agitated. “What?”
“Sofia was with us,” she said. “She was captured coming into the city.”
Ian smiled without thinking, and Flor blanched.
“She escaped,” he said quickly. “I didn’t realize you’d been with her. I would have come looking for you.”
“She escaped?” Flor asked, voice going high.
“I’ve been working with Harlow and his dragons since the bomb. Sofia escaped with her dragon. Harlow was on a rampage the entire next day over it.”
Lumi’s shoulders loosened, and Flor took a shuddering breath, blinking away tears.
“Good,” she said. “Of course she did.”
“We need to talk,” Ian said. “Things have been escalating, and I don’t know how much longer the city will be safe for the Dragonborn, let alone the resistance.”