Catching Jenevy’s eyes, Tavi said, “I’m sorry. About Pala.”
Jenevy smiled sadly. “Thank you for getting me out. And for throwing yourself on top of me. We couldn’t save her, but you saved me.”
Tavi nodded and turned back toward the empty platform in front of the council building where she assumed Konner would speak.
At last, there was a rustling in the crowd, and people pointed to the left of the building. Tavi looked in that direction, but she couldn’t see over all the taller people in front of her. Without thinking, she grabbed Tullen’s arm, using him as support so she could stand on the tips of her toes. He looked at her hand on his sleeve then grinned, crouched, and patted his back. She hopped on again, and when he stood, she marveled at what she could see from his vantage point.
When she saw what was stirring so much attention, her heart dropped. Konner was walking to the council building from the office annex next door, but he wasn’t alone. She counted ten councillors, all of whom she recognized from Konner’s party, plus at least a dozen uniformed safety officers, all carrying hand cannons. She glanced at Evitt, who gave her a meaningful look. He’d been right about Konner’s relationship with law enforcement.
The entire group climbed the stairs to the platform. They couldn’t have found a better backdrop, Tavi thought. The council building still looked elegant, almost regal, from the front. But smoke wafted out of both sides of it, ensuring that the multitudes remembered that they were no longer protected by an institution they’d always considered stable. Tavi found that thought terrifying.
Konner held his hands out to silence the large crowd. When the people were as quiet as could be expected, Konner nodded at a man on the platform with him. The man came forward and placed a gloved hand on Konner’s back. Konner spoke, his voice amplified dramatically.
“My friends, my name is Konner Burrell, and I am the president of the Savala Bank and Trust. But today I am here as your servant, and as a fellow citizen, grieving with you after today’s tragic events.
“Behind me, you’ll see a group of our city’s best safety officers, in addition to ten Cormina councillors.” A murmur of surprise went through the group, and Konner smiled. “Yes, some of our council escaped today’s events, a fact that gives me much relief as I’m sure it does you.
“I know you all want answers. To explain what we know about today’s events, we must go back many months. Councillor Birge, will you please step forward?” She did so, and Konner turned back to the crowd. “Many months ago, Councillor Birge came to me in confidence, as a friend, to let me know about something extraordinary she was experiencing.” He gestured to Remina. “Would you be so kind as to activate your magic?”
Tavi watched as the councillor activated her gift. The woman’s eyes glowed gray. Many in the front section of the crowd gasped, and Konner explained what was happening for those too far away to see it. Tavi glanced at Ash and Wrey, who both watched the spectacle with wide eyes.
Someone tugged on Tavi’s shoe, and she turned to see Narre. “We’ve got to stop this!” Narre hissed.
Tavi gestured to the powerful group on the platform with Konner. “How?”
Narre didn’t have an answer.
Konner droned on, telling the crowd that the other councillors on the platform had also received gray magic, something he called a “joyous miracle.” He invited them to activate their gifts, and Tavi had to give them credit; none of them allowed their pain to show on their faces.
“This gray magic,” Konner said, “allows these councillors to use their gifts in more flexible, powerful ways than before. When Councillor Birge and I discovered how many of her colleagues had this same magic, we learned they had all woken with it on the same morning, and all after having the same powerful dream, a dream in which Sava himself promised them a reward for their faithful service to him.”
Tavi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the ludicrous story. Others in the crowd gasped and whispered.
Konner continued, “We may draw only one conclusion: Gray magic is Sava’s newest gift to humanity. We investigated and encountered a small group of citizens who had been gifted with the same magic, at the same time, after having the same dream. One of them has been using her gray sight magic to look for survivors in the building behind me. She has risked her life in the smoke and rubble, knowing that if Sava has given her a gift, she must use it for good.”
One of the front doors of the council building opened, and Konner turned. He did an admirable job of acting surprised when Sella came out, holding the hand of a young boy.
A man in the crowd sprinted toward the stairs, crying, “Shovan! Shovan!” Several safety officers stepped forward warily, but Konner gestured them back. The man dashed up the steps, wailing so enthusiastically he didn’t need magical amplification, and took the trembling boy in his arms. Konner knelt next to them, spoke a few words, and watched as the man and his boy walked down the steps together.
Konner cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. He turned to Sella, who stood behind him. “Thank you,” he said.
At those words, the crowd erupted in wild applause and cheers. Konner let this go on for some time before again holding out his hands, silencing the people. “We will continue to look for survivors in the coming days, and indeed, there are searchers in the building now.”
Tavi huffed, doubting the truth of either statement.
“It brings us joy to observe Sava’s great gifts and to see a family reunited, yet we must also speak of darker subjects.” Konner let out a long sigh, mournfully looking over the crowd. “Sava didn’t just give these councillors gray magic. He also gave them great wisdom, which they used to discover that many of their colleagues have been secretly vying for power and control for years. One of them, Councillor Vellish Elling, was a thief before he was ever elected. We have all the evidence of that and will make it public soon.”
Vellish Elling. Tavi knew that name; he’d been at Konner’s party. He was a Gray. Why would Konner turn on him now?
“Last week, we learned some shocking news.” Konner paused. The crowd was nearly silent, all eyes on him. “We discovered that several of the councillors have been collecting their own private, illegal stores of black powder.” The crowd reacted strongly to this with raised voices, but Konner held his hands up and quieted them.
“We also found a cache of handheld black-powder weapons belonging to the same councillors. These powerful weapons are called hand cannons, and we have reason to believe that more of them are stored here in our great city. Therefore, these brave safety officers behind me have agreed to carry the hand cannons we found in order to protect you, the people of Savala, from those who are certainly planning to misuse such powerful weapons.”
The crowd reacted again, and they sounded angrier than before. Once Konner had quieted them, he spoke, his voice mournful. “And now we must discuss today’s tragedy. We learned last night that Councillor Elling had discovered the main location of his colleagues’ black powder, and that he planned to use it to bring terror to our land. The gray councillors and I knew how urgent this matter was, and we met early this morning to discuss how to stop Councillor Elling. Our conference went late, which is why none of them were in the chamber at the beginning of today’s meeting.
“However, it seems Councillor Elling realized he had been found out. He, being a coward of the worst sort, decided if he was to be brought down, he would take down the rest of the council with him. He made explosive devices of black powder, and today he used them to destroy himself, most of our council, and many members of our beloved community.” The crowd was getting loud, and even with amplification, Konner had to raise his voice. “This!” he yelled, gesturing behind him. “This was caused by the rot, the evil, the lust for power in our esteemed council!”
The people reacted with wild anger, yelling out curses against Vellish Elling and the council. The Golds huddled together, joined by Ash and Wrey. “Is any of that true?” Tullen asked, raising
his voice to be heard over the surrounding clamor.
“Vellish Elling did discover the government’s stash of black powder,” Ash replied. “But he was a Gray. He wasn’t the one behind the bombs, and if he died today, it’s because Konner wanted him to take the fall. He knew too much.”
Tavi tapped Tullen’s shoulder and pointed to the platform, and he turned back toward it. Konner held his hands up again, and the crowd quieted. “I am as angry as you are,” he said, his voice quieter, but still reaching to the edges of the crowd. “However, we on this platform have had time to consider the blight in our council, and what it means for our great nation. This is not the way we wanted to approach you, but it seems the actions of one evil man have pressed us forward more quickly than we anticipated.
“I will be frank with you.” Konner’s gaze traveled over every section of the crowd. “Our mode of governing is rotten, and it cannot be salvaged. The councillors with me have been seeking the will of Sava on what our next step is. Something must change if Cormina is to survive as a nation.
“Sava seems to have answered our prayers. He has brought someone into our midst, someone filled with great moral integrity, astounding wisdom, and sublime magic. And just like the councillors with me, just like Sella, who saved that young boy, this man woke up one morning, having been spoken to in a dream, and discovered his magic had shifted to gray. The hand of Sava is upon him.
“My fellow Corminians, my friends, the tenure of the Cormina Council must come to an end. Rather than being led by a group of men and women who scheme against each other to fulfill their lust for power, we will be led by one man who has been touched by Sava himself. People of Cormina, I present to you King Relin.”
Tavi’s confusion had grown as Konner was speaking, and when she looked back at Ash, she saw the same perplexity there, mixed with wariness. When Tavi heard the crowd’s exclamations, she turned back toward the council building.
Aldin was walking up the side of the building, wearing a satiny, gray robe that billowed in the breeze. He took his time, striding all the way to the roof and continuing to its pinnacle. Tavi found herself hoping he’d fall through, but despite the fire, the roof’s structure was still sound enough to hold his weight. Once Aldin reached the middle of the roof, he walked down the front of the building, finally emerging onto the flat surface of the platform.
“King Relin!” Konner bellowed.
But the people didn’t cheer. Tavi looked around and saw bewilderment and skepticism on most of the faces around her. They hadn’t asked for a king. Hope grew in Tavi’s chest; the people of Cormina wouldn’t accept this. Surely they wouldn’t.
Then a murmur began, something distinct from the chatter of the crowds. It quickly grew louder, and people quieted so they could discern what they were hearing. Tavi asked Tullen to lift her higher, and she saw the source of the sound: Camalyn’s large group of Karites.
They were chanting. Tavi still couldn’t understand their words, but she watched in awe as their group slowly broke apart and dispersed among the throngs of people. A memory invaded Tavi’s mind. She’d been young, and she’d sneaked into her father’s study and spilled ink on his desk. The thick, black liquid had slipped into dozens of channels in the woodgrain, flowing slowly outward. The black-clad Karites were like that ink, spreading through the crowd.
A few of the chanting people came near Tavi and the others, and at last she heard their words:
Crown shall sit upon the man;
Man shall sit upon the throne;
And gold shall kneel to gray.
Veils shall be dropped,
Faces open to the light
Of Sava and his king.
Make ready the faithful,
For the day and place are near.
Tavi’s heart beat hard and fast, bringing a flush to her cheeks. The rhythm of the chant, repeated by hundreds of monotone voices, burrowed inside her. It resonated with the manipulative pulse of fanaticism. As she heard the words uttered again and again, they rooted themselves in her mind. Crown. Throne. Gold. Gray.
At last, Konner asked for the crowd’s attention, and the Karites stopped chanting. Tavi looked up and saw Camalyn, in black Karite robes, standing on the platform. Konner said, “It seems one more councillor escaped today’s tragedy, Sava be praised. Councillor Hunt, who was with her Karite family during today’s events, would like to speak to us.”
The touch-blessed man moved his hand from Konner’s back to Camalyn’s, and her voice rang throughout the assembly. She began with an innocuous introduction and a few words expressing her grief about the day’s events. As she spoke, Sall gestured the Golds together again. “If she uses her gift,” he said, “it will be difficult to resist. But if we expect it and shore ourselves up, we may be able to.”
They all nodded, turning back to the platform. Tavi breathed deeply, focusing her mind. Truth. Only think of truth. Her hands tightened on Tullen’s shoulders as she tried to grip truth itself in her heart.
Camalyn shared a tale about Kari bringing her the prophecy the Karites had just shared. As Tavi listened to the story, she found a deep part of her was desperate to believe Camalyn. But she gritted her teeth and started a silent chant of her own. It’s a lie. It’s a lie. It’s a lie.
It required intense concentration, but Tavi managed to hold onto her skepticism as Camalyn talked.
Then Camalyn led the entire crowd in repeating the prophecy. Tavi looked at the Golds, and she was relieved to see healthy skepticism on each of their faces. They all, however, repeated the words. Each syllable tasted bitter in Tavi’s mouth.
When all the people said, “Veils shall be dropped,” Tavi’s mouth hung open. For while Camalyn didn’t touch her veil, every Karite that had been with her unwound the scarves covering their faces and joyfully pulled them off. The rest of the crowd didn’t react to the shocking display. They didn’t even seem to see it, so deep were they in Camalyn’s thrall.
But there was one exception. “Stop!” The word rang out through the quiet crowd just seconds after Camalyn’s Karites removed their veils. “Stop, all of you, stop!”
From her perch on Tullen’s back, Tavi looked for the source of the disruption. Most of the crowd was still mesmerized by Camalyn. But one woman seemed unaffected by the speech-blessed councillor. She, too, was a Karite, her veil still in place, and she was methodically winding through the silent masses, advancing toward the council building. Perhaps, like the Golds, she knew of Camalyn’s power and had prepared herself to resist it. When she broke through the front of the crowd, she began climbing the building’s stairs.
“This is false teaching!” the Karite called. Her voice grated with age, but it was still loud and surprisingly strong. “These are not true followers of Kari or Sava! They are leading us astray! These people”—and she pointed at Konner and Camalyn, for she was now on the platform in front of them—“are lying to you! If gray magic is indeed real, it is not from Sava! It is from the pit of Kovus itself!”
Konner had begun whispering to Camalyn and several safety officers during the woman’s tirade. Finally, two of the officers stepped out and grabbed her, one of them taking her arms and the other covering her mouth, putting an abrupt end to her diatribe.
Her voice still amplified by the touch-blessed councillor, Camalyn spoke again. “My friends,” she said, “it grieves me that someone would fight against Sava’s plan for you, his plan for all of us. It grieves me that someone would fight against the king Sava has provided us. In these troubling days, we must put a stop to all such evil. It is difficult. But it is necessary.”
The officers holding the woman stepped with her to the side of the platform. The one holding her mouth removed his hand and held her arm instead, yet she remained silent, her eyes wide. Two more officers walked up to her. One of them pointed his hand cannon at the woman’s head, and the other lit a match and held it to the hole in the iron body of the weapon.
Despite Camalyn’s calming influence, many in the c
rowd gasped at the sharp explosion. But then they were quiet as the thick smoke from the weapon cleared, revealing the woman’s slackened body. The officers holding her lowered her slowly down to the platform. Blood marred her face before spreading along the white marble.
And then Camalyn once more stood at the front of the platform. She held out her arms, and in a passionate voice, she called, “Long live King Relin!”
The crowd repeated her, their expressions rapturous. Tavi hated the thrill that went through her, the goose bumps that raised along her arms at the show of unity that, in most situations, would be so beautiful.
The crowd continued to chant, “Long live King Relin!” for ten minutes. Tavi and her friends joined in the cry, but their energy waned, even as the crowds’ enthusiasm seemed endless.
At last, Camalyn called the people to silence. It was true silence, unbroken even by a baby’s cry. Her voice, melodic and kind, cried, “Let us bow to our king!”
Tullen knelt, and Tavi got off his back. She had been so successful in resisting Camalyn’s gift that she now felt ill at the thought of obeying such a woman. But she joined her friends and thousands of others in placing her knees on the ground and bowing her head.
When Camalyn invited them to stand, Tavi looked up. Before the crowd blocked her vision, she glimpsed the platform. Aldin stood, arms held out toward the crowd in a gesture of blessing, a surprisingly regal smile on his boyish face.
“You may return home,” Camalyn said. “Tomorrow is a new day for our new nation.”
Two strange things happened then. First, the crowd turned around in unison, like they were a massive dance troupe, completing their choreography.
Facing the Gray Page 38
