“Serving as soldiers,” Adria said, cutting a glare to Zeph. “Or building ships and armor in the communes. Skilled men are sent away.”
“And why can the women not work?” I asked, looking over the lines. The women were thin and bedraggled, clutching their children.
Adria looked like she had bitten something sour. “Oh no. Women cannot work.”
“Why not?”
She shook her head. “Well, first of all, it would surely interfere with childbirth.”
I looked at the mill thoughtfully. Grinding grain could not be so much more difficult than carrying tents, and women did that up until they gave birth in the desert. “When they are close, perhaps, but not while they are with child.”
“But it’s … unsuitable. The Three-Faced God does not like women to be so … active. Like walking,” she added, raising her chin.
Unsuitable. Perhaps this was what Danae had meant when she said she wasn’t the princess she was supposed to be. We walked past, but the sight of the mill stayed long in my mind as we approached our destination.
The Erudium was in the center of town, past the factories and far from the water and the docks. It was the very heart of the city. New, like most of the city, it was massive, white and square and tall, with giant swaths of white fabric that dragged my eyes upward. Uniformed men stood guard out front, like this place held all the treasures of the kingdom.
They let us in, and I watched as the Erudium guards all lined up behind Zeph. Adria breezed in, and I followed her. She led me into a wide, deep room that reminded me of a place in Jitra that had been formed by rock and used for public speeches. This was man-made, the rings where people could sit or stand perfectly spaced, growing ever wider as they rose up.
The room was full of children. Women, not dressed like the women of court but in sturdier red garments that covered more skin and had many cloth ties, stood along the aisles, perfect end pieces to the rows of children.
No one so much as twitched as I was led forward, down a staircase to a platform. A chair on it was set off to the side, and Adria gestured for me to sit.
As my bottom touched the chair, the entire crowd stood up, chins raised, chests pushed forward, and they sang.
Three Faces of the God
To watch over and protect me
Three Faces of the God
To see all the good that’s in me
I will be powerful, righteous, and true
I will stand tall for my country
The Bone Lands will rise anew
And my brothers and sisters will be free
In one motion, they all sat down and stared at me.
I stared back, my heart beating faster.
“My queen?” Adria murmured behind me.
I turned.
“I believe the king told them you would address them. Explain what happened yesterday,” she told me.
I nodded and stood.
They all stood with me.
“Sit,” I said, and they immediately sat.
“How many of you were in the castles yesterday?” I asked. Slowly, about twenty of the hundred or so children in the room raised their hands. One of them was Aero, and he smiled when I looked at him.
“I’m sure it was frightening,” I said, and several heads nodded. “They were trying to scare you.”
“I wasn’t scared!” shouted a boy, standing up. “I only wished for a sword in my hand to gut them like fish!”
The children cheered at this, and I waited for them to quiet. “I was frightened,” I told him, and this brought total silence to the room. “I wasn’t sure if they meant to kill me. I wasn’t sure if I would die the day I became your queen.”
“Who are they?” came another voice. “Who are the Resistance?”
I opened my mouth, but no sound came. I knew what my husband wanted me to say—what I had to say. But they said “Resistance,” and I heard “Rian.” If we spoke of Elementae, I would hear my own name.
“I don’t know,” I told the child. “Perhaps the king, in his wisdom, knows more than I do. I don’t know who they are. But I know that where they go, violence will follow. And you must …” My voice lost its surety. “You must …”
“You must defend yourselves and your families from evil.”
My head rose as everyone turned to look behind them. Up at the top of the amphitheater, Galen started to come down the steps, his eyes on me for a long moment before they swept over the room.
“You are the nation’s every hope,” he said as he descended. “And you must be the ones to tell your parents or your praeceptae if you see someone using elemental magic. You must know what to look for—anything that seems out of place, or strange, or unnatural. You must trust your instincts on this—you are trained men and women of the Trifectate, and you know right from wrong.”
He came to me, bowing over my hand before kissing it and returning to his audience. He clasped his hands behind his back.
“Your queen was threatened yesterday,” he told them, glaring at them like they were responsible. “Who among you will defend her?”
Every boy leaped to his feet, shouting.
“Women, will you not defend your queen?” he asked.
“They’re just girls!” one boy shouted.
“When our nation is strong, we are all strong!” Galen shouted. “When our nation is defended, our queen is defended! How will you defend her?” he asked, pointing to an older girl up front.
“By trusting my instincts?” she said.
“Yes!” he shouted. “Keep your eyes open! Trust your instincts!”
The girls stood now too, and everyone clapped and shouted excitedly at him. Galen surveyed them sternly, not seeming to enjoy their praise, and as young as he was, I could see the military commander in him.
“Now,” he said, “while I’m here, I wish to examine our future recruits.” He nodded to one of the standing women, who clapped her hands and ordered the children to the training grounds. They began filing out, and Galen turned to me. “Forgive the intrusion,” he said, bowing his head.
“It was welcome,” I said. “I didn’t really know what to say.”
He shook his head. “Calix has always been totally at ease before a crowd. It took me far longer to feel comfortable speaking to others.” His mouth pursed thoughtfully. “And still most of what I do is shouting.”
I looked down. “That,” I agreed softly. “And you managed to say what he wanted without it sounding so very hateful.”
“Keeping an eye on your surroundings and trusting your own understanding is usually good advice for our recruits. I figured it applied here. Truly, I don’t think there’s much for them to observe, so I don’t see the harm in it.”
“There’s harm in rewarding turning on one another,” I told him.
His eyes cut to me, and then behind me, where I was sure Adria still stood. “You should stay for training,” he told me flatly. “I’m sure the boys will enjoy fighting for your praise.”
“More fighting,” I said, my voice barely more than a sigh.