Page 84 (1/2)

"The invasion will happen if we stay, too"

Not if I take control of my throne, Susebron wrote The people of Hallandren, even the gods, are obligated to obey me There will be no war if they know I disapprove He erased, then continued, writing faster I have told the priests that I don’t wish to go to war, and they appeared sy

"They are probably worried," Siri said "If they let you start in to think that you don’t need the I need to become the leader of my people, Siri That is the only way to protect your beautiful hills and the fa no further objections To do as he was saying would be to play their hand Make a ga If they failed, the priests would undoubtedly figure out that Siri and Susebron were in coether

Susebron obviously noticed her concern It is dangerous, but it is the best option Fleeing would be just as risky, and it would leave us in far worse circumstances In Idris, ould be seen as the reason the Hallandren arerous

Siri slowly nodded In another country, they’d have no money and would make perfect subjects for ranso held captive to be used against Hallandren The Kingdom of Iridescence was still widely disliked because of the Manywar

"We’d be taken captive, as you say," she acknowledged "Plus, if ere in another country, I doubt we’d be able to get you a Breath every week Without them, you’d die"

He looked hesitant

"What?" she asked

I would not die without Breath, he wrote But that is not an arguht

"YouBreath to live are lies?" Siri asked incredulously

Not at all, he wrote quickly We do need Breath--but you forget that I hold the wealth of Breath passed down for generations in my family I heard my priests speak of this once If it were necessary to move me, I could survive on the extra Breaths I hold Those over and above the Breath that makes me Returned My body would si one a week

Siri sat back thoughtfully That see about Breath that she couldn’t quite figure out Unfortunately, she just didn’t have the experience to sort through it

"All right," she said "So we could go into hiding if we needed to"

I said this was not an arguht keep et Everyone ant those Breaths--even if I weren’t the God King, I would be in danger

That was very true Siri nodded "All right," she said "If we’re really going to try exposing what the priests have done, I think we nant, I bet it will take the priests all of two heartbeats to sequester eneral assembly of the court in a couple of days I have heard --it is rare that the gods are all called together to vote Thatwill decide whether or not we march on Idris

Siri nodded nervously "I could sit with Lightsong," she said, "and plead for his help If we go to several of the other gods, perhaps they--in front of the crowds--can de"

And I will open ue, he wrote Then let us see what the priests do They will be forced to bow to the will of their own pantheon

Siri nodded "All right," she said "Let’s try it"

49

Vasher found her practicing again

He hovered outside the ered down froripped him about the waist Inside, Vivenna repeatedly Awakened a strip of cloth, unaware of Vasher She Cole across the roo that cup back without spilling

She’s learning so quickly, he thought The Cohtto control a second body Vivenna was quick Yes, she had a lot of Breath That --the ability to Awaken objects without training or practice--was a gift granted only by the Sixth Heightening That was one step beyond even what Returned had, with their single deific Breath Vivenna was far froe She learned faster than she should have, even if he knew she was frustrated by how often she got things wrong

Even as he watched, she led across the roo around it It shook,the cup fall over, then the rope finally returned, leaving a soggy trail Vivenna cursed and walked over to refill the cup She never noticed Vasher hanging just outside He wasn’t surprised--he was currently a Drab, his excess Breath stored in his shirt

She replaced the cup, and he pulled himself up as she walked back Of course, the mechanics of how he moved about with the ropes were far more co the rope respond to taps of his finger along its length Awakening was different fro a Lifeless--Lifeless had brains and could interpret Commands and requests The rope had none of that; it could only act on its original instructions

With a few taps, he lowered hiain, Vivenna faced away from him as she picked up another colored swatch to use as fuel when she Awakened her cup-fetching ribbon

I like her, Nightblood said I’lad we didn’t kill her

Vasher didn’t respond

She’s very pretty, don’t you think? Nightblood asked

You can’t tell, Vasher replied