19

Verity, you've been working to leave all that behind for three years," you tell her. "There's no reason to change that now. Your people are going to be fine."

"Will they?" Verity gestures behind her to the corpses in the street. "Does this look fine to you, Jun? I know what my responsibilities are, even if you don't."

If nothing else, Verity's announcement doesn't fit the profile of the grand proclamation Princess Despina has forbidden. Elith is so shaken by the demonic attack that it's difficult to persuade most people to stir from their homes, assuming those homes are still standing. Those who will leave are often occupied helping the injured or attending to the dead, and in general it's difficult to find anyone interested in an earth-shattering revelation in the slightest.

Eventually, Verity manages to gather a relatively small group of townspeople in front of her mansion. Isidora is among them, which ought to ensure that the news spreads through the town fairly quickly once it's recovered.

Verity's words are brief, prosaic. No more than the bare facts of the situation. She's Verity Fairgrieve. She was never a demon. She's sorry she lied. You hear no gasps or screams from her audience. With the shock of the morning and her almost bland tone, it's hard to even be certain if anyone believes her.

You're watching from an alley some distance away, avoiding any confrontation about your own role in the story, and you don't notice until the crowd breaks apart in a rush of bewildered murmurs that Evander was among them. He catches sight of you in the alley before you can duck away and runs over to your side. "Jun! Did you hear that? What the mayor—what Verity—what she said? Is that…is it true?"

In the fumes of smoke and exhaustion, it's suddenly impossible to deny. You don't agree either, but Evander clearly takes your silence for the confirmation it is.

"But then…but then that would mean that…" He searches your face, clearly desperate to see something heroic in it. "Jun, what have you done?"

Next Chapter