He looked at them, meeting one gaze after another. “Now go home.” The crowd milled for a bit, but their anger seemed to be dissipating.
Merlay glared at them, clotted eggs dripping from her breast. Even the guardians didn’t seem to want to touch her. “You don’t know what you’ve done,” she said bitterly. “You haven’t saved your people, you’ve condemned them!”
The guardians started taking her away. Jolin marched right up to Merlay and slapped her. Galon pulled Jolin back before she could hit her again. “You used me!” Jolin shouted. “You pretended to be my friend, but you were just using me.”
Merlay glared at Jolin. “I did what I had to, for the good of the witches.”
Lilette clenched her fists at her sides. “You did what was good for yourself.”
Brine maneuvered herself between the three of them and gestured to the guardians. “Get her cleaned up and on the fastest ship we brought. Our guardians will guard our exit . . .”
“No,” Lilette interrupted. “You send armed guardians through my city and the people will fight. I will send imperial soldiers—the ones who survived. My people will not attack them.”
Brine hesitated before slowly nodding. Galon shot Lilette an unreadable expression before pulling Merlay away.
Lilette spared a glance at Merlay’s retreating form. “What will happen to her?”
“Do you realize what you’ve done?” Brine asked.
“I haven’t done anything but reveal the truth.”
Brine chuckled bitterly. “You opened the door for the world to see that we are vulnerable and corrupted.”
“Merlay opened that door.”
Brine was silent a moment. “Maybe so, but you pointed it out to everyone.” She studied Lilette from head to toe. “Since you no longer need our guidance to govern your nation, I’ll take Grove City’s leadership, but leave the rest of the witches with you.” More guardians had arrived, and Lilette recognized them as the ones who usually accompanied Brine. The Head of Water ticked off a list of witches to accompany her, and a guardian went to fetch them. Brine turned back to Jolin. “You’re coming too.”
“I’m staying,” she said.
Brine’s expression hardened. “I will need you to testify.”
Jolin turned to Lilette, her eyes haunted. “I wish I’d never created the veil.”
Lilette wasn’t sure how she felt about Jolin, who had helped the witches kill Sash and hundreds of Lilette’s people. But she hadn’t done it knowingly. “Don’t let Merlay get away with it,” Lilette told Jolin.
Jolin nodded, then pivoted and walked toward a waiting Brine.
When they were out of sight, Han came to stand beside Lilette. “Do you think they’ll try anything?” she asked.
He shook his head. “If they do, the elite will step aside and let the city have at them.”
Lilette let out a breath. “It worked.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Within an hour, the leaders of the witches were hustling through the city. The people threw things at them, rotten food, mostly. But they couldn’t do much damage unless they wanted to hit the imperial soldiers, which they seemed unwilling to do. With the witches singing, the ship snaked out of the harbor.
Long after the first ship had disappeared, a smaller ship slipped out of the harbor. Lilette noticed the way Han’s gaze followed it. “Your mother?”
He watched them depart. “Lang thought it was safer to go. I agreed.”
Chapter 36
Lilette was like a star—full of light and distant beauty. Han was like the shadows around the stars—he let her shine. ~Jolin
Lilette spent the rest of the day organizing the guardians into teams to clean up the city. The wastrels were dispatched as healers—their knowledge of herbs were far superior to any Harshen physickers. The rest of the witches went to work rebuilding the groves and fields. By nightfall, the city already looked better. Most of the main streets had been cleared, and green things grew everywhere.
Lilette watched the sun set—without mountains to hide behind, the sky plunged from pale blue to velvety navy within minutes.
Han came up from behind her and snaked his arms around her waist. “What are you doing?”
“We did it. They’re really gone.” His voice was gravely and he sounded tired but happy. He nuzzled her neck and a warmth built in her chest. With so many guardians and witches left behind, the city would be rebuilt in matter of months.
Lilette licked her lips as Han’s nuzzling went from loving to something deeper. She leaned back, giving him better access to her neck. She lazily watched a ship slip into sight, backlit by the twilight. It headed toward the harbor, its white sails almost looking peach. “What if they try something else?”