Stasia wanted to rage, but Clarissa was bleeding before her, and she didn’t need anger right now, she needed comfort. Stasia pulled her close and held her naked body against hers. She whispered soft promises that everything would be all right. Her fingers brushed through red hair. As warm tears trickled down her shoulder, Stasia glared into nowhere and imagined a thousand curses to shout at her father. A prelude to the Joining Laws enacted, and riots ignited all throughout Vallessau, yet Thorda kept her in the dark in their countryside mansion. Gods and goddesses forbid something interfere with precious Cyrus’s training.

“I didn’t know,” Stasia said. “I swear, I didn’t know. I’d have been right here with you, with all of you. I’d have helped you burn down the city if that’s what it took.”

Clarissa rubbed her face across Stasia’s shoulder, wiping away the tears as she tried to gather herself.

“It didn’t matter,” she said. The defeat in her tone was heartbreaking. “Will it ever matter? Nothing changed. We set our fires and spilled our blood, and each night our numbers grew thinner. Their Anointed, Sinshei… she prayed for us. While we demanded to be treated like equals, she stood before her soldiers and prayed for our salvation. She begged for us to hear the words of her glorious God-Incarnate. Grace would save us. Redemption would purify us. And when we wouldn’t listen, the swords of her soldiers spoke real damn loudly for her.”

Stasia was glad to see anger replace her despair. Fury was always preferable to surrender. None of what she heard was new, but that didn’t lessen the sting. The empire had come to Thanet, and brought with it every sick tenet and law of the Uplifted Church. The God-Incarnate was the ideal. All were to live in his image, obey his precepts, and strive to replicate his own life. God-Incarnate Lucavi had taken over two dozen wives across his six hundred years of reign, but how dare Stasia take a woman of her own.

“I know it’s hard, but it’s not too late,” Stasia said. She put her hands on Clarissa’s shoulders and forced her to lean back and meet her gaze. “We’ve finally begun to strike back. My father’s plan, it seems crazy, but I truly believe it will work. We’ve already killed a paragon and a magistrate. Vallessau will have its hero. The people of Thanet will rise up in rebellion. Please, don’t give up hope. Don’t give up on us.” She gently brushed her fingers across Clarissa’s perfect round face. “On me.”

Clarissa sniffled and wiped her eyes.