Chapter 61 Ezra
The capital of Torezia looked nothing like a city prepared for a war.
It was warm. Not the temperature since winter had not yet given way to spring entirely.
But the city itself. It was bright and colorful.
Loud music drifted from windows, and performers filled the streets.
Children ran through the markets laughing and passersby smiled happily.
We needed an army and that is not what I saw here.
What I saw was people. Just citizens who were comfortable, happy.
They knew nothing of the terrors just beyond the wall, yet we were here to ask them to help extinguish it.
I suppose, though, that is what an army is. Not a resource on a map, but people.
For the first time since we began this journey, my confidence faltered.
The journey had been the simple part. Helena had recovered significantly after the first day, but that did not stop Raf from hovering.
She complained about it the entire way. The dire wolf walked happily beside Strega.
Liv shared more of what she had read in the ancient texts with everyone.
It was easy to have hope. That hope was not gone now.
But it had been significantly dimmed beneath the light of this city.
Though we wanted to, we did not linger there long.
We did not seek out lodging or food, or stop to watch the performers.
Those were luxuries we could not afford on this trip because time would not allow for them.
Each moment we spent indulging in our freedom was another moment Verith remained under Stanhope’s thumb.
The Coalition was at the very heart of the city, and we headed straight for it.
A long flower-lined pathway led to marble stairs.
The building was pristine but not in the way the Diviners Court was.
It was not cold and sterile or dripping in luxury.
It was a monument. The Coalition building seemed a physical representation of the strength this city was built upon and the values it held.
It showed in every detail. Simple yet beautiful.
We approached the humongous wooden doors. Outside stood two guards dressed in a bright shade of orange. They did not seem to be armed and smiled warmly when they greeted us.
“Good day, welcome to the Coalition of Torezia. Is the Assembly expecting you?” They held large ceremonial staffs that were crossed in front of the doors. They did not look as though they were meant to harm anyone, but rather to dissuade unannounced entry.
“No, they are not expecting us. My name is Ezra Crauford, former Prevailing of Verith. I seek audience with your Assembly regarding an urgent matter.” I bowed, though it felt out of place. The guards exchanged a look and then lifted their staffs and pushed the doors open.
“Follow me,” one of them said. We were led down a long hallway.
The walls were lined not with portraits of rulers, but with artwork.
Beautiful painted scenes and landscapes.
The plaque beneath each of them had a name.
These works must have been crafted by citizens, their work now honored in the hallways of their government.
My stomach twisted. It may be harder than I thought to convince them it was worth fighting beside us.
“Announcing the arrival of Ezra Crauford, former Prevailing of Verith, and party. Here to present an urgent matter before the Assembly.”
The guard did not bow or lower himself an inch before his political representatives.
He stood tall and proud before them. They thanked him for his work and ushered us in to stand before them.
Seven people sat behind a solid wood semicircle. Three men and four women. The woman in the center spoke first. “Welcome Ezra Crauford of Verith, and friends. The Assembly is happy to have you in the halls of the Torezian Coalition. What is the urgent matter you wish to present to us?”
“Thank you very much for the warm welcome. Your city is beautiful, and I do wish it were under better circumstances that we came to visit.”
I fought the urge to bow before them and held my head high while meeting each of their gazes.
“I come to you with grave news,” I started.
“Verith has fallen under the influence of a tyrant.”
They looked at me indifferently. “His name is Lord Stanhope.”
No reaction. “Some of you may recognize his family name. The Stanhopes were instrumental in the Great War. They helped to eradicate magic in women and alienate anyone who stood against the perversion of power.”
They nodded along, confirming they knew the name.
So I could not understand why they did not seem to be concerned.
“Stanhope and the people he has manipulated into following him have, with the help of meticulous journals kept by his forefathers, begun to recreate the exact actions that led to the Great War.”
The woman on the end raised her hand to stop me. “Lord Crauford, the Assembly is well aware of what has been occurring in Verith. At the risk of sounding overly blunt, did you come here only to deliver this news or was there another reason for your visit?”
“I have not come only to share news of Verith’s woes.” I supposed it was straight to the point, then. “I … We have come to request aid.” I took Liv's hand and pulled her beside me.
“You know your history. You know what happened the last time this ideology was allowed to spread. We are asking you to help us stop it before there is another Great Reckoning.”
Liv spoke for the first time since entering the Coalition.
“I fear that if we do not stop this, that is exactly where the realms are headed.”
Her voice was low and there was an edge to it that I hadn’t heard since Margaret’s funeral.
“Ah, Miss Dawling, I presume?” One of the men spoke.
“With all due respect, we are not headed in that direction. Verith is. As Lord Crauford so eloquently put it, Torezia is beautiful. Our people are thriving within a hard-built peace. What has been happening within Verith and along the border of Torezia, will not break that peace.”
Judging by his statement, they were already aware of the attack on the sanctuary.
Somehow, that knowledge had still not been enough.
“So what you are insinuating is that you will stand idly by while your neighbors to the west are facing tyranny?” Liv took a step forward, not releasing my hand. “There are innocent people who are losing loved ones, being tortured, a realm that is bleeding.” Her voice grew louder.
“Miss Dawling, I ask that you refrain from raising your voice to the Assembly. This is a place for respectful discussion, not a place to hurl accusations and become hateful. We understand that Verith bleeds. But you ask Torezians to bleed because Verith has finally begun devouring its own.
Where was Verith when our people bled?”
There was a fire in the man’s eyes that had not been there before.
Liv did not respond. Instead, she hung her head and squeezed my hand tightly.
“Torezia was targeted by Verith in the Great War. You are asking us to invade a sovereign realm on the testimony of the very nobles who governed it. To save you from a system you allowed to become corrupt. We simply cannot risk the people we are sworn to protect,
the ones who placed us in these seats, when there is presently no threat to them.”
He sighed long and low. “I am sorry for your troubles, but Verith’s war is its own and Torezia will not send an army when there is no threat beyond the borders of Verith.”
“There is a threat though,” I stated simply. “Stanhope is driving our realm in the same direction as his predecessors. That war spread far beyond the confines of Verith. And it will again.”
“We can see your strength, Ezra.” The woman in the middle stood.
“We commend your care for innocent lives, all of you, and your willingness to fight against threats to it. But unless we see proof that what is happening in Verith effects life beyond its walls, Torezia will maintain peace” They were not wrong in their choice.
I would have chosen the same. There was nothing more I could say.
Not without begging them to sacrifice the very people they had sworn to protect.
“Thank you for hearing us.” I nodded, trying and barely succeeding at keeping my composure.
Liv’s hand remained tightly wrapped around mine as we were escorted from the chamber.
No one spoke as we walked back through the halls.
The paintings seemed different now. Names beneath landscapes and portraits, people whose government had chosen them over us.
When we stepped outside, music still drifted through the streets.
Merchants still called from their stalls.
Somewhere nearby, a child laughed. I watched the people move through the square, untouched by the horrors that waited beyond their borders.
I had come here asking for an army and could not begrudge their decision not to give us one.
And I had no idea what we were supposed to do next.