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"And the dolls?" the girl asked.
"The dolls what?" the Usurper said.
"After all, they can get to the mountains."
Tamen pondered, but didn't answer, and stared at the fire. Milo took a sip and glanced at the waving flames, too.
"You haven't finished..." she looked up at Sammarius, as if mocking her from the painting.
"After the birth of the children, especially after the birth of my brother, my mother became softer," the Usurper continued. "She had the goal of raising us differently than he did. She told us that when we were very young. She reopened the University. It taught more theology and mysticism, but there was also room for a few applied sciences."
"A man gets used to everything," said Milo from the back of her chair.
"Yes. And can wait," Tamen nodded.
He got up and walked over to the table. Taking the bottle, he returned and refilled Milo's glass and then his own.
"She waited a long time. And she was getting ready. She was... less in touch with me. She loved my brother. She didn't just love him, she gave him everything. As I grew older, I was taken everywhere with my father, and I almost stopped seeing her, only in the evenings, at supper, when he began to let her into the Palace again. My brother, on the other hand, spent most of his time with her. She spent all his youth studying with him by herself, talking to him, smiling at him, loving him..."
Yomera fell silent. Milo put the glass on the floor, walked quietly over to him, and crouched at his feet, placing her hands on his lap. Tamen smiled and continued:
"As the years went by, it was as if she had changed. She became kinder to my father, and she began to spend time with me again. I even thought we might be a family. Her tinkling laughter as she walked through the castle, my father's sternness receding."
He laughed and threw his head back. Milo looked up and realized that he was looking into the eyes of Sammarius in the painting.
"Isn't it idyllic?" he continued, smiling. "Happiness in the family of a tyrant."
They sat in silence for a long time, listening to the crackling of the fireplace.
"Would you like to... talk to her again?" Milo finally asked.
"I used to. Now... I don't know. Things have changed so much. That's not what worries me right now."
"What then?" the girl asked.
"You," smiled the Usurper.
She smiled back, but there was still a question in her gaze.
"This may sound trivial. But I'd like to find myself," he replied embarrassedly to the girl's silent question.
"It's not strange at all," she said soothingly.
"Yes, only you are free to be you. And I am forced to play a role not according to my talent."
"So what's stopping you from giving it all up and running away... Oh yeah, the desert," Milo pursed her lips sadly.
"If only it were that simple. Imagine. Imagine if I were to resign or just disappear. They'd be at each other's throats fighting for my place. All the birds who live in silver cages dream of gold, and only the one who lives in gold dreams of freedom," grinned the Usurper.
"So you sacrifice yourself for... For what?"
"For people... Order..." he shook his head. "I just don't want any more blood spilled than has already been spilled. I think the Salt Lake below the City is already filled with it, and we're drinking desalinated blood instead of desalinated water."
"You trap yourself by making excuses for your situation. And you don't want to change anything, thinking that the outside world depends on you. But it isn't. The world can easily manage without you, whether you are a milkman or a ruler. It's just easier for a milkman to understand than for you. That's his advantage," the girl said, frowning.
"That's why I like you so much," Tamen smiled, smoothing the harsh wrinkles that had collected on her forehead with his finger. "You're smart, and you're beautiful, and you tell me the truth."
"That's not true, I'm not that beautiful, and I'm not that smart. And I'm telling you the truth because... lying to you would be stupid," the girl was embarrassed, and her cheeks turned pink.
Before he could enjoy her blush, Yomera turned around and asked:
"Do you hear that?"
"What?" Milo listened.
"Sound. Like a firework. But there are no holidays today..."
The Usurper gently touched the girl's hands, stood up, and headed for the balcony. As Milo followed him out into the cool of the night, she saw a purple glow flicker over the Old Quarter. And then... there was a flash, and something crashed down. The rumble didn't immediately reach her ears, coinciding with the next flash. Yomera looked anxiously at the girl.
"It looks like trouble," he said.
And at that second there was a knock on the door of the hall behind them.
"Come in!" shouted the ruler and headed toward the massive gilded casements.
The Cult messenger ran into the hall and clumsily flopped down on the floor in front of the Usurper.
"Get up!" Yomera grumbled irritably.
The cultist jumped up and got as close as he could, whispering.
"Speak aloud!" Tamen said, losing his patience.
"Your Majesty," the young man continued in a trembling voice. "The construction fleet over the Old Quarter! It is sabotage! Fire, the cement is burning! The ships are falling on the houses."
"Fireboats?" the ruler asked tensely.
"Already!" sobbed the cultist, shaking his whole body. "But they can't make it, the tanks are half empty, Your Grace, for all the moons!"
Tamen turned away from the young man and took two steps toward the fireplace. Then he stopped. He stared at the pattern on the rug for a few seconds, and then walked briskly toward the balcony. Milo met him with a worried look, but without saying anything, he went to the railing and whistled loudly. At first nothing happened, only a snowflake dropped on the Usurper's heated face and melted. But then the darkness in the courtyard below the balcony stirred, and a huge black dragon soared upward, revealing its wings and appearing before its master in the blink of an eye. The girl stumbled in fear and fell to the floor, and the cultist, in awe, began to back away from the door. The dragon lifted its head, its chest began to open, and a ladder descended from the depths onto the balcony, revealing a throne in the monster's body, on which rested the Usurper's armor and sword.
Milo stood up and took a step toward the dragon. Yomera turned and looked into the girl's determined eyes, then turned away and moved on. Once seated on the throne, he yanked something inside, and the monster's chest closed.
The dragon moved away from the balcony in two short sweeps, circled around the tower, and disappeared. Milo stood up hesitantly, then turned around at the creaking sound. The cultist, crouched on the ground, crawled with his back to the door. Overwhelmed with anxiety and a sense of accomplished injustice, the girl walked to the edge of the balcony and wrapped her arms around herself, clad in warm fur sleeves. Unmoving, she stared at the purple glow. But in the next instant, with a noise and a screech, the dragon reappeared in the air in front of her. Only now there was a leather chair with leg restraints and a handrail attached to its back. The dragon flew closer to the balcony and rested its head on it. From deep within the monster came Tamen's voice:
"Get on!"
Mesmerized by the monster's burning eyes, the girl hesitated, but then jumped up and, holding her dress, ran up the massive neck to the chair.
"Buckle up tight!" the Usurper's voice boomed. But Milo herself had tightened the straps on her legs and under her breasts so tightly that it seemed that her thin bones were about to fail.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
The dragon soared upward. It took Milo's breath away. The icy air seemed to tear the skin from her face. And her stomach instantly became disoriented, making her sick. But the dragon quickly completed its mad maneuver, and Milo even thought she could hear Tamen's apologies from the creature's chest, but they were hard to make out in this wind.
When she came to, the dragon was already hovering over the Old Quarter. The girl shrieked. The cement barges were ablaze with unnatural purple fire, flaring brightly here and there. Some of them were already burning down in the streets of the quarter, destroying several buildings near the elevator that led to the Heart Square. Fireboats poured water on the burning concrete, but the fire would not die down, only hissing louder and emitting a pungent, unpleasant smell. The cries of the panicked people trying to get out of the houses were intermingled with the calls of the herald, now shouting something soothing, now crying and panicking.
"Oh, I shouldn't have taken you!" Tamen's voice boomed from the dragon's chest. "Hold your nose!"
And with those words, the dragon approached one of the burning barges. The flames changed angles and moved away from the monster, allowing the dragon to claw at the edge of the platform. The metal monster yanked the barge toward itself, and the barge yielded with difficulty, but broke away from the anchor that stretched to the spire of one of the buildings. At that moment the fire on the next barge spilled over to the engines, which immediately rumbled, making Milo's membranes ache and head spin. The barge began to lurch, hit the roof of the Art Academy with its side, and hit the top floors of the old church with its front. The screams of the people grew louder. The people below scattered. The dragon hesitated for a few seconds, but then in two mighty sweeps it lifted the burning barge higher in its claws, glanced around, and carried it down to the Heart Square.
There was almost no one in the square, and only an old woman collapsed in fear as the giant flying monster dropped onto the paving stones in front of her, crumpling the lanterns. Milo stared at the woman, and the woman stared at her without taking her eyes off. Then the old woman screamed:
"White Maiden!"
The girl looked around, expecting to see someone behind her. It was only when the mechanical beast soared upward again that she realized the woman had called her that, for her white coat, clutched in the straps but still fluttering in the wind.
By the time they were back at the rooftops of the Old Quarter, the barge that had collapsed was already lurching, threatening to fall into the street directly below it, and burning concrete was dripping like drops of wax from the platform onto the sidewalk. The dragon had difficulty flying up the side of the stranded barge and had to grab it by the front, lift it and carry it, resting it against the other roof to make room for a grab. The concrete came crashing down into the street, raising a cloud of white dust and purple fire. Milo covered her face with her hands. A fireboat flew past them and struck the cloud with a jet of water, dousing the monster's wing with it, then headed toward the Heart Square, where the dragon carried the second barge a short time later.
When they came back, another barge had fallen down the alley, and fire from the concrete began to spill over the houses. The dragon circled over the rooftops, landed on the observation platform at the end of the street, and followed it with a heavy stride toward the fallen barge. As it approached, it grabbed the edge of the burnt-out engine with its massive jaw and dragged the barge back toward the observation platform. People peering out of alleys and windows, frightened and dazed, with their belongings in their arms, stared at Milo, who tried not to catch their eyes and stubbornly looked at the flaming concrete on the barge, which seemed already to encompass the head of the mechanical monster. Another cargo vessel tilted over her head, and the dragon dragged the fallen ship faster. The engine hissed overhead, and Milo covered her head with her hands in fear. The monster flapped its wings and flew back in one sweep, narrowly escaping the impact of the barge that had collapsed from above.
"Climb down, it's getting too dangerous!" she heard Tamen's voice in the depths of the creature.
"No!" the girl shouted back. "I won't leave you!"
The dragon hesitated for a moment, then leaped toward the barges, one above the other, and with an effort, grabbed the lower one and dragged them toward the observation square. Behind the rumbling and scraping, Milo did not immediately notice that another barge had collapsed downward, piercing through the old Parliament building. The dragon flew up and, once next to it, grabbed it and lifted it by its front. The burning cement had almost all gone down, and the flying monster only had time to pull the barge from the dying building. Parliament was still ablaze in purple for a long time, before it burned out completely and emitted acrid black smoke, under the onslaught of the fireboats that arrived. The few remaining barges were free of concrete before they began to collapse, and the tugboats rushed them back to port.
The dragon landed on the observation platform, and Tamen emerged from his chest and climbed onto the monster's back to help Milo free herself from the straps. The girl collapsed into the Usurper's arms, as if she had been the one carrying the barges all along. Tamen embraced her.
"How are you? Is everything alright? Sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken you with me," he kept saying in a tired voice.
"It's okay," the girl barely spoke, hugging the ruler.
"All hail Usurper Tamen!" came from behind him.
"You hear that," Milo said quietly.
Yomera looked up and saw people gathering in the square.
"Hooray! Hail to the Usurper!" they shouted.
"White Maiden! Hail to the White Maiden!" other voices rang out.
"You hear that," Tamen said and lifted the girl up, holding her by the waist.
Milo glanced around the square and saw a lot of people flocking from all sides to see the dragon waving its head intimidatingly. But there was no fear in the crowd; there was awe in their eyes.
"People thank you!"
"We love you, Your Majesty!"
"Our Savior!"
"Savior!"
"Hail to the White Maiden!"
"All hail the Usurper!"
Some began to fall to their knees and wail. Voices of gratitude mingled with the howls of those who had lost their loved ones.
"The damned Magistrate!" the voice of a weeping woman sounded.
"This endless construction! Do something! Your Majesty!" shouted the sobbing man.
The people moved closer to the dragon. But it roared at the crowd and shot a stream of scarlet fire in front of it, causing the crowd to retreat in horror.
"It'll burn us! It'll burn us!" people shouted, and some ran away.
Tamen dodged a stone thrown by someone.
"So much for love," he hummed.
"Hail to the White Maiden! Death to the culties!" shouted the scattered people.
Milo looked up and saw a ship carrying the Cult's flag descend into the square. It hovered over the square, and several black knights and hounds jumped onto it and began driving people back into the burning alleys.
A gangplank descended into the square, and a man with sharp features stepped down and headed toward the dragon. Behind him, the cultists scattered across the square.
"You are a true hero, Your Majesty," the man began in a loud voice halfway through, "I don't recall such heroism since... the annals! So reckless, yet so timely."
Tamen silently put Milo back in the chair and jumped down onto the paving stones.
"But why, my lord, are you unarmed, and where is your sword? It's so dangerous to walk around in a crowd without a sword," the Drill wondered.
Yomera, still silent, walked up to the cleric and grabbed him by the lapels, almost lifting him off the ground.
"You, on the other hand, are very untimely. How is it that the Chief of the Special Assignments has missed the second incident in a row? You have things going on under your nose that in my father's time would have had you tied to a scooter in the desert a long time ago."
Yomera lowered the cleric and hit him with all his might, so that Sept rolled on the sidewalk. All the junior cultists in the square froze. The Drill raised his face, covering it with his hand; his cheek was split, blood oozing out of it.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty, it's my fault."
"First the rune, then this," Tamen grumbled, hovering over him, "I give you two days. Do you hear me? Two days to find out who's behind this. And if you fail, I advise you to take action yourself and rid the world of your presence. Or I'll have you fed to Björnveig," the Usurper nodded at the dragon. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Good," Yomera breathed out heavily.
"Now settle all those who lost their homes today."
"Yes sir," nodded the Drill.
"Now," Tamen raised his tone and turned away, walking back toward the dragon.
Sept got to his feet, took his hand away from his face, and walked toward the cultists who had lowered their eyes to the ground, rightly avoiding the possibility of meeting his gaze. A breeze blew into the cleric's back, he looked around and saw that the mechanical beast had taken off and was heading for the Palace. Sept walked over to one of the novices looking up into the sky and shouted:
"What are you staring at?!"
The novice hesitated, but then pulled himself together and answered:
"All the moons, Mr. Sept!"
Sept was stunned, but then he looked up into the sky – and indeed, the firmament was full. All the moons had risen.
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