so much attention to her if she weren’t so very good at killing people.
A twinge of discomfort wormed through her gut. Once she left Vaisra’s employ, what on earth was she supposed to do?
“We could all just switch to civilian posts now,” Kitay said. “Let’s all be ministers and magistrates.”
“You have to get elected first,” Nezha said. “Government by the people, and all that. People have to like you.”
“Rin’s out of a job, then,” Venka said.
“She can be a custodian,” said Nezha.
“Did you want someone to rearrange your face?” Rin asked. “Because I’ll do it for free.”
“Rin’s never going to be out of a job,” Kitay said hastily. “We’ll always need armies. There’ll always be another enemy to fight.”
“Like who?” Rin asked.
Kitay counted them off on his fingers. “Rogue Federation units. The fractured provinces. The Hinterlanders. Don’t look at me like that, Rin; you heard Bekter, too. The Ketreyids want war.”
“The Ketreyids want to go to war with the other clans,” Venka said.
“And what happens when that spills over? We’ll be fighting another border war within the decade, I promise.”
“That’s just mop-up duty,” Nezha said dismissively. “We’ll get rid of them.”
“Then we’ll create another war,” said Kitay. “That’s what militaries do.”
“Not a military controlled by a Republic,” Nezha said.
Rin sat up. “Have any of you pictured it? A democratic Nikan? Do you really think it’ll work?”
The prospect of a functioning democracy had rarely bothered her during the war itself. There was always the more pressing threat of the Empire at hand. But now they’d actually won, and Vaisra had the opportunity to turn his abstract dream into a political reality.
Rin doubted he would. Vaisra had too much power now. Why on earth would he give it away?
She couldn’t say she blamed him. She still wasn’t convinced democracy was even a good idea. The Nikara had been fighting among themselves for a millennium. Were they going to stop just because they could vote for their rulers? And who was going to vote for those rulers? People like Auntie Fang?
“Of course it’ll work,” Nezha said. “I mean, imagine all the senseless military disputes the Warlords get into every year. We’ll end that. All arguments get settled in council, not on a battlefield. And once we’ve united the entire Empire, we can do anything.”
Venka snorted. “You actually believe that shit?”
Nezha looked miffed. “Of course I believe it. Why do you think I fought this war?”
“Because you want to make Daddy happy?”
Nezha aimed a languid kick at her ribs.
Venka dodged and swiped another jug of wine from the wagon, cackling.
Nezha leaned back against the tower wall. “The future is going to be glorious,” he said, and there wasn’t a trace of sarcasm in his voice. “We live in the most beautiful country in the world. We have more manpower than the Hesperians. We have more natural resources. The whole world wants what we have, and for the first time in our history we’re going to be able to use it.”
Rin rolled onto her stomach and propped her chin up on her hands.
She liked listening to Nezha talk. He was so hopeful, so optimistic, and so stupid.
He could spout all the ideology he wanted, but she knew better. The Nikara were never going to rule themselves, not peacefully, because there was no such thing as a Nikara at all. There were Sinegardians, then the people who tried to act like Sinegardians, and then there were the southerners.
They weren’t on the same side. They’d never been.
“We’re hurtling into a bright new era,” Nezha finished. “And it’ll be magnificent.”
Rin spread her arms. “Come here,” she said.
He leaned into her embrace. She held his head against her chest and rested her chin on the top of his head, silently counting his breaths.
She was going to miss him so much.
“You poor thing,” she said.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
She just hugged him tighter. She didn’t want this moment to end. She didn’t want to have to go. “I just don’t want the world to break you.”
Eventually Venka started retching off the side of the tower.
“It’s okay,” Kitay said when Rin moved to stand up. “I’ve got her.”
“You’re sure?”
“We’ll be fine. I’m not close to as drunk as the rest of you.” He draped Venka’s arm over his shoulder and guided her carefully toward the stairs.
Venka hiccupped and mumbled something incomprehensible.
“Don’t you dare puke on me,” Kitay told her. He looked over his shoulder at Rin. “You shouldn’t be staying out with wounds like that. Go get some sleep