Lucian
We left the hotel to the sound of cheers. People lined the sidewalks, clapping, waving, wishing us luck.
Neev was still under our rule, so the support made sense. But these were uncertain times, and I wasn’t naive enough to take those cheers at face value. Loyalty could shift with the wind.
Right now, trust was a luxury we couldn’t afford. Not now. Maybe not ever again.
Denis had arranged for a car, and he took the wheel himself. As we pulled away from the hotel, I closed my eyes briefly and whispered a prayer to the goddess. Let this end soon. Let us all come home.
—The troops are in position, Denis linked me as we drove. They're hidden in the woods around the venue. There's a small crowd forming. We’ve embedded twelve unarmed soldiers among them, dressed like civilians. The r
