Smoke poured from the doors, bent and broken now. The stone building still stood, massive and immovable despite the cracks and crumbling along the edges. Lilliasa joined the mob drawn close to the building and its shattered doors. The man who staggered out first collapsed on the wide front steps. No one moved to help him.
There were more figures now, coated with dust and coughing through the smoke as they exited the building. The crowd watching stayed frozen, standing still and silent. Distant screams and the sound of fighting rang out through the night.
A ship launched, leaping up from the ground in a massive surge of power. Lilliasa turned her head to watch, a tiny smile dimpling her mouth. Two other ships rose after it, chasing the first ship up into space.
"Conclave is broken," one of the men gasped as he leaned on a pillar. "The Triad is dead. Treachery." He coughed, his words lost in a croaking gasp as he fought to breathe.
Lilliasa saw Mayguena, across the crowd. Mayguena held her head high. The crowd was shifting now, uneasy as the word treason whispered through the air.
"Conclave is broken," Mayguena said forcefully. She stepped forward, lifting her skirts to climb one step. She turned to face the crowd. "The old ways are gone. We must find new ways."
"Traitor!" The shout came from Bradoc, Lilliasa's brother. "You are the one who did this!"
The crowd muttered, a growing sound of unease and discontent.
Mayguena stared down at Bradoc, lifting her chin proudly. "I was not alone. There are many who call for change."
"So you murdered the Triad?" Bradoc asked.
The words lingered in the air. The crowd shifted forward, its mood growing ugly. Lilliasa held her place, watching the drama unfolding with her tiny cold smile.
Mayguena tried to respond. Bradoc advanced on her, stepping up beside her.
"You defile our ways," he shouted over the top of her comment. "You murder and plot against the Code, against the Triad, against your rightful rulers."
"I did not act alone," she shouted back. Her face was twisted and angry.
"You sully my family's name," he shouted. His face was red and ugly with hate. "You plot with your women and your slaves. It is an abomination."
"Whose hands placed the bombs?" Mayguena demanded.
He moved to slap her. She backed away. Lilliasa watched the door above them. The crowd was frozen, listening and watching. It was unthinkable that conclave would be broken in this way.
A lone figure lurched through the door. Rich robes of deep brown were coated with dust and splotched with blood. The man swayed, grabbing at the chipped pillars as a support. He missed his hold and tumbled down the steps.
"Father!" Lilliasa screamed. She gathered her skirts and ran up the steps of the building. Now it was her turn to steal the spotlight.
She dropped to her knees beside her father. She lifted his head, cradling him against her breast. He bled on her dress. She sobbed loudly, rocking him back and forth. The others watched her. Mayguena and Bradoc stared at her, both suspicious of her actions. Tuarik jerked once, a last breath rattling out into the sudden silence.
"Father," Lilliasa said, her voice breaking on another sob. She slowly lowered his lifeless body to the steps.
She stood, glancing down to assess her appearance while pretending to be overcome with grief. Her dress was covered with dust and blood. Her hands were red with it. She looked up slowly, keeping her face twisted with grief.
"Des Tuarik is dead," she keened. "My father, my older brothers, all dead. And you," she raised one bloody hand, pointing at Bradoc. "You did this. You wanted his position. You wanted his wealth." She took one step down. She pointed an accusing finger at him, one dipped in his own father's blood. "You did this. Traitor!"
The word rang in the air. Bradoc glared at her.
"You were the one plotting, sister," he snarled.
She shook her head. Her hair slipped free of its pins. She knew she looked like a tragic victim. She played the role fully. "How could I betray my own father? My future husband lies inside. My future is dead." She let another sob escape. "You are no brother to me. You have desecrated the Code. You have killed your own family."
She didn't need to finish. The crowd caught her emotions. They roared with wordless rage. The unthinkable had happened. They wanted a target, someone to blame for the sudden chaos of their world. Lilliasa gave them her brother.
Mayguena was looking too smug. She had backed away, putting distance between her and Bradoc. Lilliasa wasn't about to let her escape.
"And you," she shouted, her voice echoed from the stone behind her. She shifted her bloody finger to Mayguena. "Plotting with him. I heard you whispering. I saw what you did. Perversions," she let her voice drop to a disgusted whisper.
The crowd had heard enough. It surged forward, people screaming and shouting, their faces twisted by anger. Someone threw a rock. It struck next to Bradoc. He flinched, retreating up a step. Another rock struck his shoulder. Mayguena turned to run. A rock slammed into her leg. She limped down the steps, shielding her head with her hands. It did no good. Rocks rained down on her and Bradoc. They both crumpled to the stairs under a hail of stone.
Lilliasa wisely backed up to the entrance, out of range of the stones. She watched for only a moment, long enough to know neither Mayguena or Bradoc would survive. She turned and slipped through the ruined doors.
The interior of the building was filled with dust and smoke. Large sheets of stone facing cracked from the walls, landing around her as she walked swiftly through the wreckage. The doors to the chamber were wide open. Bodies were strewn through the rubble. Some still moved. She ignored them, intent on the case at the front of the room.
The clear material was cracked, starred and shattered by the explosion. She raised a large stone and smashed it the rest of the way. She brushed pieces out of her way and retrieved the object the case guarded. It was the length of her hand, a cylindrical crystal of wavering blues and purples. She held it up to what light still entered the chamber through cracks in the walls and roof. The crystal glimmered.
"The Code," she said to herself. The crystal was still intact, a recording that had survived a thousand years. It was the basis of their laws and customs. It was this crystal and the information embedded in it that dictated her life. She raised it high over her head and brought it down against the edge of the case.
A web of darkness spread through the crystal. It was not enough. She smashed it against the case again. And again. The blue and purple light flickered and died. Pieces of crystal, shards of dull gray, flaked from it to land around her feet.
She cradled it in her hands. The crystal was now gray, lifeless, cracked and useless. She allowed herself a tiny smile of triumph.
"What are you doing?"
She turned to face an apparition from a nightmare. Gyth was covered with dust and blood. His eyes stared from a mask of dark gray. He wavered, the only thing keeping him from falling was a broken bench of stone that he used to drag himself up.
"Winning," Lilliasa said. She tucked the crystal into the front of her dress. She picked up a stone from the floor, bigger than both her fists. She brought it down on Gyth's head.
Blood spattered around her, mixed with brain matter. Gyth sprawled on the floor, dead before he landed. She dropped the stone on him and stepped over him. She pulled the crystal back out and set her face in the appropriate mask.
It was time for her to take her father's place. It was time for her to lead her people to a new existence. It was time for a woman to rule. She stepped out through the shattered doors, the broken crystal held high in both hands.