The room has fallen deathly silent. My eyes dart immediately toward Will standing over the messenger's shoulder. His steely gaze meets mine; his jaw clenches.
"Your Majesty," he calls out to Meg, "we should dispatch all our available troops to the Wall at once."
Some of the colour has drained from the Queen's face, but her command is nonetheless decisive. "Do whatever you must to protect our people." Her hand squeezes mine once before I release her to leap over the table and join the people streaming toward the front door.
I shoulder my way through the crowd and catch up with Will at the front of the group, falling into a half-run alongside him.
"We will get there quickest if we travel by roof," I tell him.
He glances down at me and back at the crowd behind him. I follow his gaze, noting that we are joined not only by the guards stationed at the Palace, but also by plainclothes citizens, their faces etched with similar looks of grim determination. It occurs to me suddenly that the rebellion isn't so far behind us.
"I need to stay with my troops," he says, his voice low.
"You will lose precious minutes if you stay on the ground. You heard him, Will. The Wastelanders are already breaking through the gate; we need to head them off as soon as possible."
"I am the commander of this army—I can't abandon them at the first threat of war."
"You aren't abandoning them. We'll meet them at the Wall—you'll just have a few minutes head start."
"Don't be foolish, Kay. You don't know what's out there. Stay with the group."
We have reached the sweeping drive in front of the Palace and Will turns away to direct the crowd into the armoury. The keepers have already begun unloading various weapons and are handing them out to the grasping hands. The stables have been opened and the grooms lead the great, stamping horses toward their riders.
I shoulder my way to the armoury and select a bow and quiver, figuring that I'll want something I can use from a distance. With the weapons slung on my back I turn away from the preparation and sweep my gaze to the South. Squinting, I can barely make out the low burn of fire stemming from the base of the City. I scan the tightly packed roofs ahead as I mentally calculate my route, estimating the time it would take me to reach the Wall.
"Kay, come on!" I tear my eyes away from the ominous, flickering light in time to see Will swing up into the saddle of his horse. He grasps the reins of another and holds them out to me expectantly.
I take one step back. "I'll meet you there."
"No, Kay." His voice is low with warning and I feel a spurt of indignation, taking another step back almost involuntarily. I watch Will's expression harden as I consider his words and the utter senselessness of rushing headlong into the Wasteland.
Yet, still I take another step back.
"Stay with the group, Kay. That's an order." The reins are thrust out once more.
And in that instant, I make up my mind
I whip around and sprint full throttle through the gate; somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I register a stream of curses in my wake.
I cross the wide street and leap at the wall in front of me, heaving myself up onto the roof in a matter of seconds. Below me, I can hear the sound of hoofbeats stampeding down the Palace drive. I glance over the side of the building in time to watch Will's army charging past, the few dozen horses followed closely by a grim-faced crowd, clutching their various weapons tightly as they hurry toward the Wall.
The soreness in my legs is at once forgotten as I turn and take off full tilt toward the roof ledge. In the next instant I am hurtling through the air, flying high and free before I land seamlessly, and spring into another run upon impact. I urge myself to run faster as the torchlight beyond the Wall grows brighter, the exhilaration of hot desert air against my face and limbs doing little to alleviate the ugly warning thrumming its way through my mind.
My gods, they are really here.
The hoofbeats below me recede into the twisting alleyways and slowly fade into a distant rumbling. While I run, I tune my ears to the sounds up ahead.
My heart freezes in my chest when I realize what I'm hearing.
Drums, and panicked screaming.
I redouble my speed and clear the next several alleyways at a reckless pace, my throat constricting as I fight to breathe. I barely notice when the buildings around me degrade into states of disrepair and I nearly trip on the loose stones littering the roofs of the old Common flats.
The screams suddenly reach a fevered pitch and a mighty reverberation shakes the earth below. The structure under my feet shakes and I stumble, my palms and knees scraping against the rough stone of the roof. Cursing, I right myself and lurch onwards.
The mighty Wall looms ahead of me. I expect to see our patrollers gathered on the scaffolding at the top of the structure but it's empty, abandoned but for the occasional body slouched over the ledge or lying in in a crumpled heap on the platform.
Ignoring the churning of my stomach I abruptly change course and approach from the side. I leap from the roof to the scaffolding behind the Wall, my landing nearly soundless. The wooden platforms run around the Wall's entire inner perimeter, hidden from view other than the occasional lookout tower.
I stay crouched, ears and eyes straining as I attempt to gauge the situation. The terrified screams of the City citizens are punctuated by the angry shouts on the other side of the Wall. I chance a glance into the desert and my eyes widen at the sight.
A mob has gathered outside the Wall, yelling and waving weapons, their war cries combining together to create a terrifying cacophony. My gaze darts to the giant, wheeled contraption the Wasters have dragged over in front the Wall. Several Wastelanders dart around the machine while others continuously nock their arrows and shoot them blindly over our gate, effectively keeping anyone on our side from looking over.
The machine is made of wood and affixed to wheels. I am harbouring a guess that it's an oversized carriage before I notice the boulders the Wasters are struggling to load into the back.
I frown as I try to piece the information together. What good would a boulder do inside this cart?
A Waster crouches behind the machinery and I watch as he secures a taut rope from the back of the cart to the ground. Someone comes over to help him tighten the rope and the boulder rolls back in its seat as the cart tilts backward.
Oh, my gods.
I spring into action, darting along the scaffolding toward the bodies of the patrollers. As I run, I glance down to the City below, cursing when I take in the number of people gathered near the Wall, directly in the line of fire. Something whizzes by my head and I nearly stumble, registering that an arrow just missed me by mere inches.
"Get away from the Wall!" I yell over the din.
A few people below me glance up and I signal desperately for them to get back as I continue to sprint across the platform.
I reach the first pair of fallen patrollers examine quickly, swallowing heavily when I find an arrow buried in the chest of one and the neck of another. I look away from their faces, running to the next fallen and searching desperately for any signs of life.
I roll a man over and he groans. I am so on edge that I nearly tumble off the platform from shock. I sling his arm around my neck, remaining crouched as I chance another look over the Wall.
The Wasters appear even fiercer at this distance, tall and broad, their faces covered by earth-coloured scarves and protective strips of leather crossing their bodies. The torchlight dances ominously over the mob, casting dark shadows across their imposing statures. No one has backed away from the war machine, yet I can't be certain that the boulder won't be released at any moment. The word catapult sits on the tip of my tongue, my readings of ancient weaponry sending a terrifying premonition down my spine. There isn't time to dwell; I need to get off this Wall and far away from its base.
I manage to hobble partway down the platform steps before the shouts behind fall to a low, rumbling murmur. My time is up. I stumble as I hurry toward the stairs, spouting curses and other such encouragement to the man at my side, half-dragging him down the few steps before someone runs up to help us.
As the weight of the man lifts from my shoulders I look straight out into the City, searching for any signs of Will and his reinforcements. The ground below me is a chaotic ensemble of terrified people running back and forth but there are no signs yet of the soldiers.
"We need to get away from the Wall!" I yell again, grabbing hold of people as they stream by me, steering them uphill and into the City. "Tell everyone you can; move away from the Wall!"
I tear up and down the street, shouting like a crazed woman. The screams around me increase with my own desperation as the Wasters' rhythmic chant grows conspicuously louder.
"This is it!" I shout, snatching a woman's hand and dragging her with me away from the stone barricade. We join the crowd of people streaming upwards, fighting to put as much distance between ourselves and the Wasters as possible.
Then there is a deafening impact and I am knocked to the ground. I cover my head with my hands and yank my knees up to my chest, shielding myself as sharp fragments of stone pelt me. Something clips my arm and I wince, my ears ringing.
Moments or hours of terrifying blackness pass before the world gradually swims back into focus and I register the voices crying out around me. Shaking my head to clear it I sit up and stare back down the hill toward the Wall, scarcely believing my eyes.
A cloud of sand floats up around the great, gaping hole in our outer defense. A few stragglers stumble backward, their clothes coated in blood as they hold their arms over their mouths. The dust slowly settles and I can make out the flickering torchlight beyond as the Wasters march forward, their fierce shouts ten times louder and more bone-chilling without the Wall to protect us.
They're here.