The Burning God

And before she could lift her arms to the sky, they opened fire. The world erupted in scattered dirt and orange flame, and for all her bravado, all she could do was kneel on the ground, wrap her arms around her head, and hope that death came quickly.
“Rin.” Kitay shook her by the shoulders. “Wake up.”
She tasted blood in her mouth. Had she bitten her tongue? She turned to the side, spat, and winced at the crimson splatter on her sheets.
“What?” she asked, suddenly afraid. “Was there—”
“Nothing’s happened,” he said. He pulled down his lip. Angry scars dotted the inside of his mouth. “But you’re hurting me.”
“Gods.” She felt a twist of guilt. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Kitay rubbed at his cheek and yawned. “Just—try to go back to sleep.”
It struck her then how incredibly tired he looked, how shrunken and diminished, so wholly different from the confident, authoritative persona he acquired during the daytime.
That scared her. It seemed like physical evidence that

These soldiers fought under her command. That terrified her. What if they died under her command?

It said, Do it.

Take what you want, it said. I’ll hate you for it. But I’ll love you forever. I can’t help but love you.

Ruin me, ruin us, and I’ll let you.

Nations rise and fall, but appetites remain the same.

We’ve all seen bodies,” Pipaji said.

“It’s different when you’re the one who broke them,

. Regime change requires total domination. Otherwise, if you’ve got cracks in your foundation even before you’ve begun to rule, that sets a poor precedent.

I like knowing that the words out of my mouth won’t cause the deaths of people I’ve become quite fond of.

“I’m not Sinegardian elite. I’m that savage, mud-skinned Speerly bitch that wiped a country off the map. And sometimes when I get a little too angry, I snap.

“He got plucky,” Daji said. “I turned him to mincemeat and sent him back to Vaisra in a dumpling basket.”

Jiang arched an eyebrow. “Darling, fucking what?”

This life you’ve chosen, you won’t get many moments like this again. But it’s the nights like this that keep you alive. All you think about is who you’re fighting against. But that?” He swung his mug toward the dancers. “That’s what you’re fighting for.”