The night was heavy.
Silence had seeped into the walls of the house, as if even the stones were holding their breath.
Zeythara was sleepless. She sat on the edge of the hard bed, slowly pressing her fingers into her knees. This body was weak. This world was cruel. Yet something within her was still there. It was not lightning. Not a storm.
Will.
Kaelric stood by the door. He wasn't sleeping either. In this world, to sleep meant closing one's eyes and surrendering to the gears of order.
"The women were taken to the fields," he said quietly. "They will return before dawn."
Zeythara did not lift her head.
"If they return."
Kaelric's jaw tightened.
"What you did today will not be forgotten here."
"I did not want it to be," Zeythara said.
Silence followed. Outside, the wind could be heard, sliding over dry earth.
"These people live by fear," Kaelric said. "You do not know what happens when fear breaks."
Zeythara stood. This body was weak, but her stance was still familiar.
Straight. Unbending.
"I know," she said. "Chaos follows."
Kaelric looked at her.
"And chaos crushes the weakest first."
Zeythara turned her head.
"No," she said calmly. "It crushes those who have learned to kneel."
Kaelric did not answer. The words had struck him, whether he wished it or not.
Zeythara moved to the window. She looked into the darkness through the bars. The fields were not visible, but she knew they were there. The women. Silent. Bent. Worn down.
"I cannot leave them like this," she said.
"You have to, for now," Kaelric said. "Power is not ours in this world."
Zeythara turned back. Her eyes were clear even in the dark.
"Power," she said, "is not always visible."
Kaelric frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I will not give them weapons. I will not give them power," Zeythara said.
"I will show them this: when a man falls, the world does not end."
Kaelric let out a short breath.
"That is more dangerous than lightning."
"I know."
A sound came from outside. Men's laughter. Commands. Then it faded.
Kaelric lowered his head.
"In this world, the only way to survive is to kneel," he said.
Zeythara stepped closer. Only a single step remained between them.
"I will not kneel," she said.
"And they will not learn to kneel either."
Kaelric looked away.
"That is why I am afraid," he said.
"Because you… do not know how to kneel."
Silence returned.
Zeythara sat back on the bed. She closed her eyes.
The storm waits.
But it never forgets.
And if there is no lightning in this world—
something else will rise.