Watching

There wasn’t a place that Chey hated more than Conquest, a disgusting vile that more frequently than not had her throwing up on her own mouth than even mildly pleased at its offerings. The streets and people were rancid, covered in filth, trash and body fluids that resonated an overwhelming stench that she had never gotten used to. But, like a great deal of the poor souls that wandered the Isles she had nowhere else to go. It was this or living in hiding on the mainland, reduced to scrounging around for food and dying a slow death from infection. That was if you weren’t caught by the guards first, then either shipped back to this hellhole, taken to a lab or killed on the spot. It was no way to live, and Chey swore to herself she was done running. 

The whole place had been much less crowded since their armies departed a few days ago. Only a very small handful of guards remained, and even then that was mostly just to defend the castle from intruders. The markets had remained as lawless as ever, but now with the added bonus of no one with a badge trying to strong arm their way into a deal or a fight. Shame, it made for a good show. 

She slowed her footsteps when she began to pass a shop window, a crowd of people forming a ring around the glass. They were unusually quiet, for a gaggle of corrupt, which put her off. There was no howling, or manic laughing, or violent cursing. She approached cautiously, lifting her heels and moving into her toes to peer over the enraptured crowd. A single, broken television stood behind the glass, a fracture in its screen that warped the light and colours but did not make the contents completely illegible. It was a broadcast from the Eternal Depths, a reporter detailing the blighted armies making landfall in the Verdant Kingdom, videos of the destruction playing behind his sombre face. 

No one around here cheered or shouted. Just stared in silence. 

All that had been left on the island were those too far withered from the infection to hold a weapon, or those who had managed to avoid conscription, whether by hiding, bargaining or deception. It seemed neither one of those groups were particularly sympathetic to Morgana’s cause. Suppose Chey was included in that, though she couldn’t bring herself to care much one way or the other. 

It is just like a parent to burn the world around them just to spite their children.