Helio’s POV
“Bring us King Flint!” the people screamed below me. “Bring us his head!”
I gestured for them to quiet down, but the thin, dirty, rag-wearing rabble spilling out of the courtyard would have none of it. “Please!” I tried to shout over the noise. “Please, let me speak!”
“Let him speak!” the people at the front of the crowd who heard me echoed each other to the back until the ruckus died down enough for me to say what needed to be said.
“As you’ve likely heard, it is true that my father, King Flint, has been dethroned,” I began.
Cheers mixed with more chants for my father’s head drowned me out again.
I made another gesture for calm, and this time the people listened, the silence again starting at the front and rolling like a tide backward through the crowd.
“I am your king
