When the sun sank the following evening, they rose, fed, and listened as Kateesha promised more blood, more fighting.
"We lost many." Noris, a former guard, motioned to the small group. "We were few before, but now"
Kateesha waved his concern away. "We shall raise an army, the likes of which Malick has never seen before. There is not a moment to lose."
"And what of the dead?" Noris pressed. "Will we not take the time to mourn them?"
And to mourn those we killed, Dismas added silently.
Their leader scoffed. "We have no time for outmoded sentimentality. We are not sensitive creatures, but the monsters of the shadows, and such monsters will we be. We will storm the citadel. The walls will run with blood, and, at the last, the High Council will bow to me! Celandine will bow and she will
