Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 302
"It wasn’t enough for her. Galas despises the Winds.
She sees humanity as the rightful rulers of the world, and the
Winds as usurpers. People find her views shocking, but who
could argue with her success? She gained a great following,
and began to erase a thousand years of law and tradition,
replacing it with daring and unsettling edicts of her own. She
wanted to remake the world in her own image.
"She went too far. About five years ago, the desals
turned against her. Her predictions for that year’s flooding
were tragically wrong. Thousands died in the waters or the
famine that came after. Whatever she had done to alienate the
Winds, their rebuke simply hardened her heart. She pushed
ahead with her reforms, although for our own survival we now
had to fall back on our old ways of predicting the floods."
"You supported her," ventured Jordan.
"At first, yes. I won’t pretend I didn’t profit by it. By
the time the Winds turned against her, I had become entirely
her creature. I’m not a fool, I could see what was coming, but
there was nothing I could do to stop it. Parliament tabled a
document demanding Galas cease all her meddling, and rescind
the edicts that had broken centuries of tradition. She refused.
The war... I think no one really believed it would happen, or
that it was happening, until it came to visit one’s own town or
relatives. I believed. I ran. To stand and fight... well, she lost.
She’s probably dead by now. I wish I knew, that’s all."
Jordan could have told him, but a new caution, perhaps
learned from his experience with the Boros’, made him hold
his tongue.
They made camp near the etched outlines of vanished
buildings and streets. Jordan sized up the place in spare
glances while he got the fire going and tended to the horses.