Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 724
of her robe and looked up into a bristling mass of men and
weapons. "Halt!" shouted the one in the lead, who was young
enough to be the son she had never had.
She stopped, panting. They came down, slowly, and she
had to smile at their caution. These were the veterans of
Lavin’s army--men who had committed atrocities in her
experimental towns, and had cursed her every day for the past
year. They were little more than boys, and were visibly scared.
And they were her people, whether they wanted to admit it or
not.
Drawing herself up to her full height, Galas wiped her
tangled hair away from her forehead, and said, "This attack will
not happen."
The leader gaped at her. "Who are you to tell us that?"
Somebody laughed behind him.
She raised her voice, letting it echo off the mountainside.
"I am the one you pursued over leagues of charred ground, and
over the bodies of thousands. I am the one you obeyed as a
child, and feared as a soldier. I am your sovereign, your
compass and your ultimate meaning. I am she who spoke to
the oceans and commanded rain for your fields. I am Galas,
your queen, and I am the only hope any of you have of living
to see another day.
"When you moved to destroy me you set in motion
terrible events that threaten the very world itself. You know
that now, but you do not know what to do about it. You
desperately wish to turn back the hands of time, I can see it in
your eyes. I am the one who knows what has happened, and
why. Only I have the key to halting the advance of the
vengeful Winds across our land.
"So you will kneel to me now, and when you rise you
will be mine and I will lead you out of this nightmare into