Althea and Nathaniel walked down the hallway, one on either side of their mother. They moved slowly—the Lady Sofia was still frail.

The twins had spent much of the past week by her bedside, making up for lost time. Their mother was still the same person they remembered from eight years ago, kind and clever, although her face was now lined from several hard years. She slept most of the day and ate little more than a bird, although the nurses assured them her appetite would return in due time. What was most noticeable, though, was that her mind drifted, sometimes carrying her away in the middle of a conversation, to some unknown place.

But when she was engaged and present with the twins, she wanted to know everything about them—from their education and training to their hobbies and favourite foods. When she asked about the president, they answered but didn't elaborate. She still thought of her husband as the same man he had been eight years ago, and mourned that version of him. It felt cruel to take that away from her.

Today was the president's funeral.

The twins were dressed in their Paragon best: long-tailed, black uniforms with polished clasps. The Lady Sofia donned a delicate silk dress with black gloves. She had waved away the veil that the seamstress held out to her—she wouldn't hide her face.

A horrible, heavy guilt weighed on Althea at every mention of the president, and it was particularly crushing today. As far as she knew, only she was aware that the president hadn't been killed at the hand of a rogue soldier, but by Tae. Maybe she should tell her mother or Nathaniel, but she stopped each time she tried. Such knowledge would put an instant mark on them, and right now Tae was one of the most powerful—and ruthless—people in all of Meraki. Political manoeuvring had never been Althea's strong suit, and she needed time to consider before making her first move.

She also knew they would ask the obvious questions: why didn't she speak up immediately? Why did Tae still hold her position as vice-president? Althea would have to confess that she had held a gun to the president first and that Tae had only done what she, as his daughter, couldn't.

Seven days had passed since the president's death, and Meraki was still reeling. The political and business worlds were churning, underhanded deals negotiated with the change of the tide. President Emory Glass had ruled Meraki for more than twenty-five years. The field was ripe for change, and all of the players itchy for power. No one came to Althea and Nathaniel with anything but their sympathies, of course, but the twins weren't fools—they could feel the change coming, as vast and powerful as a tsunami.

The top echelons of Meraki society were in attendance today. The Glass family came to a tall set of doors under guard, beyond which was the Paragon courtyard. It was strange to think that they had been here just days ago to initiate the new recruits. Now, their world was completely different.

The soldiers stationed at the doors bowed low to the Lady Sofia, and pulled them open.

The courtyard was filled with thousands of people, stretching as far back as the eye could see: government delegates, diplomats from every region in Meraki, business moguls, high-ranking military officials...even the furthest rows held gifted artisans and sought-after craftspeople.

Armed guards were stationed at every entrance, and several Paragon airships hovered in the sky above. Althea doubted such an array of powerful people had ever congregated in a single space like this before.

The ends of each row were adorned with black Paragon banners that fluttered in the gentle wind. Mercifully, the rain was holding off. Rays of sunlight even broke through the clouds, rippling over the courtyard...it almost looked beautiful.

The twins and Lady Sofia made their way towards the central dias. On the elevated platform was a polished mahogany casket with long silver handles and an arrangement of crimson flowers: the president's final resting place.

The president's cabinet occupied the other seats on the dias. Tae sat on one of the chairs, her usually loose black hair tied back and her expression sombre. If Althea didn't know she'd been the one to pull the trigger, she would never have guessed.

The twins began to guide their mother to her seat but, without a word, she released them and walked towards the casket instead. She bowed her head and placed a hand against it. Her dress moved with the breeze as she said her final goodbye. The crowd was quiet.

Althea looked away, hating herself. If it wasn't for her, the president wouldn't be dead. Her mother wouldn't be here, at her husband's funeral. How long had the Lady Sofia waited for her husband's embrace, only to have him ripped away at the last second by her own daughter? It was unbearable. The guilt bore down on her, threatening to crush her into the ground.

#

Traditionally, when a president's funeral concluded, the people of Meraki were allowed to pay their respects as the casket was carried through the streets of Kinvarra.

As the president's next of kin, Althea and Nathaniel walked immediately behind the casket. Lady Sofia remained back at the headquarters, too fatigued for further exertion.

If Kinvarra's citizens had known the truth about the president, perhaps the streets would have been empty, but the Paragon's public relations team had acted quickly. The morning after the Settlement survivors were saved, the morning's headline was "PRESIDENT GLASS SLAIN IN FIGHT FOR SETTLEMENT: Meraki's Hero". It was a trade-off: a lie to preserve the Paragon's reputation and keep peace with the public. Althea understood their thinking: it wouldn't help the Paragon if the people knew the president had died trying to prevent the mages from re-opening the fog.

Althea walked stiffly behind the casket, trying not to look too closely at the people's compassionate faces, and their offerings of flowers. The procession left a trail of crushed crimson petals in their wake.