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A Sliver of Light
Several hours later...
- Molly
Ralph—where's Ralph gone?
- Molly
Oh, heaven's sakes! Everything's a mess—how can he still be running about?!
- Innocent Child
Miss Molly, Ralph said grown-ups keep mentioning artillery but he's never seen it for himself...
- Molly
Of all the...! He can't have gone out in the street?!
- Molly
They've started firing out there already! The bolts and the shells flying all over—
- Golding
I'll go and find him.
- Molly
Lady Golding! It's far too dangerous!
- Golding
Ralph!
- Naughty Child
I... I...
- Golding
Come here, now—
- Naughty Child
*sob* Lady Golding...
- Golding
Don't fear. Good boy. I'm right here.
- Naughty Child
Waah!
- Golding
Let's hurry back—it'll all be better then, it'll all be alright.
- Molly
Lady Golding! Ralph! You're back, oh, wonderful!
- Naughty Child
I'm sorry, Miss Molly.
- Molly
Oh, you scared me to death, Ralph.
- Golding
Are all the children here, then?
- Molly
Yes, ma'am, I've counted.
- Molly
A—About just now...
- Golding
...A shell landed nearby.
- Molly
What ever for? Just who exactly is warring with who?
- Molly
It doesn't make sense. Everything was fine this morning. How could this have happened to Londinium so suddenly?
- Molly
*sob*...
- Golding
Don't cry, Molly. No tears in front of the children.
- Molly
Yes, ma'am.
- Golding
Hold my hand tight. At least we're all together.
- Molly
We... we have the Defense Forces, and the Steam Knights!
- Molly
They'll protect Londinium. They'll protect Victoria!
- Naughty Child
The Steam Knights...
- Naughty Child
I think I just saw them! Are they the really tall ones, in all black and...
- Innocent Child
It was a shadow from a streetlamp, wasn't it?
- Naughty Child
Liar! It was definitely one of the Steam Knights!
- Naughty Child
Tom the cobbler always goes on about them! He says how they're the symbol of Victoria's grandness!
- Naughty Child
'Hie over the valleys and over the rivers, rumble-ye-rumble, tell us the sound! Shalln't be thunder and shalln't be gale, the grand knights of grandest Victoria crowned!'
- Molly
I knew that song when I was little too.
- Molly
My singing teacher said that every year on the King's birthday, everyone'd gather in the Square to catch a glimpse of all the Steam Knights in formation.
- Naughty Child
Can a Steam Knight really fly?
- Molly
Apparently, all they do is run very fast, faster than any lightning or storm. With all the steam they emit on top, they must look like they're stepping on clouds.
- Naughty Child
This is pants. We don't even have a king now. I've never seen a parade once.
- Molly
Also, they told me their teacher once saw something even greater.
- Molly
It was the year Victoria had just defeated Gaul, and to celebrate the then-King's birthday, dozens of Steam Knights all returned to Londinium together.
- Molly
Their suits were draped in flags of Victoria, and once they'd all marched down the steps on the Palace of Westhaleg, it was like one giant flag all at once—
- Molly
And then, everyone heard a howl even clearer than thunder.
- Naughty Child
A howl?
- Molly
Yes, a howl. The people who were there say it was Victoria's emblem, the symbol on our flag, coming alive.
- Molly
Because ever since that day, Victoria had officially surmounted Gaul, and become the grandest nation of all Terra's lands.
- Golding
......
- Molly
I'm so sorry, Lady Golding! Your father was Gaulish, I forgot...
- Golding
You needn't apologize to me, Molly. You and I, Ralph, and the hundreds of thousands of children that grew up here... all grew as Londiniers.
- Golding
Perhaps the same goes for the one in the suit of steam armor outside.
- Naughty Child
Do you know a Steam Knight, Miss Golding?
- Golding
...Charles Lynch.
- Golding
He used to live in Auchterigg. Tom the cobbler was an old friend of his, hence why he loves to tell tales of His Majesty and the Steam Knights so much.
- Golding
In fact, Lynch was the last Steam Knight His Majesty ever titled in his life.
- Golding
And the last Steam Knight titled up till now.
The night drags on.
For so long that the children hear every tale of the Steam Knights told in Londinium, and first light has just broken.
The sound of artillery stops sooner than they expected. Past the witching hour, the streets outside have more or less returned to silence. But no words are needed as they all continue to stay huddled indoors. No one dares rush to see the state out there.
Near to every Londinier has been awake the whole night.
The same question circles in everyone's minds—come next morning, will Londinium be different?
The next day...
- Molly
Seems like everything's the same... Where have the Duke's men gone?
- Molly
I knew it. I knew the situation would come under control lickety-split once the Steam Knights showed up!
- Molly
I just didn't think it'd be this fast...
- Golding
Molly... some way or another, we're going to need to buy essentials.
- Golding
We don't know what might happen next.
- Londinium Citizen
You two! What are you doing out here?!
- Molly
Mr. Adams!
- Golding
Excellent. For the children, knowledge is just as indispensable.
- Golding
...Especially under present circumstances.
- Golding
Mr. Adams, could you bring me those sets of plays from yesterday? And I'm afraid I'll need a few more too...
- Golding
Hmm. These fairytales, along with those first steps into mathematics and physics there, and a copy of the Home Medical Guide. If you could parcel all that, please...
- Molly
Wait, what's that noise?
From not far away sound uniform footsteps.
They're unlike those the Londiniers have heard at parades. These are heavier, and more urgent.
The Palace of Westhaleg. The Shard. Parliament Square.
One flight after another in seamless succession, through Auchterigg's almost desolate streets, through the center of Londinium, Victoria's heart.
As the footsteps press towards this most ordinary of streets, some of those ducked to the side of the street finally catch clear sight of the advancing army—
Or better said, they see clearly the soldiers' appearances.
The horns, each shape their own, all condensed in ominous black, not even the rushing yawn of daylight casting a shine on them.
- Golding
...Sarkaz.
- Golding
They're Sarkaz mercenaries.
- Molly
If they are mercenaries, I assume they'll leave soon.
- Molly
And then Londinium will be back to the way it was, won't it?
- Golding
......
They don't know it yet, but in the years to come, many a thing will change completely.
For one, the Sarkaz army won't ever leave Londinium.
And for another—
From that day forth, no one will ever see steam armor in her streets again.
