Siles could hear the chants through the window of August's room, although the protests themselves lay beyond the courtyard walls. "Take the South!" the voices shouted. He imagined a wind magician had something to do with it. They could have carried the voices from the city streets into August's hearing range on the wings of a breeze. It was a war of attrition, except annoyance would wear down August's forces instead of death or destruction.

Though it only seemed to be working on Siles. August paid no attention to the chanting as he examined his cards. He looked annoyed, but it wasn't because of the protests. He was losing.

"You're cheating," he complained. "You have to be."

Siles turned his gaze from the window back to his cards. "I don't cheat."

"Let me see your sleeves." August lunged forward. Siles had fast reflexes, but he didn't bother to move as August latched onto his arms and shoved his sleeves upwards, checking for cards. August's hatred of losing was entertaining to watch, and after watching August's victory dances for a dozen and a half games, Siles had finally found a winning strategy.

But the strategy didn't involve cheating. August released Siles' arms and fell back onto his seat. "Damn."

Siles shrugged with a smile and placed his next card, the winning card. Game over. Not that he cared with the voices of the protest poking at his ears. He looked back to the window as August threw his remaining cards in the air. "Can't you hear it?" Siles asked him.

August followed Siles' gaze. "What? The protests?"

"No, the melting ice. Of course I mean the protests. Doesn't the chanting annoy you?"

August squinted out the window and shrugged. "No. Aren't guards supposed to be able to put up with annoyances? You stood by Samira's side for ten years. You've put up with me for a while, too."

"You're not annoying. You've gotten me out of practice at dealing with annoyances." Siles glared out the window. "Why don't you make them stop? You could make them believe that the war isn't worth it."

August smiled at the compliment, basking in it for a few seconds before bothering to reply, "I can't control crowds, you know. Not large ones, anyway. The election only involved five ballot boxes, so I only had to control five votes at a time. I can't do the same with a protest, especially since the mind control would have to last longer than the time it takes to cast a vote."

The chanting seemed to grow louder, as if a second wind magician had joined the first to carry the voices farther. Siles hissed through his teeth. August really had taken away his patience. He had put up with much worse during Queen Samira's reign, but he enjoyed talking to August, so he hated to be interrupted. "We should speak with them. I doubt Amanda has mentioned how dangerous it would be to educate the commoners on battle tactics. We could change their minds the old-fashioned way."

August released an exaggerated sigh. "First you beat me at cards, now you want me to leave my rooms? You claim not to know how to torture, but I'm beginning to think you're lying."

The voices chose that moment to enter the room, echoing like they would have if their keepers had been in the room with them. August looked around for their faceless guests and shook his head when he found nothing. "You're right, it's annoying. Let's go."

The echoes of the protest followed them throughout the castle, but faded once they stepped outside the main doors. Siles ushered August towards the gates, but August stopped, tilting his head as he listened to the abruptly quiet winter breeze. The silence soothed Siles' ears, but it also raised his suspicions. Spies and assassins worked in silence, and kings were their primary targets.

August raised his eyebrows at Siles, a smirk decorating his lips. Siles knew what he would say before he said it. "On second thought, we could just spend our time outside the castle walls. I won't complain about a change of view."

Siles shook his head. "Let me remind you that it's my job to protect you," he said. "And that becomes much more difficult when you step outside the castle walls."

August shrugged, then frowned as a second thought crossed his mind. "You aren't as fun to talk to when you're on high alert."

Siles nodded. "Exactly."

That did the trick, since August started moving again. They crossed under the arch and the melting icicles that curved along its marble spine dripped onto their unprotected heads. They weren't the only part of the landscape that was melting; the snow that had clogged the streets since Siles' eventful trip to the outskirts had turned to a boot-soaking slush. But even if the air had stopped fogging with their breath, it was still cold enough that Siles hated to be outside.

Of course, August didn't seem to care. He marched through the slush with a purpose, his mouth moving with silent words. Siles imagined he was practicing his argument, though when the crowd came into view, he realized it wouldn't do them much good.

At least a quarter of the royal city had shown up to support the war, from what Siles could see. Several wind magicians stood at the edge of the crowd, their hands twisted towards the castle. The rest of the chanting nuisances filled the main square and beyond, their fists pumping into the air with each word they spoke. Of course, the Councilmember Amanda stood in front of them all, another magician shaking her fingers beside her to amplify her voice.

August smiled and waved to the crowd as they aimed their chanting towards him. Siles always forgot how confident he could pretend to be. When they spent too much time alone together, it became easy to forget that August only confessed his fears to him. On the other hand, none of the protestors knew those fears, though they certainly remembered their own as they shifted away from their king like repulsing magnets. Nobody wanted their face to be the one August remembered. Siles followed August through the waves of scrambling magicians, joining Amanda atop of her wooden platform.

"What's all this about?" August asked, feigning ignorance.

Amanda sneered at him, though she took a step backwards when Siles approached. Those who didn't fear August at least feared him. "You know very well what this is about. You have refused to go to war with the South, despite the fact that this is the perfect time to do so. They are weak and we are strong." She raised her voice, the wind magician beside her raising it further so the whole crowd could hear. "They are weak and we are strong!" she shouted, and soon the chanting began anew with the new mantra.

Siles plugged one of his ears with a gloved finger to muffle the noise. The more he learned about Amanda, the happier he was that August had won the election.

If the chanting irritated August, he hid it well. "As I've already told you, I don't believe it would be wise to teach commoners battle tactics. They could easily use this information against us." The wind magician didn't bother to project his voice.

Amanda shouted her reply to the crowd, "Your King doesn't want to go to war! He cares more for the peasants than for his own people! He cuts their taxes and gives them teachers from the royal city!" The chanting grew louder in response.

August smiled at the wind magician by Amanda's side. "I would appreciate it if you could amplify my voice so that I can at least explain." The magician nodded, ignoring the scathing glare Amanda shot her way. August turned to the crowd. "Hello, everyone. Amanda believes that I do not want to send the peasants into war because I care more about them than the success of our kingdom, but that is not the case. I do not wish to train the peasants in the art of the battle because they could very easily turn this information against us, especially as peasant rebellions become more common."

Even the mindless crowd couldn't help but pause at that, looking to Amanda for some kind of explanation. Unfortunately, Siles knew Amanda, and only new arguments could stump her. On this occasion, she had had plenty of time to think of a retort for August's claim.

"You say that you're concerned about peasant rebellions, but your biological sister is not only a peasant, but a rebel leader as well. In fact, she is currently sitting in our dungeons for starting the rebellion that attacked your Guard. If you were truly concerned about rebellions, you would have killed the peasant girl as an example to strike fear into the hearts of future rebels." Amanda smirked and Siles frowned. He should have known that she would snoop in the dungeons and recognize the family resemblance. He should have interrogated Sonia in Amery, but his fury at being captured had controlled his actions.

August hesitated, but not for long. "You seem to have forgotten the nature of my magic," he said. His voice projected into the crowd, and at the mention of his power a hush fell over them. Mind control made people afraid, and once upon a time, Siles had seen August fight this fear. This time, he took advantage of it.

August continued, "With my power, I have more options than rudimentary torture or murder if I want to make people afraid. Instead, I could rewrite the rebel leader's thoughts, making her shout praises about me as she skips back to her comrades. The sight of her mindless exuberance would make them terrified as they realize that any rebellion they join may lead them to lose control over their own thoughts, too. Or, I could give her an obsession, like scratching her hands until they bleed and the skin and muscle give way to bone; something fatal but not so fatal that others can't feed her or dress her wounds to extend her life. They would see her fade away before their eyes, slowly and neurotically in a world that no longer brings her joy."

The crowd had fallen silent at this point, and even in the cold winter air, beads of sweat had accumulated on Amanda's forehead. If she hadn't recognized the consequences of antagonizing August before, she definitely knew now. Only Siles knew that he would never follow through with it.

August turned to Amanda as he finished his statement, "So you see, I have many options if I want to punish the rebel leader. However, rewriting a mind in its entirety takes time and effort. It doesn't shoot forth at the twitch of a finger like your simple magic tricks. That rebel girl isn't sitting in the dungeons because I pity her and her powerless kind, but because she's a project in progress."

Amanda swallowed and nodded, the terror in her eyes showing that she knew she would be August's next project in progress if she pushed him too far. And yet she still found her voice, her tone soft and childlike as if she were a picture-book schoolgirl speaking to a giant. "Then what about war, plain and simple? After the quarantine has been lifted, whenever that may be?" she asked.

They had returned to square one, exactly where Siles and August wanted to be. August nodded. "Whenever that may be, I'll consider it."

Ideally, the quarantine would end in months, and by that time August would have wrapped the kingdom so thoroughly around his thumb that the thirst for violence Queen Samira had spread would no longer plague the royal city. Siles knew the latter half was wishful thinking, but he doubted the quarantine would end any time soon. The disease had only just reached its peak based on what the Southern envoys had said.

The crowd had already begun to disperse by the time Siles and August stepped down from the platform. Many of them skittered down the streets like rats, hiding their faces behind the hoods of their coats. A select few watched August straight-on, squinting at him as if to show that they didn't trust his petty fear tactics. Their eyes burned with fiery hatred, even in the cold winter air. It didn't matter what the select few believed, however. For the time being, the majority was back under August's control.

They shuffled through the slush back to a castle no longer haunted by war chants. Siles paused in the doorway to August's room, absorbing the silence like an elixir. He hated how sentimental he had become since August had become king, his emotions rising and falling like a leaf in the wind. Sometimes he didn't even understand what he felt. But the relief of silence made him feel alive in a way he had never experienced in Queen Samira's monotonous reign. Even just the sight of August's smile as he held the door made his heart beat faster. Everything was worse, but everything was better.

Then August ruined it. "A war wouldn't be terrible with the commoners out of the equation," he said.

Siles hated the thought of war. Queen Samira's wars had led to the death of his family and his own capture. He had lost any hope for his soul in her wars, along with any hope for the future of the kingdom. But her genre of war focused more on killing and less on conquering. August could be right, so long as he meant the kind of war Siles hoped for. "If we go to war, we would need to set ground rules. No killing civilians, that sort of thing. But otherwise, you're right. A war wouldn't ruin our plans for the kingdom now that the commoners aren't involved."

August grinned at him. ""Our" plans?"

"Well, your plans, since you're the king. I happen to agree with most of your decisions." Siles picked up the cards August had sent flying when he had lost the game.

August took the cards from Siles and began to shuffle the deck. "No, I like "our" plans. You're like my queen; you share the decision-making."

"I'm a close adviser."

"An adviser who spends his days chatting with me, even when he's off duty?"

"Advisers can be friends with their kings." Siles took his place on the other side of the table.

They probably did spend too much time together. Siles had passed many nighttime hours in August's chambers, talking and laughing far beyond the time he usually fell asleep. He knew their relationship was closer to king and queen than king and adviser, but he didn't plan to admit it. Kings and queens were married; they were the kind of partners that August wanted them to be. Not the kind of partners Siles wanted them to be, even if he hoped to spend the rest of his life by August's side. It was different. Somehow.

"Sure," August said. He smiled the cheeky smile he always wore when he let Siles win an argument that he should have lost. Both of them knew the real winner.

However, Siles knew how to distract August from his victory. "What's your plan for Sonia, then? At a certain point, they'll realize you were bluffing. Unless you're actually going to stir up her brains and send her back to Amery."

August shrugged, waving away the problems of the future like a pesky fly. "I never said how long it takes to do my mind twisting, so I have at least a month to think of an excuse."

Siles shook his head. "Just don't forget about it."

~