“Fine,” Amira said. “Explain. And if, by the end of your explanation, I am not fully convinced that getting rid of the king is the best course of action, then I will simply get up and leave.”
Amira could see Ro visibly biting back her shock. But, finally, it seemed as though the girl understood that Amira wasn’t simply a mindless foot soldier. She had a brain, and she had skills other than doing all the physical work in their pairing. She figured out the secret herself. How many other people could do that?
Ro took a deep breath, rearranged her stern expression, and began speaking. “Years ago, decades in fact, the king hired an office glass tinting company. Nobody thought anything of it. I mean, why would you? Of course the king wants that extra security on the castle, and to reduce heat and glare within its walls. He’s used to luxury.”
“We all used to have luxury,” Amira interrupted.
“Yes,” said Ro. “But that all changed pretty quickly. The commercial business completed their professional installation and they were on their way. Everything seemed fine at first. There were celebrations in the palace as usual, and people came and went without noticing a problem. But then this sort of haze appeared.”
“Haze? Like fog?”
Ro nodded. “According to Xylia, it was exactly like fog. It clung to the walls of the palace and glowed bright white at night. And people started to notice that whenever the fog of the castle glowed, the plants in the villages withered and turned brown. The king had installed the best office decorative glass Melbourne had ever seen, but he’d stolen its power and turned it inside out. Instead of letting it reduce the palace’s carbon footprint, he amplified it.”
Amira picked at the grass beneath her fingertips. “But why would he want to do that? The whole reason our species was put here was to protect the earth.”
When Amira finished her outburst, Ro stared at her, mouth slightly agape. Her expression wasn’t one of surprise, or anger, or even exasperation; it was a calm patience, as though she were waiting for Amira to understand, as though Amira were simply a child who needed to be coddled. It was infuriating. Instead of responding in kind, Ro gently patted the grass beside her, motioning for Amira to sit.