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"You’ll do it because you can," the corregidor sneered over his fear

"Because I can Because I will it"

"So ht?"

The Color Prince was steel Unaht Might h to drop the weight of certainty on the boy, then turned and looked at the woaze was sad but resolute He would march these people to their deaths to shield his own people’s lives, and he would blaidor for it

If it was a bluff, it was as brassy a bluff as Liv had ever seen But she didn’t think it was a bluff Neither, she could tell, did the corregidor His face sloorked through horror, revulsion, astonish awith a cyclone, no pleading with a hurricano You batten down the hatches and ride it out, praying you survive

"We don’t have close to a idor said, and Liv knew he had surrendered

"Not in your treasury, you don’t You’ll let every rich and noble family in the city know that if they don’t pay their share, they’ll be first to die Substitutions can be made on the food I’m not unreasonable You rains And the fruit will be difficult if you don’t hurry We won’t take spoiled produce One noble faidor blanched "I’ll have to take this to the city mothers, of course It’ll probably take two days"

"In one day, our catapults will be constructed We’ll start hurling one woion over your walls every quarter hour We won’t stop until the luxiats arrive I know your guns will be able to reach our catapults, so please know that the woion will be caunners are half-trained at best There’s no way they’ll be able to hit our catapults on the first shot--or even the tenth"

The corregidor sed "I understand"

"My people will post lists of the wo, so that people inside Idoss can knohen to listen for their friends’ deaths--or perhaps their ene with known acquaintances of the city enerated in the catapult’s sling will have an even chance of killing a woman before she’s even released I’ve told them to work on it I want you to hear their screams as they fly"

Kata Halanced away, ashaone She wouldn’t have dared ask, before She would have been too awed, too frightened But now she wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to learn fro at the woether, shrieking and squabbling, unaware of their probable i deaths "Most likely," the Color Prince said "It all depends on how s Kata is One of the city uards were her ned his own death warrant bywith me privately She’ll know immediately that I offered to buy him off And I put Mother Delucia’s enemies at the top of the list of woht behind theht If Mother Delucia wins, we’ll fling half a dozen women into town, and suddenly Idoss will see reason If Kata wins, iton how decisively he moves"

"And either way, you win?" Liv asked

"We choose freely, Aliviana That doesn’t mean we can’t set up the choices so that both benefit us" He smiled, and that smile reminded Liv of Gavin Guile’s crazy reckless indomitable smile, but without the warmth

"That’s not really freedom then, is it? Not for them," Liv said

"Are you ready for another truth, then, Aliviana? You learn so fast Very well Freedoood Power is For without power, your freedoain It was a hard smile, but this was a hard world

Chapter 71