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“I hadn’t thought of that,” Lily said. She quickly explained what she knew about the unstable geology of the western seaboard and the positioning of Bower City. “Detonating aboveground or belowground is insanity. This should be a nonissue, everyone.”
Chenoa made a thoughtful sound deep in her throat. “I’d have to see some data before I’d advise against detonating,” she said. “Earthquake zones aren’t ideal, but in some cases it could be better if the contaminated land broke off and slid under the sea.”
“And then it would be safe to live on the land that was left?” Mary asked. She shifted in her seat and planted one of her thick fists on a hip. “The bald truth is that if I can’t tell my folk that they’re going to get a piece of land out of this, they’re not going to fight.”
Again, Captain Leto made a disparaging sound, and this time he went so far as to turn to Lillian. “My Lady, you don’t need to pander to them. Walltop’s loyalty doesn’t need to be bought. If you decide to bomb the city—”
“Easy to say when Walltop soldiers have a place to live,” Alaric said scathingly.
“We can’t do this,” Lily pleaded. “There are over a million innocent people living in Bower City. They don’t deserve to die.”
“Neither do we,” Alaric reminded her gently. “You’ve said yourself that we can’t win in a straight fight.”
“Not with the numbers we have,” she admitted. She turned to Lillian. “You, of all people, should be against this. Please, Lillian. What you saw in the cinder world—”
“One bomb won’t make a cinder world,” Lillian said loudly, as if she were trying to drown out a conflicting voice shouting inside her own head. “One bomb, detonated all the way out there, isn’t going to poison the Thirteen Cities or bring on a never-ending winter for the rest of the world. The only thing one bomb will do is destroy the Hive, end Grace’s dominion over the Woven, and bring the rest of us out of the dark ages. With Grace gone, the Woven won’t be driven to attack humans anymore. The whole country will be up for grabs.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Lily said, rolling her eyes in exasperation. Instead of ending the argument, all she’d done was give Lillian a platform from which to draw more people to her side. “There’s another way,” Lily began.
She looked around at them and debated telling them what she had in mind, until her eyes rested on Caleb. He would smash his willstone and leave her rather than agree, and so would thousands of others. Lily knew the only way for her idea to work was for everyone to already be on the battlefield when it was revealed. Give them no choice but accept her decision or die.
When Lily remained silent, Rowan spoke up on her behalf. “Maybe there’s a way to infiltrate the Hive and kill the Queen without using a bomb,” he said. “We got in there before. It was easy.”
“Yeah, too easy. There’s no way we’re getting back into the Hive now,” Tristan said.
“Lily could jump a small team of us in,” Rowan suggested.
“I can’t,” Lily said, shaking her head. “The Queen is deep underground. There’s tons of silicone in that land, and it blocks me as well as quartz.”
“Then something else,” Rowan said, frustrated.
“Are you so sure that killing the Queen is enough?” Lillian asked quietly. She didn’t look at Rowan as she spoke. “That might disband the Hive, but Grace controls all the wild Woven. She’s the one who has to die.” She turned to Lily. “Is there any way you can jump someone into the city to assassinate her?”
“It’s a big city. There’s no way for me to know exactly where she’s going to be at any given time,” Lily answered. “And if I can’t jump someone directly to her, whoever I send will most likely be chewed up by the Hive in a matter of moments. Grace has every inch of Bower City covered with Workers.”
They were all silent for a moment, trying to think of some alternative.
“But I might be able to use someone already inside the city to kill Grace for us,” Lily said in a small voice.
“Who?” Rowan asked.
“Toshi. I’d have to claim him first, but I know he’s willing. And he’s close to Grace.”
“How could you claim him?” Lillian asked, narrowing her eyes at Lily. “You’re here and he’s there.”
“Remotely. Through the speaking stones,” Lily replied. She sent Lillian the memory of how she used the speaking stone above Lillian’s rooms to claim the ranch hands and the below folk.
Lillian gasped. “I didn’t know you could use it to claim.”
“I didn’t think of it. Grace did, actually. She’s been using a line of speaking stones to claim each new generation of wild Woven that hatches in the east. She’s been doing it for over a century now. I can use the same line to claim Toshi. But—” Lily broke off.
“But what?” Alaric asked.
“We’re calling it assassination. It’s just another name for murder,” Lily said.
Mary humphed. “Honey, war is just another name for murder.”
Alaric turned to Lily. “Think about it, Lily. If Toshi can get to Grace, no one else has to die.”
