With a resonant thud, the large wooden doors swung open on well-polished hinges, snatching Ruban out of his ruminations.

The tall, sinewy form of Rifaq Nazir blocked most of the doorway as he surveyed the room with his steely, dark-eyed gaze. With deep-set eyes and a rigid jawline, the defence minister resembled more a stern marble statue than a living, breathing man. Even at sixty-nine, he looked every inch the lieutenant general he’d once been – before entering politics upon his retirement from the military.

When he finally stepped into the conference room, the two men standing behind him came into view.

Dr. Visht, the skinny, bespectacled scientist who headed the team in charge of developing the reinforced sifblades at SifCo. And Prahlad Kujur, the short, portly minister of commerce with thick white hair and an infectious smile.

“Welcome, gentlemen.” Hiba looked languidly up from the file she’d been perusing. “I’m glad you’ve decided to grace us with your presence.”

She knew, as did everyone in the room, that the three men had been stuck briefing the prime minister on recent events involving the cults, including the agenda for today’s meeting. The man refused to accept a meeting with anyone but the Aeriel queen herself, which was why Hiba was here, in his stead.

Her tone made it clear what she felt about this arrangement.

Rifaq ignored the jibe, directing a skeptical glance at Dhriti Pathak before taking the seat beside her.

Now that Ruban thought about it, it was odd for the senior secretary of defence to be attending this meeting along with the defence minister, who clearly outranked her. And if Rifaq’s expression was anything to go by, he hadn’t expected Dhriti to be here, either.

Once all three men were seated, Unnati began. “The lynching of the Aeriel at Kanla Park was only one in a series of such incidents, but it was the most serious. Due to the presence of the reinforced sifblade that HAVA had somehow managed to procure–”

“You mean steal,” Jheel said, taking the words right out of Ruban’s mouth.

Unnati glared at Jheel, but continued. “There’s no need to get caught up in the semantics. The heart of the issue is that the cults are becoming bolder by the day. And apart from posing a problem for law enforcement,” she shot Ashwin a quick glance. “Their actions are putting a strain on our…uh… incipient relations with Vaan.”

Rifaq aimed a piercing glower at Ashwin. “I can’t say I see the problem with that. This alliance was a foolish idea to begin with. I’ve always said–”

“It’s not just about the alliance,” Ruban interjected, before Ashwin could derail the meeting with some cutting rejoinder. “Reinforced sif is volatile, dangerous – as I’m sure Dr. Visht will agree. And the cults have no training on how to properly wield it. These stolen sifblades are a risk to the cultists themselves, as well as to any other civilians in the vicinity.”

“There’s also the matter of how this cult got its hands on the reinforced sifblade,” grunted Raizada, the IAW director. “Those blades are still in the experimental stage. Last I checked, allocations in Ragah were limited to the Chief Hunter of each of the five Quarters. And, of course, Unnati has one.

“That makes for a total of six reinforced sifblades in the capital. So, unless they’re being smuggled in from another state – where supply is even more constrained – we have to assume there’s a leak in SifCo that HAVA is exploiting.”

“Or in one of these five Hunter Quarters you just mentioned,” said Dr. Visht, smiling thinly. “Considering the revelations about Janak Nath’s history – and the IAW’s not-so-subtle attempts to cover it up – I think we all realize that the Hunter Corps is far from incorruptible.”

“Well, interrogating the cultists we have in custody hasn’t yielded any useful information,” Ruban said, trying to ignore the squabbling. “Either they’re incredibly loyal, or they really don’t know how the sifblade was procured. Personally, I’m inclined to believe the latter.

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“In which case, we need to talk directly to those at the helm of this cult. This isn’t the work of amateur ‘activists’; somebody’s organizing and financing their activities. If we can draw them out into the open, we’ll get the information we need.

“But for that,” he glanced around the table. “We’ll need legal grounds to go after the cults, including HAVA. At the moment, they’re operating in a legal gray area. And with public opinion so strongly in their favor, our hands are tied. The Hunter Corps can barely keep them from organizing public lynchings, much less unearth the source of their funding.”

“Civilians are already forbidden from clashing with Aeriels, unless they’re attacked first.” Unnati ran slim fingers through her short, black hair. “We can hardly make it illegal for people to defend themselves when attacked.”

Ashwin snorted. “Every lynching seems to start with an Aeriel attacking some random cultists, who just happen to be armed to the teeth with sif. And, of course, they’re then obligated to fight back in self-defense.”

Unnati rolled her eyes. “Nobody’s suggesting their claims are valid. It’s an open secret that the cults are Hunting down Aeriels. These are extrajudicial killings, and the public knows it as well as we do.

“And that’s half the problem. Rumors of this alliance have made people so anxious that they see these cults as righteous vigilantes; not the disorganized, violent criminals they are. HAVA could lynch an Aeriel in broad daylight in the city center, and we wouldn’t find a single witness willing to testify against them. Every last person – civilian or otherwise – will sing the same tune. That the Aeriel attacked first, and the cultists were simply defending themselves.

“Even surveillance cameras are only as good as the people operating them. If the operators see it as their patriotic duty to delete footage that might incriminate the cults…” She shook her head. “The only reason we could make any arrests after the lynching at Kanla Park is because Ruban was willing to testify, but he can’t be present at every incident. It’s impossible to prosecute in such an environment.”

Someone knocked at the door, causing a temporary pause in the conversation. A young man in brown overalls walked in, pushing a serving cart laden with myriad types of cookies, pastries, biscuits, and other teatime delicacies. Unsurprisingly, it also held a large kettle and several teacups.

Ruban bit back a smile, watching Ashwin follow the cart with ravenous eyes as the young man pushed it around the table, serving each of the attendees by turn. When the cart finally stopped in front of him, Ashwin helped himself to a handful of extra cookies and two puff pastries, while the server poured his tea.

If anyone in the room found this behavior odd, Ashwin gave them no opportunity to comment on it before digging into the treats.

Rifaq exchanged a look with Unnati, but said nothing. Dhriti made a half-hearted attempt to mask her smirk by dabbing at her perfectly painted lips with a paper napkin.

“I think we all know there’s only one solution to this problem,” Ashwin began, once the server had departed. Swallowing the last of his pastry, he licked the crumbs off his lips. “You can’t tell people they mustn’t kill Aeriels without telling them why. The cults are giving the public a solid reason to support their cause. The government is not.”

An invisible current of unease filled the air, making the room feel colder than it’d been a moment ago.

“Is that so?” Hiba asked at last, in the tone of one humoring a child. “And how do you suggest we remedy the problem?”

“Make an official announcement of the alliance between Vaan and Vandram.” Ashwin took a delicate sip of his tea. “That automatically gives the Cabinet a valid reason to pass stricter laws against Aeriel lynching, and bring the cults under the fold of these laws. We can’t be going around murdering our allies helter-skelter, after all.

“An open, official alliance will also authorize Vaan to send its soldiers after any of the Exiles who might be causing…trouble for the IAW.” Gently, he placed the teacup back on its saucer. “A mutually beneficial relationship, in every way.”

“And you think an ‘open, official alliance’ will improve public opinion of Vaan?” Hiba demanded, the frustration palpable in her raspy voice. “The mere rumors about the existence of such an alliance have caused the prime minister’s approval ratings to plummet over the last few months. There’s a protest at every street corner, at all times of the day and night. Just because the cults are the most violent in their dissent doesn’t mean they’re the only ones dissenting.”

“Vandrans see Aeriels as the enemy. They always have and always will.” Rifaq drained his cup and replaced it on the saucer with a loud clink. “And there’s no such thing as an alliance with the enemy. We’ve been fighting your kind for over six hundred years.

“Most humans have grown up with stories of Aeriel atrocities, both past and present. That is, if they were fortunate enough not to witness those atrocities with their own eyes.” He glanced briefly at Ruban, before locking eyes with Ashwin once more. “Generations of Vandrans have died defending their homeland against the vicious, murderous violence unleashed by your kind – most recently by your own mother.

“No law or regulation is going to erase those memories. If anything, imposing such laws from above will only increase their natural distrust of Aeriels and Vaan. And, by extension, it’ll fuel distrust in their own government, perhaps even lead to civil war. We’ll be seen as collaborators, if not as outright traitors. The protests you see today might just be the beginning of a very bloody end, for all of us.”