The Battle Drum (The Ending Fire Trilogy #2)

by Saara El-Arifi

“I will give you all the resources you need, if you tell us a waxing fable.” “What’s a waxing fable?” Jond wasn’t going to be quiet anymore. “A waxing fable is a tale that you add to every time you hear it. No retelling is the same. There are hundreds, thousands of waxing fables circulating across the queendom, all starting from the same seed, but blossoming into different flowers,” the woman purred. “But what is the truth?” Jond asked her, ignoring Niha’s kicks under the table. She frowned. “Truth? There is truth in every story.” “Not if everyone’s changing it each time.” “Especially if everyone’s changing it each time. Because what is truth but collective belief?” It made sense in a strange way.

She found the subtle movements that conversation required loathsome, but she feared nothing—not even Kabut himself—more than small talk.

Sylah reveled in the novelty of always knowing the time. How strange it must be, how constricting.