Teru was coming back from the hot water pools when she heard the noise. A deafening c***k, loud enough that she felt it in the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet, loud enough that it knocked her down and blinked the light out of the sky.
Teru had grown up going to the hot water pools, starting when she was a little girl. She remembered sitting in the water, steam rising around her until the world was like a dreamland. She loved to sink all the way down into the water until only her eyes were looking out. People looked so lovely through the mist. But then the queen was stolen, and the hot pools dried up. There was no more soaking in the morning, no washing each other"s backs and listening to the old women gossip and laugh together. Everyone in Maween mourned the hot pools, but th
