Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

sore but mending leg over Acorn’s saddle.
    “No one is the boss of me any more, Simone,” I say quietly, trying to stay calm but surprised at how strong I feel. “If my parents had lived, it might be different. But they didn’t.”
    She looks like she wants to come over, but she’s seriously wary of Acorn now. “Just because your parents aren’t here doesn’t mean there aren’t still people who care for you, who
can
care for you.”
    “Please,” I say. “You have to trust me.”
    She looks at me in a kind of sad frustration. “It’s too early for you to have grown up this much.”
    “Yeah, well,” I say, “sometimes you don’t have a choice.” Acorn stands up, ready to go. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
    “Viola–”
    “I
have
to get to Todd. That’s all there is to it. And now that the fighting’s stopped, I’ll have to find Mistress Coyle, too, before she can start blowing things up again.”
    “You shouldn’t go alone at least,” she says. “I’ll come with you–”
    “Bradley needs you more than I do,” I say. “Whatever you might not want to find out, he needs you.”
    “
Viola–”
    “It’s not as if I
want
to go riding into a war zone,” I say, a little softer, trying to apologize now that I realize how scared I am. I look up at the scout ship. “Maybe you could send another probe to follow me?”
    Simone looks thoughtful for a moment, then she says, “I’ve got a better idea.”

[T ODD ]
    “We’ve rounded up blankets from the houses nearby,” Mr O’Hare says to the Mayor. “Food, too. We’ll be getting some to you as soon as possible.”
    “Thank you, Captain,” says the Mayor. “Make sure you bring enough for Todd as well.”
    Mr O’Hare looks up sharply. “Everything’s pretty scarce, sir–”
    “Food for Todd,” the Mayor says, more firmly. “And a blanket. It’s getting colder.”
    Mr O’Hare takes in a breath that don’t sound too happy. “Yes, sir .”
    “For my horse, too,” I say.
    Mr O’Hare scowls at me.
    “For his horse, too, Captain,” the Mayor says.
    Mr O’Hare nods and storms off.
    The Mayor’s men have cleared a little area for us at the edge of the camp the army’s made. There’s a fire and space to sit around it and a coupla tents being put up for him and his officers to sleep in. I sit a bit away from him, but close enough to keep watch. I have Angharrad here with me, her head still down, her Noise still silent. I keep petting her and stroking her, but she’s not saying nothing, nothing at all.
    So far there ain’t been much to say to the Mayor neither. It’s been one report after another, Mr Tate and Mr O’Hare updating him on this and that. And plain soldiers, too, who keep coming up all shy-like to congratulate him on his victory, seeming to forget he’s the one who caused all this trouble in the first place.
    I lean my face into Angharrad. “What do I do now, girl?” I whisper.
    Cuz what do I do now? I set the Mayor free and he won the first battle, keeping the world safe for Viola, just like I made him promise.
    But he’s got an army that’ll do anything he says, that’ll die for him. What does it matter if I can beat him if there’s all these men who wouldn’t even let me try?
    “Mr President?” Mr Tate comes up now, carrying one of the Spackle’s white sticks. “First report on the new weapons.”
    “Do tell, Captain,” the Mayor says, looking very interested.
    “They seem to be a sort of acid rifle,” Mr Tate says. “There’s a chamber with what looks to be a mixture of two substances, probably botanic.” He moves his hand up the white stick to a hole that’s been cut into it. “Then a kind of ratchet aerates a dose and mixes it with a third substance that’s instantly permeated through a gel via a small incendiary–” Mr Tate points to the end of the stick “–and fired out here, vaporizing yet somehow holding cohesion until it hits its target, at which point–”
    “At which