Chapter 21 (There is strength in numbers)

Night falls on Zimia as the rampage festival turns violent. Roderick, appalled by leaderless Imperial forces, prioritizes protecting Emperor Salvador, moving him into ancient tunnels and separating Empress Tabrina. Worried for his own family, Roderick assumes command from a palace post to restore order.

Headmaster Gilbertus Albans arrives privately, warning that Manford Torondo will neither stop the mob nor forgive interference. In exchange for secrecy, Gilbertus proposes a trap: spread rumors of hidden thinking machines in three outlying towns to draw the Butlerians away. Roderick reluctantly agrees, choosing sparsely populated, defensible targets and warning civilians to flee.

Gilbertus seeds the rumors, and Manford swiftly dispatches teams to the accused towns before departing the capital with his inner circle. With the instigator gone, Roderick rushes troops to encircle the three towns and orders ruthless containment. By dawn, the worst has ebbed; arrests, fire suppression, and medical triage begin across the capital.

Exhausted, Roderick receives word that most of his family is safe—until Haditha arrives with a guard and the devastating news that Nantha, their youngest, and her nanny were trampled during the chaos she’d eagerly gone to see. Grief-stricken, Roderick blames Manford for provoking the violence to intimidate the throne and vows to stop him.

As Roderick mourns, Salvador emerges, disheveled but confident, intent on publicly reassuring the people that the crisis has passed, unaware of Nantha’s death. Roderick’s resolve hardens, framing the Butlerian leader’s spectacle as culpable bloodshed demanding consequences.