INTERMISSION
A SILENCE IN TWO PARTS
The Trost District was silent as night settled firmly. It was a silence in two parts, a silence that smothers the soul and drips dread into the hearts of men. A silence only one was awake to feel, and to experience. He treaded on, bare feet silent upon stone.
The first silence was the silence of a great absence. The smoldering fires had been put out. The sealed breach was no longer being triple-checked by royal engineers, all nervous and ready to confirm that there was no threat of the Titan horde beyond finding a way through the boulder all but fused into place. There was no sound from beyond the wall, for the Titans slept during the night. They were like flowers, drawn to light and heat, falling asleep when both became absent.
The man awake paused, staring down into the city. A moment later, he treaded on, bare feet silent upon stone.
The second silence was the silence only an exhausted philosopher could feel or understand. The man's mind had nothing to consider, nothing to work through or over. All of that had already been done, for he had come to see a world absent of hope.
He had witnessed it be kindled, and had no more thoughts about that tragedy.
He hated it. He hated the man whose name he bore, and the son who thwarted years of planning. And most of all, he hated the girl daring enough to betray them—to betray him.
Zeke Jaeger followed the wall to the junction, to Wall Rose proper, and turned westward. Only as he left Trost behind did he begin to mentally write his report. His superiors in Marley needed to know what had happened.
He treaded on, bare feet silent upon stone.