Summary

June meets with Gil, who encourages her to keep focusing on winning the Queen’s Award. June is still sad from all she has learned. She dwells on the fact that Enki, like the bystanders, will soon die. She does not want Enki to die. Neither does Gil. But June sees no way to stop it. The king must die so his choice of a queen is incontestable. Leaders who make sacrifices encourage citizens to make sacrifices. The elected king is legitimized by the people, and his choice of Queen is sanctified by the gods through his death. June considers it all barbaric. During exams, a note arrives for June who is not doing well. The note is from the Queen. The Queen explains she is having June pulled from the exams so that her grades can be altered to keep...