The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War, #2)

Tsolin, the Snake Warlord, is joined by the Rooster, Monkey, and Boar Warlords as they secede from the Empire and spend their days debating strategy with Vaisra.

Rin trains with Nezha, using Altan’s trident. At night, she tries to kill the vision of Altan, but she can’t. Nezha tries to convince Rin to fight with a sword rather than with Altan’s trident. Nezha points out that Altan wasn’t someone to look up to, but Rin shuts the conversation down.

Since the southern provinces control the country’s food, the warlords decide to starve out the north. Kitay is horrified, as this means many innocent civilians will die. He wants to launch an offensive immediately, before winter traps them in the north. Vaisra dismisses him for insolence. Kitay thinks famine and starvation will ruin a new Republic. Nezha urges him to be tactful with his strategic propositions. The army starts preparing for a defensive war. Rin works on integrating the Cike with the army.

The Hesperians bring in three flying craft, carrying baskets underneath. Nezha says they are allies. Rin sees Hesperians for the first time and is put off by “their coloring, their features, their proportions” (220). She cannot tell the men apart and is confused by their tube-like weapons called arquebuses. They have also brought the hooded Gray Company, who are a combination of priests and scientists. They are accompanied by Saikhara, Nezha’s mother. When she sees Rin, she orders the generals to seize her. They fire at her and knock her out.

When she wakes up, Nezha tells Rin the Hesperians want to study her. Rin tries to escape, but Nezha restrains her. He says he won’t let harm come to her and urges her to be patient and not ruin an alliance that was dozens of years in the making.

Rin is wary about inviting Hesperians into the country, but Nezha thinks they’re only interested in trade rights and missionizing. Two soldiers escort Rin to Vaisra’s war room, where she finds him arguing with the Hesperians. He thinks their aid can help him win the war immediately. However, they want to observe whether the Nikara are “ready for civilization” (227). One of the Hesperian generals, General Josephus Tarcquet, tells Rin he didn’t think she’d “be so…human” (228). Saikhara says Rin is a “mark against the Maker” (228), vaguely saying she agreed to bring Hesperian aid if Vaisra “found a way to fix him” (229)—later is it revealed that she is talking about Nezha, who secretly carries shamanistic powers.

A Gray Company woman called Sister Petra wants Rin to freely agree to be examined weekly. Vaisra takes her aside and pleads with her to agree. Rin agrees to one hour weekly. Sister Petra then takes her aside and offers Rin laudanum. Petra takes many measurements of Rin and asks her how she communes with her god. She then tells Rin that she thinks she can redeem Rin’s soul. Rin says Western Makerism is a “joke.” Petra explains their religion by comparing the world to a timepiece that is made by a “Divine Architect.” Rin asks why there are bad things in the world if there is a Maker, and Petra tells her this is the force of Chaos, “the root of evil” (237). She thinks Chaos takes root “in places like yours—undeveloped, uncivilized, and barbaric” nations (237), and she says that shamanism is a manifestation of Chaos. After the examination, Rin vomits and has flashbacks of Shiro’s lab. She feels violated but doesn’t tell anyone what happened.

The army discovers that someone poisoned the Murui River upstream of Arlong, killing all the small animals and corrupting the canals. Aratsha, who is part of the Cike, is on shore, dying. It is the first time Rin has ever seen his human form. She holds him until he disintegrates. Vaisra’s war cabinet meets in his office, with the Hesperians observing and refusing aid. The Murui has tributaries in every southern province, and its poisoning will create widespread famine.

The warlords are forced to donate their troops and advance north. Rin is with Nezha’s fleet. Venka meets them at the dock with a new automatic crossbow that she can shoot even with her disability. Nezha doesn’t want to let her come with them, but Rin creates a battle plan for Venka. Venka shoots a crossbolt bow inches from Nezha’s head to convince him her aim isn’t compromised, but the army still won’t let her join.

Kitay and Rin are on friendlier terms as they sail upstream to find the poison. Kitay sees floating pig’s bladder pouches on the water and realizes they’re holding the poison, preventing it from dispersing until it is close to Arlong. The Cike find the building that is dispensing pods. The Cike distract the guard while Rin and Kitay infiltrate the building.

Inside, they see their old classmate Niang, who designed the pods and converted the gaseous poison the Federation used in Golyn Niis into a liquid. She thinks Rin and Kitay are traitors. She says Rin killed thousands of militia who were being kept as prisoners of war in Mugen, including Niang’s brothers. Kitay kills Niang. The brigade destroys the building and the poison.

On deck, Kitay bursts into tears. He describes the vividness of the Golyn Niis Massacre in his memory and how it was easier to be a soldier “when only the Federation was evil” (261). He asked Rin if she wanted to kill the Mugenese, and she said she “just wanted it to end” (262). He says it was the same with Niang.

Later, Jinzha tortures two captured guardsmen while Rin and Kitay fill Nezha in on what happened. Nezha hadn’t thought that they would be battling their old classmates.

The Cike are transferred to Jinzha’s warship, the Kingfisher, where the Hesperians can watch Rin. They easily invade the first city they come to in Hare Province. Vaisra has civilians vote on their entrance into the Republic, though the alternative is death. The Hesperians missionize about their Maker.

Petra calls the Nikara “lesser peoples” and describes her belief in phrenology. Rin says that Hesperia also fights wars in which millions die, but Petra calls those “crusaders’ battles” rather than the “naked greed, ambition, or sheer cruelty” of Nikan’s internal wars (276).

As Jinzha’s fleet moves through Hare Province, some cities proactively join the Republic. Rin has the Cike hide their abilities from the Hesperians. She hates that some of their ideology makes sense to her; she wants to think her powers are a manifestation of Chaos that can be fixed.

The fleet meets their first real challenge at the Ram Warlord’s capital city. Kitay meets with the warlord to broker a truce and puts on an act of incompetence to lower his defenses. Meanwhile, the Cike sneak into the city, opening the gates to Jinzha’s fleet from the inside.

In the melee, Rin recognizes Federation troops and realizes the Ram Warlord united with surviving Mugenese against Vaisra. Rin and Baji infiltrate the warlord’s mansion. Rin questions the warlord about his alliance with the Federation. He claims he had no choice.

Rin tells Jinzha to execute all captured soldiers, Mugenese and Nikara alike. He refuses, unwilling to kill his countrymen. Rin thinks the Nikara who allied with the Mugenese are traitors. She tries to attack Jinzha and is removed from the room. Nezha finds her and tells her that Jinzha demoted her to footsoldier and dissolved the Cike, assigning them to separate units.

Rin begins to doubt Vaisra’s democracy, losing confidence in civilians to make their own decisions. Nezha thinks people just need to be shaped and refined.