Undraland

by Mary E. Twomey

Twenty-Eight.

  Rebellious

  “I leave ya alone fer one night, and ya cause an uproar,” Tor complained loudly. His gruff voice roused most of us, but I was determined not to move just yet. Despite the worst mattress in the world, I’d actually slept quite well. I stretched my arm and realized why. Jens had spooned me all night long. Actually held me in my sleep. For all of the fighting we did, that solitary act covered over a multitude of sarcastic remarks and pithy comebacks. Even though I’d only just met him, he was familiar already, and I warmed to him easier than I would’ve thought. I rolled over and kissed his malleable lips until he awoke, his face grumpy in the early morning hour.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” I sang quietly, grinning when he responded with an animalistic growl. “You’re pretty when you’re angry.”

  “Don’t start with me. I’m pissed you made us all sleep out here. My back is sore.”

  I cuddled into him, smiling at how grownup it all felt.

  Tor intervened by yanking the thick blanket off all of us, introducing us to the crisp morning air. “Up, ya lazy lot. Don’tcha know we got things ta do?”

  Henry Mancini entered after Tor and Uncle Rick, bounding up to me and licking my face to tell me how much he missed me.

  Uncle Rick brought a basket of hard biscuits and a dozen apples that we all bit into with vigor while he spoke. “It took all night, but we were able to find a sympathizer to the cause. As you know, we have Tor to take the rake and destroy the portal, but we need a dwarf on the inside to get him close enough. The area’s heavily guarded. Gerik will get Tor closer to the portal. Then we’ll attack them to give Tor time to tear the bone structure down.”

  “Whoa, what?” My mouth was wide open. “No one said anything about fighting.”

  Foss and Tor looked at me like I was an idiot. Like they wouldn’t have shown up for the mission at all if there weren’t promise of bloodshed. Foss shook his head in my direction. “Useless rat child.”

  I ignored him. “I mean, these are Tor’s people. They’re just doing their job. Do they deserve to die for protecting something they don’t understand is hurting them?”

  Uncle Rick had a look in his eye that I’d missed from my own father. It was that of love and indulgence. “If only the world could get by without bloodshed, Lucy dear. We won’t aim to kill, only to distract them and get Tor out. We’re lucky to have so many Toms to vanish us from view. You and Jamie will go on ahead to Tokem’s Peak and wait for us there.”

  “Sir?” Jamie questioned, clearly not liking the fact that he was on babysitting duty.

  “Lucy is not to fight,” Uncle Rick ruled. “She doesn’t believe in it anyway, but even if she did, it would be unwise. She represents a new country, and Jamie, you represent the Tomten. If either of you are seen on the field, it will cause distrust to break out, if not full-on war between nations.”

  I could tell Jamie hated this idea, but could say nothing against the logic.

  Jens wolfed down his second biscuit. “I’m her Tom. She doesn’t travel without me.”

  Uncle Rick waved off Jens’s protest. “Tokem’s Peak is not far. It’ll be safe for her there. Besides, we need you and Britta to vanish us. As it is, you’ll each have two of us on you, not counting Tor, who you’ll also have to vanish.”

  Tor grumbled. “I’m not riding on yer back, Jens.”

  Jens turned to his sister the same time I did. Even though she was six and a half feet tall, in that moment, she looked impossibly small. “No,” Jens ruled. “I’ll take two of you. That’ll be enough.”

  Tor shook his head, his red dreadlocks swishing. “Ya know it won’t be. It’s up ta Britta, not you.”

  Britta’s wide green eyes that matched her brother’s eventually took on a measure of bravery. “I’m honored,” she ruled, chin high.

  Though her brown braids were disheveled and she had a rumpled look about her, Britta was to be admired. It was then I noticed Jamie inching closer toward her side to quell his anxiety. He shook his head. “It does not sit well with me that I flee while Britta stands and fights.”

  The pride Uncle Rick had for Britta could not be missed. “If Britta is caught, it will not reflect poorly on your kingdom. She’s always been a bit rebellious. And I will stay with her, no matter what. Charles and I are capable of more than people give us credit for. We only failed at tearing down the Elvage portal because we couldn’t afford to be found out so early by my own people. The dwarves won’t easily recognize the elfish magic as belonging specifically to me.”

  “Alright, old man.” Jens tried to bring levity to the moment, but each bite of the hard biscuit he ate looked like it was an effort to choke down.

  “Wash up,” Tor instructed. “We leave within tha hour.”