Revolution (Cartharia Book 2)

by Spencer Reaves McCoy

  There was one thing for sure, though. He couldn't stay here where the fire was. Soldiers would come soon because of how quickly it was spreading and he couldn't risk being there when they did. He had no idea how close he was to Valishna. For all he knew, hew as running towards it instead of away from it. It could be Lamonte troops that came to put out the fire.

  It could be his father's men, but Will couldn't take that chance. He had to run.

  As he ran, he thought about the fire. More trees jumped into flames around him. He couldn't stop it. He couldn't control it. It didn't make sense. As he ran, he realized -- this was what the dream had been. The fires.

  He was going to burn the world down, and there was nothing he could possibly to do to stop that.

  Sullivan stood in front of the crowd of people, looking over their faces, memorizing the way they were staring at them. Some of them would die for those looks.

  He'd thought long and hard about how he was going to influence the war back to his side, how to get people supporting him again. He didn't have his warlord around to tell him his thoughts about the plan, but he'd decided he didn't need one.

  He'd gotten this far on his own, and he was going to continue that. He was Richard Sullivan, after all, and he was the King of Lamonte.

  "We captured William Parnell," he said in the silence, "the fourth. We captured the prince of Arinford, and we executed him."

  Silence met this and then suddenly there were numbers of questions and exclamations shouted at him. He held up his hands for silence.

  "This was not a public execution because William Parnell was a member of the royal family of Arinford. However, he was a prisoner of war, and he did kill over nine guard sin an attempt to escape. He has to pay for the lives he took, prince or not."

  Sullivan was satisfied by the looks that everyone was exchanging.

  "What about Akins and Sweeton?" someone called out. He recognized the soldier he'd almost executed before. He'd told him beforehand what he was to ask. It worked. People stopped talking to listen. It was well known the prince had been with them.

  "Akins and Sweeton were apprehended outside of Valishna," Sullivan said, "By some of our troops. They were taken to Valishna where they were executed without trial. Like the prince, they were prisoners of war and killed many good men in their escape."

  There was some cheering at this. The guards that had been killed hadn't been well-known, and if they had, they probably wouldn't have been well liked but they were part of Lamonte, and people didn't like hearing their men and women were killed.

  They did like vengeance though.

  "The Gods have abandoned Arinford," Sullivan said, "They have killed Arinford's son, and it's heroes. We must rise together now, band together, and strike. We must strike while they are grieving for their murderers, and we must plunge a knife into their heart.

  "And when we remove it," Sullivan said, his voice dark and full of passion, "Arinford will be ours, and from there, it is only a step to the rest of the world. We will bring Cartharia together, and Lamonte shall be hailed as the Kingdom that led the way to utopia."

  He let the cheers and applause and foot stomping wash over him. Some of it was staged, but it didn't matter. It picked up and once it was going, it didn't die for a long, long time.

  Deyneth placed a hand on the king's shoulder and tried to provide some sort of comfort. William had been sobbing for well over an hour. He was on his knees in the Chapel. It was part of the castle, though, not the public one, and Deyneth was grateful for that. It wouldn't do for the public to see him in such a state.

  The news of Will's death had been a devastating blow for the royal family, and for Arinford morale. Despite her dry eyes, Deyneth was affected too. She had worked with Will as much as she had his sister, training him with a sword, teaching him tactics, and enjoying his company.

  It made her even more determined to stop Lamonte and kill Sullivan.

  William was hurting too, and that was even worse for her. Deyneth loved the king like a son, and it caused her pain to see him in such a state of grief. Even more importantly though, if the King was hurting, Arinford would be hurting. Steps would have to be taken, and soon.

  But for now, she knelt down beside him and cupped her hands together to pray, "Let us wish William well," she said, "Let us wish him peace, and hope that someday, we may be rejoined in another life."

  William let out another sob, "My only son."

  "You are young," Deyneth said, "You will sire another son. But William was a strong boy, and courageous. His death was honorable, and he shall not have died in vain. We will use this, against Lamonte. It shall bring our people together, and it shall give them a reason to fight."

  William looked up at Deyneth, "I don't want to use his death as a stepping stone in this war," he said in a constricted voice, "Don't you understand? He was my child."

  "And the Kingdom is your child," Deyneth said, losing some of her patience, "and you must now protect this too. Will gave his life for his kingdom, and you must make sure your people know that. They must know how brave he was, and how honorable he was."

  William let out a sigh and got to his feet. He no longer felt like praying, "You're right," he said, "But Sara won't like it."

  "The queen has the soft heart of a mother," Deyneth pointed out, "and she will not be happy for some time. But comforting her must wait. Right now, we have work to do. We must prepare. Are you ready?"

  William nodded, "I don't like it," he said, and Deyneth understood that. She also knew it didn't matter. "But I'm ready."

  "Good," Deyneth said, taking his hand in hers, "Then you and your wife have an announcement to make."

  FORTY-EIGHT

  Tell the Secrets of my Prison-House

  THE PRISON CELL THEY WERE BEING HELD in reeked of old food and stale urine. It was dark and cold. There were no beds and no blankets to cover themselves with. Sometimes a guard brought them food. Sometimes he didn't.

  Penny sat cross-legged in the corner of the cell, trying to avoid thinking about what was coming. They had been in the cell for over a week. One of the lieutenants of the Lamonte military had come to inform them two days after they arrived that they had been successfully convicted of treason and were to be publicly executed. Everyone in Valishna was required to attend.

  It was meant to be an example. The others had enough time to get away and change back into their normal clothing and return to their lives. There would be no doubt that it would not work to oppose Lamonte.

  Eldrin, Ryan, Robert, George, Kevin, and Joanna were there with her but none of them were speaking at the moment. They had talked about all sorts of things already and none of them had been able to come up with a plan for getting out. They were trapped. There was something in the cell that prevented any kind of manipulation.

  Robert getting caught had been a big blow. He'd been on his way to meet them, apparently, when the soldiers had happened across him. He looked miserable.

  In the silence, the door of the prison flew open. Light filtered in. Penny looked up.

  One of the lesser soldiers came in, dragging someone along behind him. It was a woman with matted hair, and dirty, tattered clothing.

  "I thought you might like some company," he told the group in a snide voice. There was a fumbling for keys and then the door of the cell swung open.

  Nobody tried to go for the opening. There were a dozen guards posted outside of the prison at all times with orders to kill on sight. The guard shoved the woman inside and then cell for swung shut behind her.

  Penny looked at the woman and then blinked. It was Erin.

  When the soldier left the room, several of them got up and came together in the center of the cell. Erin shrunk away from their gazes, ashamed.

  "How could you do that to us?" Ryan immediately demanded. After they'd been arrested, they had been informed that they had been ratted out to the soldiers by Erin. "My wife -- you can't imagine what she's going through right now. How could you be
tray us?"

  "I didn't have a choice," she whispered, her voice trembling.

  George spat on the ground beside her, "You went to the soldiers and told them about us. You made a choice, little lady."

  "It wasn't like that," Erin said, "I had to tell them something."

  "Why?" Joanna asked in a deadly quiet tone, "Why did you have to tell them anything at all?"

  Erin shook her head, "You don't understand."

  "Then explain," Penny said quietly from her corner. She didn't get up to join them.

  Robert said nothing. He stood in the back of the cell, not even watching. He felt as though his heart had been ripped out. That morning he'd woken up with Erin seemed so long ago.

  Taking a deep breath, Erin began to speak. Her eyes drifted over to Robert while she did, "I went down to the shore. I just wanted to double check the docs before we got started on our plan. I left early, thinking nobody would be there yet.

  "They caught me though. I tried to run away when I had been spotted but it was too late. They questioned me on what I was doing there. It tried to tell him it wasn't anything; that I just had an issue disobeying curfew. I thought they were going to believe me. They kept me for two hours.

  "During that time," she paused to breathe, "During that time... one of the soldiers, I don't know who -- just someone who didn't believe my story -- went and... and he picked up my daughter. He took her.

  "He came back and told me if I didn't be honest with them, they were going to kill my baby. I knew that if I lied, they would do it. I thought if I told the truth, they might only kill me. So I told them that I had been in charge of the ships, that I was just trying to sabotage them for personal vendetta."

  Erin looked down at the ground, ashamed, "I thought they would punish me, not her. They didn't believe me though; they kept bringing up the other incidents around town. I had no choice but to tell them about this. It was my only chance. They sent me to Craig, to say that I wanted to switch my position, so they could catch you all at once, in the act."

  "You sacrificed the lives and freedom of everyone in this city for one child?" Joanna asked, "One single child. You coward."

  "She was my daughter," Erin said, her voice quaking miserably, "You don't have any idea."

  Erin went to where Penny was sitting, "You understand, don't you Penny? You listened to my confessions. Tell me you understand. Tell me that you forgive me."

  Penny looked up from where she was sitting, meeting Erin's eyes. She thought about everyone in the city that had died; she thought of everything that had been done and everything that had been lost. "No."

  Erin let out a wail of misery, crumpling down to the ground, "I have lost everything then. They have stripped me of my faith, they have killed my child, now they have turned my friends against me."

  Hearing that they had killed Jocelyn made Penny's heart constrict. Her niece. She felt tears burn her eyes as her heart went out in sympathy to the woman, but she couldn't grant her the forgiveness that Erin so desperately needed.

  After a full half an hour of sobbing, Erin managed to bring herself to a stop. She sat sniffling in the corner for hours after that, avoiding the gazes of everyone who looked at her.

  The next couple of days dragged on endlessly for Penny. It was worse than her time spent watching the metal shoes burn; this time, there was no hope. She felt the weight of dread on her chest with nothing this time to spark any sort of desire to make the best of the situation.

  The worst part, for her, was the fact that Erin had betrayed them. She had trusted her, fully. She had trusted everyone.

  "It'll be alright," Eldrin told her gently at one point. She had no idea of telling what day it was. He placed a hand on her shoulder and squatted down beside her, "We're going to figure something out."

  Penny looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes, "To what point? So that we can get betrayed again? So that everything we work for can be thrown away by one mother?"

  In the corner, Erin winced. Penny didn't look over at her but she could almost see the expression of pain that must have flashed across her face.

  Eldrin shook his head, unable to offer anything to counter that. She knew he was feeling the same sort of hopelessness.

  "We won't be able to rescue them," Penny said suddenly, "Sweeton and Akins."

  "Janice," Eldrin said quietly. She saw him wipe his face. "We will. I made a promise. I intend to keep it."

  Ryan had laughed bitterly from the opposite side of the cell, "You aren't going to get out of here. Erin made sure they knew just how dangerous Simons and you are. They aren't going to let us get a foot out of here. We're never going to see our friends or family again. My wife is already a widow. My child will grow up without a father."

  Nobody said anything to that.

  Penny swept a hand up over her face and through her hair. It was still crusted with black paint. All of them but Robert and Erin were. None had been given the opportunity to wash themselves. They'd been stripped of all weapons, gloves, and personal items though.

  "I don't know yet," Eldrin said, "But I always figure something out."

  While Penny sighed, Eldrin stood again and paced away. He checked out the cell walls again. They were made of thin, overlaying bars as opposed to the typical straight ones. The thinness misrepresented the strength of them though; they were unbendable.

  The floor of the cell was hard concrete that was cold and damp to the touch. It was difficult to sleep on.

  "It's a cage," George said with a sigh, "I've seen these types before. You can't get out of them. That's the point, kid."

  "I refuse to accept anything as impossible," Eldrin snapped back, continuing his search.

  Penny leaned her head back against the wall and sighed. She closed her eyes and thought about Alicia and her other servants. She wondered what they were doing now that she was in jail. Her father would probably hire them.

  Her father.

  He had not bothered to come see her or Robert. Her mother hadn't either. There was no doubt in her mind that they knew they were locked up. Everyone in Valishna knew.

  She couldn't believe how stupid they'd been. It had seemed like such a fool-proof plan. She hated herself, she hated the resistance, and she hated Erin for it.

  She tried to tell herself the hate wasn't fair. There was nothing she could have done differently. The ambitions behind the resistance were still honorable and right. Erin had been put in a difficult situation -- Penny had never been a mother. She might have done the same.

  Her anger still broiled. While it would have been helpful, Penny sometimes thought it was a good thing that fire manipulation wasn't possible in the cell. With her anger and lack of self-control, she would have exploded them all into flames.

  Time ticked slowly on.

  Penny wasn't sure if they were going to be sent food. Sometimes they brought in a little bit of soup or sandwiches. Sometimes they gave them water. Penny knew they didn't want them to starve or dehydrate before the execution.

  Still, the inconsistency was part of what kept them in check. It was a way of letting them know they weren't in control.

  Penny had never felt so out of control in her life.

  It was somewhere between two and ten hours when the guards next came in. They led the commander in.

  Peter Sterling stood in front of the cell for a long time, "Your execution date approaches," he finally said.

  Nobody said anything in return. Penny glared up at him through the slats. He didn't acknowledge the eye contact, but she thought he looked a little ashamed.

  "We have decided that beheading is the best way to bring about your sentence. We need to let the public know that this was not a threat. We need to discourage this sort of behavior. We cannot allow uprisings in the streets. You have to understand that."

  "You've said as much," Eldrin said dismissively, "If you want to keep our interest at least come up with new material."

  The commander looked at Eldrin for a long moment and then
smiled, "You're right. I have actually come to tell you that you have a guest. You will be allowed a lot of guests in the next few days."

  Again, there was that small amount of shame. Peter Sterling had never been a bad man. Penny had always known that. He was misguided, but not bad. But the truth was simple; he was still the enemy. He was still Lamonte.

  "Get out," George said in a bored voice.

  The commander ignored him and shifted his gaze to Erin, "People especially want to see you. They have heard a lot about your involvement in the capture. I don't know if they want your blood less... or more."

  Erin stood, approaching the bars. When she got all the way up, she spit.

  Peter wiped the spit off his shirt and glared. He turned and paced away, his guards following. The door slammed shut behind him.

  "They're going to punish you for that," Eldrin told her.

  Erin shrugged, "What can they do that's worse than what they already have? They killed my daughter. I realize none of you care about that but it was my child."

  There was a moment of deafening silence.

  "We care," Ryan finally said.

  "No, you don't," Erin said. She turned to face them and this time there was no tears. "You don't know what it's like! None of you know what it's like. You blame me when you should be blaming Lamonte! They put us in this situation. They kidnapped my baby. They forced me to tell them things I would never have said.

  "I would have kept quiet, I would have sacrificed myself despite leaving my child alone; for this group, for these ideals... but to ask that I have the strength to let them murder my daughter? How dare you ask such a thing! How dare any of you act like you have gone through anything like ti!"

  Erin stood there, chest heaving, fists clenched, "and then they killed her when I spoke. They did it as a punishment to treason. I betrayed you and they killed her anyway and now, days before my death, I sit here with people that I thought were my friends."

  She looked over at Robert, "And a man that proclaimed to love me, and not one of you will even look me in the eye."