Ashes

by Ann Hunter

  He nodded. “Finish the work your family started. It is a noble desire. Where shall I drop you off?”

  Rebecca pointed to the center of the city where she had placed the cog in the man’s pocket. She climbed out when they got there.

  “Find your place in The Great Wheel, Rebecca,” Preacher urged, “and go forth and do good.”

  Rebecca nodded solemnly. “I will.”

  She waited hours wondering if she had made the right choice. Maybe she would never see the trio again. Had she merely dreamt of them?

  The city was naturally dark because of the pollution, but it was not until the steam powered astronomical clock on the face of The Corporation struck midnight that Rebecca saw a tall, thin, cloaked figure appear. She hoped it was Pyp or Arrow.

  The figure strode toward her and went right past. Rebecca watched, crestfallen, until she noticed the person’s hand motion her to follow. Rebecca stifled a smile and walked after them quickly.

  At the end of a pitch black alleyway, the figure lit onto a fence and began scaling toward the rooftops. Rebecca followed directly behind with difficulty, but determined. She hoped this roof thing would become easier.

  Once above the city, she watched two other figures pull themselves up on various roofs several streets over. Rebecca’s leader was guiding them to a central building.

  Rebecca did her best to keep up, but her petticoat often got in the way. When they reached the meeting point, her leader pulled back the hood of the cloak to reveal flaming red hair. Arrow. He had switched cloaks with Pyp. Quarren strode toward them. “I am glad to see you again, Ash.”

  “We waited all day to come for you,” Pyp said.

  “I was worried something was wrong with me,” Rebecca confessed. “That I wasn’t needed anymore, or I simply imagined you three.”

  Quarren stepped closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Not at all. Come with me.”

  She followed him to a crouching position at the edge of the roof and looked out across the city below. “Before we enact our plan, there is much work to be done. You have much to learn in order to catch up to us.”

  Rebecca felt a hand on her back. She looked over her shoulder to see Pyp pulling out a black cloak and trousers. “You’ll be wanting these if you are going to keep up with us.”

  Rebecca smiled and took them with great relief. No more tripping over her petticoat.

  “Come with me,” Pyp said. “I will help you get changed.”

  Rebecca followed Pyp to the opposite corner of the rooftop.

  Pyp cleared her throat. “Gentleman… and Arrow.”

  Quarren turned his back to the ladies. Arrow stood grinning at them until Quarren jousted his elbow into the boy’s ribs. “Show a little decorum, man.”

  Rebecca looked, startled, at Pyp. “What, here?”

  “No one’s paying any never mind. We’re safe here,” Pyp assured.

  Rebecca glanced over at Arrow and Quarren. Both had their backs turned, cloaks rustling in the night air. She placed her hands on Pyp’s shoulders as Pyp helped her put on the trousers under her dress. She winked at Rebecca to assure her it was right modest. Then she helped her out of her petticoat, tucked her shift into her trousers and mounted her cloak. “There. Easy as you please.”

  Pyp pulled the black hood well over Rebecca’s forehead so not even her eyes could be seen. “You’re one of us now, Ash.” Pyp smiled.

  Rebecca smiled back, then wadded up her petticoat and apron and hurled them at the back of Quarren and Arrow’s heads. They both rubbed the back of their necks and turned around. Arrow dangled Rebecca’s petticoat over the side of the building teasingly. “I have your knickers.”

  Pyp had already crossed back to them and punched Arrow in the shoulder. “Grow up.”

  Arrow let go of Rebecca’s petticoat. It floated away in a brisk sudden breeze. Instead of being horrified that all of the city would see her clothes, she felt liberated instead. She smiled again. It was like shedding an old skin and becoming something new.

  ~*~

  Over the next several weeks, the trio trained Rebecca in the finer arts of reverse pick pocketing, roof running, and blending in. Arrow specialized in the pick pocketing and made an adept teacher. The lesson he taught Rebecca was to be as quiet as the Ever Sleep.

  Pyp was quick on her feet and nimble on walls, and drilled Rebecca on roof running and getting around without being seen. Her lesson was that nothing was true and everything was permitted.

  Quarren was masterful at blending in a crowd. Rebecca liked learning from him the most because often his teachings were the quietest. There were tense moments, to be sure, especially when Arrow demonstrated his prowess at causing trouble on purpose so that Pyp could dive in and take command of the situation with an element of surprise. No one expects a hooded figure to leap off a building, though it was certainly there in the back of one’s mind during nightmares and whatnots.

  The more time Rebecca spent with Quarren, the more she felt drawn to his gentle spirit and quiet nature. She could not help but wonder what he looked like. He wore his hood so far down that it shadowed the entirety of his face.

  What did he have to hide? At times she would awkwardly brush her hand against his to let him know he could trust her, but he would either ignore it, apologize, or brush it off completely.

  One night, Quarren sent Pyp and Arrow away on errands and led Rebecca to the rooftops.

  “We feel you have sufficiently mastered our ways,” Quarren said as he paced about.

  Rebecca walked close behind, staring at the back of his hood.

  “I feel it is time you know our plan.” Quarren reached inside his cloak and pulled out a small vial of black fluid.

  Rebecca’s hand was mid air near his hood when he turned. He placed the vial in her hand and stepped back to allow her to consider it.

  “Poison?” Rebecca asked.

  “Yes.”

  “You want me to poison the king?”

  Quarren was quiet for a moment. “Yes.”

  “Why me?”

  “It has to be you.”

  “But why?” Rebecca stared at the liquid, at King Andrus’s undoing.

  Quarren stood at the edge of the rooftop looking out across the city. “It is what we trained you for. Arrow will take out the guards. Pyp will cause a distraction, and I will arrange your escape.”

  Rebecca slid the vial into her cloak numbly, letting it all sink in. She did not expect to be the one to do the job for them. She stared at Quarren and found herself crossing to him quickly. If she was going to do the job, she had to know who she was working for.

  Her hand reached to pull back his hood, but Quarren must have sensed her approaching, for he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a tight defensive hold. Rebecca gasped as she teetered on the edge of the building.

  Quarren peeled back her sleeve to reveal the name burnt upon her wrist. “I thought I felt something, Lilly. Is that your name then? Tell me who you really are.”

  Rebecca’s breath raced. “You first.”

  Quarren swung her around back onto the roof firmly, still holding her by her wrist. “I have held no secrets from you.”

  Rebecca clenched her teeth and yanked hard upon his cloak. His hood fell back to reveal a horribly burned face, almost unrecognizeable on the left side. A white orb rested blindly behind a half open eye. Rebecca gasped.

  Quarren released her and tried to hide his face, turning his back to her and moaning like an injured creature. “Curse you, Ash!”

  Rebecca stepped back.

  He charged at her and stopped directly before her, grabbing her face. He brought it close to his. “Is this what you wanted to see? Does it please you? Are you happy now?”

  Rebecca kissed his mouth hard.

  Quarren’s hands whipped back in shock, releasing Rebecca.

  She stood on her tiptoes, grabbing the neck of Quarren’s cloak, and kissed him deeper.

  Quarren’s rate of breathing increased a
nd when his hands returned to Rebecca, his touch was tender, but all of a sudden he pushed her away and pulled his hood back over his face. He went to the edge of the building and sat.

  Rebecca stood in the middle of the roof processing what she had just done. Her hand went to her lips. A fire burned in her and she looked over at Quarren. He sat sullenly, one leg dangling off the edge, the other pulled close to him.

  Rebecca moved slowly to his side and sat. She placed her hand upon his, but he withdrew it. He sniffed softly.

  Rebecca stared out across the quiet city. “I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry.”

  Quarren shook his head. “I’m the one who should be sorry.”

  She looked at him with surprise. “What ever for?”

  Quarren looked at The Corporation and the smoke pluming out of it. “I failed them.”

  “Pyp and Arrow? Because of me? Because we… I…”

  “No.” Quarren looked at her. “I failed Temperance and Mason.”

  Rebecca’s eyebrows knit together. She did not recognize the names.

  Quarren sniffed again. “My wife and my son.”

  Rebecca leapt to her feet. “You are a married man? I kissed— ?”

  Quarren reached up for her hand. “No. It is not like that.”

  “Then what is it like?”

  Quarren looked back at The Corporation.

  She followed his gaze. His sniffling turned into weeping, and a sudden understanding dawned over her. Temperance and Mason were dead. She sank beside him, clutching his hand.

  “I failed them, Ash, I failed them. I cannot go back in there. I could not save them.”

  Rebecca reached under Quarren’s hood and caressed his scarred face. “It would appear that both of our families were destroyed by The Corporation. We have both been burned.”

  She took his free hand and placed it over her own where she had burned it as badly as his face three years before. “But the only failure is to sit idly by. Keep fighting, Quarren. Do it for your wife. Do it for your boy. Do it for Pyp and Arrow and Me.”

  X

  Rebecca took up residence with Henrietta Bartleby in the city. Henrietta Bartleby resided in the building during the week and returned to the hamlet on the weekends, leaving the house and its care to Rebecca.

  Rebecca avoided the room her mother had died in, always keeping the door closed whenever possible. She kept a room at the back of the building with a window facing the city streets and the rest of town.

  On the weekends, the building became a safe haven and meeting place for Quarren, Ash, Pyp, and Arrow. They made a habit of reviewing their plan to poison King Andrus as often as possible until every one knew exactly what to do and when.

  Rebecca tried not to pester twenty-three-year old Quarren as much in front of Pyp and Arrow, but she couldn’t help but notice Pyp studying her more often. The cogs in Pyp’s head were turning steadily. She sensed some thing was up. Rebecca did not care if she figured it out. She just did not want her feelings for Quarren to be a distraction to the others.

  When Pyp and Arrow left, however, it was an entirely different story. A sly smile curled the corner of Rebecca’s mouth and she slipped her hands into Quarren’s large, blockish fists and guided him upstairs where she covered him in kisses and made him forget about his pain and his scarred face. They talked about their families as they stretched out side by side on Rebecca’s bed. Quarren ran his fingers through Rebecca’s and smoothed the burn on her hand.

  Quarren’s late wife, Temperance, had been working for The Corporation, just like Lilly had when she met her end three years earlier. It had been an accident. Quarren was there when it happened. A boiler had blown. There was fire all about. Quarren charged in when every one else ran out. He had no regard for himself as the flames licked his face clean. He saw only Temperance trapped by broken pipes and steam, and the inferno. He could not get to her in time. When he awoke, a gentle, blonde woman stood over him, working salve into his burns.

  Rebecca mentioned her mother had been a mender when such a fire had happened. She told Quarren her story. How Lilly’s lungs had been gradually filled with ash and soot until she drowned in the pollution. How her father had left them to make his fortune abroad after King Andrus outlawed everything that kept them in business.

  She pulled back her sleeve to show Quarren her wrist. Quarren’s fingers traced over the letters. Rebecca explained that even though losing her mother was painful, she would always carry her with her. Quarren said he missed carrying his little son, Mason, on his shoulders. He had only been six when the fire happened. Quarren had not seen him since. He hoped that by destroying The Corporation, he would somehow find his son again, that it would redeem his soul somehow as a father and husband.

  Rebecca did not think Quarren’s soul needed redeeming, but if he felt that way then she would do whatever she could to help him find his salvation.

  One night, just under a week later, King Andrus was throwing one of his exotic and lavish parties. Quarren and Rebecca had been keeping an eye on it from the rooftops when Pyp rushed to them and informed Quarren that it was time. Intel confirmed that the wine flowed freely tonight and it would be easy to slip the poison into the King’s cups.

  Rebecca and Quarren looked at each other and nodded. Quarren told Pyp to get ready. They all took their places. Rebecca and Quarren snuck around to the servant’s quarters of The Corporation. Quarren pulled Rebecca into the shadows and pressed her against one of the emerald walls. She made out a faint grin under his hood and smiled back at him, grabbing at his cloak.

  “We must be careful tonight,” Quarren said excitedly.

  Rebecca nodded.

  “The prince will be there. He is handsome and charismatic. You can not trust him.”

  “My mother told me to marry a prince,” Rebecca grinned back at him.

  Quarren’s grin vanished. “That is unfortunate.”

  Rebecca rolled her eyes. “I do not care about any prince, Quarren.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss him. “You are my prince.”

  He pulled her close and wrapped his arms tightly about her. When they parted, Quarren clutched her hand in his. “Ash?”

  “Rebecca.”

  “What?”

  “My real name is Rebecca.”

  “Well. When all of this is said and done, Rebecca,” he looked down at their hands entwined then back in to Rebecca’s eyes, “will you be my… I mean… We could have a life together and…”

  She lit up and kissed him again. “Yes!” She freckled his cheek with more kisses. “I know just the preacher…”

  Their glowing smiles vanished when they heard a sharp whistle overhead. Quarren looked to the rooftops to see Arrow waiting impatiently.

  Quarren squared his shoulders and squeezed Rebecca’s hand. “If I were to die tonight, I would die a happy man.”

  He let her go and strode off into the darkness leaving Rebecca to do the job they had spent so long training her to do.

  She took her position by hiding in a bush very close to the back door. Two uniformed guards stood watch at the door. Arrow must have felt he needed amusement tonight because the dart he blew landed squarely into one of the guard’s necks. It planted long enough to deliver the concoction inside.

  The guard hit his neck as if he had just been bitten by a mosquito. Then his eye balls bulged and he bent over, leaning heavily on his bayonette. His veins began to bulge and just as the other guard leaned to make sure he was alright, the first guard ran his bayonette right through him. The other guard choked on blood and quickly raised his gun to shoot the first guard. He was unable to fire before he succumbed to death.

  The first guard ran around in a manic frenzy before collapsing and choking on blood. Pyp leapt from a tree and strode right in past where they had been. Rebecca was not far behind. She left her cloak on the first dead guard, dressing him quickly to make anyone else think they had taken down one of the insurgents.

  Pyp had managed to get a gown for herself and serva
nt’s clothes for Rebecca through a complicated grapevine of workers in the factory quarters of The Corporation. Rebecca made her way to the kitchens where she found the king’s plate full of emptied goblets.

  It was well known that King Andrus only accepted wine from pretty, meek servant girls and Rebecca fit the bill. Pyp had been the last one and when the King took a break, she had rushed to alert Quarren and Rebecca.

  The changing of the guard, so to speak, did not last long. Clean goblets were upon the golden tray now. Rebecca stood nearby waiting for them to be filled. When they were, she lifted the tray and began moving toward the ball room with it.

  A guard stopped her and asked if she had tasted them. When Rebecca replied that she had not, the guard insisted she should. Rebecca flushed and looked about wildly.

  The guard took the tray and offered her one of the goblets. She sipped. After a moment the guard took it and gave her another. Rebecca sipped. The guard gave her another. Rebecca’s head began to swim.

  After the guard was sufficiently satisfied that none of them were poisoned, he gave the tray back to Rebecca. She braced her self awkwardly. The guard steadied her, but not without a questionable look upon his face. No one had warned Rebecca that this would be a part of the plan. She’d never had that much wine in her life, and this was an especially good year, make, and extra strong. She tried to keep her eyes focused on the throne not far across the room.

  Pyp coyly teased the last set of guards and kept their attention away from Rebecca. Before she stepped into the ball room, Rebecca removed the vial from her apron and emptied a bit of the contents into each and every one of the goblets. Leave no chance for mistakes. She squared her shoulders and tried very hard to appear sober.

  She strode with confidence toward the king. Her heart began to pound as she drew closer to him. King Andrus was dressed in white and trimmed in gold. He was a balding, fat man with a leery gleam in his eye. A ring of white hair crowned his mostly bald pate and dove into an expertly kept pair of mutton chops upon his jaws. He looked at her.