by Jenn Vakey
He faltered for a moment, and I wondered if he was trying to decide if he should lie. Saying no could lull us into a false security if there were. If there weren't, saying there were could keep us disordered.
As fun as that might have been, he was also trying to play the innocent card here.
"No," he finally answered. Thankfully, it was the truth.
There were more questions I wanted answers too, but in looking around at the crowd surrounding us, I decided it was best to wait.
So, pretending like I hadn't picked up on his deception, I moved to the next man in line.
By the time I reached the end and spoke with every conscious Sentry, I had answers to my big question. Nearly half of the men here had known about the plot for the throne beforehand. That meant that this was bigger than just a greedy brother wanting the crown.
This was an outright mutiny.
Orson walked up just as I was finishing. He looked more exhausted than I had ever seen him. It reminded me of the way Rhydian had looked that night in the woods with Adler. When the use of his ability had left him drained.
I realized that I actually had no idea what Orson's abilities were. At least part of them had to be witch based. The only reason I could think for him to be drained like that was if he had been putting the wards back up.
"They're all willingly working with Dex," I told him. "Many of them knew about the assassination plot the entire time."
Denials started coming from the bound Sentry at my report. I turned back to the line and gave my best sardonic look. "Shut your mouths before I shut them for you."
That earned poorly hidden scowls and curled lips. Women weren't seen as equals by a lot of men in Eden. Especially amongst the Sentry. Within their ranks, men outnumbered women nearly twenty-five to one. It wasn’t a secret that they believed women weren’t as capable.
On top of that, I was Tainted. In their eyes, I had no right to talk to them, let alone challenge them in such a way. They should have expected it. Everyone who had seen the broadcast had watched me stand up to Dex. Like I would cower when faced with a bunch of his minions.
“Although half of them lied, there aren’t any other bombs or threats that they’re aware of,” I said, facing Orson again.
He nodded. “How many of theirs were lost?”
“Only one that I’ve seen so far. The one who tried to drown an eight-year-old girl in the river.”
My anger started to rise again. My fists clenched around the bastons still in my grip. None of them even looked ashamed. Like they had any regrets at all for coming into our city and trying to kill innocent people. Children.
An arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me back against a firm chest. It was only when the warmth of him reached through my still damp clothes that I realized I was shaking. Not from the cold. It was the fury.
“Anything else?” Orson asked.
I had to think quickly. There were things that I knew that he needed to be aware of. The question was how to tell him. In private or where people could hear.
“They tried to take one of our young girls, because they’re under the assumption Princess Myrah is here,” I said, careful of my phrasing.
Orson eyed me curiously. He knew how I felt about her. He also knew about Rhydian and me. We might not get along, but he trusted me not to do anything to endanger the child. His look was more a question of what I was hoping to accomplish by bringing it up like this.
And I had a plan.
“That’s because she is here,” one of the Sentry said. It was the very man I had found near the storage building. Apparently he had given up hope that they would be able to talk their way out of trouble. “Little bitch burned me.”
I leveled my eyes at him. This was exactly what I had been hoping for. How kind of him to play right into it.
“Isley came to Alkwin this morning with her mother, father, and baby sister,” I said, loud enough for anyone around us to hear. “Just because she’s a little blonde girl doesn’t mean she’s Eden’s princess. Do you really think we would keep all three of the heirs in one place?”
“Oh, Dex will never find where we’re keeping her,” Rhydian said. He released his hold and moved to my side, actually smirking as he looked to all the Sentry. “He can’t even be sure she’s not still in Eden. Wouldn’t it make him look like the fool he is for her to be protected by the very people he thinks support him. Ready to step up and steal the throne right out from under him.”
It was odd that nothing he said actually rang through as a lie. Had I not known the truth, even I would think what he was saying could be true. Anyone really trying to decipher his meaning might actually go far enough to believe that someone on the council might be working against Dex. Hiding the sweet princess.
“Well, what do you suggest we do with them?” Orson asked, looking down the line of men.
“Lock them up,” Rhydian answered. “As soon as Dex is removed, they will join him in facing trial for their crimes.”
I nodded. “They’re all complicit in the plot to kill the royal family. Do we have a place large enough to hold them?”
“They won’t be comfortable, but we can put them all in the cell,” Rhydian said. He folded his arms. “It’s not really meant for more than ten people, but they did come into our city to murder children.”
“And allowed the king to be murdered,” Nevin chimed in. I looked over to see him grinning himself. There wasn’t anything kind about it. “Then plotted to kill his children. Yeah, I think they’ll be fine there. Twenty-four men with one bathroom and bed. You boys have fun with that.”
Without needing orders, the crowd started moving forward to grab the Sentry. Rhydian and I stayed back with Orson, watching as they went.
“As if we didn’t already have enough mouths to feed,” Orson grumbled. He waited until we were alone, then turned to face us. “What do we know?”
“We only lost two,” Rhydian told him. “They were using tranquilizers, which didn’t make sense at the time. Now we know they were here with the intent of taking people. Linley for certain, and we have to assume they were also after Leeya. Some of the Sentry went out of their way to try to get to her.”
“Linley?” he asked.
“She tricked Meral into letting her slip away from the schoolhouse earlier,” I told them. “She said she was going to be with me. That I was taking her to see our new house.” Rhydian groaned, but I went on. “I’m not sure how the Sentry found her out there. There were three. Lamont stopped them when one of them tried to drown her. That was the one of theirs they lost. Lamont took her back to the schoolhouse.”
Orson nodded.
“Are we certain we got all of them?” I asked.
“Prestyn is monitoring the security system now to account for every warm body within the wards,” Rhydian answered. “We’ll know if there’s anyone left.”
The security system had been mentioned several times, but I had never found out exactly what it was or how it worked. “Magic?” I asked, looking up to meet Rhydian’s eye. He nodded. He was definitely going to have to explain that one to me later. For now, there were more important things to deal with.
“This can’t happen again,” Orson said. “We need to be ready to move against Eden. Given what happened today, I’m restricting all information about it.”
There was no arguing with that. It was for the same reason I hadn’t asked the Sentry everything I wanted to. We couldn’t trust everyone here was really on our side anymore. It was an awful feeling to have, but we had to be cautious. It was either that or interrogate every single person in Alkwin. Knowing I would be the one required to do that, it wasn’t a prospect I was looking forward to.
“I’ll need to talk to the Sentry again without an audience.”
“Have either Dallin or Lamont with you,” Orson suggested. “Having a Sentry there might rattle them.”
Rhydian stiffened beside me, but Orson went on before he could argue. “We need to check the statu
s of things in camp and see what people need. I’m sure Leeya also trusts you to speak for her during the planning while she’s otherwise occupied.”
Rhydian’s jaw tightened, and he looked down to get my opinion on it. I could see he didn’t want to leave me. The cell was secure, but I would still be dealing with Sentry. A lot of them. He had his duties, though. Our people had been through something traumatic. They needed to see that one of their princes was right there with them.
Orson was also right. While I wanted to be involved in any decision planning when it came to an attack, I had trust in Rhydian to know how I felt about things. He would also make sure I knew everything that was going on.
“I’ll be fine,” I promised. “We need to know if they have anyone else in camp giving them information. I’ll also find out if anyone knows what Dex has in mind for me if any of his attempts were ever successful.” I smirked. “Not that they would be.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
RHYDIAN
“Everyone is accounted for,” Prestyn said, meeting Orson and me as we walked toward the training field. “Assuming the Sentry that had been driving the hovercrafts are waiting just outside of the wards, I don’t imagine it will be long before they report back that the mission failed.”
“Have all of the buildings been cleared?” Orson asked. “We can’t assume our bomber didn’t plant a second device that the Sentry didn’t know about.”
Prestyn nodded. “Every main building has been swept, and there are teams out now working through the houses. It’s moving a little faster now that Zaydan has given Leeya’s dog a scent to search for. So far everything is clean.”
I smirked. Even Orson wouldn’t be able to argue against Kip’s presence in camp anymore. He had even charged into battle and attacked a Sentry I was fighting. For such a docile creature, he could be vicious when those he cared about were threatened. Apparently I now made that list. Leeya would be pleased.
“Gather anyone not injured in the dining hall,” Orson ordered. “The children will stay in place for now. The mothers in the second bomb shelter are free to join the rest of the community.”
Prestyn nodded and ran off. He grabbed Nevin as he went and muttered something, pointing off toward the houses. There was no question where Nevin was going from there. He had a newborn daughter that would be with his wife, Amee, in the second shelter. I made a note to track down Emery Masters when she and her baby, who would also be in that shelter, joined up with the rest of the community. I would need to explain the situation to her and Reeve, as well as assure them that their daughter was fine. Anyone could do it, but I felt like it was my responsibility. Their child had been in danger because she had been mistaken for my sister.
There was still a lot of movement on the training field when Orson and I approached. I was glad to see that our people who had been shot by sedatives were now up and moving about. Aarys looked pissed, which made me smirk.
Just looking over the crowd, I couldn’t see any serious injuries. We had lost two, but overall we had been lucky. I had no idea why they had chosen to come armed with sedatives instead of something lethal, but I was grateful. Maybe Leeya could get an answer on that.
“Noella,” I called out, flagging her down as we merged into the group. She turned and looked over, smiling with relief when she saw us. “How are things looking?”
She blew the hair that had fallen in her face away as she looked around at the field. “Leeya’s order to have everyone brought out here definitely helped,” she stated. “We have a few broken bones and some head injuries, as well as the normal things we can expect from a fight. We’ll be able to treat everyone here, so the clinic won’t be bombarded.”
“Leeya’s order?” Orson asked. It was a question I was asking myself, although I couldn’t say it really surprised me. Well, I knew it would be something she would think to do, but it had already been in effect when I found her. I had just assumed it was Orson’s doing.
Noella looked between us and nodded. “From what I was told, she instructed that the triage be set up here until all of the buildings could be cleared. The clinic was first because of our people locked up in there, so we were able to get the supplies we needed quickly.” Taking in what I could only assume were shocked expressions from both of us, she asked, “You didn’t know? I had just assumed she would have been with one of the two of you.”
We shook our heads in unison. Noella smiled and shrugged, turning back to face the group. “We should be done here before too much longer. Everything I’ve checked so far out of that bag that was brought in this morning was fine, so the extra scanner has helped things to move quicker. What do you want me to start telling people when they’re ready to move?”
“Everyone’s to go to the dining hall,” Orson stated. “We’ll have a meeting and answer any questions we can.”
Noella nodded and went back to her patience.
“She gave the orders?” Orson asked. He motioned back and we turned, walking the long way around camp. I don’t think it was really a question, but I answered anyway.
“I guess so,” I said, then chuckled. “Not that I think either of us is really surprised there. She’s always been more than willing to give her opinion about how things should be done.”
Orson sighed and nodded. “She’ll make a good leader. You both will.”
“Planning on retiring?” I joked.
Orson gave one of his rare smiles, although it looked tired. “Not any time soon.”
Thankfully, there wasn’t any visible signs of damage to the buildings as we walked around. We didn’t go toward the sight of the totem. I would need to see it eventually, but it wasn’t something I really wanted to have to face just yet.
“Depending on what Leeya is able to get out of the Sentry, we might have to completely alter our plan of attack against the city,” Orson stated as we walked.
I thought about that, remembering all of the ideas that had been thrown out there during our meeting. Before the bomb had disrupted it. Most of them were reliant on being able to pull people to our side. Given what Leeya had said about the Sentry and the plot for the throne, though, I was also left wondering if that was really our best option.
“If we want any hope of being able to remain undetected, we’re going to have to go in small instead of how we did with the rescue,” I thought aloud. “Especially now that we can assume they will be expecting us to retaliate. They’ll be watching for us going in with a large group.”
Orson nodded, agreeing. I didn’t like it. It meant that we would have to rely on the people we could get in the city for our numbers.
“Until we can be certain no one in camp is giving information to Eden, all talks will be restricted to the bare minimum,” he said when I didn’t continue. “We’ll start with Leeya and Gryffin, then add people on a need to know basis. By the time we get ready to move, I don’t want anyone outside of the people actually going even with the knowledge that there will be an attack.”
Thinking about it made my stomach turn. Something about it felt wrong. There were people that I trusted completely in Alkwin. Leaving them out felt like I would be saying I didn’t. He was right, though. The fewer people who knew, the safer we would be. Knowing that neither Gryffin nor Leeya would stay behind, that meant that it was my family I was protecting.
“We’ll need to include Dallin,” I said, knowing he would probably have some personal reservations with it. “Even if he doesn’t go into the city, he’ll be able to work with our people in Eden to get a list together of Sentry we can approach. He’ll also know exactly what’s going on anyway as soon as Leeya leaves.”
To my surprise, he actually didn’t even hesitate before nodding. Let’s see if I could get lucky twice.
“If he’s willing, which I imagine he will be, Paxton should be on the team to move on the city.”
Orson stopped walking abruptly and faced me. Definitely not as open to accepting that one.
“I know you’ve been keeping an eye
on him since he got here,” I stated. I knew him well enough to know without being told. So much so that I didn’t even wait for him to confirm it. “You can’t deny that he cares greatly for the girls. He’s been in love with Lillith for twelve years. He was granted special permission to be Sentry trained, and he’ll have information about the council we won’t be able to get anywhere else.”
Orson thought about it as he started moving again. I didn’t push. After a couple minutes of silence, he shook his head. “I still don’t like it.”
“Leeya trusts him,” I said. “So do I.”
“I suppose you’ll want Lamont too.”
That one I definitely didn’t need to think about. “Especially now that he’s Tainted. He seems to have a vested interest in protecting my family. Dallin was right about having Sentry to fight Sentry. We’ll need him.”
