Page 101 of Oath of Rebellion

Chapter 36

LITTLE JOHN STABBED a pudgy finger to the map. "This is the layout of the castle that we mined from Eirwyn's memories."

Knox forced himself to breathe evenly and deeply, but even then green gas curled around his nose and sank to the wooden floor of the meeting house in Vidrland. He sat in a chair at the end of the oval table while half a dozen men and women stood around it staring at the large map.

He'd ridden into Vidrland next to Ashur as dusk fell. For the first time, he rode without his hood up. The feel of the wind on his scales and horns had helped settle some of his churning emotions.

Ashur had asked him on the ride what to tell everyone about his head, but Knox had just shrugged and said, "Tell them the truth."

When they'd ridden in, he'd seen the raised eyebrows, heard the whispers. He just didn't give a fuck who stared at him or what they said. Ashur had ridden beside him and loudly proclaimed him as king of the forest.

So now the entire camp was abuzz with the news that he was the son of a dragon and the heir to the forest king. Ashur had even started telling them he had come to stop the tyranny of the Buspartan king once and for all.

People kept a wide berth from him and his tail. It'd barely been a few hours and already people in camp were bowing to him. He didn't stop them, though. He just didn't care anymore, too numb to anything but the pain of losing Eirwyn.

Little John continued. "The prisoners are held here. Scarlet and others will be executed in two days. Tomorrow night, we will break into the dungeon and rescue everyone."

"Everyone?" Will asked, his brows raised.

Little John nodded. "Everyone. Half are in there for simply not paying taxes."

"And other half?" Ashur asked.

John shrugged his dwarven shoulders. "Stealing because they used all their money to pay the taxes. Or they're suspected Robins. Or they're the slaves Will made sick, whom the king then threw in the dungeons for not working. Or the king took offense at mud hitting his carriage as a street urchin ran through a puddle. Or–"

Ashur held up a hand. "We get it. The king's becoming more and more unstable."

Will rubbed his hands together and grinned. "We'll need a distraction. Knox can't blow a sleep spell into the dungeon like he did at the castle robbery. We need the prisoners to walk out on their own two feet."

A slow smile spread across John's face. "Ah, as for that, I have just the thing." He flipped open the leather satchel that sat on the table next to him and pulled out a glass jar and a bundle of sticks. Inside the jar were three wasps.

Ashur crossed his arms. "How are wasps supposed to help distract an entire castle."

John shook his head and pushed his glasses up on his nose, reminding Knox of his brother Krys.

"The distraction is from these." John held up the sticks. "We'll light one end and toss them at the wall of the palace. It'll make a loud pop and create a lot of smoke but won't do much damage."

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